250th Post - Try Try Again
Happy 250th!!!
This is a very special post because it's number 250!!!! I wrote a ton of posts back when I was living and traveling around Asia, but when I returned home, I started this journey over. Tons of thoughts were shared, and tears were shed. Yet here we are, 250 posts later.
I was pondering on what I should tell my dedicated readers. I have been writing about tackling debt, infertility, adoption, and even our food journeys for the past 4 years. The most recent journey I have been on is reducing meat. My eyes have been opened to the effects of over-consumption of red meat and dairy and boy I can't look away.
So for my #250th blog post, I thought I would bring to you, my heart felt journey of trying to become meat-free. This is a work in process that began last year. If this is your first time visiting me, check out my first and second post of becoming meat-free.
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| Check out my first journey of being meat free for a month |
Becoming meat-free isnt about the meals that I make at home. I cook nearly 18 of the 20 weekly meals that I eat. This transformation effects how I grocery shop, and how I feed my husband and toddler. This transformation also effects how my family and friends cook for us. My hubby already comes with the difficult nightshade free and gluten free diet. Adding on a sudden meat free restriction may just get us uninvited more than we already are.
So here are our steps we have made in 2018:
Bye Bye Red Meat
This was the hardest transition. I said goodbye to pork without a wink. However Beef and lamb were my weekly staples. I ate beef and chicken weekly growing up and as an adult. Now that I have a baby that is learning to eat, I don't want him to eat pork, beef and chicken. I want him to first learn that a animal was slaughtered just to feed him. Only then can he request if he wants to eat red meat, it wont be by force. He tasted ground beef at 11 months and didnt want to eat it. Score!
"Why would you ruin it for your kid?" Yup, someone asked me that. In my response I told them about this wonderful pig roast that my family was invited to. It was at the home of a NFL coach. A couple NFL players brought out the pig on a spicket and placed it on the picnic table. They reached in and showed us kids the 'hotdogs' and proceeded to place them on buns. I don't eat hotdogs anymore! That was a lesson that could have been taught a little 'cleaner' to children. None-the-less, I am mature enough now to know that hotdogs are not pulled whole from a pig but mechanically made with tons of inner parts. yuck
I cringe and get nauseous in the meat section of the grocer now. I have often left the grocery with nothing but snacks because Idon't know what to cook for dinner throughout the week. I'm still learning. I check out Youtube videos and cookbooks from the library. Adding 2 or 3 new recipes to my list a month is a new goal.
Fish/Seafood
We still eat fish. Don't call the Meatless police. It has been a transformation for us and we are doing our best. Our son will eat fish, but his main diet is heavily plant based. Hubby and I took cues from our little guy and began to eat the way he does. He is teething so we wont chew thick foods but he loves all the nutritious items that many adults eat sparingly.
Beans, Tofu, Quinoa, Oh MY!
We are so excited to learn the various ways to eat beans, tofu, quinoa and even rice. I love all types of rice but I've learned to mix it with lentils or beans and spices. I even tried my hand at frying tofu. I have cooked with soft tofu for years in some of my favorite Asian dishes, but I am trying something new.
Final Outcome
Every journey has a final destination. Hubby and I have talked so many times about what we want as our final outcome. We initial thought vegetarian and then vegan and then went back to the idea of being a pescetarian or pesco-vegetarian. To be honest, we are unsure. What we know is that we want to be meat free both for our health. Heart disease and cancer are common in his family. We want to beat the odds in many ways.We've learned/been informed that the biggest transformation between being meat free and vegan is the hatred of the pointless death of animals for human consumption. Once one has crossed that bridge, they then have become a vegan. I understand the pointless death of animals and the deforestation of earth just for more livestock, but the passion for that cause has not built within just yet. It is
With all things in life, I'm being patient, constantly learning and being mindful. Are you on a meatfree journey? How has your meatfree journey been? Are you a beginner like us?
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