Our First Week of No Meat

Well, I have survived the first week as a vegetarian.  It was one week ago today that I decided to leave meat out of my diet.  In fact, it was Earth Day.  What better day to start a vegetarian diet?  Over the last seven days, I have experimented with foods that I normally make, such as, chili, lasagna, spaghetti and tacos.  But instead of using meat, I used a  vegetarian source.   I was surprised at how well the meat substitute worked in these dishes.  For the lasagna, I used a veggie substitute for ground sausage.  For the chili and tacos, I used a veggie substitute for ground beef called Smart Ground.  I was really surprised how well this worked as a meat substitute.  The texture is a little bit different than meat, but it worked great.  My husband loved the chili and said he could eat it all the time.  Even more surprising, the kids loved the tacos!  Wow, I think this might actually work.  I was prepared to hear complaining and requests for meat, but that hasn't happened yet.  My husband and kids seem to be embracing the meatless meals I am making, or at least not complaining so I can hear.  Well, let's just hope they are liking the meals.  I know that the flavor is not the same as meat, but I'm sure with time, we will get used to it as normal.

What wasn't so easy this week was getting the children to drink the soy milk.  My teenage daughter and I have always been big milk drinkers.  We could drink a glass of milk with every meal and then a few more in between meals.  I have started drinking soy milk and I really like the vanilla flavor.  My daughter, on the other hand, just refused to drink it.  She wants her regular milk and is not budging!  She has tried the regular and the vanilla soy milk and just doesn't like it.   My toddler also seems to share her lack of love for the soy milk.  One morning when my toddler was having breakfast, I put the soy vanilla milk in her cup and watched to see her reaction.  I thought maybe she would not even notice.  Well, I was so wrong!  She looked at me and shouted  "This is not milk; I don't want ice cream!"  Then she proceeded to give me back her cup.  So much for trying to fool a toddler.  How does she know what ice cream tastes like, she doesn't even eat it.  I suppose will keep looking until I find a milk substitute that they like.  So I guess I should be thankful that I am winning the battle of the meat and let them keep their milk, for now.

Veggie Chili with Smart Ground