Day 6 Or... Pushing the Cart Past the Meat Section

Grocery shopping without purchasing meat. It's strange; trust me.

I have to admit it's an odd feeling, pushing the cart around the grocery store and avoiding the various meat products. I never really realized how often I bought chicken, ground turkey, sausage, and beef until I had the opportunity to completely bypass those sections of the grocery store again this afternoon. "Don't need that. Don't need that. Don't need any of that either. Weird."

If you get frustrated at how long it takes you to get your grocery shopping done, it could save a few minutes of your time. It also feels really good to fill the cart with vegetables. Yeah, I feel a little trendy, but also pretty healthy doing it. I wonder if the cashier will be amazed at my little array of fresh fruits and vegetables: bananas, mangoes, squash, broccoli, green beans, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, and celery.

Also, I secretly imagine that a fellow shopper or even the cashier will ask me, "What are you a vegetarian or something?" Then, I can follow up immediately with a long discourse about my Go Veg Project and how crazy it feels at times. Then, I realize that a stranger could really care less about what I'm purchasing. I mean, I don't even look at other people's carts. It seems like a strange invasion of privacy to me.

And I realize that by not buying all that meat, I can afford to buy all those vegetables that I previously called "too expensive."

What did I eat on Day 6?

Breakfast. I actually forgot to eat breakfast. I slept late and then got carried away working on a syllabus for the spring semester. Oops.

Lunch. Having forgotten breakfast, I was really craving cereal. So I enjoyed some Kashi GOLEAN Crunch. Are you impressed by my variety of cereal selections yet? I also, had some dried mango slices. Mmmm.

Dinner. Our friends, the Kells, came over for dinner. And while I could have cooked meat for them, they were kind enough to be supportive friends. So, they were served a vegetarian dinner, which I'm pretty sure scared them initially. They have a couple of small kids, so I knew that tonight wouldn't be a good night to try a new experimental vegetarian dish.

So, we had a large salad (with lots of fresh cut veggies), fries, and some more Morningstar Farms veggie burgers. These were made with their "Garden Veggie Patties" which actually contain more veggies (carrots, mushrooms, water chestnuts, peppers) than textured vegetable protein. And they either really liked the food, or they were very gracious. Denny even had a second burger.

And FYI these "Garden Veggie Burgers" actually won the Chef's Best Award for Best Taste.

For now, 6 days down. 34 to go.

Day 5 Or... My Trips to Little Caesars and Happy Meadow

There are more vegetarians than you think. Before I started this project, I had met about half a dozen vegetarians in my entire life. Growing up in small town Kentucky as a teen, I assumed that perhaps only radical celebrities pursued such a diet.

As I continue researching vegetarianism and talking about it, I've found out that vegetarians are everywhere. Coworkers, family members, long lost friends, old roommates. They're a minority of sorts, but they're there.

According to the U.S. 2000 census, there are approximately 5.7 million adult vegetarians in the United States.

In fact, I came across this fact, when Carolyn's mom, Donna, mentioned that we should order pizza for lunch. My mind raced. How do I eat out as a vegetarian? I didn't know exactly. I hadn't done it yet. And I knew that pizza could be a tricky order. The initial thought might be to simply make sure that the pizza doesn't have meat as a topping and go for it. But, there's actually more to it than that.

For example, several pizza chains include meat in their pizza sauce. Which makes it unsuitable for committed vegetarians. Vegans would also have to worry about the pizza dough containing whey, not to mention that troublesome milk in cheese. I was mostly just worried about the sauce. I wondered, "Is there a pizza chain that will cater to new my new diet?"

As I began to Google the word "vegetarian" alongside the name of each major pizza chain, I came to an interesting conclusion. You probably have to do some digging if you're really concerned about whether or not your favorite restaurant's pizza is vegetarian friendly. This now crucial information seemed missing from the official websites of Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns. Thankfully, Little Caesars proudly displayed their answer to my quandary. They even clearly cited the census statistic about vegetarianism that I mentioned above.

