One week down, three to go

Even after just seven days without meat or fish, I suddenly realized how frequently I relied on these foods in my diet. As I sit here writing this post, I am eating wild rice and steamed broccoli for dinner. My plate looks bare, and I feel like I do not know how to eat balanced meals without meat or fish. I keep thinking that chicken would look really appetizing on this plate.

Today I went to the grocery store and spent longer there than usual. I tried to think of ideas for meals. I have trouble anyhow because I always cook just for me, so keeping fresh fruit and vegetables in my house is tough because things go bad too quickly. I wandered to the frozen food section, but I did not dare consider Lean Cuisines, as I lived off of those in college. I feel like Jesse and I always had a huge stash in our apartment freezer. I looked at other options but quickly got frustrated when 90% of the options contained meat or fish. Furthermore, I am a picky eater. I will not eat tofu, chick peas, eggs, eggplant, avocado, bananas, mushrooms, spicy food, among other things. Tonight when I prepared my dinner, I felt annoyed because I realized that one of the two frozen meals I purchased contained tofu as a main ingredient. I might have to return it, because I just can not bear tofu. It tastes like sponges. I've talked to my friend, who is vegan, for some advice. She has given me some ideas, but because I don't like tofu again I get frustrated. Arghhh. Thank God we did not try to be vegans or else I would have been on a weight loss plan at this rate.

After the grocery store frustrations, I went to the town library hoping for some inspiration. I got a couple vegetarian cookbooks (after paying my $9 in fines!), so maybe I need to try these options before I complain too much more. I guess I just never realized how reliant I was on meat and fish before this experience.

Maybe I should stop whining about this challenge and educate myself about the reasons why some people voluntarily choose vegetarianism for the longterm. Jesse ordered the book called Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows, and I plan to go back to the library to get some books similar to this one. I think I need to replace my frustrations about food with something productive to understand why some people make a conscious choice to be vegetarian or vegan.

In the meantime, I love cookies. I made these coconut macaroons last night. Maybe I should just bake sweets all month long instead of worrying about normal food...