...eh'...I'm not the poster child

It's been three days. Day two I had a headache. It felt like an iron rod was slowly pushed straight through my skull between my eyebrows. Hopefully, Tylenol has no animal by-products - because I had two...or three? As I mentioned earlier - I was unable to do that grand visit to a farmer's market, maybe a gourmet natural market, and a Whole Foods that I imagined every day preceding day one. So, instead of trying out exotic vegetarian recipes and finding rare fare in out of the way places...I ate a large bag of carrots and a container of almonds during the past three days. It was more filling than it sounds, but pretty much tasted like carrots and almonds. Last night I got up around 2 AM and made that pre-mixed box of chili I bought on Sunday. I ate leftovers tonight. It wasn't bad considering.

I also tried to make those Kale chips. I'm not sure...they weren't as crunchy as I would have hoped and they were WAY TOO salty. I also found it very difficult to determine when a green leaf was done baking. What does a crunchy baked kale leaf look like? I was a bit disappointed. I had had high hopes. Jamie shared my meatless chili leftovers with me tonight in an effort to to keep us from growing apart - now that we lead two entirely separate lives.

I'm not drawn to coffee nearly as much. It's only been three days, isn't this a little soon to be having such a response?

So, as you can see, I'm pretty sure I won't be gracing the front page of Vegetarian Times any time soon.

Just keeping it steady. One foot in front of the other.Heading into day four.

I am a vegetarian! I can’t believe it! This is the most exciting…well, I’ve been looking forward to it for over a week. I had such high hopes for both my Eve induction into my new life and for my first day celebration. As the day approached, my imagination went wild. A thick steak – perfectly cut and cooked – dripping with flavor….on and on…Well, I’m broke and blah, blah, blah…I fried some chicken – which usually turns out scrumptious – not so much last night – it was gross. And my first vegetarian meal: Mac and Cheese – Lucian dumped most of the milk on the floor so it was mostly cheese powdered noodles and a few asparagus with butter. I thought better than writing out the recipe and posting it – though, it’s pretty much as stated.

I was able to get a big bag of Kale – I saw a recipe for Kale chips that looks good. You toss the leafy parts (trim the stems) around in a bowl with a little olive oil and bake them in the oven and then sprinkle them up with some seasalt. Can’t wait to try it. I got a bag of brown basmati rice – takes an hour to cook! Waiting 20 minutes for rice was always a chore for me…a whole hour? – That’s going to take planning.  And I got a pre-boxed chili mix. You add a can of beans and a can of diced tomatoes.  – I know, this whole thing sound completely pathetic. But it’s my first day! I have 363 days left. When I was checking out – you know how the cash register spits out coupons for you (I hate those – I’ve NEVER used a coupon the register spits out) – anyway, today it spit out 1.00 off coupons for Lean Cuisine…things are moving up. I’ve never had the register suggest “Healthy” choices for me! I guess it really is a new day.

My belt broke. It just snapped in two while I was dressing for church. I’m deciding it was because it was old and not for any other reason. I do feel, however, there’s some significance in the incident. Preferably something like: Don’t hold me back from achieving my potential…rather than referring to…something else.

I’m reading a vegetarian starter kit I got online from Vegetarian Times magazine. It’s a great source for inspiration for newbie’s. Dried figs. I love figs!

Vegetarian Starters:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/

http://www.vegsochk.org/vsk.pdf

Tids and Bits on the Penultimate Day

Lucian has his first soccer game tomorrow morning. He's in the 'under 5' division - so they really don't have games - but he can't wait. I'm going to have to pull out the camcorder for this one. I can't believe I have a daughter taking ballet and a son playing soccer...


I'm not nervous at all about Sunday. The first day. In fact, I've been wanting it to hurry up and get here all week. I'm psyched about trying recipes and visiting farmer's markets and all that. Francesca says all this is boring - but I'll have to gently disagree. I'm not bored at all - yet.

I read a tagline to an article in a vegetarian magazine today, “Searching for a savory snack that’ll help get more veggies into your day?...” it continues with instructions on how to turn pureed vegetables into toppers and spreads. I was surprised at the teaser. I would have never guessed vegetarians needed help to get vegetables into their diets.