As their website states, "...Vegetarians would like more food choices when they eat out. Little Caesars is proud to offer many menu items that are suitable for vegetarians. Little Caesars' pizza crust is made with a quality, high-protein flour and contains no animal products or by-products. The sauce is made from crushed tomatoes and is seasoned with a special blend of herbs and spices - it also is made without animal by-products. Little Caesars wants to help meet the growing needs of our vegetarian customers."

So, needless to say, for lunch, I enjoyed some cheese pizza courtesy of Little Caesars.

Later, I also traveled to the Happy Meadow Natural Foods store in Berea with Carolyn and her sister Angela. The store did meet some of the hippie stereotypes I had heard about it, but I was also pretty impressed with their selection of organic foods, gluten-free options, vegetarian options, and farm fresh foods.

I picked up some firm tofu and some tempeh there. I also bought some unflavored textured vegetable protein, which I may turn into my own homemade veggie burger before this experiment is through. Expect to read about my cooking experiences with tofu, tempeh and TVP in the near future.

Also, for fun, I bought a Tofutti Cutie. A Tofutti Cutie is basically a dairy-free ice cream sandwich. I was expecting it to taste gross, but I wanted to try to to see what vegans might eat when they craved ice cream. Turns out, it tasted great... just like an ordinary ice cream sandwich.

The moral of today's shopping experience, is that while shopping as a vegetarian is certainly more complicated, it is actually kind of fun.

- What did I eat on Day 5?
Breakfast. Honey Bunches of Oat with Almonds.

Lunch. Little Caesars cheese pizza. It was even hot and ready; just like it was supposed to be.

Dinner. My family and I had dinner with an old friend, John Bailey, and his family. It was so good to catch up with him and get to know his wife and baby a little bit. I found out that great company makes a Papa Leno's vegetarian sub taste even better.

Vegetarian Times claims that just over 3% of American adults are vegetarians. I'll continue to be a part of that statistic for five weeks as this project continues.

I can even eat out twice in one day and stick with my new vegetarian lifestyle.

5 days down. 35 to go.

A note for all of you waiting for pictures: I seem to have misplaced my digital camera, but I'll post a few pictures from today when I can find it.

As always, I really appreciate that you took the time to read this blog.

Day 4 Or... Why I've Never Been So Excited to See Spinach

Fear.

That's what I was dealing with almost all day today.
This afternoon, we traveled to Nicholasville, Kentucky to celebrate Carolyn's grandpa's birthday.
What was I afraid of? I wasn't afraid of the snow falling down on the roadways or that the temperature was in the teens. The roads seemed fine overall. I wasn't afraid of going completely bonkers from listening to Isaiah's Baby Signing Time CD the entire way there. Some of Rachel's songs are actually pretty careful. And I wasn't afraid of the big family gathering. While I'm usually really quiet around groups of people, Carolyn's family is made up of a fantastic group of people that are a whole lot of fun.

Well then, what was I afraid of? Lasagna.
Which is really strange, because it's by far one of my favorite foods. And today, I was dreading it beyond reason.

I had heard that we were having lasagna for dinner and I quickly realized that that probably meant no lasagna for me. Meat does usually play a starring role after all.

I was worrying about the temptation that I would face. Could I really say no to lasagna? Homemade lasagna?!? It would be very difficult to say the least. It would be like Cookie Monster saying no to cookies or Urkel saying no to cheese. Inconceivable.

One bite of heavenly lasagna with beef and the Go Veg Project would be over. Or at least a failure. And I thought about my many, many devoted readers. All five of you. Would you rally outside my apartment with picket signs and homemade t-shirts declaring me a failure?

I couldn't let that happen.

So, I prepared myself mentally. I prayed for strength. In my head, I practiced saying, "That's okay. I don't think I'll have any lasagna. This salad is plenty enough for me. Whew! I'm stuffed already!" I decided that I could just eat lots of bread while at least enjoying the smell of meaty lasagna. I even told myself that I could always gorge on the birthday cake after the meal.

When mealtime rolled around, I was just hoping that meat wouldn't end up on my plate. What made the whole experience harder was the fact that I was going to help my 16-month old little boy eat his lasagna. I wondered, "If I end up touching the beef on his lasagna, would it break my vegetarian diet if I just licked my fingers a little bit?" Unfortunately, the answer seemed like yes.

