Day 40 Or... The End?

I did it!

I've reached the end. And I suppose, in some way, if you're reading this you've reached it too.

I survived a vegetarian diet for 40 days and believe it or not, for the most part, I actually enjoyed it. I think it's been an excellent experience. You should really try it.

A few questions have been posed again and again to me, so I'd like to close this project by answering five of them.

• Did you crave meat?
  

What a silly question. I absolutely craved meat, especially during those first few days... perhaps the same way your houseplants crave water, love, and sunshine. Lately though, I've really grown accustomed to not eating meat. Occasionally, during the project I would see a commercial for a big juicy cheeseburger and I would yell at the TV, "I want that!" However, I've really enjoyed the variety of foods this project has forced me to eat. I actually crave fruits and veggies now. And, the sight of raw meat sometimes grosses me out. Weird.

I haven't consumed anything that was bloody or that contained bones in 40 days. And that feels good. I think avoiding meat has helped me see why some people think eating animal flesh is gross. When you stop handling and cooking raw meat, you start realizing how much you don't miss seeing it or touching it.

• Have you noticed any health benefits?

Because of my vegetarian diet, I feel more energetic. It sounds a bit cliche but it's true. This semester has been exhausting to say the least, but I really think this diet has helped my energy levels.

When it comes to weight loss you may remember (from day one's post) that people who switch to a vegetarian diet lose an average of 24 pounds in the first year and they usually keep it off. I've certainly not been a vegetarian for 365 days, but I compared my starting weight to my ending weight. I've lost five pounds in the past 40 days. That means I won't get the title of "the Biggest Loser" and you won't see me hawking low-fat Morning Star products on television. But, it's a nice start to my weight loss goal and certainly an added benefit to this process.

• Was it hard?

I'd be lying if I said it was easy. Yet, one of the main reasons why I started this project was to just see if I could do it. While it wasn't the equivalent of running a 5K each day, it did seem fairly impossible to me before I started. I went from eating giant portions of meat during each dinner to none at all.

Did everything taste good? No. (See the entry on tofu, for example.) Did I enjoy some new things? Yes. I even ate a lot of things that I wouldn't have tried before, some of which I truly enjoyed, like meatless meatloaf. But, I need to emphasize that if it wasn't for my wonderful family, kind friends, and supportive readers, it would have been much harder, that's for sure. And now, I'm sure I could go other 40 days with very few complaints.

• What has it been like writing about your experiment every day?

It's been a roller-coaster in some ways. I came to the realization recently that to call myself a writer, I must... write. It's not exactly a difficult concept to grasp, but admittedly I had fell out of the habit of writing on a daily basis. That's a hard thing for a journalism instructor to admit, but it's true. This experiment provided me with a topic, a basic structure to follow, and even an audience.

Using a blog also really enhanced the accountability of this project. Yes, it forced me to write everyday because a small but devoted audience apparently enjoyed reading about my experiences. But, it also helped hold me accountable to the biggest rule of this experiment: don't eat meat. The times that I was most tempted to eat meat, or even a marshmallow, I pictured myself in front of the computer typing "I ate meat today." Then, I pictured, almost instantly, an angry and disappointed (but mostly angry) mob forming at my door with torches and pitchforks yelling, "What happened?! You let us down!" (This is how my mind words sometimes.)

Therefore, I'd strongly suggest if you have a goal that you'd like to achieve, start a blog about it. Tell people about it. Get them hooked. If your experience is anything like mine, that audience's expectation will be a huge driving force to help you step toward your goals.

Some nights, I would happily write hundreds of words about the day and about what I ate, about what I liked and didn't like. Other nights, when I was juggling lots of responsibilities and lecture prep, I wanted to forget the blog altogether... or I wanted to type, "I didn't eat meat again today. Big surprise." Some posts were much better than others. But I was able to write something every day, which has had its benefits.

I should probably also mention that, apparently, a few people really enjoy knowing what I each for each meal. Awkward, isn't it? That proves, if nothing else, that some people will read anything!

• What now? Or... are you going to eat meat? Or... are you going to stay a vegetarian?
  

I do plan to eat meat, but not on a regular basis. I plan to be a flexitarian, a person that focuses on a vegetarian diet but occasionally enjoys consuming some meat. It's worth noting that flexitarian was voted by the American Dialect Society as the most useful word of 2003, because of its popularity. There are too many benefits for me to go back to eating meat on a daily basis, so I plan to find myself eating almost exclusively meatless meals.

At this point, for example, I'm certainly not ready to cook raw meat at the apartment any time soon. But, during social gatherings and family get-togethers and such, I think I'll occasionally have some chicken, fish, pork or beef on my plate. I refuse to be the guy who gives ridiculous vegetarian commands to waiters or to be the party guest who says, "what are you serving that I, the vegetarian can eat?" So, indeed I'm going to eat meat; maybe even as soon as tomorrow. I'll just eat it very rarely and go from there.

Who knows what will happen? Maybe I'll end up returning to strict vegetarianism very quickly. By tasting meat again, I'll find out how much I missed it or how much I can continue to happily live without it.

- What did I eat on Day 40? Breakfast. This morning I had a banana. I opened it upside down and was again amazed at its biodegradable wrapper.

Lunch. For lunch, I finished my box of Mom's Best Naturals: Toasted Cinnamon Squares. I actually saw Mom's Best featured on a new episode of Food Network's "Unwrapped" last week. Neat.

Dinner. Today, to meet this project's promise of 20 new recipes, I made new recipe #20: Grilled Portabello and Brie Sandwiches. This was very heavily inspired by one of the recipes listed at the Newman's Own website.

While I'm not sure that I had tried portabellos or brie cheese before this recipe, I may try them again soon. The results were actually pretty good. Here's the simple recipe...

Ingredients:

• 4 portobello mushrooms, sliced into strips
• loaf of focaccia bread, thickly sliced
• slices of brie cheese
• Pasta sauce w/ garlic like Newman's Own® Tomato & Roasted Garlic or Classico Roasted Garlic Sauce
  
• fresh basil leaves

Directions:

• Clean and grill the portobellos.
  
• Toast thick french bread slices. Spread pasta sauce on toast.
  
• Add slices of brie and the grilled portobellos.
  
• Top with basil and enjoy! Good stuff.
  

Thanks again for reading and for following me on this journey! 40 days down. None to go. I've finished the Go Veg Project!

Day 39 Or... A Fad?

Is vegetarianism just a fad?

For me, maybe it is. I'll have to wait and see. I am really enjoying this new "lifestyle" but tomorrow is the last day of the Go Veg Project. At this point I plan to eat many, many more meatless meals after the project is over, choosing primarily vegetarian meals. But, I don't know if I'll ever return to full-time, non-stop vegetarianism. Then again, I can't emphasize enough how much I've enjoyed this new diet.

I've recently read several estimates that claim that there are more than 12 million people in the United States who consider themselves vegetarian. I very much understand why so many choose this diet: for health reasons, ethics reasons, etc.

