BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian Success 2009 - New Year's Resolution Community

Okay Guys...

It's been a little time coming, but I'm extremely excited about this one!

I'm burning my curried lentils right now, but I have to write you and give you the reason why.

WE'RE CREATING THE "SUCCESS 2009 - NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION COMMUNITY"!!!

Here's the premise and focus of this group:

OBJECTIVES:

• Build a community of folks desiring to help folks achieve their resolutions
  Members state & establish their 2009 resolution[s]
  Collectively map out strategies for us to accomplish our goals
  Resource and source the tools and support
  Chart the processes and progress of the members [min. weekly posts]
  Provide encouragement to one another and insight

If you have anything to add... pass it in my direction and I'll see if it's a fit. If it is we'll include it.

What do ya think?

SUCCESS 2009 - NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION COMMUNITY multiple choice
	I THINK IT'S GREAT!!! COUNT ME IN!!! ;-D
	No way. Count me out.
	I'm not sure, but I'm open. -we'll see.
	I LOVE IT & I HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD!!!
Votes accepted starting: 12/15/08 06:36 PM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

My 2009 resolution is to be a complete vegetarian by the end of 2009.

Strategies:
I am starting now by collecting recipes and trying them out. The library is a great resource for books. They are free and if I REALLY like them, I know I can buy them somewhere.

Phasing meat (fowl, beef, pork) out of my life by the end of December (yeah, at Christmastime)so that I can go full force (I hope) on Jan 1st.

Also, I have let my Doctor know of my plan. No naysaying there - so it is a go!

I love the idea of becoming a vegetarian and have attempted to change my lifestyle twice. It's a bit more difficult for me because 1. I am an avid cook (I wanted to be a chef) and 2. I'm married to a carnivore. In fact, I wrote an essay about our attempt to live green and become vegetarians. If you want to read it, it is here:

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Resolutions Article discussing tools and mindset. Check it out!

Let me know what you think!

Getting ready for the change. I have been cutting out meat slowly in December so that it won't be that big of a shock to my system and I can be successful.

This month, I have been going out with friends to exchange gifts and have been noticing items on the menu that are vegetarian.

Cracker Barrel has a lot of veggie or fruit side dishes....which I am thankful to know.

That's great info Robin.

I think it's important for folks to know some of their alternatives while eating out.

I'm real excited about this year's topics and resolutions!

I was looking for something like this. What's the next step?

My first veggie breakfast consisted of:
2 scrambled eggs with:
1 cup or so of Boca crumbles
1/2 small diced onion
1 cup decaf coffee (yep- caffeine has got to go, too)

Good for the diabetes (although there was sugar in the coffee) and a veggie breakfast. Hearty - so it will last a while.

Now - I sit down to more meal planning and will be going grocery shopping in a few..........

Today IS the first day of the rest of my life.

Go to Bush's beans dot com and look for the Butter bean soup recipe. Excellent soup for vegetarians. I follow the recipe but add in green beans, diced tomatoes. If kids like it you know its got to be good and so easy to make.

Hey Zor!

Nice to have you involved!

Okay... I don't know if you've had an opportunity to read the resolutions articles... if you haven't, go and read now resolutions pt.1 and resolutions pt.2 and then start getting your materials:

• Journal or your MindMap
• Go through the questions in pts 1 and 2

Then post what your resolution is, how it relates to your bigger picture and what things you're setting in place to accomplish it.

That will be your starting point. Then you'll check in here as often as will be helpful to you and others. I would say at least once per week where you do a recap somewhat like Robin's or whatever works for your process.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you and more so your seeing your resolution unfold before your eyes.

So far so good - still a veggie! Didn't pack my lunch and wenr to the Chinese restaurant by work. Hint - if you take out, they weight the food and it usually costs less than the buffet.

I was a little worried as I hadn't scoped this one out before - but not to worry! My little white styrofoam thing was filled with bok choy, braised white asparagus (yum!), veggie egg rolls, garlic green beans (always YUM), and vegetable egg foo yung.

I also got something called vegetable mai fun. It was mainly rice noodles with bits of egg, carrots and peas in it. Tasty....new one for me

Hey Lori!!! Welcome to the forum!

Love your article! I read it and cracked up all the way to the end.

GOOD STUFF! and so true.

All who are reading this post should pop over to Lori's article link. It's a good read.

Speaking of Flexitarians click here to read my flexitarian book review.

In answer to your question. I'm not vegan in the total sense of the word.

