How do I make baby steps into Vegitarianism (is that a word?) :)
 

I watched Oprah last night when she talked about Food,inc. I havent watched the documentary but I saw enough that it has made me think differently about the food that me and my family eats. I dont even know where to start. I know thiswill have to be a gradual thing. Like Oprah said I am going to LEAN into the thinking. So....what would suggest that i do first? reccomend some books to me that I can check out.

Like today, I was very aware of the things that I was eating and serving the kids.
For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal with a spoonful of sugar and a spoonfull of coconut oil.
Wasnt hungry until lunch and then ate a boiled egg(not organic :( ) a piece of string cheese and a handful of raisins.
wha kinds of things do you have for supper.

our favorites are spaghetti andmeatballs, tacos, thingslike that.

Help me make baby steps please.



this computer is driving me crazy.....

Re: How do I make baby steps into Vegitarianism (is that a word?) :)
 

I usually start by cutting out red meat....then poultry...then fish. I start buying either rice milk, almond milk or organic cow milk and then only organic dairy products..kids like them so I get them.

We eat a lot of ethnic foods..instead of meat loaf I make a lentil loaf with a mushroom gravy. Vegetarian chili is a very painless way to begin...if you miss the texture of ground beef add in some bulgur wheat...not too much or else it will soak up all the liquid!

I have made quiche out of tofu..add in turmeric to turn it yellow..added bonus that spice protects against cancer.

Sometimes we use Seitan if a recipe needs a meat subsitute.
Here is a recipe we loved...I use smoked paprika and that really makes it extra awesome!
http://www.veganpeace.com/recipe_pag...peaCutlets.htm
It is from the cookbook Veganomicon

Vegan Fusion is another fave cookbook of mine...everything in there has been awesome.

If you want to go slow just start by cutting down on meat consumption and having a couple 100% vegetarian days or meals each week, and then add in a few more.

Re: How do I make baby steps into Vegitarianism (is that a word?) :)
 

I've posted this advice here before, but I think it's worth repeating. Most families don't serve a huge variety of dinners. So if you're trying to come up with vegetarian dinners, think of 3 vegetarian dinners your family already likes, 3 that you could make vegetarian (for example your spaghetti and meatballs without meatballs), and find 3 new dishes you like (in a veg cookbook or by googling vegetarian recipes).

You can gradually reduce the amounts of meat at first if you like, trying to think of it as a condiment. We are not totally vegetarian so I do make, for example, spaghetti and meat sauce. But I double the sauce and cut the meat in half. The smaller pieces you put your meat in, the easier it is to get away with less (by the same principle, you can also use half the chocolate chips in choc chip cookies if you use mini chips) The more you get used to less, the more you can cut it even further.

The other thing to keep in mind is to try to make really good vegetarian food. So for example, if you are used to opening a can of spaghetti sauce and putting meatballs in it, just taking out the meatballs might make for a mediocre meal at best. But if you're willing to find an excellent marinara recipe and make it from scratch (or at least from canned tomatoes) it will taste less like it's missing something. Recipes that are supposed to contain meat usually taste like they're missing something if you just leave it out. So play with them or try to find recipes that are supposed to be vegetarian.

Re: How do I make baby steps into Vegitarianism (is that a word?) :)
 

My progression to becoming vegetarian was VERY slow... about 4 years, I would estimate... I started by making more whole food choices, switching produce and grains to as many organic whole food choices as I was able (affordability was an issue at first).

Cut out all artificial sweeteners and overly processed foods with preservatives.

Next I switched to organic dairy & eggs.

Next I started buying all our meat and fish from a local butcher who only sells local hormone and antibiotic free meat.

Then I cut out red meat.

Finally I cut out poultry and fish.

Just over the last 6 months I've gone WAY overboard (according to some) and we've gone completely sugar free, cut out dairy, soy, wheat, yeast, and a couple other foods I'm sensitive to. It forced us to really cook from scratch and we almost never eat out... It's a big commitment, but the health benefits have far outweighed the amount of work (I got pregnant!).