For moment, consider how a widespread vegetarian diet could combat world hunger. Over a billion people could be fed with the food eaten by U.S. livestock. For example, 80% of U.S. corn and 95% of U.S. oats are eaten by livestock. If more people made a serious attempt to cut down on meat, those grains could be used to feed people. Instead, an astonishing amount of grain is used to feed animals that are, in turn, slaughtered only to feed people. So, maybe one vegetarian could really be making the world a better place. It's a little idealistic sure, but it's worth thinking about.

However, it does seem clear to me that vegetarianism, while growing in popularity, is in no way a fad. It's just a good choice to make, if you're crazy enough to try it.

- What did I eat on Day 39?

Breakfast. A banana. The kiddo's favorite fruit.

Lunch. In between my classes, I had a peanut butter and honey sandwich with Doritos.

Dinner. For dinner we tried Amy's Kitchen brand burritos and enchiladas. According to their website, their company is "deeply committed to producing and selling great tasting vegetarian food." While I really appreciate their commitment level and their meatless focus, the food was just okay.

I also made new recipe #19: Newman's Own Bandito Broccoli. It looked great, smelled great, and tasted just plain strange. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

39 days down. One to go.

Day 38 Or... No Meat on Super Bowl Sunday

I've read varying estimates, but the general consensus is that Americans spend tens of millions of dollars on food during Super Bowl Sunday.

What you may not think about is that with the exception of wings and a few pizza toppings, most of that food is vegetarian. Weird huh?

For me, obviously, all of it was vegetarian. The Go Veg Project continues with great success...


- What did I eat on Day 38?

Breakfast. Mmmm... donut.

Lunch. After church today, we had our usual monthly fellowship meal. This month's theme was Italian so I figured it was pretty safe for my diet. [If you're a regular reader, you know that I've consumed a ridiculous amount of pasta during this experiment.] Then again, at the same time, I was a little paranoid.

I thought, "What if there aren't any vegetarian dishes? Or what if there are a couple but they're all gone by the time we get to the plates? I don't think I can eat just plain noodles without sauce."

Carolyn scanned all the different entrees for me and came across both cheese ravioli and cheese tortellini. She was assured that there was no meat involved in either dish, not even in the sauces. There was also a giant pot of steamed carrots, cauliflower and zucchini. And much to my delight, there was plenty life by the time I filled my plate. Delicious.

Dinner. Tonight, we had a little Super Bowl get together with our friends, the Kells. They made wonderful vegetarian-friendly personal pizzas from scratch for everyone. I even got to try vegetarian bacon and vegetarian pepperoni, both of which were pretty good. It was also good fun to hear their kids say things like "Why do they all pile up on each other?" and "Why did he fall down?" while watching the football game.

For our dessert I made new recipe #18: Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake. If you've ever had bananas foster, imagine it served over a tasty coffee cake and that's pretty close to the end result. I'll post the recipe if a reader asks nicely.

For now, I've got lots of grading to do before the morning comes.

38 days down. Only 2 days to go!

Day 37 Or... Keep On Cookin'

Perseverance.
It's not easy to persevere sometimes, particularly when it comes to preparing a new recipe. Luckily, I had been meaning to make a specific vegetarian dinner for days so it was easy to keep on cooking, despite some setbacks.

Tonight, from the "Moosewood Restaurant Low-fat Favorites" cookbook, I made new recipe #16: Potato Cakes (baked, not fried) which was topped with new recipe #17: Mango Peach Chutney. Again, I can post the recipes if you'd like... but you'll have to ask.

It seemed like one thing went wrong after another.

I realized I forgot to buy the dill and parsley for the baked potato cakes, so I had to substitute other spices.

I added the sliced peaches to the saucepan (for the chutney) before I realized they should have been coarsely chopped.

When boiling the potatoes (before breading and baking them) I apparently didn't add enough water, which practically ruined the bottom of the pot I was using. I've boiled potatoes, pasta, etc., countless times and I've never done such a thing before. If you want to buy me a new large saucepan, let me know.

And despite following the recipe as closely as possible, the potato cakes weren't browned when they should have been. Was it the breading, the oil, or my choice to make 10 potato cake "patties" when the recipe claimed it made 14?

Yet somehow, eventually, we got to sit down and eat dinner. Sadly, it didn't live up to the hype that I had created for it in my head.

It wasn't bad but I'm not sure I'll make it again, at least not the chutney. The mix of peaches, mango, onions, brown sugar, vinegar, apple juice, and various spices just was a little too much of an odd-tasting concoction to me, especially with potatoes.

But, I did get to use a new spice, cardamom, for the first time!


- What did I eat on Day 37?

Breakfast. Cold pizza.

Lunch. Reheated pizza.

Dinner. As I've already said, potato cakes topped with mango peach chutney.

37 days down. 3 to go!

Day 36 Or... The Best Laid Plans...

I had every intention of cooking baked potato cakes with mango-peach chutney today.

The Caribbean stew was such a success that I was excited about using the Moosewood cookbook again. Would it again be the blueprint for a yummy meal? When I woke up, I had every intention of cooking not one but two new recipes when I got home from work. However, today was again one of those days that left me feeling absolutely exhausted.

Teaching classes + office hours + an unexpected mini-crisis or two + a late afternoon committee meeting + Friday = zero ambition to cook a meal from scratch when I got home... no matter how good the recipe might be.

So, what's a vegetarian guy to do when he wants to come home and crash? What do you eat on the quick? Well, Isaiah made that simple. After throwing the idea of pizza out there as an option, he proceeded to yell, "Zza! Zza!" until the three of us finally returned from Little Casears with the cheese "zza" in hand. The "hot and ready" pizza certainly wasn't ready, not even close, but I was thankful for it anyway, despite the wait.

Still, at times like tonight, I wish there were more easy vegetarian options in restaurants in the small town of Williamsburg. Even I can get tired of pizza. Maybe I can swing a trip to the Sunspot in Knoxville in the next few days for some awesome vegetarian dining. That would be a nice change of pace...

I'll get to the potato cakes and chutney hopefully sometime before the weekend is through.

- What did I eat on Day 36?

Breakfast. I scarfed down half an apple. Delicious.

Lunch. For lunch Carolyn and I enjoyed the tasty simplicity that is leftover Rotel dip.

Dinner. Little Casesars cheese pizza. Did it taste fantastic? No. Did it add any variety to my diet? No. Was it convenient? Absolutely.

Day 35 Or... I Can Count Them on One Hand.

I remember when 40 days seemed like a very long time to go without meat.

For a very brief moment in time, I confess, I thought it might be too much. Now obviously, it doesn't seem like too much. In fact, I can count days I have left with one hand.

- What did I eat on Day 35?

Breakfast. Oops again.

Lunch. I enjoyed some Lean Cuisine vegetable egg rolls with rice. The meal actually took over 15 minutes to microwave, but it was worth it. Mmmm....

Dinner. After a stressful day, we went with Rotel dip with chips for our evening meal. Then later, I had some celery with peanut butter.

Tomorrow, baked potato cakes with mango-peach chutney!

35 days down. 5 to go.

Day 34 Or... Thankful

As I being the final week of this experiment, I just want to go ahead and say a quick thanks.

Thanks for reading this blog. I recognize that most of my readers are friends, family members, and my students, but also there are actually a few strangers that have stumbled their way here. Wherever you fit along that spectrum, thanks for taking the time to follow me on this journey and for being so supportive thus far.

