The Un-Traditional Thanksgiving.

I have to admit, this vegetarian thing is easy.. in fact so easy, it's scary. Why did I ever need meat in the first place? It's been 2 months and so far my life is great, my health is great, and I haven't once felt the urge to cheat, because it's not that I can't have meat, it's that I don't want to eat it.

Thanksgiving was a breeze.. we spent the day with the Crawfords. I brought over an appetizer (details below), creamed corn, and a fruit salad. It was a good meal.. lots of meat-less things to eat. The only thing I wasn't able to eat, was the Turkey, and eh, so what! Turkey Shmerkey.. and NO ONE noticed that I had a plate without turkey.. so no questions, no problems.

So let's talk about this appetizer I made. Mmmmmm!

Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce + Cream Cheese.. and Multi-Grain crackers. Delish!

Thanks be to Nicole for this amazing concoction :)

T-Minus 16 days until Turkey Day... eek!

I just realized we are only 2 weeks away from Thanksgiving… and Kevin and I haven't decided how where we are going to spend each holiday this year yet.

If we decide to do Thanksgiving with my family this year, I'll be forced to share my new found vegetarianism with my ENTIRE family. Our thanksgiving celebration is huge… my grandparents each had 5 children when they married (before I was born).. resulting in my 33 cousins. My favorite cousin, whom I've been best friends my entire life with is a vegetarian.. but since we haven't talked in 6 months (*tear), I most likely won't have that support by my side. The rest of my family is filled with carnivores.. and not just your average meat eating American, but Italian, meat loving, hunting fanatics. I'm not worried that I will want to eat turkey, but I'm nervous about the potential criticism that I'll be facing... ugh.

The decision I've made is only about me, it only affects me (and technically Kevin, but he doesn't care at all!), and therefore it should only be my business, right? Other people just don't seem to understand that… and feel the need to interject their opinion about my every move. Here's the deal: the decision has been made and there is no turning back, so back off. And yes, yet again, I'm getting enough protein people!

My plan this year is to create a DELICIOUS meat-free dish to take and share. My family socializes around good food and good wine, so a nice dish, a nice bottle of wine, and then hopefully they won't ask too many questions. In fact, maybe they will be understanding and even be curious about this change in my life?

I found some delicious thanksgiving family feast style recipes in Martha Stewart's Living magazine and also in Real Simple this month.. but I'm always open to others :)

The plunge..

Well, here I am: The girl who said she would NEVER give up meat.. a vegetarian.

It's been almost a month, and honestly I don't miss meat at all. When I ate meat, I loved it.. but over the past year my feelings towards it have changed. I love animals, and the more I love animals and help them, the less I want to eat them. It's a pretty simple equation when you think about it actually. And although I no longer have a desire to eat meat, it really doesn't bother me that others eat it. In fact, there is meat in our house because Kevin is still eating it, and I am completely fine with that. He's been nothing but supportive throughout the process, since he's known for awhile how I felt and encouraged me to take the final step and cut it out altogether. He's amazing. I couldn't ask for a better husband.

And don't worry Mom, I'm getting enough protein!

I'm still eating cheese, eggs, and drinking milk.. I'm not vegan. Seafood I'm not opposed to, but since i've never really like it anyways.. I'm not really eating that either.

The best part is that it's 2009 and A LOT of people are vegetarians or vegans.. so there's some really great products that are meat-like, without being meat. I'm loving Trader Joe's soy meatballs, delicious veggie patties, veggie sausages (I love you MorningStar), and tofu! So anytime i'm getting a craving for something I used to eat with meat, I can find an easy substitute and work it out. I made soy meatball sandwiches for dinner last week.. yummy!

Life is good.. and I've never felt so healthy in my life. I've lost a few pounds (and haven't been to the gym in almost 2 months).. and overall I feel good about my decision.

So if you want to keep up with my journey, the good and the bad, stick around :)

what's for dinner this week? maybe some tofu and veggie Yakisoba.. mmm! (thanks to Meghan for teaching me this one!)