The good news, during the moments leading up to dinner time, was that two people attending the party, Michael and Melanie, were also vegetarians. I breathed a sigh of relief. Moral support! And I mentally acknowledged that they are probably more passionate about not eating meat than I am about eating or not eating... well... anything. At the same time, they were seasoned pros at this.

I, on the other hand, wasn't sure I'd finish four consecutive days of a vegetarian diet.

When the lasagna was served, I noticed that they had some on their plates too. Right there with their salad, bread, and fruit. Then a plate of lasagna almost magically appears before me. My wife casually tells me that it's spinach lasagna. There's not any meat in it!

Initially, I felt cautious, but then overjoyed!

At that moment, I thought that I should forcefully gather everyone together for some kind of giant group hug or perhaps a deafeningly loud victory cheer... to celebrate that all was right in the world.

Instead, I just ate lasagna.

- What did I eat on Day 4?

Breakfast. A banana and then a cinnamon roll. One was much healthier than the other.

Lunch. Pasta with broccoli and some carrots on the side. Do most vegetarians eat this much pasta in a week?

Dinner. Spinach lasagna. And a salad and bread and fruit and cake. But, let me say it again, spinach lasagna.

Do you remember those old Popeye cartoons where Bluto would be beating Popeye to a pulp when they were fighting over the affections of Olive Oil? [Which never made much sense to me because Olive Oil isn't much of a looker, but anyway.] Do you remember how excited Popeye would get when he found some spinach? You probably do.

But do you really know how he felt? I didn't until today. Because of the spinach, the Go Veg Project continues.

4 days down, 36 to go. Ten percent finished!

Day 3 Or.. Textured Vegetable Protein + Lots of Flavors = Buffalo Wings and Cheeseburgers

100% Vegetarian. That's what the Morningstar Farms package of "Buffalo Wings" says. The package also promised that the veggie wings inside would have "Buffalo wing taste with a crispy, golden breading -- hot and spicy!" I was as skeptical as you would be. Trust me.

What do vegetarians do when they crave a cheeseburger, or sausage, or buffalo wings? They could completely forget their lifestyle choice and plunge into some meat, but that's not very likely. Instead, they reach for a meat substitute. There are several available including tofu, textured vegetable protein, and tempeh. I'll explore each of these during this experiment.

I've never had tofo or tempeh before, but I've ventured into the world of textured vegetable/soy protein several times, simply out of curiousity. Months before this project began, I had already enjoyed Boca Burgers, Morningstar Farms veggie burgers, Morningstar Farms "chicken" patties, and Morningstar Farms pizza burgers. So, using textured vegetable protein seemed like a safe way to add to my menu. I stocked up on some new items that I'll tell you about today. Textured vegetable protein is probably the most popular meat substitute. Apparently, if you add enough spices and flavors to it, you can turn it into something that resembles chicken or beef. Weird.













As my wife and I sat down to enjoy the prospect of eating vegetarian "buffalo wings" the conversation went something like this...
Me: "I'm scared Darling."
Carolyn: "I'm not; this actually looks like real food."
Me: "That's what I'm afraid of. Chicken wings with NO chicken."

After a dramatic pause and stare, we take our first bite. These things were spicy and I'm not a wimp when it comes to spice.

The conversation continued as we ate the first few "wings."

Me: "It's hot!"
Carolyn: "Wait for it; it keeps coming!"

In response to the growing heat setting my mouth ablaze, I take a drink of my Coke and then my wife continues.

Carolyn: "That'll only make it worse. Didn't you see that episode of Food Detectives?"
Me: "It's worth a shot." My wife is right. The soda only sloshes the heat around.
Me: "I was right, we need some ranch dressing."
Carolyn: "We don't have any ranch."
Me: "What do you mean, we don't have any ranch. We always have ranch!"
Carolyn: "I finished the last of it the other day."
Me: "Well, I think this would be better with ranch. I could go eat some really quick."
Carolyn: "I'd be done with them by then."
Jeremiah: "Does the celery help? Does the cheesy potato help with the heat?"
Carolyn: "The cheese helps."
Jeremiah: "Ah, dairy. That's the same reason, spicy Mexican dishes are served with sour cream. But, hey this is good, I like it. Just much spicier than I expected. Sheesh oh Pete!"

