So here's the scoop: I have decided once and for all to give vegetarianism a real go (the lacto-ovo kind--I will still eat dairy products). I have been going back and forth on this issue in my head for a while now, but now I believe I am finally ready to embrace my inner-herbivore.
Why now Lauren?
As many of you may know, Richard is a vegetarian and has been for over 20 years now. But he has not, I repeat NOT, pushed me into this in any way. In fact, he was probably the most shocked about this out of everyone I've told so far! He doesn't eat meat because he is somewhat of a picky eater and just doesn't like it.
I, on the other hand really like the taste of meat, but have been feeling increasing guilty about liking it. I blame this mostly on 2 things--watching Food, Inc. (A great documentary...if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it, though I don't recommend eating right before watching it!), and those "stop animal cruelty" commercials on TV. Suddenly I feel like a big hypocrite--I love animals, yet I've had no problem stuffing my face with them for the past 31 years.
Also, and probably worth noting, I'm in the process of trying to shed my baby weight. I've noticed that the less meat I eat, the more fruits & veggies I eat, thus making the weight loss happen more consistantly.
Is this going to be hard for you?
Honestly, I don't think so. I was already living as a vegetarian about 90% of the time, thanks to having a vegetarian husband. I hardly have enough time to cook one type of meal as it is, so meals at our house have always been meat-free (unless it's been something I can just add chicken to easily, although usually I don't mess with it.) The only time I really eat a lot of meat is when we eat out, so that will be my biggest hurdle. That and Thanksgiving...saying no to the turkey might be difficult.
Will this affect your love of cake?
NO! I am still a cake-head and will continue to be so. The only thing I will need to tweak for a cake I am eating is the fondant, which contains gelatin (which, in case you didn't know, contains ground up hooves...ew.). Happily, I have already found a vegetarian gelatin (yay Whole Foods!) that will hopefully work just as well and won't change the consistancy of the fondant. I'll be making a batch in the next week, so keep your fingers crossed for me.
So there you go. I'm not going to promise that this will go 100% smoothly. But I want to give it a legitimate shot and see how I do.
3 comments:
Congrats Lauren! I wish you all the best in your new found path. It will be even better when the farmers markets open back up with all of those colorful fruits and veggies just begging to be eaten!
Been thinking about making the switch myself! Thanks for sharing...BTW, beautiful cake! Your VERY talented. T. Flowers-Curren
I had my first Tofurkey last Thanksgiving, and I found it quite tasty. Even the non-vegetarian folks I was with said, "not to bad!" So I highly promote the addition of Tofurkey to the Thanksgiving table. :)
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