The beginning...

I've been meatless now since Friday, May 1. It almost seems ridiculous to blog about the process of going vegetarian but for me it feels so important to document this journey. Like so many others, my attempts to go vegetarian over the years have been half assed. In the past, I would find myself 14 days in to it at a McDonalds scarfing down a double cheese burger with fries. It really comes down to a lack of discipline; well, that and the fact that I was just not ready. I think I've pinpointed the problem: in the past, I made a very abrupt conscious decision to stop eating meat. This time around, I've felt a calling to go vegetarian. