Living Meatless

Well, many of you probably know by now but Holland and I have been trying a vegetarian diet. It has been over a month when we started to just have vegetarian meals at dinner and Holland has been completely Vegetarian for most of that time.  I have been completely vegetarian for two weeks as of today. Please read blog post of what started it all: Forks Over Knives

So when I wrote that post, we decided we were going to still eat meat occasionally but we wanted to eat more meatless meals. Then we started the meatless dinners, then we moved on to just more of the meals throughout the day and here we are. 

In the beginning, I had a more difficult time than Holland just figuring out WHAT to eat. Therefore, I struggled more than he. I remember the first day we decided to try this diet I was thinking "I just want to try and not eat any meat TODAY. Thankfully, as time has passed on things have been getting MUCH easier. The first week I just made salads and such for dinner. I woke up the first night yelling at Holland saying " I AM SO HUNGRYYYYY I CANNOT SLEEP!!" We started incorporating more grains in our diet and more filling hearty veggies to keep our carnivore craving bellies satisfied. It was almost like a detox. Detoxing from meat.... sounds strange but our bodies were adjusting.  I started getting creative, researching blogs, online recipes, reading the Engine 2 Diet Book and now I can pretty much make up my own recipes of what we eat for dinner.  I want to point out how much easier it has been doing this together.  If one of us was not fully committed, it would have ended after day one.  

We went to our first total Vegeterian Restaurant yesterday(Green on Flores Street) for lunch and WOW. I finally understood what my friend Megan told me. She said she always gets overwhelmed when she goes to a vegetarian restaurant because she can order anything on the menu! It took us 15 minutes to order and I planned on taking pictures of Hollands Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich(With Mushrooms not steak!:) and my Falafel Burrito but we just chowed down. 

I have found many perks to eating vegetarian.
1. It is just plain healthy. Holland has lost a total of 9 lbs and I have lost 4. The only exercise we do is walks with the dogs so that is a nice perk.
2. You get to be creative.  No more driving through fast food drive throughs. I plan our meals for the whole week and grocery shop for everything at once. However, we have made up our own recipes based on what we have and it is fun to try to cook something new.
3. Grocery bills are lower. I would say our bills have dropped down 40 dollars weekly meaning it is saving us around $160.00/month.
4. Having more energy. Overall Holland has been getting through his workdays easier. Not as lethargic and tired. We will see how I am once I get back to the grind next week!

We have been having discussions on what we are going to do next. How long will we keep eating vegetarian? Will we eat meat again and if we do how often? We both have a difficult time committing to anything halfway. I feel like I need to do 100% or not do it at all and Holland feels the same way.

So here is a recipe I wanted to share. It was REALLY good.  I swapped the water for veggie broth and added mushrooms.

Kale, White Bean and Potato Stew

Happy Monday!