Coke or Pepsi? Meat or Veggies?

In the battle between Coke and Pepsi, I'm a Pepsi girl, 100%. I don't drink regular Coke or diet Coke or Cherry Coke.  None, ever, not even with Bacardi.  Ever since I was a kid - Pepsi. My mother would buy Pepsi, Coke, and root beer (something else I don't drink, ever).  My brother was not as picky and would drink anything.  And what would he drink first? The Pepsi.  Then when they were all gone, that would leave him with 2 other choices and me and my picky self with nothing but water.  This would irritate the heck out of me. I always felt he should not drink the Pepsi, ever, because he had other options.

Skip years and years forward.  I'm a vegetarian now; actually, a pescetarian.  When I cook for my family or have folks over to my own home, I cook carnivore options and vegetarian/pescetarian options.  Fajitas? Steak, chicken, and shrimp.  BBQ?  Ribs, chicken, fish.  Pork chops and tofu.  When I go to an event, I look for the veggie or fish options.  So, what is it that irritates me?  (Go back to the Pepsi/Coke thing if you haven't figured it out). Yes, when carnivores eat up all the fish and veggies first, leaving me with a pile of lettuce leaves and cauliflower.  I recently went to an event with a buffet of munchies - mini cheesesteak subs, burger sliders, crabcakes.  Guess which went first?  And no, I am not going to believe that there were a room full of vegetarians who ate all the crabcakes before I got there.

I'll admit, maybe in my pre-pescetarian days, I did the same thing.  But now I'm going to tell you, on behalf of the vegetarians - stop it.  If you are a carnivore, eat the meat.  Yes, I get it that you like fish and shrimp, too.  Every now and then, you'd rather take the pasta dish rather than the chicken plate at the convention center/hotel dinner.  But that's not for you. It's for folks who don't eat the chicken plate.  It's unfair for you to take our only option for a meal.

Now when we get to dessert....well, if you like chocolate, you should try to get your plate before me.

Done in by a coconut shrimp

My vegan experiment lasted 3 days longer than expected. What started out as a 2 day trial, turned into 5 days.

The kids had a few fits & started but begged to be back in the vegan experiment. My son didn't hardly last at all, he happily threw in the veggies for a ham sandwich by day 2. My oldest daughter couldn't resist the orange chicken at lunch on day 1, but was fine after that, with the daily pass of yogurt pretzels. My middle daughter (who started with me) sailed thru the week. And baby daughter, she thinks she did well, insisting that a hot dog didn't count. With all their determination, they couldn't give up Friday night pizza - with pepperoni.

I made it until Saturday, then my resolve to have a salad and sweet potato gave way to coconut shrimp at lunch, then fried catfish for dinner. Yeah, I not only returned to animal products - but deep fried at that.

So how was the experiment? Interesting. I didn't eat any meat-substitutes like meat-flavored tofu or protein jumbles. But I did eat my fair share of beans, tofu, and rice. And when I turned to Korean food, it was too easy - I could live on rice & kimchi alone. What I did realize though, is how much fat I must eat during the course of my meals, even as one who doesn't eat meat (I think I'm technically a "pescetarian" since I eat fish). A slice of cheese here, a slab of cream cheese there, a piece of fried fish here - I guess it all adds up. The basis of this revelation? I lost a few pounds during the week, but never felt that I was particularly hungry.

As a lifestyle? Nah. It was interesting for the week and I think that I will be a bit more thoughtful in my food selection (do I have to have the burrito with cheese, isn't the guac enough?) but I can't imagine giving up Mocha Almond Fudge or Chunky Monkey forever.

Vegan experiment - continued

Day 1 went by pretty easy. But it did require some thought and reminders that cheese is made from animal product. Lunch was pita & hummus for me, daughter #1 couldn't resist the orange chicken in the school cafeteria, daughter #2 enjoyed her rice and beans. Dinner was broccoli, sweet potato, and couscous (the meat-eaters had chicken along with that).

I went grocery shopping to pick up more fruits and veggies. Most of the shopping was done on the outside edges of the grocery store, which diet experts say is the healthiest.

Day 2 -had AlmondMilk for breakfast - kinda tasty, daughter #2 and #3 liked it. PBJ, apples and water for lunch. Daughter #1 made a broccoli spaghetti sauce and spaghetti for dinner, and they had that and AlmondMilk for dinner. We also went to the Adventist store and wandered the vegetarian aisles. Daughter #1 was excited to realize that fruit popsicles are vegan-friendly! We left the soy ice cream in the freezer.

Wine is also a nice vegan option.

Vegan experiment

I stopped eating meat as an experiment. I passed up ham and pepperoni pizza, hamburgers, and fried chicken for crab cakes and cheese quesadillas. I thought I'd last a day or so - a week at most. That was a little over 2 years ago. With the exception of fish & seafood, I don't eat meat. I don't consider myself a "vegetarian" because of the connotations that that classification carries. Generally speaking, vegetarians feel that meat is bad for you or cruel to animals or something like that. I just have realized that my preference for the way meat is cooked (fried, slathered with gravy) is not the healthiest for me. And despite that, I do eat fried fish.

Last week, Oprah had an episode about being a vegan. Her staff went vegan for a week, they changed the menu in the cafeteria, the changed their diets at home to see what it was all about. Now this was something I've never considered - life without ice cream and cheese? No meat is one thing, but no deviled eggs either? Watching the show with my 9-year old, we chatted about how that would be impossible - then we decided we would try it to see how we would do.

We started today. We're going to give it two days. I am allowing myself creamer for my coffee because, really, giving up every animal product is enough. She had dried cereal for breakfast and is having rice & beans for lunch (thanks to a friend who dropped some off the other day). I think that's what I'm going to have for lunch, too. And I'm looking at this website - 21-Day Vegan Kickstart (http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome) - that another mentioned a few weeks ago for some guidance.

mmmmm - celery sticks :-)