And speaking of thanks... Thanks to another good friend and faithful reader, we were loaned a copy of "Moosewood Restaurant: Low Fat Favorites." The Moosewood Collective has authored some of the most successful vegetarian cookbooks in history. Moosewood is also an award-winning restaurant in New York state that was called "one of the thirteen most influential restaurants of the 20th century" by none other than "Bon Appetit" magazine.

A quick look through the cookbook has revealed lots of recipes that I want to try. I didn't even know where to start first. I decided that tonight I should make either Caribbean Stew or Bakes Potato Cakes with Mango-Peach Chutney. But, I couldn't decide between the two of them. So, I let my Facebook friends vote and after about 10 votes came in, the consensus was to try the Caribbean stew... new recipe #15. You can find the recipe in the cookbook I mentioned earlier. [If you'd like for me to write out the entire recipe, I can later, just leave me a comment.]

The recipe was a wonderful mix of some admittedly unusual ingredients: Sweet potatoes, chopped onions, allspice, thyme, tomatoes, lemon juice, chiles, cilantro, kale, and zucchini. The recipe claimed that it would "fill the kitchen with a heady, tropical aroma" and that was certainly true for me.

Something about a simple mix of the onions, the thyme, and the allspice really embodied the stereotypical scents of Caribbean cuisine.

I hadn't had kale before and, while it was certainly my least favorite part of this dish, it did help to hold everything else together.

Each bite was something a little different. You'd get a bite that had some spicy heat, a bite that was quite sweet, a bite with semi-crunchy zucchini and kale, a bite of soft sweet potatoes, etc.


In fact, I'm not sure my words, especially my words written this late at night, can do it justice.


- What did I eat on Day 34?

Breakfast. Now that I think about it, I rushed out the door without eating breakfast. Shame.
Lunch. Carolyn and I ate the rest of the leftover pasta.
Dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed the Caribbean stew. I'm actually even looking forward to the leftovers. By far, it's been one of the best things I've consumed during the past 34 days!

34 days down. 6 days to go!

Day 33 Or... One Week Remains

I'm still amazed that after today is through, I'll only have a week left.

In other news, season six of "Lost" begins tonight at 8:00 and goes until 11:00, so I'm posting early and being brief yet again. What can I say? It's the best show on television.

Anyway...

- What did I eat on Day 33?

Breakfast. Does a piece of a co-worker's birthday cake count as breakfast? Because that's all I had prior to lunch today.

Lunch. My wife makes the best mac & cheese in the entire world from scratch and she was nice enough to make me a whole bowl of it for lunch. I would put it up against anybody's mac & cheese. It's that good.

Dinner. I had new recipe #14: Whole wheat penne with green-pepper-packed special sauce. I confess that this is a recipe that I made up on the fly, but it's definitely worth sharing.

To replicate tonight's colorful, green-pepper-packed sauce to add to penne, you'll need a standard size jar of vegetarian-friendly alfredo sauce and about 1/2 a cup of marinara sauce. [I just used what was left of the Sockarooni sauce.]

You'll also need at least a cup of chopped green peppers and some olive oil. For added seasoning, you'll want to have salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and basil handy.

First, saute the chopped green peppers for 3-4 minutes, you can also add 1/8 of a teaspoon of the garlic powder and 1/8 of a teaspoon of the onion powder to this step. This will smell very nice. Then, stir in both the alfredo sauce and the marinara sauce. You'll notice really quickly why I'm calling this a pepper-packed sauce. Then, add about two tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 a teaspoon of basil, and also add salt and pepper to taste. If you think it needs more garlic powder, feel free to add a little more to taste as well.

Continue to heat the sauce, stirring occasionally... then serve over the pasta.

According to my rules, I'm still obligated to try at least six new recipes during the seven days that remain. Sheesh! Thankfully, I have entire vegetarian cookbooks to thumb through as I plan my next seven dinners.

33 days down. 7 to go.

Day 32 Or... Eating Out?

Going out for dinner?

Joanne Stepaniak and Vesanto Melina in their book, "Raising Vegetarian Children" suggest that if a vegetarian goes to a restaurant and wants to find a meatless meal or a vegan meal, it can be embarrassing and certainly a difficult situation.

I haven't found this to be the case yet, and I live in small-town Kentucky, but at times it can be a little challenging.

Stepaniak and Melina recommend that new vegetarians try the following solution: Have a card printed that says something to the degree of "I'm a vegetarian. I don’t eat any meat or anything that contains traces of meat. Do you have any items on your menu that would be appropriate for my lifestyle? If not, would the chef be willing to create something special to suit my dietary restrictions?" Then, when it comes time to order, just hand the waiter the card to avoid any ridicule, any confused looks, and most of all to avoid actually having to actually explain your vegetarian lifestyle out loud.

Does this seem ridiculous to anyone else? Obviously, a vegetarian doesn't want to eat meat because, well, that's what it's all about. But, let me share that while the authors think this will make life much easier on the vegetarian customer, it seems like a dumb and unnecessary step.

I don't know if you've ever worked full-time at a restaurant, but being waiting tables is one of the most frustrating, tiring and thankless jobs in America. I can't imagine handing a waiter (or waitress) a card instead of just talking to them. Other than receiving good tips, it's probably the best part of their job.

You have to imagine a tired waitress approaching a table halfway through her 12-hour shift that happily greets a customer with the hopes of some friendly interaction and a positive experience. Chances are this waitress has been stiffed or short-changed on several tips during the day, despite doing the job to the best of her ability. She smiles and asks if the customer knows what he wants to eat for dinner.

Then, perhaps without even really looking at the menu, the customer sheepishly hands her a card that reveals the dietary bomb that will only further complicate the dining experience for everyone.

Is there any other course of action than handing a waiter such a card? Absolutely.

First of all, vegetarianism has certainly grown in popularity over the past few years which has caused many restaurants to provide options (beyond a basic side salad) to accommodate the preferences of these diners. After all, about 3 out of every 100 adults in America are vegetarians, which makes for literally millions of potential customers.

So, I recommend just checking the menu first. That was the case tonight when I took my family to El Dorado Mexican Restaurant. Right there on page two of their menu, there was a section labeled "vegetarian specials." Needless to say, I didn't hand the waiter a pre-printed card, not that I would have any way. I just ordered a combination of some of their vegetarian-friendly items.

Obviously, there is always an element of trust involved with ordering "vegetarian items" on a menu because a restaurant could be actually including traces of meat in their vegetarian options, but that's okay. There's all kinds of trust involved with it comes to eating out. You also have to trust that the kitchens are clean and that your food is cooked to the proper internal temperature. It just comes with the territory.

Secondly, there are many websites devoted to helping people accurately choose vegetarian options while eating out, especially at restaurant chains. [I'll share some of them in a later post.] If you remember this is how I found out that there's some meat in the green beans at Cracker Barrel. So, before you stress the waiter out, do your homework if you can as a common courtesy.

And third, talk to the waiter. Communicate. If you're sincerely nice, it will make their day better and yours better too. And besides, the least thing a truly passionate vegetarian should do is make their diet seem overly difficult, complicated, or unreasonable. An idea will never catch on if it seems too embarrassing or like too much effort for the average person.

