Update!
Sorry to leave everyone hanging, I basically just stopped posting without any notice!

I got all excited about this veggie journey the same time that I was blessed with becoming pregnant for the second time.

It certainly was not the timing that I had planned! When I started reading The Kind Diet I had no idea what I was stepping into.

I had been on the library's waiting list for MONTHS to borrow this book which I had first heard about through a friend's blog. Everyone on her blog was raving about it and I'm all for eating healthier so I wanted to read the book but not buy it.

Of course once I read it I immediately bought it! But all of my enthusiasm for the book and following a new eating lifestyle could not fight my extreme fatigue and crazy eating patterns that come with pregnancy - cravings, aversions, etc.

I'm sure that if I was used to this lifestyle I could easily (or at least more easily) keep it up rather than trying to start something new. I simply wasn't able to deal with learning to cook and eat in a whole new way, no matter how hard I tried, while dealing with the fatigue, cravings and aversions.

The important thing to me became getting enough nutrition and that has been my focus. Of course I would prefer to be eating different foods and I am doing what I can when I can to eat the best veggie way that I can but the last thing that I am going to do is beat myself up for eating some chicken or something.

I'm still staying away from beef and pork (aside from the baked beans that are cooked with some bacon). There have been a lot of picnic situations over the Summer months and I'm not going to not feed my pregnant body when there is food available!

So that's where I'm at, planning on going back to the veggie journey sometime next year when my life has settled back to a routine where I will be able to focus on starting a newer and healthier food lifestyle.

Keep following!
But if you are still interested in following what I'm up to I have started a personal development blog called Grow With Stacy which integrates personal development with blogging tips.

I'm also going to be starting a blog on home education which will go with the site that I have created as a home education resource called Homeschooling Adventures. I will come back here and update that once it is set up, possibly this week since I'd like to have it up and running in time for the new 'school' year to start up.

EDIT: My new location for my home education blog is here: Homeschool Adventure Land. Please stop by and say hi!

I hope to see you there at either place!

I tried the Crockpot Queso meal last week and an altered version of the Black Bean and Guacamole Salad with ingredients that I had on hand. The salad was closer to nachos but very good. I'll have to try the actual recipe though!

The Crockpot Queso was good but if I make it again I will definitely not be using the velveeta cheese with it. The consistency of the meal had me somewhat scared until it was heated to the proper temperature, then it was fine. It tasted quite good, I enjoyed it even though it was obviously very fatty. But when the left overs cooled down it was the consistency of a precooked block of velveeta cheese, not very appetizing for making left overs.

I really wanted to try the Vegetarian Crockpot Enchiladas but the day that I was ready to go to the store and brave shopping for ingredients that I'm unfamiliar with the link wasn't working. But it was good in that I started with shopping for the ingredients for the Crockpot Queso, it was an easy list even for the unfamiliar ingredients. If nothing else it helped me gain some confidence shopping for things that I didn't even know where they were.

I have tried the link again for the Veg Crockpot Enchiladas but the whole site seems to be down, not just under maintenance as the message had declared last week. I really wanted to try that recipe and I'm not one to give up easily when I really want something so I googled the name of the recipe and found another site with a recipe of the same name: Vegetarian Crockpot Enchiladas though this time I am not going to rely on the link staying up. Here is the actual recipe:

1-3/4 lbs. canned crushed tomatoes in tomato purée
14 ounces chunky style prepared salsa
6 ounces tomato paste
2 lbs. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 lb. corn kernels, thawed if frozen
1/4 lb. canned diced mild green chilies, drained
1-1/2 Tbs. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
5 corn tortillas
2 ounces olive slices, drained

Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly. Pour about 1 cup of mixture into the bottom of an electric slow cooker on low heat. Spread evenly and top with 1-1/2 tortillas, cutting to fit pot. Spread 1/3 of remaining tomato mixture over top. Repeat layering process, ending with tomato mixture. Spread top evenly. Sprinkle with olives. Cover and cook about 5 hours. Serve hot. This recipe serves 5 people.

