Go Meatless On Monday

Whenever I am asked how to go flexitarian without your family declaring mutiny, I answer the same thing:

Go Meatless on Monday

Your family could use a meatless meal after that traditional Sunday roast. Besides, if they are not thrilled with dinner that day, you can still look forward to Family Night treat. If things go well then make 2 nights meat-free at your house.

Eating Well Magazine apparently agrees with the Meatless Monday. They ran a list of vegetarian recipes under the title Go Meatless on Monday. You can find them here.

Another great spot to check for recipes is Meatless Mondays.com. Find them here.

Tonight I made a batch of Italian Vegetable Soup from a recipe I found on the Better Homes & Garden's website. I doubled the recipe and added a can each of chickpeas and corn. You can find the original recipe here.

Last of all, another great source for recipes that I love is on the blog 101 Cookbooks. 231 vegetarian recipe and counting. Just click on the title to go there and scan the recipe link for the vegetarian section.

Some ideas

Things are going well at our house. I'm successfully having meatless dinners about 4 or 5 times a week. DH has noticed, but I don't think the kids have. And, as an unexpected bonus, I've lost about 3 pounds in the last two weeks. Not sure if it's the meatless meals or the bronchitis that I've been battling, but in any case I'll take it. ;o)

Here are some things we've eaten lately, in case you are in need of some ideas.

Salad and veggie soup

Black Bean soup (mine was similar to this, but without the rice) and cornbread muffins

Burritos/tacos with refried beans

Black bean quesadillas served with chips and salsa and sour cream

Broccolli Gratin (recipe here)

Brie sandwiches on baguette with lots of veggies (tomatoes, spinach, cukes, sprouts)

Tortellini soup

Spinach Quiche

Habits to break

"I am SO tempted to eat one of those sausages. If I ever quit being a vegetarian, that is the first thing I'm going to eat." and she has said that about something before--but was it about Kielbasa?  Honestly, I don't have much brain space for keeping track of what anyone's theoretically likes anymore.  I'm just glad dinner will finally start, once my son finishes washing his hands.

"Have some if you like," I say.  "You could eat meat again, or if you just have some today.  Doesn't matter."

We eat in the kitchen, and my son is washing his hands at the sink, so everyone hears this.  He's close enough to done that we're waiting for him before we start eating. He loves to give this vegetarian sister a hard time.  Every other week he'll try and sneak meat onto her plate, or wave his meat-laden fork in her face, or tell her how delicious it is.   I suspect mostly he's dumbfounded by her, since he would eat only meat and bread if I'd let him.  Heck, he may think she's the reason vegetables are served, the way I have a side of something in every meal for him.

They smell SO good... and then she pops one of those sausages into her mouth.

Immediately, the other children begin crying foul. "Not enough sausages to go around," they claim. "Don't waste the sausage on the vegetarian.  She has her own food!"  Though when I produce the heart-shaped poached eggs, the first grade princess immediately asks for one.  Then I start counting out the kielbasa slices among the family members.

"Do you want more?"  I ask my vegetarian daughter.

"Nah.  I just wanted the one."

And so we settle as usual to dinner.   A little what-did-you-do-today, a little hey-she-poked-me, and all that good family stuff.

I believe this is the first time the vegetarian has eaten meat in four years, and I am curious about the coming months.  Not so much if the vegetarian will eat meat again, but if her break has broken her brother's hang-up with her diet.

Because family dinner is an ongoing dynamic, no matter what you eat.

Elizabeth's conversion, apostacy, and attempts to come back to the fold

Okay, enough with the religious metaphors.

I grew up in Texas and New Mexico--meat country! We were meat eaters--at least the rest of my family liked meaty things--ham, bacon, sausage, hamburgers, and such. My parents were/are both educators so we didn't have lots of money growing up, and my mom didn't buy lots of fancy stuff. We ate, in my memory at least, the same 5 or 6 meals for dinner.

I never liked anything porcine, and abhorred steak. I didn't do much cooking as a teenager. I don't recollect ever really touching meat. When I went to BYU, I don't know what I ate the first few months. I know I had never heard of scrod before the Y--and never since, come to think of it. I had a lot of intestinal distress that first semester. Looking back on it now, it was probably more nerves than anything. Sometime during that first semester I met a girl who was from the Bay area and she was a vegetarian, and had been for several years.

