Why?

The question I'm most frequently asked, when I tell people I've given up red meat and poultry, is "Why?"

It's pretty simple actually. There's no grand reason, it's simply this: I wanted to.

Carol already eats this way, she has for eleven years, and she did for moral reasons. When we got married and moved in together, I said I would eat this way at home as well, since that would save us money and time; not having to buy meat or cook separate meals. I would eat meat when we were out, or at when I was at work. It was going pretty well, so I thought I could take it a step further and do it full-time.

That's it in a nutshell. No big dramatic reason or purpose.

Myra's

This past Friday, Carol and I went to dinner with our friends Shawn and Katy, of Foodluv.net fame and more.  Our destination:  Myra’s Dionysus.  It's been quite a few years since I've been to Myra's, and this would be Carol's first visit.  It was pretty much as I remembered, small, quaint, cozy, and filled with incredible smells and a display case of goodies right inside the door.

After negotiating the parking lot tundra and the Sidewalk of Doom, we were lucky to score a table right away, right - if you've never been to Myra's, the seating is at a premium.  But the food is well worth it.  Seriously - vegetarians/vegans and carnivores alike will find something there.

The menu is full of choices to suit anyone's palate, and the four of us all found, after some hemming and hawing, tasty comestibles on which to sup.  Carol went with the baked tofu with kecap manis and lime over sesame noodles with vegetables.  I couldn't decide on any one thing and went with a sampler plate of pulao - Indian spices with coconut and raisins in brown rice served with a hot parsley chutney, the same baked tofu as Carol, and warm sesame noodles in a spicy peanut sauce.  Oh yeah.. it was tasty. 

Shawn went with Hoppin' Juan - Brown rice and black beans with a picante tomato salsa and onions - it usually has cheese, but since he and Katy are vegan, he opted not to get it.  Katy chose one of the dishes I had been considering, Claudia's Creation - Chinese black bean sauce with sherry & garlic, garnished with mandarin oranges & broccoli and served over brown rice.  She wasn't overly pleased with that, so I'm glad I didn't order it.  Shawn was happy with his however.

Myra's is a great stop if you're looking for an inexpensive vegetarian meal, just be aware that the service can be a bit slow sometimes, but everyone who works there very friendly. They feature artwork from local artists which changes on a semi-regular basis, and they have a free(!) parking lot, which is a rarity in that neighborhood.  We will definitely be repeat customers, especially in the warmer months when the patio is open.

40 Days of Water

Want to help?

Super Wings

Superbowl Sunday me and some other pals were at my friend Nick's house to watch the Saints lay a whuppin on the Colts.  No need to recap the game, we all know who won...

But, as with any gathering of men to watch a game, there's lots of man food around.  Lots of it.  And right there in the middle of it all was something that took more effort than even bacon has so far.

 

Buffalo wings.  Hot, spicy, saucy wings.  Just sitting there in the tray staring at me and daring me to eat them.  Oh, how I wanted them.  I wanted them like nothing else, those beautiful wings swimming in sauce.  It didn't matter that there was chips and salsa, shrimp, pretzels, and even the pizza (mushrooms, spinach, and roasted red peppers) that I brought.  I wanted a wing, dangit.

 

Look at them, all seductive and crispy...  

But I was stronger than that, despite the urge.  Despite the fact that I could already taste the sauce.  I held out.  I was strong.  I ate pizza and shrimp and cake and chips and salsa.

But I really wanted a wing,

The Challenge This Week

Most of the week was pretty easy.  I planned some decent meals for Carol and I, vegetarian chili in sourdough bread bowls, vegetarian cheese coneys - made with the leftover chili and Lightlife meatless hot dogs.  Nothing fancy, but simple and satisfying.

Then came Friday...  Friday there was a lunch at my customer's site to kick off their workstation refresh project.  The catering of choice:  Montgomery Inn.

 

For those of you outside of Cincinnati, Montgomery Inn is the premier rib restaurant in the city. It's not barbecue for you purists, but they do make some darn tasty ribs, and the sauce is outstanding.  It's one of the restaurants where the "in crowd"  likes to hang out, especially the Boathouse location on the river.  Pictures of celebs, sports stars, and politicians decorate the walls, like this guy:

 

But... enough about the ribs.  What did I do?

When the invite was sent out, I sent a message to Dave, the program manger, and told him I didn't eat red meat or poultry, and asked if I could get the Greek Salad instead.  Of course I would still eat the Saratoga chips and other sides, but no meat for me.

