Amy asked about us becoming Vegan in a comment on my last post, and I
think a couple recent pictures of our burgeoning garden would be an appropriate segue into the answer to that.
Josh and I have been letting the idea of eating healthier (and eating less meat) marinate in our minds for awhile. It's not going to come as a surprise that the seed was planted by Ithacan friends who followed strict Macrobiotic, Vegetarian, and Vegan diets. I'm not sure why it never came to fruition in Ithaca - maybe something to do with the fact that we subsisted mainly on Sorority food and WIC checks for the last 5 years - or more likely, the fact that Josh and I don't like to follow the crowd so we waited until we moved to the cattle ranch that is Texas to take action. I'm sure the 4 very convincing books I've recently read (The China Study was the most convincing if you want to know more) propogating a Vegan lifestyle factor in there somewhere as well.
In any case, we really are trying to eat less meat nowadays, but I don't think we'll ever really become completely Vegan. I know for a fact that Josh won't because he could never give up his steak, ice cream, and chocolate milk. And I know there are dieticians who would argue with me and tell me I was brainwashed by the dairy companies, but I can't seem to believe that my kids can build strong bones without milk. I mean, I know you can get your calcium from leafy, green veggies and canned salmon, but I don't know that my kids would pack away enough of those to absolve me of guilt should they get osteoporosis later on in life.
So my goal right now is to serve our family a Vegan dinner once a week - and I often make Vegan breakfasts, lunches, snacks. The rest of the time we are quasi- vegetarians. We don't do meat every night for dinner like we used to, but we are certainly not above enjoying a good, quality steak or famous Texas BBQ now and then. We're using meat substitutes and eating more beans (Well, most of us are. I still can't get McKay to touch them, but he does eat handfuls of spinach with no dressing on them when we are having beans for dinner and that's the other option, so I can't feel too badly about it) and nuts and seeds. And seriously, I feel so good. I have lost weight while eating more than ever, have more energy, and feel better about my body. The kids haven't complained too much, and Josh is a good sport...although at night I often observe him open the refrigerator, sigh, then close it, then go the pantry, sigh, and then close it, and then yell at me, "Kelli, what is there to eat around here?"
4 comments:
This is a funny post because I also told Gary that I wanted to do this. Kind of hard to do when we also have a quarter of a cow in our freezer :) But, I wanted to share an awesome dinner idea that a friend shared with me....lentil tacos. Maybe you have already discovered these beauties. But, all you do is cook the lentils and add taco seasoning. They are filling and my kids like them just as much as regular beef tacos. Way to go green!
Please post some meal ideas that your kids will eat. Thanks.
I'm so happy you guys are doing so well, and that you have that awesome garden! Growing up in Texas, I would have never thought to EVER tamper with the idea of eating only plants. But now that I've read more (isn't the China Study AMAZING?!, and Eat to Live), we switched over in January, and haven't looked back. I love living a Vegan Lifestyle! Dillon's lost 50 lbs and we all feel great, energized and healthy! And no, we aren't starving, we actually eat more now than we ever did before, and we don't get that yucky full feeling. We do allow ourselves one cheat day, which is usually Saturday, when we can get a little treat- something outside of the Vegan diet, and that has helped us with our little cravings for those things on the 'outside'. This cheat day has also allowed me to recognize those things that seem to cause more problems than they are worth sometimes (i.e. refined sugars and dairy, etc.). Yay for plants!!!
You can have my ribeye steak when you pry it from my cold, dead, fatty, heart disease-ridden fingers.
/Vegan doesn't appeal to me but we talk about going vegetarian. As a trial. Temporarily.
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