A Celebration of Non-Meat Eaters

Non-meat eaters... aka Vegetarians... run rampant in my family... and by RAMPANT.. I mean there are four - sometimes five- depending on what is being served. I decided to analyze our "meat eating" ways and see if we could survive on vegetarian meals alone for a week.



First I analyzed myself:

I am a vegetarian because....

1. I do NOT like any meat on my pizza and pizza is one of my all time favorite foods. Throw any vege on the pizza and I am happy as a clam. Except for I am not sure how happy a clam is considering they don't do much but sit still in the water. Well, I guess that would be like me sitting in a bathtub... so therefore I could DEFINITELY be happy as a clam.



2. I once went for five months without eating any red meat. I did still eat chicken and fish, though. But no red meat is a pretty big deal... considering that hamburgers and steak are in my all time favorite list along with pizza.



3. I like spinach dip by itself or mixed with artichokes or queso..... but mainly I love the spinach part which is "vegetarian".



4. I REFUSE to eat those hideous turkey legs that are sold at fairs, amusement parks, my parents back yard, and the Gaston post office. THOSE MAKE ME SICK!! and I get even sicker watching someone actually eat them.



5. I can't stand lots of meat on sandwiches. For example I cannot eat a sub that has more than one layer of meat slices. It makes my jaw hurt. Once I was eating lunch outside with Kev and I was complaining that there was too much meat on my sandwich and I was starting to feel nauseous and tired and then a bird pooped on my arm. You would think that the bird would have been supportive of my dislike for lots of meat but obviously could not stand the sound of my "whining". The lesson that I learned was to never eat outside again.



6. Don't even mention to me a double or triple hamburger - GROSS! I love, love, love a good juicy hamburger.... but there is no need to put multiple patties on one bun. TOO MUCH MEAT!



I am not a vegetarian because:

1. My huge strong teeth would go to waste. I am a biter. And cabbage and spinach does not cut it. I could put my teeth in the strong man competition and they would win. I can pull nails out of wood with them, gnaw down large pine trees, I even towed Kev's truck home once with a rope in my teeth. If I do not get a piece of meat to chew on at least once a week.... I might turn to flesh. Scary but true!



2. I love burgers, steak, Zaxby's chicken fingers, D's wings, and the chicken Kev grilled for me last weekend.



3. Did I mention that I like meat.



Bottom line is that I have more reasons proving that I am a vegetarian.... however the reasons that I am not are pretty hard core. You be the judge.



And now for Kev's analyzing:



Kev is a vegetarian because:

1. I have forbid him to eat turkey legs.



2. He eats pretty much whatever I make for him.... so if I only cooked vegetarian he would probably be one.



Kev is not a vegetarian because:

1. He LOVES meat.... all kinds.... even large amounts of meat on his sub sandwich! (ewwww!)



2. He dreams of all of the wonderful dishes I can make for him out of our next door neighbor - The Rooster. Or maybe I dream of that. I just wish the Rooster would go away!... or get a watch.



Regardless of our food choices..... I would like to share with you the delicious vegetarian meals that I cooked for us last week... in honor of certain family members.



First up: Homemade BAKED vege eggrolls, mushroom noodle soup, and vege sushi with brown rice.

Clearly I did not make the sushi. It was store bought from Publix. They have just started making brown rice sushi which makes it even healthier. Yum! I got the baked eggrolls off of a Food Blog - For the Love of Cooking. These were delicious and so easy to make. The hardest part was finding the actual egg wrap which is in the vegetable section in Publix and NOT in the Asian food section. Now if you go to the food blog site.... keep in mind that hers look absolutely perfect and mine are a little disheveled - but that is how I roll ( literally... roll the eggroll.. ha!) I also stuffed their bellies too full and came up with half of the eggrolls that the recipe was supposed to make. The insides are full of cabbage, sprouts, carrots, water chestnuts, and green onions. And the soup... from 14 Carrot... a delicious health food store in Lexington. This meal resulted in a high five and a "how do ya do" from Kev. Definitely a "do again".

Then there was the veggie calzone....from Vanilla Sugar.

I made the dough and everything! Just in case you didn't realize...... I MADE THE DOUGH! Whole wheat pizza dough. I never thought I could do it... but I did. It is stuffed with mozzarella, red peppers, green peppers, and onions. I'm sure that if I had the right kind of camera... my picture would have turned out much better. But this will have to do. It was yummy.

OK - this meal was too yummy! And by TOO... I mean nothing is EVER too yummy. This is a grilled portobello mushroom sandwich... with pesto mayonnaise... and sprinkles of delight. This recipe was from Paula Deen's magazine - Spring of 2008.

I had totally overlooked this recipe when I had originally gotten the mag. I didn't think it was "our style" of food.... being MEAT-EATERS and all. Boy was I wrong! Melissa reminded me about it two weeks ago... and I had to try it. So simple and delicious. I even got organic, whole wheat buns from 14 Carrot to make this sammy extra healthy. I served it with carrots and a yogurt based onion dip (sounds disgusting but is delightful ). Nice, hearty lunch that is good for fighting flab. ( Flab is the excess skin that gets in the way when you are trying to tie your shoes, paint your toenails, and pick up pinecones)

And last but not least..... Our Mediterranean Feast. We have always been fans of Greek food. But I decided to branch out a little and do something different from Greek salads and Mediterranean chicken. We had falafel, pita, tabouleh, and crackle bread. I am not talking jibberish... those words are real.

My favorite part of the meal was the Tabouleh. I did not make it... but purchased it at Publix. It is full of tasty and healthy foods... like tomatoes, parsley, quinoa, lime juice... etc. We ate it as a dip and used the crackle bread to scoop it up. The falafel pita was good.... but weird to make and eat. Having never had it before... I'm not sure that it was cooked and served right. Regardless... the meal resulted in smiles and full bellies.

The result of our vegetarian week..... Three cheers and one Hip Hip Hooray! We ate healthy, felt great, and tried new things. And we got a LOT of fiber.... which is sometimes bad or sometimes good. It depends on the person.

Up next.... Is it time to swim yet?