I love meat! Unless it's fish... but I won't get into that right now.
I also happen to be an animal lover. I don't like seeing people wearing real fur, I despise seeing deer heads on people's walls and just the idea of hunting is enough to make me sick. I HATE animal abusers and I feel nauseated when I see the video's of animals locked in small pens and despicable living conditions until they are sent to the slaughter house. I just haven't had the dedication to become a vegetarian before. It didn't even help when I read about all the health benefits! Like lower blood pressure and cholesterol, better overall heart health, better digestive health and a higher metabolism which also makes it easier to lose weight. Everything sounded so good on paper, but then I would sit in a restaurant and the smells would waft through the air... and the cravings would hit! Steak, chicken, hamburgers, BACON! They are all so tasty!
Luckily my sister Kelsey was in the same boat as me. We decided that it would be easier to try vegetarianism if we had the support of someone else doing the same thing. We decided to take it slow and try it for just one month. If the month was easy then we would discuss doing it again, but if it was hard we could remind ourselves that it wasn't permanent. We chose April. As soon as the clock struck midnight April 1st, we cut all meat out of our diet. That meant a special trip to the store to buy food that was meat free, and of course reading labels to make sure there was no hidden meat or meat by-product in our food. You would be surprised at how many seemingly "meat free" meals have grease or fat from animals hidden in it.
Somehow we both not only survived, but we thrived! We did so without really craving meat either! Eating vegetarian was really easy at home when we cooked for ourselves. Ordering pizza was a breeze, and I highly recommend the Domino's veggie pizza!
Easter dinner was harder since we could see and smell the ham but we could not eat it. There were enough vegetarian friendly dishes to choose from though, so even that didn't faze us much. I think I speak for both Kelsey and I when I say the hardest part of being vegetarian is eating out. There aren't many vegetarian options at restaurants and fast food places. I had to resort to asking for normal meals without the meat several times. This usually resulted in puzzled looks and the occasional critical glare. As difficult as it was for me to eat out, I think Bob struggled more. He tried so hard to accommodate my vegetarian diet while still filling his meat cravings. I'm so grateful for his patience and support in accomplishing my goal!
At the end of a successful month, Kelsey and I went to a cute little vegetarian restaurant in downtown Salt Lake called Sage's Cafe to celebrate. We both got Bella Burgers (essentially a hamburger with portabella mushrooms to replace the hamburger). It was pretty good. At least until Kelsey started comparing the consistency of mushrooms to that of worms! After that I had a hard time finishing my meal! We also had the truffle fries with garlic aioli, the blueberry blast smoothie and of course some desserts with ice cream, cookies and brownies! The food was all really good (except the cookies were a little too hard...) More importantly we really enjoyed spending time with each other and trying to sneak a picture of the cute waiter so we could show it to Savannah. I hope he didn't think we were total creepers, cause that's how we were acting! It was a great night!
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| Kelsey at Sage's Cafe |
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| Enjoying 1 of the mushrooms that fell off my bella burger |
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| Sage's Cafe |
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| What was left of my Bella burger after Kelsey grossed me out! |
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| Kelsey overly proud of herself for grossing me out.... |
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| Sister dinner |
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| Dessert #1 |
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| Dessert #2 |
To top off the weekend, it was my Sister-in-law Tessa's 40th birthday! I went over to her house Friday night to celebrate and to give her a birthday gift from me and Dani. I was exhausted from slaving away at my work's Kids At Work Day, so I spent most of my time there observing the party or letting my nieces play with my hair. Bob had to miss the party because of work, so we went back over Sunday morning for him to wish his sister a good one and give her a picture he had drawn for her. It was bright and early in the morning so we were tired but really happy we went. It was fun talking with all the kids! The highlight of the day was watching Corey stuff half a waffle in his mouth in one bite! Crazy boy!
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| Accepting the challenge |
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| Eating the waffle... |
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| His "What have I done?" look |
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| Katie showing off her hair tied in a bow |
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| My niece is as much of a poser as I am! |
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