More Vegetables, Please

For various reasons we have been trying to eat a more vegetable based diet, with the more prominent goal of cutting back on fats, oils, and especially dairy. They all sort of go hand in hand. We are not vegans, which I don't think is that healthy, and we flavor dishes with a bit of meat so technically we're not even vegetarians, but that's not the goal here. A bit of lean meat is okay. We also eat a lot of fish, but all in all, we have definitely embraced a more plant-based approach. This means tons of fruits and vegetables, and more beans than you can imagine. Soups and grains help us get through a meal, and being the cook in this household it's my job to come up with things novel and tasty throughout the week. Everyone is good natured about this and nobody complains, partly because they will incur the wrath of dad, but also because mom and kids appreciate the effort. It helps to make the food taste good.

Consequently, meal planning a whole heck of a lot more challenging, but with greater challenge comes greater reward, right? I've found that things like whole grains and beans can be made pretty tasty with a little olive oil (not too much), vinegar, and salt. What else do you need? As I mentioned, soups are a great way to be a vegetarian, though I tend to add a slice or two of ham to flavor it. Even still, gone are the days of meatloaf and ground beef tacos. Meat definitely makes a meal a lot easier, but who wants easy? Not us, that's for sure. Plus, when it's just N and I, usually traveling for hockey, we usually grab cheeseburgers or beef burritos, so we're hardly living the vegetarian life. It's at home where we put on our vegetarian hats, and so far it hasn't been too bad.

We'll how long this lasts, but part of me thinks it's going to work out okay in the long term. One bump we're going to hit is with the holidays, but engorging ourselves on meat every now and then isn't such a big deal, is it? Just eat an extra portion of broccoli and you're on your way.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to David Stanley for the pic.