But, as it turns out, we decided we liked them.

- What did I eat on Day 3?
Breakfast. Raisin Brain. "Two scoops of raisins in every box." And then half the apple that Isaiah ate for breakfast.

Lunch. The Morningstar Farms "Buffalo Wings." As, I've already mentioned, crazy spicy, but very good. I wasn't crazy about the breading, but I'll get another package again soon. It'll feel strange to even buy them, but you should give them a try. You won't think that they're real chicken buffalo wings, but you won't be disappointed.

Dinner. Dinner was also courtesy of Morningstar Farms. Heck, at this rate, they should probably be the official corporate sponsor of my blog. For the evening meal, I had cheeseburgers made with "Grillers Prime" burgers. In contrast their standard veggie burgers that I had enjoyed before, this was a veggie burger meant to taste more like meat cooked on a grill, I suppose. We also had both oven-baked fries and a salad with romaine lettuce, cucumbers, carrot shavings, and celery. I have to admit that I'm a fan of veggie burgers. The package says the have about half the fat of a burger made with beef. That usually translates to: "Alright, now I can eat two of them!" But I was full after the first burger. And satisfied because it tasted really good. Or, at least way better than the cheeseburgers you had in the school cafeteria.












I'll be out of town on Monday night, so there might not be a blog post for Day 4. But, keep coming back. If I can't blog tomorrow, I'll catch you up on both Day 4 and Day 5 in Tuesday night's post.

For now, 3 days down. 37 to go.

In the meantime, I recommend you view this YouTube clip of comedian Jim Gaffigan discussing vegetarians and meat substitutes. Given my food choices today, this was especially funny.

Day 2 Or.. The Ovolactovegetarian

Ovolactovegetarian. That's the type of vegetarian I am. Apparently there are a lot of different classifications that fit under the collective vegetarian umbrella. Let me share five of the most popular ones.

1. Vegan. Vegans are the extremists that you read about and probably wonder about. They've even in the minority among vegetarians. Vegans abstain from the use of animal products in every aspect of daily life. That means no meat, no dairy, and no eggs. But, for example, it also means avoiding the use of leather, silk, and wool. Vegans don't even eat honey. The bees are overworked and underpaid, or something.

2. Total Vegetarian. Total vegetarianism is a practice that avoids all animal products but only in concern to diet. You could meet a total vegetarian wearing a leather jacket, but you wouldn't find them enjoying a steak or eggs or yogurt. Some of them even consume honey.

3. Lactovegetarian. Lactovegetarians, or lactarians, include dairy products like milk in their diets; it does a body good. Eggs don't do anything for their bodies, because they don't eat them.

4. Ovovegetarian. Ovovegetarins consume eggs. However, milk and yogurt are off limits. You can fix them scrambled eggs for breakfast, but don't serve those eggs with a glass of milk. They'll cry over the milk even if you don't spill it. Okay, so they probably wouldn't cry.

5. Ovolactovegetarians. According to Wikipedia, which is never wrong except when it is, this is the most common type of vegetarian in America. I'm now one of them. And, it seems that the majority of Seventh Day Adventists practice this type of vegetarian diet. Lacto-ovo vegetarians, as they are sometimes called, avoid beef, lamb, poultry, pork, fish, and any other kind of animal flesh. Surprisingly, that means Jell-O is off limits. [But that's a topic for a different day.] They do eat both eggs and dairy products though. And they love honey. Or at least I do. And that means that I can enjoy chocolate chip cookies with milk tonight.



I promised to quickly answer a couple of questions with today's post:

Why 40 days? When I was first thinking about this experiment, I wondered how long it should last. Admittedly, there was a temptation to copy Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" series because I enjoy it so much. Then I was reminded that, again and again in Scripture, 40 always represents the number of completion. Forty seemed perfect. Forty years seemed like way too long to wait for my next cheeseburger and forty minutes wouldn't impress anyone. So, 40 days it is.