I don't think it had ever occurred to me to not eat meat, but when the concept was presented, it just made good sense religiously, economically, environmentally, and physically; and from that time, until I was 31, I was a vegetarian (ovo-lacto--I tried vegan for about a year, but it was too hard). I had a boyfriend who was Indian, and a devout/orthodox vegetarian, so that worked out well. We were together for about 4 years so I learned to cook a lot of vegetarian food. I was completely happy in my vegetarian life. There used to be a place in Provo called Govinda's and I ate there weekly. And Bombay House, too. I miss those days. :)

Every now and then, very, very rarely, I'd get a craving for meat, and I'd skulk myself to a good burger joint and get something to go, and eat flesh on some back road where I hopefully wouldn't be 'caught'. I met my husband as a veg and he married me as a veg. He'd dated other social work hippie types so he was used to vegetarians, and Portland is chock full of them.

When I was 31 we got pregnant. It hadn't occurred to me to not continue vegetarianism. But then I started reading all those What to Expect/What to Eat books and I got nervous. I worried I would be hurting our baby by not getting enough protein.

So, I bought some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I honestly had never bought raw flesh before this. I read in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook what to do. But I was so worried that I would under-cook them and get some dread disease, that basically I made chicken jerky. It was soo dry. I laugh thinking about it because I'm still pretty neurotic. Whenever I eat really juicy chicken and think it is so much better than my typical results....it's sad, really--I get scared I'm going to be salmonella-ized. I've never cooked a roast. I have bought one whole chicken in my life--it's probably cheaper to go that route than buying boneless/skinless.

Ever since, we eat meat a few times a week. A 2.5-3 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts lasts easily a week. Tonight I made spaghetti sauce with turkey sausage. My husband is just happy I feed him so he doesn't fuss about meat or no meat. But he prefers to have meat than go back to vegetarian all the time. My older daughter acts like I'm depriving her if there isn't meat in dinner, but my 5 year old prefers the vegetarian stuff. I don't ever buy anything made from pigs. If I had money I'd go back to organic dairy/eggs/flesh.

I'd like my goal to be making my meat go even further. I think that would be more harmony-inducing than going 100% meat-free. I could just go back to not eating meat myself, but that is a pain. But, as I'm thinking aloud (so to speak), I could just not eat the meat in the dish, giving it to the carnivores... which could make the meat go a little further?? Hmmm.....

Right now, my goal is also to try to lower my grocery bill by about $10 a week.

So, that's me, and how I'm connected to the blog.

How We Change

People who read my blog know that Saturday is most likely going to have a Psychiatric Saturday post.

I decided to post the topic here today instead, because I think it fits nicely with what some folks are trying to do.


"The Stages of Change Model was originally developed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente at the University of Rhode Island when they were studying how smokers were able to give up their habits or addiction. The SCM model has been applied to a broad range of behaviors including weight loss, injury prevention, overcoming alcohol, and drug problems among others. The idea behind the SCM is that behavior change does not happen in one step. Rather, people tend to progress through different stages on their way to successful change. Also, each of us progresses through the stages at our own rate." Follow this link to find out about all the stages, and then come back to the rest of the post.

I use these stages with people all the time because the concept is just so simple to understand, and helps explain why we have difficulty making changes. If a person came across this blog, and the immediate thought was "Not eat meat?! Are you nuts??!", that person probably would be in precontemplation. But, if they were a friend of Millie's and thought it sounded interesting, they'd be in contemplation. Perhaps you had really high cholesterol, and your doctor told you to make some dietary changes or you'll likely have a heart attack in the next year, that might move you from precontemplation up to preparation or action. As Millie (just as an example) looks through her pantry and decides this may be too hard, too demanding of her time, the benefits don't seem high enough, etc., maintenance wavers and she might slip/fall off the veg-wagon/relapse! But, the good news is that we just re-enter the cycle, and get back on track to maintenance.