The good news is that despite Stepaniak and Melina's odd recommendation, I am proud to stay that their "idea" doesn't seem to be the norm when it comes to everything I've learned from reading about vegetarianism, talking to vegetarians, and such. This "I'm a vegetarian..." card concept certainly is interesting, but it seems to have "bad idea" written all over it.

- What did I eat on Day 32?

Breakfast. I ate a large bowl of Toasted Cinnamon Squares before heading off in the present winter wonderland for work. I almost fell three times on the walk to the office, but I'm confident that this bowl of cereal drastically helped my balance. ...Okay, so it probably didn't help my balance, but it sure tasted good.

Lunch. I've been eating lots of leftovers for lunch and today was no different. Today, I downed a plate of red beans and rice.

Dinner. I ordered a couple of vegetarian options from El Dorado Mexican Restaurant. I had two very delicious cheese enchiladas and a vegetarian-friendly chalupa. And I didn't even have to hand the waiter an awkward card explaining the Go Veg Project.

32 days down. 8 to go.

Day 31 Or... Vegetarian for a Month

One month.

Let me rephrase that, one month... finished!
If I can be vegetarian for a month, anybody can do it.
How 'bout you try it? I think you'll like it.

- What did I eat on Day 31?

Breakfast. Raisin Bran. It was a hard decision, we have eight boxes of cereal to choose from right now. But, I went with a classic.

Lunch. Leftover rigatoni. Still tasty, even when reheated in the microwave.

Dinner. I had baked potatoes with Sockarooni sauce over them with salad. Now that was a quick, simple, delicious meal!

I have too much to do tonight to make this blog entry much longer, but you should know that as the end date approaches I find myself less and less excited about the possibility of eating meat.
Maybe there's something wrong with me.

31 days down. Just 9 to go!

Day 30 Or... Too Much Pasta

Too much of a good thing?
Lately, I made a conscious decision to take a break from meat substitutes like textured vegetable protein and focus on other meals. Unfortunately, that has resulted in the consumption of lots of pasta and very little else.

Thankfully, a trip to the grocery store is coming soon and with it, lots of new recipes to try for the remainder of the Go Veg Project.

- What did I eat on Day 30?

Breakfast. Cocoa Pebbles. Mmmm...

Lunch. I made some very tasty red beans and rice.

Dinner. Tonight we dined on rigatoni with Newman's Own Sockarooni sauce and we had a fresh salad salad to go with it. Sockarooni sauce, as its name perhaps implies is intended to knock your socks off with its flavorful ingredients: peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and lots of spices. I'd like to add, if I haven't already, that I really love that the labels on Newman's Own sauces say, "P.S. Non-vegetarians add meat as desired." It's much more subtle and welcoming to the non-vegetarians out there than some giant scary "100% vegetarian" label.

30 days down! 10 to go!
Can you believe it?

Day 29 Or... Vegetable Lasagna to the Rescue

Vegetarian dinner for 10?

We had seven members of the campus newspaper staff over tonight which meant a grand total of 10 people for dinner. For a guy that usually cooks for three, the idea of cooking that much vegetarian friendly food seemed overwhelming. Panic

Luckily, I discovered the "party size" version of Stouffer's vegetable lasagna. This lasagna featured layered pasta between a fantastic cheese sauce mixed with carrots, spinach, broccoli and onions then topped with cheesy bread crumbs. And the party size made 12 servings, which made more than enough for everyone.

How was it? It honestly may have been the best lasagna that I've ever had. All those vegetables, tender pasta, and the cheesy Alfredo-esque sauce... delicious. It was a big hit. I think everyone enjoyed it.

Sadly, I couldn't take credit for making such a tasty dish, though I was tempted to pass it off as my own creation. However, I did encourage everyone to write Stouffer's and compliment them on their fine entree. No meat; what a treat!

- What did I eat on Day 29?

Breakfast. I had a banana for breakfast. Then, as a mid-morning snack I bought I lemon pie. Sadly, I'm not sure if there was any real lemon in my lemon pie, but, thankfully, there was no meat.

Lunch. I was in a hurry at lunch but I wolfed down a cheese sandwich.

Dinner. The vegetable lasagna with Italian bread. Yum.

29 days down. 11 to go.

Day 28... There's Beef in That?!?

Last night I purchased a pack of Hostess Cinnamon rolls.
This morning, I woke up excited about devouring a cinnamon roll because I had been craving them for quite some time. But with this great experiment, comes great responsibility.

If I've learned one thing as a part of this Go Veg Project, it's that vegetarians need to read every ingredient list that they can just to be safe. Oddly enough, you never know what will have a trace of meat in it... Jell-O, marshmallows, Cracker Barrel's green beans.

So, before tearing open the package of sweet rolls, I scanned the ingredient list and came across the usual things: flour, sugar, cinnamon, etc. Then, I saw the most unexpected ingredient listed farther down the list... beef fat.

I have to admit that I did a double-take when I read it. A triple-take even. Frantic and dismayed, I thought, "There's no way! Really? Beef fat? There's beef fat in this!?!"

But, it's true. You can pick up a package and check for yourself. That soft, sweet, gooey Hostess cinnamon roll contains more than you ever bargained for. It contains traces of beef fat, that stuff you trim off of your steak because it would be disgusting to eat. I have to admit that 12 hours later, as I write this, I'm still grossed out.

Who would have thought that, by eating a cinnamon roll, I could have ruined the Go Veg Project?

Mmmm... cinnamon rolls anyone?

-What did I eat on Day 28?

Breakfast. No cinnamon roll for me. I did enjoy a juicy pear though. The pear didn't have any beef fat in it.

Lunch. For lunch I had a peanut butter and honey sandwich with some fresh cut apple slices.

Dinner. For dinner, we thought we could make a vegetarian Manwich. PETA's "I can't believe it's vegan" list confirmed that a can of Manwich is meat-free. For me this was really exciting news, because I figured I could just mix my old-favorite Manwich sauce with some TVP meat substitute and have a good meal. I turned to the same trusted "meat" crumbles that had provided the basis for my tasty meatless loaf.

Only, the textured vegetable protein + the Manwich resulted in a mixture that looked like dog food and that tasted horrible. It was a lousy excuse for an entree. I fixed a salad to accompany the french fries, but I couldn't really salvage dinner. Good grief. Who would have thought it would turn out so bad?

28 days down. 12 to go!

Day 27 Or... Pizza, Pizza, Grilled Cheese

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein.

"All normal people love meat. If I went to a barbecue and there was no meat, I would say, 'Yo Goober! Where's the meat?' I'm trying to impress people here... You don't win friends with salad." - Homer Simpson.

- What did I eat on Day 27?

Breakfast. Cold pizza.

Lunch. Warm (microwaved) pizza.

Dinner. Carolyn made me a fantastic grilled cheese sandwich which I enjoyed with fries and celery.

I was especially lacking in the fruits and veggies department today, but there's always tomorrow.

27 days down. 13 to go.