Why blog about this experience? I wanted to get back in the habit of writing every day. Rule #1 of being a successful writer, or even a mediocre one that wants to improve, is writing something every day. You can't call yourself a writer if you don't write. This blog gives me a topic to write about and a small but loyal audience to share my work with.

- What did I eat on Day 2?

Breakfast. A banana. Peeled upside down, from the bottom, because it's easier. Trust me.

Lunch. My parents called on their way to visit today and offered to bring over some lunch. They're great like that. While I'm always excited about the prospect of lunch, admittedly, I couldn't fathom what I would order from a drive-through window besides a side salad or fries. So, I had the leftover California Grilled Veggie Sandwich which was even tasty the next day... always a good test of how good something really is. And Carolyn destroyed the last of the pepperoni pizza; so there's no meat left in the apartment to tempt me.

Dinner. New recipe #2:Angel Hair Pasta with Checca Sauce. This was a Giada De Laurentiis recipe from Food Network that promised that the meal could be cooked and on the table in 10 minutes. And, in literally no time, dinner was ready. I even steamed some green beans as a side dish. I could cook this meal three times before Rachael Ray could finish one of her famous 30 minute meals. Checca sauce apparently originated in Italy and with the cherry tomatoes, basil, onion, and garlic it really has some strong spices. It was flavorful, but somehow my version was especially strong on the garlic and onion. The most interesting part of this veggie-filled sauce is that you don't cook it at all and it still works. The Massengale family's final verdict on the Checca sauce: Not bad, but a good ways from being amazing.

Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow's menu will be brought to you by the good folks at Morningstar Farms. 2 down. 38 to go.

Day 1 - Or... Why Go Veg?

The leftover pepperoni pizza mocks me every time I open the refrigerator door. It reminds me that this is day one. Day one without meat.

How has the day been? Different, yet excellent.

My beautiful wife, Carolyn, teases that I’m already going a little crazy from a lack of meat, but it’s probably just because I’m sincerely excited about this project and the next 40 days. But if she turns out to be right, be sure to get together and stage some kind of intervention for the sake of my sanity.

Allow me to answer the most pressing question in detail.

Why go vegetarian? Well, there are a lot of answers really.

The idea of being vegetarian has long fascinated me, perhaps because it was all too mysterious. More than it should have been at least. I didn’t really know any vegetarians growing up. I had heard of a woman in my hometown that would go to Burger King and order a Whopper with everything but meat. I always thought that was a horrible waste and quite pointless. It sounded like the equivalent of ordering a Happy Meal without the toy.

Reason #1. For the challenge. In 2007, a week or so before Carolyn and I were married, a bunch of my closest friends and I gathered at an all you can eat barbeque joint, so we could have the manliest entree possible, ribs. There’s something very satisfying about getting together with the guys and acting like cavemen by ripping meat off the bone to calm our hunger. This particular dinner happened to occur during Lent and I had forgotten that one of my friends, Keith, had given up meat for the season. I remember joking with him that we all make mistakes. And while a dozen of us were enjoying meat, meat, and more meat, and Keith, kept going back to the salad bar over and over, determined but relatively unfazed by our carnivore habits. I can’t describe the pity I felt for him as I plunged into yet another rack of ribs. But I wondered if I could ever give up meat, even for a little while. By going veg, I’ll find out.

As for other reasons, there are plenty of reasons why other people choose to make the switch to a vegetarian lifestyle. After doing a little research before beginning this project, I realize that there’s so much that has already been said about why someone might want to consider a major diet change. I do know that PETA has several horribly distributing and unsettling videos that urge people to stop eating meat as a way to fight animal cruelty. I’m certainly not for animal cruelty and I certainly don’t really want to think about what goes on in factory farms. However, I’d be lying if that was one of my biggest reasons to even temporarily become a vegetarian. Still, I came across a few other great reasons to go veg that I absolutely must attribute to Vegetarian Times.