The average number of times it takes a smoker to give up cigarettes for good is about 7 serious attempts. I have fallen off the exercise wagon 70 times 7, I swear. I wonder if most people considering vegetarianism, in whatever form, tend to decide they're done, and then never look back.

My kids think they are vegetarians if they eat one tiny broccoli floret.

When people hear that I cook vegetarian two to three times a week, I usually get incredulous stares. “Your kids really will eat like that?” Yes they do. This was not an overnight decision. If I had sprung it on them all at once there would have been mutiny. Some days I still get a few grumbles.

Wednesdays at our house became “Spaghetti Wednesdays”, a nod to the east coast Prince Spaghetti Day (can anyone remember that commercial? Go find it on Youtube). Homemade meatless spaghetti sauce. The kids and Mr. Wonderful missed the Bolognese sauce I used to make , but they got used to it after a few weeks.

The next meatless day became Monday. Why Monday? I learned very quickly not to mess with the traditional meat-and-potatoes Sunday dinner. By Monday, I look forward to a vegetarian meal. Besides, if Monday’s dinner is a bust, there is still Family Home Evening Treat to look forward to. The only one who complains on this day is my carnivore Firstborn. He claims his 15 year old body needs more protein. When I point out the protein in the meal (legumes, grains, and certain veggies) he usually stops grumbling, at least vocally. And he eats. At my house you eat what is on the table or you starve.

Sometimes I’ll add a third meatless meal on Friday or Saturday. Pizzas on homemade whole grain crust are great meatless meal – how many kids usually prefer cheese pizza? I leave this day as optional. Since we make our own pizza, I leave the choice of topping up to each family member, making sure that I provide lots of veggie toppings and just one meat choice (usually turkey pepperoni.)

There you have it. An easy way to get started: turn your first veggie night into a learning experience. Try an ethnic vegetarian dish. Play some music from that country. Learn a few words. Tell you kids that they might serve a mission there someday (I get a few eyerolls with that one but I persevere). Start a family night tradition.


Jop Chai
Pull out your chopsticks. Find Korea on a map. Put together music and language for a family night.
Serves 4-6
Adapted from Moosewood Simple Suppers
My changes and additions in italics

4 ounces bean thread noodles
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 Cups thinly sliced onion - I like to use half white onion and half green onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups thinly sliced green cabbage or coleslaw mix (napa cabbage or bok choy work well, too)
1 Cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 can stirfry baby corn , drained
8 ounces veggie crumbles (I make an omelet using 1 egg per person. Finish the omelet and slice thin like the veggies. Sometimes I use tofu instead. Yes, my kids eat tofu - but that's another story)

Sauce
¼ Cup low sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar or cider vinegar
½ Cup water
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Soak bean thread noodles in hot tap water to cover until softened, about 15-20 minutes. When soft, drain and cut into more easily eaten lengths, 4-5”. Toss with a little oil to keep from clumping.

While noodles are soaking, heat oil in large pan or wok, add the onions and garlic, and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and sauté for a couple of minutes. Stir in the peppers and continue to sauté until crisp-tender (add the mushrooms here). Add the veggie crumbles (or egg, and stirfry baby corn) and cook for another minute or two. Combine the sauce ingredients and add them to the vegetables. Add the drained noodles and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes, until noodles have absorbed most of the sauce. Serve hot.

One of my rules--there may be more later

Because I have posting power, I'm going to use it right now. Last night, instead of getting to sleep, I was thinking about this blog. And worrying. If we're going to talk about food, about who eats what, about what is really best for us, somebody is going to get her little feelers hurt. You know I'm right. "I nursed my children until they were 3." "We only use natural toys in our home (wooden-no plastic)." "Homeschooling is the only way to ensure a proper education for our children." "I have 3 years of food storage under my bed." "A woman who truly loves her children would never work outside the home." "We don't let our children play with non-members."

"Blogging on Sunday breaks one of the Big Ten." We all have things we're passionate about and that isn't a bad thing. We don't all have to be passionate about the same things, or expect everyone to share our passions. Further, assuming you're a Mormon you've heard the concept of loving your neighbor. One good way to love your neighbor in the context of this blog is to encourage one another, but in the kindest, gentlest, most loving of ways. We all love our families and want to do what is best for them, but we all have different ideas about what 'best' is. Just as if you were being a 'member missionary' you wouldn't walk up to a complete stranger, and tell them they're deluded and they need to join the True Church right now, you wouldn't tell a complete stranger on this blog that how she feeds her family is wrong.