Day 26... Or Two Weeks Remain

Two weeks left. I can hardly believe it. I can eat meat in 14 days. The strangest thing to admit is that some days, I'm not excited about eating meat at all. But, that's a different post for a different day.

Today, thanks to my friend and co-worker Tanna, I received about half a dozen issues of "Vegetarian Times." I haven't looked through them yet, but I'm sure I'll find an interesting nugget or two in there... pun intended. "Vegetarian Times" has been a trusted information source for vegetarians for more than 30 years. I'm excited to find a new recipe or two in the magazines and I'm hopeful that there will be a few articles worth discussing as well.

Also, I'd encourage you to take the "Veg Quiz" that "Vegetarian Times" has posted. And let me know how you do. To be honest, I only missed one of the seven questions: the one about how much iron vegetarians need. Apparently, I've learned a lot during this experiment. I certainly wouldn't have been able to pass the quiz a month ago.

- What did I eat on Day 26?

Breakfast. Kellogg's Raisin Bran is always great. Then, I had half of a juicy pear.

Lunch. Rotel dip with some rolls. 0% healthy. 100% tasty.

Dinner. I had a small spinach salad and Little Caeasar's cheese pizza, which if you remember, is vegetarian friendly.

26 days down. 14 to go!

Day 25 Or... A Hectic Day

I feel overwhelmed. Today was beyond busy and my to-do list should be scoffing at me.

However, thankfully, today was one of those days where being a vegetarian was easy. You could say I'm coasting on the success of yesterday's meatless loaf and, at the same time, I'm encouraged by tonight's Rotel inspired recipe. With only 15 days left of the Go Veg Project, it seems like there's no chance that I won't finish this 40 day experiment.

- What did I eat on Day 25?

Breakfast. Toast and some OJ.

Lunch. The leftover meatless loaf. Again, I maintain that it tastes amazing.

Dinner. New recipe #13: Rotel dip with finely chopped broccoli served over kluski pasta noodles. I'll be honest, I've made Rotel dip before and it is glorious. But, this new variation of adding broccoli and serving it over kluski noodles made for a nice meal.

To make the rotel dip, simply follow the standard recipe for Rotel famous queso dip using Velveeta and 1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies, undrained. Then, while the dip is being heated and mixed, steam about 6 ounces of finely chopped broccoli until it reaches the desired tenderness. At the same time, boil the kluski nooodles according to the package, about 10 minutes. I recommend using Amish Kitchens extra-thick kluski egg noodles.

25 days down. 15 to go.

Day 24 Or... Meatless Loaf

I've always enjoyed meatloaf much more than the average person. Trust me. There's probably a bar graph somewhere to prove it, or at least there should be. I'm probably the only reason that the meatloaf sandwich exists on menus of restaurants like Cracker Barrel.

So, when I gave up meat, you can imagine that I had written off meatloaf as something I couldn't enjoy for 40 days. It's a loaf of meat for crying out loud.

Then, while browsing some vegetarian recipes at the Morningstar Farms website, I came across a recipe for "meatless loaf." It sounded like an oxymoron to say the least... perhaps the equivalent of hot ice cream or toast without bread. Yet, the curiosity got the best of me and I made it for dinner tonight.

Using some TVP crumbles, onions, celery, bread crumbs, eggs, Italian seasoning and ketchup, I waited patiently as the concoction baked in the oven for an hour. It smelled fantastic, but my experience in vegetarian cooking has told me that a pleasing smell doesn't guarantee good eats.

My beautiful wife and I raised our forks and gave each other a quick look of uneasiness, then we took our first bite. At that point, Isaiah was already verbally asking for more, but that wasn't enough to set our minds at ease.

I have to tell you that it honestly tasted amazing. It obviously didn't taste exactly like meat, but it did taste savory and flavorful. Carolyn pointed out that it tasted like Stovetop stuffing and in a way it did. At the same time, it also tasted a lot like the traditional meatloaf that I had been missing for weeks. I didn't have to pep talk myself into thinking that it tasted fabulous, because it really was great. We demolished almost the entire half-pound of "meatless loaf."

This goes to show you, that you can't judge a book by its cover and you can't judge a recipe by its name.

- What did I eat on Day 24?

Breakfast. Honey Graham Ohs. The box is almost empty, luckily it reminds me that Honey Graham Ohs are "always a great value!"

Lunch. Leftover vegetarian fajitas... not so good.

Dinner. New recipe #12: Meatless loaf courtesy of those good folks at Morningstar Farms. I've had a love-hate relationship with Morningstar Farms over the past 24 days, but this recipe was as easy as making ordinary meatloaf and it tasted great! I also had mashed potatoes and green beans on the side. Tasty. "Meatless loaf" sounds beyond strange, but even Carolyn agrees that this is one of the best things I've made during the Go Veg Project.

A success!
24 days down. 16 days to go.

Day 23 Or... The Attack of the Tempeh

You may remember that I purchased tempeh at the Happy Meadow.

I had no idea what made good tempeh, but weeks ago I bought Lightlife three grain tempeh. It's basically cultured organic soybeans with organic millet, organic brown rice, and organic barley.

The package claims that this particular tempeh is "a light mellow tempeh that would grace even an emperor's table." Sounds nice doesn't it? On the package, there's even a nice little symbol that tells me that this is tempeh certified vegan by the Vegan Awareness Foundation.

I was beyond unsure of what to make with the tempeh, but we ended up making barbecue tempeh sandwiches on a skillet. The cooking process was really quick and simple and there were actually very few ingredients required, which was also a plus.


And as things were finishing up, the apartment smelled fantastic, if for no other reason than the fact that the tempeh was smothered in BBQ sauce and cooking with some onions and peppers.

But how did it taste? To be honest, it was only so-so. I can't describe how much more I enjoyed tempeh than tofu. The tempeh had a firm texture that did a decent job in emulating meat. However, in some bites I could really taste the brown rice and barley in this tempeh and eating barbecued brown rice is about as tasty as it sounds. Still, tempeh was certainly worth a try. Isaiah, as you can see from the picture, really liked it.

I may even cook tempeh another way before this project is through.

Now I just have to convince Carolyn to shop at the Happy Meadow again.

- What did I eat on Day 23?

Breakfast. Quaker Honey Graham Ohs. Oh yes.

Lunch. My parents took us to Cracker Barrel and I could tell my dad was a little nervous about my food options there. When he first suggested it, I assumed I could simply order a four-vegetable plate and be fine. However, I'm glad I did a little research.

You see, a quick search led to the following statement that also appeared on their dinner menu in small print: "We want to make sure you know that some of our offerings, like Turnip Greens, Green Beans, Corn Muffins, Hashbrown Casserole and Pinto Beans, are made the old-fashioned way using meat seasonings and are not strictly vegetarian." It turns out I couldn't order green beans or hashbrowns without traces of meat in my vegetable plate. How strange.

So, I just had some very delicious blueberry pancakes. If there are traces of meat in their pancakes, please don't tell me; I don't want to know.

Dinner. I moderately enjoyed new recipe #10: Barbeque Tempeh sandwiches from allrecipes.com. Additionally, I steamed some green beans and I also made new recipe #11, a simple dish of roasted potatoes from Wayne Brachman's book "See Dad Cook."

