" ..Overcooked by cathode rays / Evolved to consume.. "
Tomorrow is my last meat day for a month.
I am going vegetarian for the month of September. I will be allowing myself dairy products and eggs, plus incidental stocks. (i.e. If I cook a meat meal for the housemate and there are surplus juices or stock left over, I am not about to waste them. But I will not seek them out or deliberately plan for them.) If I am eating out, I will not make a fuss when ordering, but seek simply to avoid animal flesh in my food.
I am doing this for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I want to use it as a detox of sorts. It would be easy to just pig out on cheese and processed soy/gluten 'meats', but that would get old rather fast. I want to try and get more vegetables into my diet. I'm already consuming navel oranges at a minimum of two a day. I know I will lose weight on this if I stay away from overdoing the dairy, and lots of people report feeling more energised. I want to see if any of that will happen to me; if it will make a visible difference to my energy levels. That's why I'm doing a month's worth, which I feel is a fair period to wait and see.
Secondly, meat is expensive. I want to try and save money, both when I do food shopping and when I eat out. Not to mention it'd be so much easier to just cook at home from scratch - most of the time when I eat out it is due to a craving for something I cannot prepare for myself. After all, I'm saving for a trip overseas in just over six weeks (eep!). And I'm saving for study next year. Gotta pay those fees somehow, and I would rather not get a government student loan if I do not have to.
Thirdly, I want to force myself out of the culinary rut I am in. The old 'meat and three', a casserole or pasta is just the same old stuff. There are so many vegetarian options out there, from the African groundnut stews to the various Asian permutations. About the only Asian cuisine I know of that makes it hard to go meat-free is Central-Northern, like Mongolia or Siberia. Even then there's yak dairy and pickles. Not that I am about to go sourcing yak milk (it's pink!), mind you.
Fourthly, I want to see if I can do it. If I can test myself and last the distance without breaking. A month is both a very long time and no time at all, when stepping back from a lifetime's habits. If I manage this I may return to meat, though at a much lower level than before. I feel I need a shake up right now before I calcify.
...And I am eyeing the goose eggs I bought from a regular market stallholder. Got four today; evidently they are starting to lay again as the weather warms. They weighed an average of 180g each.
I am going vegetarian for the month of September. I will be allowing myself dairy products and eggs, plus incidental stocks. (i.e. If I cook a meat meal for the housemate and there are surplus juices or stock left over, I am not about to waste them. But I will not seek them out or deliberately plan for them.) If I am eating out, I will not make a fuss when ordering, but seek simply to avoid animal flesh in my food.
I am doing this for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I want to use it as a detox of sorts. It would be easy to just pig out on cheese and processed soy/gluten 'meats', but that would get old rather fast. I want to try and get more vegetables into my diet. I'm already consuming navel oranges at a minimum of two a day. I know I will lose weight on this if I stay away from overdoing the dairy, and lots of people report feeling more energised. I want to see if any of that will happen to me; if it will make a visible difference to my energy levels. That's why I'm doing a month's worth, which I feel is a fair period to wait and see.
Secondly, meat is expensive. I want to try and save money, both when I do food shopping and when I eat out. Not to mention it'd be so much easier to just cook at home from scratch - most of the time when I eat out it is due to a craving for something I cannot prepare for myself. After all, I'm saving for a trip overseas in just over six weeks (eep!). And I'm saving for study next year. Gotta pay those fees somehow, and I would rather not get a government student loan if I do not have to.
Thirdly, I want to force myself out of the culinary rut I am in. The old 'meat and three', a casserole or pasta is just the same old stuff. There are so many vegetarian options out there, from the African groundnut stews to the various Asian permutations. About the only Asian cuisine I know of that makes it hard to go meat-free is Central-Northern, like Mongolia or Siberia. Even then there's yak dairy and pickles. Not that I am about to go sourcing yak milk (it's pink!), mind you.
Fourthly, I want to see if I can do it. If I can test myself and last the distance without breaking. A month is both a very long time and no time at all, when stepping back from a lifetime's habits. If I manage this I may return to meat, though at a much lower level than before. I feel I need a shake up right now before I calcify.
...And I am eyeing the goose eggs I bought from a regular market stallholder. Got four today; evidently they are starting to lay again as the weather warms. They weighed an average of 180g each.