Also here is the recipe for the Crockpot Queso, though like I mentioned above I do not recommend the velveeta cheese. If you try this with another cheese and like the outcome, please share it with me! :)

Combine all ingredients in Crockpot and heat for several hours on high or on low for about five. Serve with warm corn chips and fresh salsa. Or you can turn them into enchiladas or burritos with a tortilla!

While I am posting recipes, here is another one from the same friend who gave me the salad recipe that I want to try:

Black Bean Enchiladas

2t canola oil (i use veg or olive)

1 med onion peeled and chipped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

Two 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 med tomato or 2 plum tomatoes, diced

4 oz can chopped mild, medium, or hot green chilies, undrained

1T chili powder, or to taste

1t ground cumin

2T tamari or soy sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 corn tortillas (we use flour tortillas all the time)

1 cup bottled or canned enchilada sauce

4 ounces lowfat shard cheddar

2 pint pitted sliced black olives

Scallions (i never use them or the olives)

Preheat oven to 375. Light spray a 9x13in baking dish, set aside

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over med heat. add onion and galic, cook, stirring until translucent and soft about 5 min.

Add beans, tomato, canned chilies with juices, chili powder, cumin, tamari/soy sauce. Bring to a boil stirring frequently.

Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Uncover and continue to simmer for 5 min or until liquid reduces and mixture is firm and holds its shape. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If using corn tortillas, Fill med bowl with warm water and dip tortillas to soften.

Place tortilla in baking dish, spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of filling down the center, and roll.

Push filled tortilla to far end of dish.

Continue dipper corn tortillas in water, draining, filling, and rolling, placing the filled enchiladas in single layer.

Spoon sauce over rolls and scatter with cheddar cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes or until bubbly hot. Serve with garnishes and yogurt or sour scream, black olives and scallions.

I am very excited about a new purchase that we made which will really help with this veggie journey! As a combination birthday / mother's day gift for me we got a brand new BlendTec blender!! I've been wanting one for a long time, ever since I watched them give a demo at our local Costco. You may have heard of this blender from the "Will it Blend?" videos on YouTube. They're funny!

You can do so much with this wonderful blender! Soups, salsas, batters, sauces, ice cream, dips, dressings, smoothies, whole juices, and so much more. The blender even heats up the soups, you just put in the ingredients and push the soup button and then you've got soup! I cannot wait to make my all time favorite soup in the blender: broccoli cheddar! The blender comes with a huge cookbook and as you can imagine most everything is vegetarian. Though I am a bit perplexed as to why the broccoli cheddar soup calls for chicken bouillon so I'm going to have to try some other ingredients until I can find something that properly replaces that ingredient.

I've noticed some subtle changes since I started this journey. I've noticed that the tastes and smells of plant based foods are really coming alive like never before! Some vegetables that have been strong and/or bitter to me in the past have a much sweeter and more pleasant flavor to them! Even fruits that I've always loved have a new, more powerful flavor! I had an orange today and the flavor really seemed to explode in my mouth, I've never tasted an orange that was so delicious!

Alicia Silverstone said that would happen in The Kind Diet ...I just didn't expect it so soon since I'm still eating some meats! Though it does make me wonder how much more sweet and flavorful fruits and vegetables will become after I've given up meats altogether!! That really ought to be some experience!

I didn't get a chance to go shopping yet for those new recipes. I was very busy on Sunday with Mother's Day and had a wonderful day. I had a great morning at church and spent the rest of the day with my son, husband, mom and in-laws. I ran out of time to go shopping so I will try to get that done early this week!

If I got the frozen ground turkey out of freezer soon enough today then I will be able to use the last of that tonight! It really is amazing how much room is now in the freezer with so much meat being gone!

I found some GREAT links today!

GoVeg.com - great info for making the switch to veg!

PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit - another great site for making the switch!

VegCooking: Making the Transition - another one!