23 days down. 17 to go.

Day 22 Or... How Does It Taste?

So, what do you think?
When someone tries a new vegetarian meal with me I always ask how it tastes. For the most part, over the past three weeks, I've really enjoyed my new dining options, but I constantly crave feedback. Sometimes, but rather rarely, my vegetarian cooking skills impress even the most skeptical eater.

Unfortunately, the much more common response after dinner is, "It actually wasn't that bad." This, in my surprisingly accurate opinion, can be swiftly translated into "It actually wasn't that good."

My wife and little boy continue to at least try every strange recipe and meat-substitute product that I serve them and several friends have also been really gracious in trying new things.

Tonight, after some friends dined on textured vegetable protein made to taste like chicken patties, again I was told, "It actually wasn't that bad."

I tried not to translate the phrase in my head. I tried not to picture the old hecklers Statler and Waldorf from the balcony of "The Muppet Show" saying, "It wasn't half bad." "I know... it was all bad!"

I'm still searching for a few more vegetarian recipes that can really wow the average meat-eater. In the meantime, this weekend I will be cooking tempeh and also making a meatless meatloaf.

- What did I eat on Day 22?

Breakfast. Does an E.L. Fudge cookie count as breakfast? Because that's all I had before rushing off to the office.

Lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed a heaping bowl of Mom's Best Naturals Toasted Cinnamon Squares cereal. It tasted just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I think Mom's Best may be a cereal company worth checking out. The company has been family owned for generations and there's nothing artificial in their cereals: no added saturated fat or hydrogenated oils, and no high fructose corn syrup. Their cereal is also about half the price of the big name brands, but tastes fantastic at the same time.

Dinner. As I mentioned earlier, we had "chicken" sandwiches with spinach and the Morningstar Farms "Chick Patties."

I'm really nervous about this weekend's recipes, but they should make for some interesting posts to say the least.

22 days down. 18 to go.

Day 21 Or... It Isn't Always Easy

Most people will tell you that being a vegetarian isn't easy. Depending on what day it is, I definitely might tell you that isn't easy.

Even though this is, by my own estimation a temporary lifestyle change for me, it obviously does bring its own sets of challenges. In fact, today I came across a recent Dear Abby letter that dealt with vegetarianism.

A vegetarian of five years sent in a letter asking for advice about how to deal with people that are still making fun about a lack of meat eating. You know, the people who gaze at a vegetarian's salad and oh-so-cleverly say, "Carrots have feelings, too."

Abby's response was, "Sorry, there is no one-size-fits-all snappy one-liner. But take comfort in the fact that a growing number of people are choosing to avoid meat and poultry not only for the ethical reasons, but also because they prefer to avoid the hormones and antibiotics used in the production of these food products."

While I can't say I am that familar with the Dear Abby letters, (I found the story by doing a Google News search for "vegetarian") I do agree with her response.

While my friends, family, students and co-workers have been overwhelmingly supportive of this little project, my meatless diet is occasionally accompanied by a joke, a bewildered look, or a enthusiastic response about how tasty animal flesh is. And I'm okay with that.

On one hand, this project wouldn't have been worth starting if being a vegetarian was something that I completely understood. Also, I can tell you, just with my 21 days of experience, that being a vegetarian, even temporarily, isn't going to automatically give you the gold medal in any popularity contest.

And on the other hand, a quick reminder of the many benefits of vegetarianism should be enough to help a non-meat-eater deal with a little ridicule: A vegetarian diet can spare animals, save you money, reduce famine, reduce pollution, and help your health... just to name a few.

Then again, perhaps the intermittent teasing is easier for me to face because I have an end date for the Go Veg Project that is quickly approaching...

- What did I eat on Day 21?

Breakfast. Today was my first day back on the air at WCCR 94.5, our campus radio station. I barely made it there in time for my shift... without eating breakfast.

Lunch. The last of the leftover salad from the newspaper staff's get-together.

Dinner. By dinner, I felt like I was starving. Obviously, I wasn't actually starving, but I was hungry. Very hungry. I wanted to make a new recipe, but make something that I felt would be really filling and quick to prepare. So, I made up my own recipe, new recipe #9: Deluxe vegetarian fajitas. How did they taste? Pretty good, especially for my own original creation.

Here's how you can make them:

Ingredients:

• Flour tortillas
  
• 2 tbsp. oil, divided
• Four veggie patties totaling roughly 9.5 ounces strips.
• 1 lb. bag of sugar snap peas frozen stir fry. (If they have it at the Walmart in Williamsburg, Kentucky... you can find it anywhere.)
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1 package of stir fry seasoning mix (McCormick for example)

Directions:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the cut strips of veggie burger and cook until they reach an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees (about 5 minutes).
• Remove the veggie burger strips from the skillet and add the other tablespoon of oil. Then add the sugar snap pea stir fry mix. This will include peppers, broccoli, squash, water chestnuts, carrots, and obviously sugar snap peas. Cook for approximately 5 minutes then add the veggie burger strips back into the skillet.
• Stir in the water and the seasoning mix. Stir for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.
• Spoon the mixture onto warm tortillas and enjoy!

For now, 21 days down. 19 to go.

Day 20 Or... Halfway

Today I am halfway through with the Go Veg Project.

As they say, it's all downhill from here.
If I've lasted 20 days as a vegetarian, I can survive 20 more.

- What did I eat on Day 20?

Breakfast. I had a few bites of Kashi GOLEAN Crunch on my way out the door.

Lunch. For lunch, I ate the leftover spaghetti from last night... still very tasty.


Dinner. I had a spinach salad with Morningstar Farms "Chik’n Nuggets." In contrast to my recent bad experiences with textured vegetable protein burgers, I really liked the "chicken" nuggets.

I can't emphasize how much they tasted like the chicken patties I had in the school cafeteria growing up. It makes me wonder if there was any real chicken on my lunch tray on chicken sandwich day. It may have been soy "chicken." I guess I'll never know.

20 days down. 20 days to go.

Day 19 Or... Vegetarian Eating Without Effort

Chances are you have a vegetarian meal occasionally without trying.

Tonight my wife and I invited the executive staff of our student newspaper over to the apartment to hang out. After an initial awkwardness (of gathering in my living room instead of the newspaper office) we had a really good time.

And the nine of us (Isaiah included) had a nice vegetarian meal. No tofu. No textured vegetable protein meat substitutes. We had a salad, spaghetti, and focaccia bread.

One of the comments I've heard about this blog from friends is that they are surprised about how many "normal" things you can eat as a vegetarian. And it's true. Sure you have a few less options without meat, but there are lots of foods out there to enjoy, many that you eat on a regular basis.

Think about what you ate over the last week. Did you have a vegetarian meal without trying? It's very possible.

- What did I eat on Day 19?

Breakfast. I had too much to do this morning to eat breakfast.

Lunch. I finally finished the last of the leftover enchiladas.

Dinner. Whole wheat spaghetti with Newman's Own marinara sauce. A salad (with lettuce, carrots, spinach, and cucumbers). Focaccia bread. And a piece of chocolate cake.

