The Veggie Transition

Hello Everyone!

My cousin-in-law Stacey is a new vegetarian considering making the transition to veganism, and wanted to know about how I went from omnivore to vegetarian. It all started innocently enough. Years ago I was laying in bed with my dear, sweet furchild Gigi, geared up for a pleasant night of popcorn and Netflix. I'm a documentary buff and of course lean towards food related documentaries, so after browsing through the menu a short while I stumbled upon Food Inc.
Never did I expect it would lead up to where I am today.
I will spare us all the gross and gory details, but by the end of the film I was clutching Gigi with tears running down my cheeks, staring at the refrigerator in disdain. I promptly gave away all the meat products stored in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, and began my new "food journey" with a trip to my local produce stand. I haven't looked back. At first it was tough. Meat is much more filling than veggies as most of us know, so I stayed hungry and cranky for the first two weeks, regardless of how much lettuce and broccoli I forced down my throat. New to the game, my knowledge of vegetarian recipes pretty much ended at salads, and it got to the point where I would dry heave over the thought of eating any more lettuce. I hated tofu, couldn't stand Boca burgers, and soy curls made my skin crawl. Fake meat was just GROSS. I threw hundreds of dollars worth of meat "substitutes" away in the beginning simply because they tasted absolutely disgusting. So then I started getting creative. It turns out being a vegetarian isn't all tofu and salad, which is good- that's no way to live. Besides, you don't really want beaucoup soy in your diet, it'll give a man boobs. It won't give me boobs, unfortunately, but it will give a man boobs.* I discovered TVP, which got me through the hump in the beginning, and today my diet consists of mostly beans and veggies. Depending on the way I cook them I can make virtually any style of dish. It's amazing what you can do with a fully stocked spice cabinet.
Now let's not get this twisted. I'm not an omnivore-shamer. You eat meat? Your business. I don't care. My husband eats meat. I don't hold issue with family farms or hunters either. You know what I take issue with? The abuse and the disgusting conditions in huge, industrial animal farms. Cruelty to animals is simply not ok. That being said, I don't suggest anyone watching Food Inc. If the aren't ready to take a good, hard look at what they put into their body.

My next posts are going to be a little comical and will possibly feature cruelty to myself as I embark on a three day juice cleanse. Stay tuned!