Vegetarianrecipe.us - great vegetarian recipes, by the same people from veganrecipe.us which I linked to in my last post!

VegFamily - another link to living the veg life!

This next baby step feels more like a giant leap for me! I think I've been putting it off subconsciously. I don't know why it's so scary, but I'm going to do it!!

What am I going to do? I make it sound like I'm going to go bungee jumping or sky diving but all I'm going to do is try some new vegetarian/vegan recipes. Why does this feel so scary??

But aside from my new found phobia of trying new recipes (and shopping for things that I'm not even sure I know where they are located in the store!) I've been doing well with my journey. Aside from my obvious attempts to get rid of the meat in our freezer I haven't been eating any meat at home, eating out is a different story, but even so I haven't had that much and my goal is to ease into vegetarianism so I'm still doing great!

I've also decided not to buy any more chicken nuggets but I really need to find an alternate for my son. Preferably something plant based because nuggets are pretty much the only meat he will touch as it is (apparently he got his lack of enjoyment for meat from me). He loves dairy (also from me) so he gets more than enough protein from that but again I'd love to get us all getting the majority of our protein from plant based foods! I also need to get into the habit of feeding my son the same meals that we eat, I've gotten myself into the bad habit of feeding him a different dinner. He is definitely old enough to eat what/when we eat! No better time than now, when I am going to be introducing healthier foods!

The foods that I have been preparing which are meatless are simple things that I've always liked. Spaghetti, alfredo, bean burritos, nachos, enchiladas, quesadillas, cheese sandwiches, garden burgers, etc. I have always mostly made all of that stuff meatless, though I know that all of it could easily have meat (my husband adds bacon to his garden burgers!!)

So I have decided on a few recipes that I'd like to try. They don't have too many ingredients so I hopefully won't get overwhelmed and they seem easy enough to make, one is even a crock pot recipe!!

I came across VeganRecipe.us and it's a great resource for vegan recipes! (Though I did find one with cheese...but I'm going to try it anyway, it sounds so yummy!!)

I'm going to try these two recipes: Vegetarian Crock Pot Enchiladas and Crockpot Queso (the one with cheese).

I'm also going to try a recipe that a friend of mine shared in a comment in an earlier post.

Black Bean and Guacamole Salad
12 whole tortilla chips
4 cups broken tortilla chips
3 cups chopped lettuce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups guacamole
1 tablespoon lime juice
chili powder or paprika

arrange whole tortilla chips on outside edge of a large plate, point out. Spread broken chips on rest of plate. Layer lettuce, black beans, and guac over top. Drizzle on sour cream. Sprinkle with paprika or chili powder.

It doesn't say to, but I would heat up the beans first. :)

My goal for this week was originally to try some new veggie recipes but that goal has been altered. I did not sit down and make a shopping list of the ingredients needed for the recipes of my choice. The weekend got away from me but I'm not going to let that happen again!

I'm really beginning to see that I am going to need to be especially organized otherwise nothing will happen! My goal for this week is get organized so that I can achieve my bigger goals soon!

Over the weekend I ate out a lot and I'm beginning to see how eating out is also going to take a lot of organization and planning in order to be successful as vegetarian. Thankfully so far my goal is to 'flirt' with vegetarianism, to take baby steps.

I did eat more meat than I wanted, but less than I normally would have and I was also very much aware of that fact. Also I did avoid all pork products which I have decided to give up completely. It was a temptation, I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy Hawaiian pizza!

So overall I feel that it was a good weekend and the positives outweigh the negatives! I'm making progress, baby steps as they may be! I know that if I went cold-turkey (pardon the expression!) I would have a much more difficult time and my chances of success would be a lot lower.

It's going to be a work in progress learning to make new meals, cook with new foods while at the same time eliminating some foods that I am very used to cooking with.

Although I didn't do anything to try new recipes this week I am making some good steps in another direction. I bought some things to make with the two pounds of ground turkey that we have in the freezer. I'm going to finish that stuff up over the week and then be done with that and not replace it. Also there are some other chicken products that we have managed to finish and I have not replaced those either! Even the one that made my mouth water (and my arteries clog!)

