22 Jun, 2015
21-day Vegetarian challenge: day 14
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Challenge me, challenge you|Recipes and Food
Someone asked me if this veg challenge has been hard. The short answer is no: it hasn’t been hard. To be perfectly honest, there’s only been two times I’ve missed meat. (But more on that in a moment.)
One person called me out on eating too much processed food recently. I guess you can say that my All-bran buds, veggie burgers, chips, and PC mini-naan breads are processed, but overall I think I’ve been eating ok over the last two weeks. (I’m tracking it right here.)
Related: one thing that I will never understand is my true weight. Perhaps this is an issue that comes with having a digital scale. When I weigh myself it’s at the same time of day, but I seem to fluctuate five pounds within the span of a day or two: between 140 and 145. I don’t know if it’s me, my scale, or what.
A note about those veggie burgers. I picked up Boca brand burgers recently and I think they’re my new favourite. Someone on twitter asked me where I bought them. I assumed Rainbow Foods – and said so – but then Rainbow Foods replied to say they don’t actually carry Boca burgers. I am having a total brain fail. Where in Ottawa did I buy them?? (Help!) I could have sworn I got them at Rainbow!
It was Father’s Day this weekend and it included two meaty meals. One was on Saturday and it featured BBQ ribs (by special request), the other was breakfast sausages on Sunday. These are both meats that I enjoy.
So on Saturday I made my own veggie kebab in lieu of the ribs: halloumi cheese with red onion and red pepper. I doubled up on the cheese in an effort to overshadow the ribs and it worked. Eating is such a communal activity, isn’t it? One passes heaping plates of food that are thoughtfully prepared: here, take some. Let me feed you. It is a loving act, and to remove yourself from the ritual can be a little sad. (Lesson: it is depressing to feel like you are missing out. So prep something that will make you happy.)
On Sunday we had homemade waffles with sausages, so I just loaded my waffles up with a double helping of fresh fruit salad. The fruit salad was so lovely that it distracted me from the breakfast sausages.
You know what meats I’d miss if I was a strict vegetarian?
- bacon in all forms
- butter chicken
- BBQ’d ribs
- chicken wings
- excellent salami
- turkey, in sandwich format (e.g. post-Thanksgiving)
- saucy meatballs
- pulled pork
The rest I could probably do without. What about you?