Reason #2. So my dinner plate will be full of color. Do you remember the “Eat 5 A Day The Color Way” campaign? I do, only because it was a topic of discussion in my mass media research methods class. And given the subject matter, it was much easier to wrap my head around the discussion of the simple premise behind the ad campaign than it was to understand the importance of p-values in analyzing the effectiveness of quantitative research. I tried incorporating at least five serving of fruits and/or veggies on my plate each day for a while, but always found my plates looking a little too dull and brown... unless you count the ketchup or cheese. As it turns out, disease-fighting phytochemicals called carotenoids and anthocyanins give fruits and vegetables their rich, varied hues. This diet will be a good way to help me eat a variety of fruits and veggies that could boost my immunity and prevent a range of illnesses.

Reason #3. I could lose some weight. Have you heard of sympathy weight gain? A 2009 BBC report claims that the average father to be can gain about 14 pounds of sympathy weight during his partner’s pregnancy. That study, in a sense, makes me feel better, because when Carolyn was pregnant with our son Isaiah, I gained almost 20 pounds. 20 pounds! Over the past 16 months, my gorgeous wife has lost of her pregnancy weight gain and then some… and I’ve lost about 5 pounds of my sympathy weight. A study conducted from 1986 to 1992 by Dean Ornish, MD, president and director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, found that overweight people who followed a low-fat, vegetarian diet lost an average of 24 pounds in the first year and kept off that weight 5 years later. They lost the weight without counting calories or carbs and without measuring portions or feeling hungry. I’m not expecting much, and I know this experiment is only lasting 40 days, but I’ll let you know if any weight loss develops.

Reason #4. I could save money. Despite the fact that I love my job, I’m not exactly rolling in the dough or going home after work to swim in a pool of money like Scrooge McDuck. Meat accounts for about 10 percent of Americans’ food spending. Vegetarian Times says that eating vegetables, grains and fruits in place of the 200 pounds of beef, chicken and fish each nonvegetarian eats annually would cut individual food bills by hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year. Sheesh.

Reason #5. A vegetarian diet helps reduce famine. Did you know more than two-thirds of grain produced in the U.S. is fed to animals, so that Americans can then turn around and eat those animals? The 7 billion livestock animals in the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the American population. “If all the grain currently fed to livestock were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million,” says David Pimentel, professor of ecology at Cornell University. While I’m a huge supporter of charities and relief organizations like Compassion International, it’s really amazing that a vegetarian diet is indeed a baby step toward fighting world hunger.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll tell you why I’ve chosen to blog about this and why I’ve chosen 40 days as the length of this experiment. I may even explain what it means to be a ovolactovegetarian. But if you’re still reading, you probably want to know what I ate today.

- What did I eat on Day 1?

Breakfast. For breakfast, I’ve almost always enjoyed a vegetarian meal. Mostly, because of my Jerry Seinfeld-esque love for cereal. Today was no exception, Cheerios and an apple.

Lunch. Carolyn, Isaiah, and I had a great lunch today with our good friend Hope and our very new friends, the Copes, and Hope’s sister Heidi. Only about 12 hours into this vegetarian diet and I had to turn down part of a meal at a social gathering and explain that I wasn’t eating meat. Luckily, these people were really supportive and even seemed to be sincerely interested. No chicken tortilla soup for me. Instead, loads of salad with added walnuts and northern Italian dressing. And, to be honest, later a peanut butter sandwich.

Dinner. My first vegetarian recipe for the Go Veg project: California Grilled Veggie Sandwich. I trusted the recipe because it was listed among the top 20 vegetarian recipes on allrecipes.com. It also had over 300 five star reviews, which would sure seem to make me an oddball if I disliked it. Carolyn was more than afraid, and I was a little fearful myself. But you could probably put anything on focaccia bread and I’d eat it. While grilling the bell peppers, onions, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini, I inexplicably filled the house with an embarrassing amount of smoke, but the result was tasty. That’s right; tasty. The recipe’s tangy mayo mixture added a lot to the enjoyable mix of crispy veggies and grilling focaccia bread made it even better. And with that, I survived day one. I ate “5 A Day the Color Way.”

I even enjoyed it; despite the teasing the leftover pizza continues to give me when I reach for a soda. 1 day down. 39 to go.

As always, I encourage you to leave comments!

I've set a start date.

The Go Veg Project officially begins on January 1, 2010.

01.01.10 is day 1.