It's also probably worth pointing out that each jar of Newman's Own reminds you in small print "non-vegetarians can add meat." It's subtle, fun, and it reminds you that the ingredients are completely vegetarian-friendly.

Also, there are no pictures from tonight's meal, but if you've seen spaghetti before, then you know what dinner looked like.

19 days down. 21 days to go.
Tomorrow I reach the halfway mark.

Day 18 Or... In Search of A Tempeh Recipe

The clock is ticking.
The tempeh in my fridge has a sticker on it claiming that I need to use it by the 23rd. That's just a few days away!

So, I need a good tempeh recipe to use and I need that recipe soon.

What is tempeh? Tempeh is made from cooked and slightly fermented soybeans and it's formed into a patty of sorts. It's made from soy like tofu. But according to About.com, unlike tofu tempeh supposedly has a unique and distinct flavor. I'll find out soon enough.

- What did I eat on Day 18?

Breakfast. A juicy pear. Oh how I love pears. They're the most underrated fruit.

Lunch. Kashi GOLEAN Crunch!

Dinner. I admit it. I broke one of my rules. Don't panic; I didn't eat meat.

However, one of my goals during this project was not to have the same dinner twice in a single week. Yet tonight I had vegetarian enchiladas again. If you're counting, I've had them two nights in a row. That's what happens when your recipe makes 10 large enchiladas and you have five tasty ones left in the fridge the next day... you enjoy more of a good thing.

I couldn't let the tastiness go to waste.

In fact, there's even one more left which will probably be lunch tomorrow.

18 days down. 22 to go.

Day 17 Or... I Almost Forgot to Post Today

Today was a busy day.

In fact, it was so busy that I almost completely forgot about writing for this blog today. [Did you notice this was posted at 11:57 p.m. on the 17th?]

Rest assured that I didn't forget about my vegetarian diet though.

Can you believe I'm almost halfway through with the Go Veg Project?
Incredible.

To be honest though, all the reports that I've seen about the crisis in Haiti have been weighing on me heavy this weekend. The devastation is truly catastrophic. At times it seems really odd to give a lot of thought about my specific vegetarian food choices when there are so many in need of simple things like water, food, and medical supplies.


- What did I eat on Day 17?

Breakfast. A glazed donut.

Preview

Lunch. A Morningstar Farms "tomato & basil pizza burger." Thanks to my Burger King/Morningstar Farms experience from a few days ago, I may done with textured vegetable protein burgers for a little while.

Dinner. For dinner, I tried a fantastic new vegetarian enchilada recipe. It's actually new recipe #8. The enchiladas were delicious! Thanks for the recipe Tanna.

Here's how you can make them:

Ingredients:

• 10 fat free flour tortillas
• 16 oz. bag of frozen peppers/onion blend
• 1 16 oz. can of Old El Paso Fat Free Spicy Refried Beans
• 1 10 oz. can of Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce
• 1 Package of Mexican Rice (though I actually used 2 packages)
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare the rice according its directions. In a large skillet saute the pepper and onion blend until tender. Add the refried beans and cooked rice to the skillet. Then, add a couple tablespoons of the enchilada sauce to the mixture.

Next, spray a 13x9 baking dish (Pyrex) with non-stick cooking spray. Place 3 tablespoons of enchilada sauce into the dish and lightly coat the bottom of the dish. Place about 1/3 of a cup of the mixture into the center of each tortilla. Roll each tortilla and place them seam side down in the dish. Then, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Next, evenly distribute the cheese on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

Who missed having meat? Not me.

Until next time...
17 days down. 23 to go.

Day 16 Or...The Gradual Return of Hunger

Eating is significantly better than not eating. For a variety of reasons.

My recent lack of appetite, due to a very minor episode of feeling sick, has left me with rather short and presumably uninteresting blog posts. Let me sure you that this is not a sign of things to come over the next few weeks of the project. It's just a natural result of a blog centered around my consumption of vegetarian-friendly food.

Luckily today, I returned to my "normal" eating habits.

This morning around 7:30 I awoke with a remarkable amount of energy. For the first time in, I'm not really sure when, I got up to play with and feed Isaiah while Carolyn went back to sleep. We had a lot of fun and I'm sure my lovely wife enjoyed sleeping in a few minutes more.

I went on to make homemade biscuits for breakfast. I realized while I was stirring the dough that I was excited about cooking for the first time in a couple of days, which meant I was excited about eating again. Which, I admit, is a strange thing to be so sincerely thrilled about. It felt good to eat more than one biscuit. Having meat with it, was thankfully, the farthest thing from my mind.

However, by lunch, I had about 30 meal options with meat and only one without.

Carolyn, Isaiah, and I had traveled to visit our good friend Dakota and we decided to choose Subway for lunch. As you know, from the horribly repetitive ad campaign, Subway is home to the $5 footlong. And those options include the meatball sub, the black forest ham, the oven roasted chicken, and the "spicy italian" that features both pepperoni and salami.

What did I order? I ordered their not-so-famous Veggie Delite. To be honest, while it was a little hard to see the three other people at the table bite into their meat-filled sandwiches, I have been a fan of their veggie sub for more than a year. I tried it a good while back when I noticed that by the time I loaded a turkey sub up with lettuce, onions, spinach, pickles, bell peppers, banana peppers, and sweet onion sauce... I couldn't taste the meat anymore anyway. In fact, my longtime enjoyment of Subway's veggie sub was a huge motivator that I could actually survive this Go Veg Project.

And so, after a couple days of not enjoying food, this was like the return of a familiar friend. A friend that you can buy for five bucks and then eat in the company of friends and family. Okay, so it wasn't really like a friend at all.

Yet, I must say, this Veggie Delite (on Italian bread) tasted phenomenal. I'm not sure if my photos really do it justice, but this was also the best looking veggie sub I've ever received at a Subway. It could have been straight out of a commercial.

In the past when I've ordered the Veggie Delite, the "sandwich artist" (which what they're really called by the way) almost always noticeably tries to fight back the confused and befuddled look of "why someone would order a sandwich without meat." Then they typically proceed not to put that many veggies on the "Veggie Delite" because... who would really want to eat all those vegetables?

Very rarely does an employee realize that because there's no meat, I actually want a magnanimous amount of veggies on my sandwich. This sandwich artist, however, defied what had become my expectations of what the veggie sub should look like.

Obviously, I was pleased with the sandwich and couldn't eat much more than half of it. Which is why that "half" also made an excellent dinner. You should try one.

And Subway, if you pay me a large amount of cash, I'll be glad to write more about how much I delight in your Veggie Delite. Otherwise, despite my good experience with it today, I probably won't eat one for a while. As they say, variety is the spice of life.


- What did I eat on Day 16?

Breakfast. I ate two biscuits made using my latest recipe of choice. With strawberry preserves. Mmmmm.

Lunch. The Subway Veggie sub. I ordered a $5 footlong, but no, I didn't sing that song. And believe it or not, I actually couldn't finish it. I also enjoyed Baked Lay's potato chips with it.

Later, Carolyn and I shared a chocolate milkshake at the Dairy Bar in Whitley City, Kentucky. Check that place out if you're ever in the area.

