Flexitarian Advice

About two years ago, right at holiday season, I decided to try being a full time vegetarian. As was pointed out to me by several people, if I was still eating dairy or seafood I was not a true vegetarian. (By the way, I love being corrected by peers...try it sometime. It's fun to watch me squirm and hold it all in..being a true Capricorn and first born and A-type personality). With this information and determination I forged on, planning meals with no chicken, pork or red meat.

The red meat part was the hardest part to let go. I actually have never been a big chicken or poultry food lover, ask my husband who saw me squint every time we got some chicken parts ready for roasting or grilling. No, I'd rather have my meat be all red, full of thready muscles and taste of blood, salt and pepper- just like a good steak should.

Another point- I never decided to reduce my meat intake due to caring about the animals as my biggest "reason" although I certainly have been known to be a animal loving person. Rather it was more about a cleaner diet, lower calorie and less cholesterol laden meal planner for me and my family. Stew on that if you like, but I don't care much for the bullies at PETA or the insufferable health gurus who use bullying to push their vegetarian views on others saying they are compassionate but really being mean, judgemental and spiteful.

All has been going well, although admittedly I have shared a homemade burger or steak with my husband the past few years, I am trying anew to make meals 7 days a week with no meat included. This means there will still be a few fresh beef parcels in our fridge, waiting for my husband to marinade for that craving we get, and my kids may still get the fish tacos we make now about once a week. In fact, seafood is something I just cannot quit - from the fresh grouper from home, the oysters, scallops from Appalachicola and the red snapper from Bay County fish docks- in moderation we are a seafaring family. Luckily due to the rising costs of meat, it is easy to decide to reduce our meat buying, and you will be amazed as I have been how much cash you have leftover for other food items when you greatly reduce it!

Here are a few tips I have incorporated into cooking our meals that reduce other things besides meat, such as sodium, weird fillers and triple named chemicals in rice and pasta "flavor packs":

When cooking with canned beans, which I do ALOT more now for protein, iron and fiber- always rinse the beans to get rid of about 40% of the extra salt you do not need. The flavor will be there, and of course the beans are a great replacement food for meat.

Use canned beans to replace meat- for tacos, enchiladas (I make a great black bean, corn side dish and stuff enchiladas with yellow rice topped with scallions and fat free sour cream). Beans are also great for spicy dip bases, soups, and mixed with bow tie pasta (for fun) and a can of cream of mushroom soup for a casserole type crowd pleaser.

If you happen to purchase pre packed food like the instant pastas or rices that come with the "flavor packets" only use about 1/3 of the packets and toss the rest. Yes, even with the awesomely gooey Mac and Cheese of old, do it. Your kids will never notice the difference, and their bodies won't be full of 3 days worth of salt, MSG, whey, and all the other weird stuff that make the orange powder so volite.

Don't over- serve! Kids don't need half a packet of fig newtons or a bowl of cheerios for a snack every few hours. Recently I fell into the "lazy trap" of giving my kids bowls of snack food so we could pack and move. Also easy to do when someone else's child is eating this way. Don't waver- I try to always have bananas, pears, plums, grapes and whole foods in the truck if we are visiting other so I can chop and serve for snacks.

Dilute the Juice! I buy no sugar added (sometimes organic) juice for my kids - in the big bottles. During the course of the week, they can have juice but I pour 3/4 of their cups with fresh water first, then the juice. This makes the juice last longer of course, but also let's the kids have juice without all the extra sugars and fillers. Again- getting their taste buds used to food in their more purer forms, best you can.

It is easy to play around with these ideas...i can easily go to extremes. Sometimes we go for days with just soy milk and water (for the kids), sometimes we splurge with some turkey hot dogs but even those are going the way of the dinosaur for us. Another thing- I just noticed I used the word "splurge" - watch out around your kids that you don't use food as a treat. This is something I am working on. Kids don't need to have food issues this early in their lives! A treat should be a family outdoor activity not a bowl of cookies.

Always working to be better, always willing to learn for myself and what is good for my own.

Have an awesome day!