At home my wife and I prepare, for the most part, vegan food - no eggs, dairy, white sugar, meat,fish, etc.; however, we do eat raw honey and if someone brings over a dish or if we go to someone's house to fellowship that isn't vegan or vegetarian, they prepare a non-vegan/vegetarian meal and it would be an offense to them if we didn't eat their food then we would thank the Lord for the meal and the hands that prepared it and we'd eat.

Fortunately, this hasn't happened a lot, most of the folks we deal with know we're veggies and either make up something vegetarian or ask us to.

Look forward to your posts.

P.S. I'm with you on that 'Digit Cleansing' deal.

Congrats Robin!

Are you tagging your new year's solutions onto any big picture in particular?

What are you using for your inspiration?

Loving your updates!

My New Year's Resolution is to finish getting my life structured and ordered. So my healthy eating plan will help me to stay on target health wise to keep us from having the downtime from cold and flu season.

We went out to get our food storage containers about a couple of months ago to be ready for the pre-prep push so we can automate as much of our cooking process as possible. It's been working out for us. We're able to put together our meals in 3 - 5 minutes now when before it would take us 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

Huge time saver!

I frequently use my mind mapping program referenced at the bottom of the page in the New Year's Resolution article to work on the structuring of my day to day things. It helps me to see the relationship one thing has with another.

Today we ate Sandwiches, Festive Quinoa and Tofu Sauteed Green beans. All with the exception for the quinoa took all of 5 minutes. HOW'S THAT 4 HEALTHY FAST FOOD!!!?

I'm snacking on my raw almonds right now editing and organizing all of my review pics for you guys.

Products galore for your information and resources to incorporate in your resolutions and eating healthy on the cheap.

Today we're having our famous Enchilagnas. It's a cross between enchiladas and lasagna.

I'll be post the recipe. This one's a little more involved than my usual submission, but well worth the extra time; however, if you have your pre-prep systems set up, you'll be able to reduce the time you spend actually putting it together.

Check out those methods by clicking on the link above.

Thanks,Jason! I was worried that my essay might be offensive to vegetarians. I'm so glad you have a great sense of humor!

My resolution was to slowly become vegetarian over the next year, but suddenly I feel compelled to eat vegetarian now!

I made a commitment to be a vegetarian regardless of how the rest of my family feels. I'll cook vegetarian dishes and if they don't like it, they can prepare something for themselves or pick up some take-out. Coincidentally, when they prepare something for themselves, it tends to vegetarian anyway (cereal, peanut butter sandwiches.)

If the health benefits aren't convincing enough, for me the ethical reasons are the bottom line. I've become suddenly moved by the plight of prey animals. Once upon a time, I thought I could be a pioneer woman who raises and slaughters her own livestock to feed her family. But the more nature shows I watch, the more I realize that these creatures have feelings and emotions. I've been addicted to nature shows that give us insight into the minds of animals. Recently, my son plucked a wing from a cornish hen to pass to me and I felt sick.

Does this happen to you?

I'm shocked by my own reaction because I am not squeamish. I loved cooking and that meant chopping and hacking away at flesh without flinching. I don't fault meat-eaters for eating meat. But suddenly, the thought of eating and cooking meat makes me sad and queasy. It's almost ridiculous.

I love your site and your recipes. Thank you for the information, inspiration and support for people embarking on a new and healthier--and more compassionate--lifestyle!

One time I bit into some steak and there was a blood vessel staring at me. Whoa! That makes you stop and think.

We had a food day at work and I said I would admit when I fell off the wagon. I did - I ate some things with meat. Tell you what - I was back on my little red wagon faster than you could say Jack Robinson.

You can tell a difference - especially when you have the mindset.

If you take a look at some of the films that PETA has on their site, it will also make you stop and think.

Some of the facts about what animals are fed will halt you in your tracks as well. Do you really know what goes into the meat you are eating?

Hey Lori!

Thanks for the encouragement and I'm glad you like my site and sense of humor. I can be a bit of a nut amidst the seriousness of life.

Yeah, the last time I prepared a cornish hen [around 25 years ago] I couldn't eat it. Now mind you, I don't ahve a problem with whether folks eat or don't eat meat. That's not my particular bent, but I think there's a way that it should or could be done that will be the most beneficial to all parties involved. I don't think that God intended for his creations to be caged and kept in in-humane conditions for folks to eat. That's unnatural. They should be free to roam the land in there natural habitat.

So how is it going for you?

Do you have any questions or comments that I can chime in on or better yet write about?

Let me know.

Thanks Robin for your honesty and great words!

I remember when I first became a vegetarian. It was many years ago.