Dinner. The rest of my "Veggie Delite." A little random, and pointless, trivia for you about this sandwich. In his appropriately titled book, "Jared, the Subway Guy," Jared Fogle, ate the footlong Veggie Delite for each and every dinner during his now well-publicized "diet" and exercise program that resulted in his amazing weight loss.

16 days down. 24 to go.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try a new recipe I think.

Day 15 Or... It's Easy to Be Vegetarian If You Don't Have An Appetite

I don't like food any more.

Okay, so that's not exactly true. I think about eating food and I feel much better than I did yesterday, just for the record. I just don't feel up to eating much yet. Which makes it very easy not to eat meat.

I just wish I didn't have salads and yogurts and puddings and such going to waste in the fridge.


- What did I eat on Day 15?

Breakfast. A bite of banana bread.

Lunch. A piece of cheese pizza.

Dinner. Nuts! They were mixed.

Day 14 Or.. I Don't Feel Good

I got sick last night. I sincerely blame Burger King's veggie burger.

In other words, I haven't felt good at all day today.
So, I haven't really eaten anything.

Hopefully, I'll be 100% tomorrow.

- What did I eat on Day 14?

A few bites of bread. That is all.

14 days down. 26 to go.

Day 13 Or... The BK Veggie

What does a vegetarian order at Burger King?

Burger King has had the slogan "Have It Your Way" since the '70s. But what if having it "your way" means having no meat. Can you still order a burger? Absolutely.

In 2004, Burger King partnered with my friends at Morningstar Farms to create the BK Veggie. You guessed it. It's a veggie burger. To the best of my knowledge, Burger King is the only major fast food chain to feature a veggie burger.

My family and I walked into the Burger King and in my head I said, "I have a bad feeling about this." I felt like I was being bombarded with photos and ads for Whoppers and steakhouse burgers, which both sounded really good 13 days into this experiment. But, we were already there.

It felt really odd ordering a veggie burger at the home of the Whopper. I think I even kind of mumbled when I ordered.

I noticed the wrapper for the BK Veggie had an image of two buns with a letter "v" where the beef patty should be. This image was checked to let me and anyone else know that this indeed was the veggie burger.

When I unvielled the burger, I knew that it wasn't fooling anyone. There's no way it looked like anything but a veggie burger. But how would it taste?

Well, I'll spare you the analysis of how it tasted.
Just know that it wasn't good.


- What did I eat on Day 13?

Breakfast. Banana bread. So good. And we're almost finished with all those ripe bananas we received a couple days ago.

Lunch. Lots of the leftover carrot slaw with Club crackers. Tasty!

Dinner. The BK Veggie and Apple Fries.

Just as I predicted, this was a relatively short post today. And that's okay.

13 days down. 27 days to go.

Day 12 Or...Do You Really Want To Know What Jell-O Gelatin is Made Of?

If you don't want to know what Jell-O is made of, stop reading now.

Seriously. If you even enjoy an occassional taste of gelatin, today is probably not the day to read my blog. There are some good recipes in the "What did I eat on Day 12" section, so skip ahead there if you want. You've been warned.

That being said, I have to say that I have always enjoyed Jell-O gelatin. When I started researching vegetarianism for this project, I found out that gelatin was listed again and again in the books I was reading as something I couldn't eat as a part of this experiment. Weird right? I wanted to know why.

I vaguely remember reading a David Crowder book that randomly mentioned that I didn't want to know what Jell-O was made of. But now, I know why Crowder chooses to avoid gelatin. And I can't say I blame him.

I know what you're thinking. "Jell-O isn't meat. Is it!?!"

Well, according to Snopes.com, it kind of is. Jell-O pudding is vegetarian friendly, but Jell-O gelatin has some secret ingredients that the folks at Kraft tend not to publicize.

Gelatin is made from animal bones and hides. The production of gelatin starts with the boiling of bones, skins, and hides of cows and pigs. This process causes the animal tissues to release a collagen full of protein. That collagen is filtered several times, dried, and ground into the powder that is inside the colorful, friendly-looking Jell-O box that you buy at Walmart. It acts as a nice thickening agent that helps the Jell-O Jigglers... jiggle.

This same collagen-producing process is used to make the gelatin that is in the marshmallows that you put in your hot chocolate.

That's food for thought.

- What did I eat on Day 12?

Breakfast. Somehow, for some unknown reason, friends of ours ended up with dozens of ripe bananas. Thankfully, they shared them with us. And what do you do when you end up with about 20 ripe bananas? You eat them before they go bad.

This resulted in new recipe #6: Feniger's Banana Bread. I don't know how Carolyn found this recipe, but I'm so glad she did. It's the perfect banana bread. Not too sweet. No nuts. Very flavorful. Completely scrumptious.

Lunch. I tried the leftover Morningstar Farms Asian Veggie patties again. They weren't any better a second time. I'm not buying those again.

Dinner. I had a variation of a peanut butter and banana sandwich. New recipe #7 is a slight variation of Elvis' Favorite Tea Sandwiches, which is actually a recipe from a Deen Brothers cookbook. Here's my adaptation of their recipe:

Ingredients for Elvis' Favorite Sandwich:

• • 8 slices white or wheat bread
  • 2 bananas, peeled and cut into small slices
  • 1/2 cup JIF "Peanut Butter & Honey"
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter melted

Directions:

• Using a round cookie cutter, punch circles out of each slice of bread, eliminating the crust. Spread half the circle slices with roughly 1 tablespoon of the "JIF peanut butter & honey" each. Place banana slices on top of each of the "JIF peanut butter & honey" covered circles and mash slightly with a fork. Drizzle each banana slice with a little extra honey. Top with the remaining bread circles.
• Preheat broiler. Transfer the sandwiches to a baking sheet. Brush the tops of the sandwiches with melted butter. Broil about 1 minute or until just golden... but keep an eye on them. They'll toast up really fast. But, if you do it right, they will be beyond delicious.
  

I also made a new recipe I got from my co-worker, friend, and faithful reader Marianne.
New recipe #8 is carrot salad/slaw. Here's her recipe.

Ingredients for Carrot slaw/salad:

• 1 pound medium carrots, peeled
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (or tarragon or a combination)
• Salt
  
• Buttery crackers, small biscuits or hot, crusty baguettes, for serving.

Directions:

• Grate carrots into matchstick pieces using a food processor, a mandolin or a sharp knife. Transfer to a bowl. Whisk lemon juice and oil together, pour over carrots, and toss. Add parsley and toss. Add salt to taste. Serve with crackers, biscuits or bread.

I devoured this meal. The toasted peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich is one of the best things I've ever ate. And as an added bonus, it got rid of a couple more bananas.

And while the carrot slaw didn't wow me with my very first bite, when I scooped lots of it up on a buttery cracker I really enjoyed it. Carolyn called the slaw "refreshing" and she was exactly right... as usual. I found myself eating all the slaw on my plate... twice. It actually got better with each bite. It was a very simple recipe that I'll be sure and make again. Thanks Marianne!

Classes start tomorrow at the University of the Cumberlands, so my blog entries may get a little shorter over the next few days as I get back into my normal routine of teaching. Still, I'll keep on writing if you'll keep reading.

As always, I welcome your comments.

12 days down. 28 to go.