I love meat, so I’m not sure entirely what posessed me to think this was a good idea, but I decided to start off the year meat free. As everyone does on January 1st I decided I wanted to drop a few pounds, which made me think about my eating habits. When I started thinking about my meals I realized that more often than not my meal is centered around the meat product I’ll be consuming, instead of having the meat be a side of sorts and filling up on vegetables. There were definitely times when I was busy during volleyball season that I’d come home hungry and all I’d have would be chicken fingers or souvlaki. Something quick to throw in the oven that was basically already prepared, and that was all I’d have. No vegetables, no fruit, just meat.

I’ve been in a cooking rut lately where all I ever make is whatever is fastest. This isn’t ideal when you’re trying to be conscientious of what you’re putting in your mouth. Today was day 1 of my meat free diet and I feel like I might die. I’m ravenous! My stomach is actually growling despite my attempt to eat a big meal at supper anyway, even with no meat. It’s not that I’m hungry for meat specifically it’s that I’m hungry for something with bulk. I made pasta for supper, but the pasta was a partial disaster though so it didn’t turn out anything like I’d envisioned. I thought I’d have pasta with tomato sauce and cheese baked in the oven, but then I realized what I thought was tomato sauce was actually a jar of salsa. I ended up making Hamburger Helper minus the hamburger. It wasn’t quite the same. I thought the carbs would fill me up, but apparently not so! If I just felt hungry and didn’t have the audio cue from my stomach I’d think it was all in my head, but my stomach is going wild. I’ll have to have a little snack before bed or I’ll lay there for hours thinking about the fact that I’m hungry. Cereal maybe?

My goal is to survive until Friday. Initially this morning I thought it was going to be impossible and I’d be eating rice all week, but then I realized I’m an idiot. A good portion of my favorite meals include dishes that are meat free in the first place. Hello, I love breakfast! At lunch time I was thinking that I wouldn’t be able to have sandwiches all week until I realized that I’m dumb in that department too – cheese, egg salad, etc! All meat free, all things I love!

The only real motivation behind doing this is just to give my cooking a jump start and for me to start placing more emphasis on what else I include in my meals other than just meat. I’m definitely thinking about all my favorite things to eat that I can make for supper this week – salads, grilled cheese, soup, pancakes, waffles, eggs, french toast (the predominant theme here is obviously breakfast foods)! If I can get over the being hungry all the time feeling I think I might actually enjoy this week.

Please share any good recipes you have for anything that doesn’t have meat in it!

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