You don't have to do it all at once

You know how when you ask your 3 year old whether she'd rather have 20 pennies or two dimes, and she'll take the pennies every time?

I was a vegetarian for a long time, from 18-30 years old. Now, I eat mostly poultry. It's very rare that I'll eat red meat, and it's mostly cooked not by me--think Sunday dinner at Mom's house.
I'm willing to cook meat for my family, but not very much. About half the menus for dinner during the week have meat (usually boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or ground turkey). My 5 year old wouldn't care if she never ate flesh again. Unfortunately, my 8 year old feels mistreated without it. My husband is so grateful I gave up strictly vegetarian cooking he doesn't fuss either way.

I have no compelling interest in making anyone give up meat altogether. But, if we can work together to help each other find ways to eat less, that is a good thing to my way of thinking. And that is where the penny analogy comes in. The trick for cutting down meat in your house, if you're not going to give it up altogether, is make a dish look like it has a lot. If you normally use 4 breasts in a recipe, just use 2, and chop them super-small, or shred it. When serving the dish to carnivorous family members, 'plate' their serving with lots of meat on top, so they can see that there is plenty there.

What other ways have readers found to pull one over on their family members? :)

The Lone Veggie

"Meat, and the world meats with you. Veg, and you veg alone."

More than one bloggy sister has mentioned that she's thought about becoming a vegetarian, or cutting out most meat, but hasn't because her husband or family won't. What to do?

Try it by yourself first.

To some people, going veggie seems to be a black-or-white, all-or-nothing, cut-all-ties-with-normal-life proposition. The new vegetarian must throw out beloved family recipes and buy cookbooks with weird ingredients and shop at gross-smelling health food stores and learn to cook new foods (or learn to cook, period) and force-feed her children and start obsessing over tofu and TVP and EVOO, and buy robes and oils and get new veggie friends. I'm here to tell you that I am way too lazy and cheap to take on anything like this.

The trick, as with anything else in life, is to stop worrying and start doing.

The other trick, as with genealogy (you like how I snuck that in there?), is to start with yourself.

For me, it started at the drive-through. It was a busy Wednesday night - Cub Scouts, soccer, Mutual - and we ran to KFC for a quick dinner. From my son Brennan's example, I knew that if I really looked at the drive-through menu, I could find plenty of veggie-friendly food: cole slaw, baked beans, mac & cheese, corn on the cob, biscuits, and my personal favorite, mashed potatoes and gravy. Lots of choices there, all of which would make me happy and full without involving meat (is it actually possible?). I had the potatoes and the cole slaw and enjoyed them. It was weird and new, but I loved how I felt afterward.

The rest of my family had chicken meals, and while I did ogle those lovely golden nuggets of chickeny joy once or twice, my lack-of-chicken status didn't make me feel deprived. Avoiding meat from this day forward was my choice, and I knew why I made it. It's important to know the "whys" of your decision. Otherwise, sticking to your plan will seem silly when faced with tempation. "Now, WHY am I not eating bacon again?"

If you've decided that going veggie is your course, take it one small step at a time. Buy a new veggie cookbook, research vegetarianism and nutrition online, read that nasty but very effective article Elizabeth-W posted about mad cow disease, stock your kitchen with more fruit and vegetables, check food labels for protein grams (you'll need to know how much you're getting from non-meat foods), hard-boil some eggs... many, many ways to start. Cut out the meat a little at a time, or jump in and go for it all at once - but give yourself room for messing up.

A word of caution: If you're going to go veggie alone, it's best to do it sweetly and peacefully. The goal is to keep your husband happy enough that maybe someday, he'll want to try your new lifestyle with you. Believe that as much crap as you give your husband about his meat-eating, it will come back to you in dump truck loads. When you're on a date with your sweet darling spouse and he orders a wonderful meaty entree, make no snide remarks. Give no raunchy statistics about "what's probably in that burger." Accept his freedom to choose, and be sweet about it.