Small victories, the path to success! :)

I found this online and thought it was really cool!

This link was in my inbox this morning and I wanted to share!

11 Meatless Meals

I've been taking 'baby steps' toward going vegetarian and some day eventually vegan. As I mentioned in my first post, my first step was all the way back in 2003 when our family became beef-free because of the semi-local mad cow incident here in the Northwest.

It was really hard, especially early on after everyone else stopped worrying about the beef. It opened our eyes to just how beef-loving this country is. People have accused us of being 'vegetarians' for giving up that one source of meat. People have been irritated with our choice because it's terribly inconvenient for them. We have had to ask countless times what is in a food when we are not eating at home because sometimes it's too hard to tell by looking alone. We've filled up on appetizers and desserts more times than I could count.

The meat industry really has a hold in our country and they are a powerful force. They support politicians financially which allows them many freedoms. They also use their funds on advertising, which you may not really notice until you start looking for it. There are all kinds of ads from the meat industry. They really don't want Americans believing anything other than that we are so desperately in need of animal meats to survive.

They've done quite a good job at this. We Americans are afraid of not getting enough protein in our diets and we think that the only way to accomplish this is by eating meat. But if you take an honest look around you have to admit that most Americans really are not deficient in protein. We get plenty of fat in our diet! We are one of the most overweight countries around!

Did you know that there are ample supplies of protein from plant based sources? The reason that so many vegetarians and vegans are so thin is not that they are starving from a lack of meat but because they are eating protein sources that the body can easily use, and has no need to store up the excess.

Have you ever stopped to think about the animal kingdom and the differences between the carnivores and the herbivores? The herbivores are the peaceful animals who have flat teeth for chewing plant life. The carnivores are the aggressive animals which have sharp claws and very sharp teeth. They also run faster than your car going down the highway and after eating the meat they sleep for a few days, because that's what it takes to digest all of that meat. The herbivores have daily routines of sleeping just at night and being awake all day.

I'm not sure about you, but I know that I don't have sharp claws and teeth (most of mine are very flat) and I don't run 50+ miles an hour and there's no way that I could get away with sleeping for a few days! It does seem that my lifestyle is geared more towards that of the herbivores.

Remembering that makes it easier to make vegetarian choices. Another thing that makes it easier for me to choose plant based foods over meats is just to think about the lives of the poor animals that make it onto my plate. I won't go into the gory details of the hidden tortures that take place daily - feel free to google it or to read The Kind Diet or watch Food Inc.

Since I am working towards vegetarianism I am not completely meatless yet. I'm working on finishing the meaty foods in our freezer and not replacing them. I am also looking at new vegetarian recipes to start adding to our meals to replace the meaty meals.

Truth be told this has not been as hard as I would have thought. I made the decision for good reasons: my family's health, choosing to no longer support the abusive meat industry, helping the planet, etc. Because I strongly believe in these decisions it has made it much easier to make meat free choices. I don't even find myself wanting any kind of meat.

My baby steps so far are:
1. Going beef-free
2. Deciding and believing in my reasons for going vegetarian
3. Giving up all pork products
4. Limiting my other meat choices and choosing dairy or plant based proteins when possible
5. Learning new recipes, cooking styles and how to shop differently

Welcome to my blog about my journey toward becoming a vegetarian and eventually a vegan! Let me tell you a little about myself and my reasons for starting this journey. Right now I am in the "flirting" stage of the game as Alicia Silverstone puts it in her AMAZING book, The Kind Diet. I'm slowly moving out of eating meat while at the same time bringing in more plant based foods. Over time the goal is to have more plant based foods and hardly any meats. I'm not expecting my family go vegetarian with me, but since I am the main cook in the house I will be preparing more and more plant based foods into the family meals. More on that later, this post about how I have come to this journey...