When we got there, Dave handed me a pretty good sized bag.  I figured it was the salad and some bread, but when I opened the bag, this is what it contained.

 

That,my friends, is what I like to call a "Big Honkin' Salad".  This was easily a pound of lettuces, carrots, feta, eggs, olives, tomatoes, and pepperoncini.  It was huge.  I was impressed.  I didn't think I would be able to eat the whole thing.  And I was right.  Between the Saratoga chips and the mac and cheese, I was able to eat about 1/2 of it,  Even the people around me that were chomping on pulled pork sammiches were impressed by the size of it.

So, challenge met and passed.  And on a side note, since I've stopped eating meat, I've lost 6 pounds.  Maybe there's something to this vegetarian diet...

Real Men Eat Quiche

Yes, I made quiche last night.  Specifically, tomato, spinach and feta quiche.  It was pretty freaking tasty, and simple to put together.  I got the recipe here and tweaked it a little to our tastes.  I wasn't a big phan of the phyllodough, it got a little too brown around the edges and flaked everywhere, but it was tasty.

I do plan on making it again, but I'll use regular pie crust, and mix up the veggies some.  Carol's only complaint about this was "Too much spinach, not enough cheese."

And my pal Jill shared this with me after I posted I made quiche.




Admittedly, that would have been be not so long ago. But 22 days into this, and it's going alright. And on a side note, my total cholesterol when I started this was 175. Seriously, 175. It''l be interesting to see where it is one year from now

Did I also mention...

That I gave up soda as well?

Yup, no more diet soda. Water will be my be beverage of choice, and of course coffee and iced tea.

 Goodbye, Diet Mountain Dew

And this week brings...

Success!  Still no red meat or poultry, despite serious bacon cravings.  A group of us from work went to the Gameday Sports Cafe before the Cyclones game Wednesday night, and while they have pretty much standard bar food, there was a Three-cheese grilled cheese on the menu, with the option of adding tomato and/or bacon.

Bacon...

Tasty, smoky, meat candy...

Oh how I wanted it.  I wanted it to the point of drooling at the thought of it.  I looked around and thought, "No one here knows I've given up bacon.  No one will say anything to me if I order bacon and tomato on my grilled cheese."

But no...  I held firm.  No bacon, just tomato.  But that did give me an idea... Bacon Salt!  I have three different flavors already, I can use them the next time  I make grilled cheese at home. Bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon!!

On the recipe front, I tried something I saw on the interwebbernet, Chickpea and Tomato Curry.  Since Carol is not a big fan of curry, I cut back by about 2/3 the amount of curry powder it calls for, and it came out decent, but I think more curry would have helped it.  Chickpeas are pretty versatile, as my friend Leigh can attest, and they add a nice change of pace from regular beans.  Leigh takes some pretty awesome photos as well - check her out.

If you want to give it a shot, here's the recipe.  It's very easy to make, and  I served mine with quinoa instead of brown rice for a switch.

Chickpea and Tomato Curry

• 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped gingerroot
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 cans (15 oz each) chick peas, drained, rinsed
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) Muir Glen organic fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)
• Hot cooked rice
• Plain Greek yogurt
  

1 - In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, gingerroot and curry powder in oil about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is tender.
2 - Stir in chick peas and tomatoes. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro, lemon juice and salt.
3 - Serve over rice; top each serving with yogurt.

Peace!

Week 1 down

It went well, there wasn't any real challenge to overcome. The first week I planned on taking things easy, I have bigger things planned for coming weeks...

I improvised a casserole with Quorn nuggets instead of chicken, potatoes, and mixed veggies.  Came out pretty well, and very filling.  We had pizza one night - tomatoes and spinach, and had enough left over for lunch the next day.  Salmon & tilapia found there way into our bellies as well.

Some recipes I have my eye on...

Vegan Curry

Root Vegetable Shepherd's Pie

Traditional Baked Ziti (I'll make my own sauce for this one)

My pal Chaz hooked me up with some stock recipes, I'm going to make a big batch of veggie stock to freeze into portions - we'll be using a lot of this for making brown rice, quinoa, and soups.

And check out Foodluv's post on vegetarian/vegan options at Dunkin Donuts!

Hi There

Hi! This is the first post in my year-long experiment of eliminating red meat and poultry from my diet. Fish, dairy, and eggs are ok, and of course tofu/seitan/tempeh and many of the products from Morningstar Farms, Quorn, & Boca, among others.

Drop in from time to time and see how I'm doing, offer suggestions/praise/encouragement/, check out recipes and experiments, and product reviews.

Peace!