Opting out of my favourite food

I have pasted the true test of my new diet. My favorite food is dolmades from a local Greek restaurant that my best friend and I visit often. Dolmades are rice and beef wrapped in grape leaves and then they top it with this amazing sauce. I have had dolmades other places but no one makes them as well as they do. I have been purposely avoiding this restaurant because I wasn't sure I would have the self-control but after my last final exam this semester, my best friend and I went there to celebrate. While driving there, I was contemplating eating dolmades because after all, there is no hard-set rule saying I CAN'T eat meat. Really, it is just a choice I made for myself. I will not burn in eternal damnation if a morsel of meat passes my lips. Still, when I sat down, I perused the menu and asked questions. We had our favorite waitress and so I told her I began a vegetarian diet and so she was a great help. I didn't want to tell her I was vegetarian and then forget everything I just said and order meat! This gave me the self-control to try something new. I ordered spanikopita (cheese and spinach in a flaky crust) and a Mediterranean salad and opted out of the egg on top. WOW! The salad was lettuce, feta, cheese, olives corn, dill and a little onion. They gave me a homemade dill salad dressing that was a perfect touch! I could barely finish it! This gave me hope that I can survive being a vegetarian even when I have always loved meat options.
 

My next step is to go to a Thai restaurant and maintain the vegetarian diet. I know that they would offer some great choices but I have always loved Thai beef salad and curry chicken over rice. This is a fun experience not settling for the same old thing and trying new, exciting options.
 
Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous day!

 

Already Being Discouraged

Today was eventful. This semester I received a scholarship and so today was the scholarship luncheon at the college to meet and thank the donors. This was also mantory. My donor didn't even show up! I had to get a babysitter for this and I was stuck eating soggy salad (as it was the only vegetarian food served) and making nice to a room full of people I didn't know. Mneh.

Anyways, I made up for it though and ate some very delicious foods for the rest of the night. My son brought home a small pumpkin from school and we cut the sucker up and roasted the seeds. I haven't had homemade roasted pumpkin seeds in YEARS. I dashed a little bit of creole seasoning on top and voila! Even my three year old loved them and he doesn't eat anything but cereal and french fries!

Tonight, I made myself stuffed chili peppers. I riped out the guts of them and stuffed them with a mixture of spinach, onions, tomatos, leeks and a little mozzerella. Then I rolled them in bread crumbs (most of which just fell off) and baked them. I ate them with homemade roasted pepper salsa. I also made fried plantains in brown sugar. I had these at a friends house last week for the first time and they were AMAZING so I tried it myself. They turned out ok but the plantains needed to be riper so they were a little starchy. I still have another plantain so I'll let it ripen and try again. If you have never had this, try it! The simple recipe can be found here.

 

Even if after this experiment of mine I decide to go back to eating meat, I can definately say that I am doing so much better at considering what I eat. I am more aware of the foods I put in my body and how much better I am feeling. I was so proud that even tonight while grocery shopping, my husband called and asked me to pick him up some fruit and yogurt instead of some other sugary snack. Also, right now my kids are snacking on yogurt and strawberries instead of junk.

 

I am enjoying how I am feeling and I know that there is so much more a person can do. A friend of mine was actually pretty discouraging to me yesterday when I was telling her about how I was choosing to eat. She said that there was basically no point as all our foods are chemically modified anyway, meat or no meat so there is no reason to even try. Then she told me how much it bothers her when vegans and vegetarians act like they are far superior in how they live their lives in that they eat sooooo much healthier and "they are all know-it-alls". I do have vegan/vegetarian friends who do push their ideals on others but some that don't. I think if I can keep this up, I will want to share with others how I feel but now I wonder about how my choces might effect my friendships.

 

I have so much to learn about and decide how I want to live my own life. For now, I am going to enjoy my full tummy and clean conscience. Nighty night cyber world!