Ever since I was a little girl I have always loved animals and have not been terribly excited about eating them. There is a large, successful pet store in my family since long before I was born so the love of animals runs deep in my genes. I have always loved the furry, fuzzy critters no matter how big or small.

I have had animals ranging from mice to Labradors with many in between. I've had non-fuzzy pets including many fish and some frogs. I've owned five ferrets at one time, that was quite an experience! What delightful little critters those guys are! When I was in junior high I even co-owned a mouse with some friends secretly for a while until one of the moms found out. We would trade the mouse at school, sneak it home and bring it back to school for the next friend to bring home!

Speaking of junior high, that was the very first time that I attempted to go vegetarian. It did not last long, I had no support or research to help me through. As soon as I got to my aunt and uncle's house around day two I found myself at an enormous table filled with meat on every dish. What a let down that was, I gave in because I was hungry and we were going to be at their home for about a week (if memory serves correctly!) and I knew I couldn't go that long without eating.

There have been many other times since then that I've tried to go vegetarian but I have always met up with opposition which has made it so hard, especially when I was living under my parents roof and I didn't know how to get information on vegetarianism. (I graduated high school in the mid-90's so the internet was not what it is today!!)

But then in 2003 I somewhat accidentally took my first real step towards vegetarianism. That was the year that here in my home of the great Northwest there was an outbreak of the mad cow disease. That scared both my husband and I, him more than me at first. He declared our house a beef-free zone. I thought that he might be going a bit overboard so I decided to start researching the whole issue on my own (I was extremely internet-savvy by this point!) and I was really surprised at my findings.

Long story very short, I decided for myself that I would not eat any American beef unless I knew it was completely grain-fed or grass-fed OR until the day that America follows the strict procedures upheld by the Japanese government for their beef. In Japan they test every single cow for disease before it becomes food for the Japanese people, in the United States they test less than 1% of the cows that are used for human consumption!! I honestly don't think that I'll ever see the day that the US follows Japan's procedures but maybe I'll be proven wrong! That would be wonderful for all of the meat eaters in our country!

Since our decision to have a beef-free household in 2003 we have run into all kinds of opposition from all kinds of people in the land of the beef. You would think that we were denouncing America. Seriously. People moan and groan about how we don't eat beef when we go to their homes - though, thankfully not all people! So many people have called us vegetarians. And it's not a compliment, either. Apparently the "new" vegetarianism means eating poultry, pork, and fish!!

Then my next accidental step towards my journey of vegetarianism happened very recently. A friend started posting an article called "Skinny Tuesdays" earlier this year in her blog each week. She started talking about The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone and then she held a contest for her readers where she was giving away a copy of the book to the winner. I saw other readers commenting on the book and I really wanted to get it so I picked it up at the library (I had to wait about 3 months because it's a popular book!) and I devoured the book! It was such an interesting read, such a fun style of writing, great pictures, amazing information, etc. I am constantly telling people to get this book! I love it!

I couldn't buy my own copy fast enough! Alicia did such a great job with her book that she convinced me, a total cheese-aholic, that I need to become a vegan and give up my beloved dairy! Another great thing about The Kind Diet is that she knows full well that many people will need to ease into the lifestyle and she gives different plans for people to follow, including the flirting plan that I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I'm doing pretty well on the flirting part of my journey toward vegetarianism. Last week I had meat only twice and this week just once. I'm eating more dairy (which is why it's good that I'm not going for vegan right now) because I'm not getting my protein from plant sources yet.

My biggest challenge is learning to shop for new foods. It is all too easy to pick up frozen pizzas, bags of frozen chicken parts, etc. I don't even know what to do with 90% of the vegetables at the store. I know that I need and want to start cooking with beans but it's like trying to read a foreign language. I'm so used to cooking with packaged foods that this is all new territory to me, I'm not even used to shopping for recipes. What I really need to do this week is to pull out a few of those completely delicious-looking recipes from second half of The Kind Diet and just buy for those recipes.