The first week of meatless Monday was quite the challenge. Here is what I did. I am not a huge breakfast
person, so when I woke up, all I ate was a blueberry Nutrigrain bar. Around
three o’clock, I was hungry, but all the leftovers (convenience foods) in my
refrigerator had meat in them. I am
exceptionally lazy when it comes to preparing foods. I decided to clean my house instead of making
a late lunch. I snacked on a handful of Sunchips. But, I made a commitment to put effort into
dinner. After I finished cleaning, I
looked up recipes online. I decided to
prepare a Vegetarian Lasagna. This
particular recipe called for lasagna noodles, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese,
zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, and mushrooms. In addition, I prepared a side salad. I used
an escarole blend lettuce mix, tomatoes, chick peas, croutons, and ranch
dressing. Dinner was delicious, and I
was full for a good four hours. At
around nine thirty, I got bored. I decided to bake a package of cinnamon buns
that I had sitting around my fridge.
Even though I only ended up eating a small bite, I still felt guilty
about choosing such an unhealthy dessert.
I would say that
dinner was the meal that was most affected by this change. I was raised to eat meat and potatoes for
dinner. It was a challenge to find a food without meat that I found
appetizing. I sort of forwent lunch due
to the fact that all my prepared foods had meat in them. However, I am used to not eating regularly,
so this was not a huge deal. Better
planning could have corrected this issue.
Eating meatless this
week cost more than normal. The shopping
trip to Wegmans to acquire the goods for dinner cost $24. This is an enormous amount of money for one
meal, considering I could have bought fast food for about eight.
I noticed several
things this week. First, to fill the
void of not eating meat, I found myself eating a lot of junk foods. I will have
to work on choosing healthier options.
Second, I noticed that I didn’t really eat any real fruits. I think that
it will be a challenge to include more fruits in my diet (I am not a huge fan
of them).
I also noticed that
my diet really affects others around me.
My boyfriend and I live together.
He is an avid meat lover, and was not too thrilled at the idea of going
meatless one day a week. I am more open to the idea of trying new forms of
protein than he is. He loathes the
texture of beans, and refuses to try tofu.
It is a challenge to find foods we will both enjoy eating. He did admit
that he did enjoy the meatless lasagna, and would eat it again.
Meatless Monday did
impact other days this week. I am
Catholic, and Lent starts this week.
That means that I cannot eat meat Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this
week. It is important that I avoid
deficiencies. I do, however, think that
this project will make Lent easier. It
will help me to find meatless foods that I actually enjoy consuming. Resources to help with this are the internet
and apps like “I’m Hungry- Vegetarian Recipes”.
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