Well, the literal day after I made the tranition... Taco Bell came out with their [I think it was called] 'Burger Supreme'.

OMG!!! I had to taste it. I mean c'mon! Ya know!?

Needless to say, I was off 'the wagon' for the next 6 months. Mainly because I had no clue how to make anything that wasn't based in meat. And if it wasn't... then at least pass a steak over my plate so, per chance, the steak essence would somehow attach to my dish and make it taste meaty. LOL!!!

I was seriously into my meat and my sugary sweets. It's funny that I went veggie and totally health conscious.

So trust me when I can say that I can relate to the falling off the wagon thing.

Now I'm glad that I'm in the position of being able to talk not only about the food with recipes, but even more inportantly... the principle behind it all.

My desire is to get you all to the point where you're cooking vegetarian food that is great tasting, great for you, but that tastes like you're eating unhealthy, decadent, artery clogging 'feasty' foods. [That's a new word that I just came up with for this post. ]

How's everything going for you guys?

Things have been interesting for me and we've been on auto pilot in my household for a couple of months now. We just moved and are still coming out of boxes just following the end of the year's bang for us with a series of family emergency ups and downs.

I'm telling you all this to share how we coped with it all and stayed on track with our eating and most of our goals along with the areas that we learned we had to tweak to be able to get back on track.

When we cook, we tend to cook extra for later. Let's face it... there are those times when we just don't feel like cooking. As much as I love being in the kitchen, sometimes even I have to change my scenery and be able to rest on my laurels for a while. It helps me recapture my inspiration for cuisine and exploration. During those times leftovers or frozen extras are key.

We pack our prepped dishes in covered, stackable, glass containers in the fridge and freezer. What we've found is in those moments of weakness, we don't reach for junk [we don't bring the junk into the house so we are as safe as our willingness to step away from the inconvenience of getting ready, hopping in our car and going on a 'junk hunt']. What we reach for is the food or snacks we've prepared ahead of time. We either pull it out of the fridge or freezer and get it ready to eat.

It's faster than fast food, healthier, tastier and guilt-free.

I hope that helps.

What methods are you using to stay on track?

Talk to me and let us know.

We eat out sparingly and when we do go out it is more of a reward with friends to a nice place. We are not vegetarian but I do cook some vegetarian type dishes. I made pasta cici Wednesday night. I cooked a huge batch for a large group of people but normally I cook enough to last me a week - two dinners and two lunches (I never get tired of it). Pasta cici is made with onion and garlic browned in olive oil. I add chick peas and the liquid and add diced or crushed tomatoes and Italian seasonings. It simmers while the elbow macaroni cooks. I add the drained pasta to the mixture and that's dinner. It is good cold too and I often take it to a pot luck. If it becomes dry, add some water.

I've never put it in the freezer. Do you think it would freeze well?

Angie,

First of all that sounds great! I think it will freeze well. What I would do though is freeze it in portions so that I don't have to reheat everything and risk either having to eat it all or putting it back into cold storage, which isn't the healthiest thing to do. To do it properly you'd have to put it into an ice bath and rapidly bring down the temperature.

Let us know how it comes out after you freeze it.

Another thing you might want to do is make sure it doesn't have a lot of excess water when you freeze it. This way you don't have a block of pasta 'cici' ice.

I'll try that.

As a vegetarian, do you eat eggs and cheese and other dairy?

Eggs and dairy aren't our thing. We don't bring them into the house, but if we're out visiting and it's placed before us we don't make a big deal about it and fly the vegetarian flag. We give thanks, say a word of prayer and eat it with gratitude for the ones who took the time and love preparing a meal for us.

We don't normally run into that challenge though. Most of the time our friends and family know that we're vegetarian/vegan and make provisions for us or give us the option of bringing food for us and them. It always turns out the way it's supposed to.

I hope that answers your question.
Let me know.

Yes, thanks.

Hey Guys!

Checking in to see how it's going for everyone.

We've been really pressed to the wall in my house. A lot of movement and the more than occasional repairs. Big drag and also a huge challenge that brings home the reality of how hard it can be to stay up with a program when everything else goes haywire.

Here's what we've been doing to take the pressure off:

We've been cookng a lot of things bland [ pre-prep ] and storing them in our fridge or freezer so that all we have to do is grab the already cooked food and toss it into the skillet with some onions, veggies and/or sauce and top it with some soy cheese and we're ready to go.

It's been helpful because our cooking time for a full-on meal is between 5-10 minutes. That's what we need in our busy lifestyle.

How have you been managing/handling your resolutions?