Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants. 

By far one of my favorite quotes from Michael Pollan, especially when it seems the latest trend is food bashing. I’ll save my thoughts on food bashing for another post.

In the mean time though, we are back to being a Vegetarian from July 10th to the 16th. The first time we did this was Week 5 of our 12 week post New Years Challenge. I’m just realizing both No Meat weeks happened at Week 5. Coincidence? I think so! During that post, I gave you 6 very simple meal ideas to incorporate as a lacto-ovo pesco vegetarian. Check out those yummy suggestions here.

Since that February challenge only a mere 4 months ago 2 people in my circle have gone Vegan. Just the word makes me nervous. I think it’s because I tend to focus on the what I CAN’T have vs the what I CAN have. Then there’s words like Liquid Amino’s and Nutritional Yeast which have an alien undertone that most Vegan’s incorporate into their meals. My first reaction is Ew. But to be fair, I’ve never tried them before.

I must say I’m super proud of these 2 people. One especially given the first time I cooked for this person I made a tofu, veggie laden lasagna and he said something along the lines of “why eat it if it has no meat?”. When I recently reminded him of this memory in his true fashion he quoted Abraham Lincoln “I like to think that I’m smarter today then I was yesterday.”

And when it comes to going back to the WHY we’re trying these things out, it honestly is to become smarter today than yesterday. To realize everyday we are getting older. That we have ONE body that we need to take care of. To have THIS body love us back for years and years to come.

Per the Blue Zones Project website “Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets (averaging about 1 cup per day). Meat—mostly pork—is eaten on average only five times per month.  Serving sizes are 3-4 oz., about the size of deck or cards.”

So even if you are not up for going completely Meat Free, limit it to 2 times per week max. My goal is to join my Vegan friends on this one and try at least 2-3 days of Veganism. I’ve got money on it that just like my Sugar Challenges get easier each time I restrict added sugar so will this one. I’m thinking more frequent dabbles into the land of eating NOTHING that has or came from something with eyes will also be less challenging. And honestly, anytime these friends visit I look forward to preparing something yummy they can eat and enjoy.

Now’s the time to follow me on Facebook if you haven’t liked my page before. I’ll be posting my menu, some recipes and I’ll definitely need encouragement and ideas during my Vegan days. Easy link to my page is right HERE.

In the meantime, feel free to check out these recipes from the Blue Zones Project page. They all look delicious and inspiring!!

Hugs, Kim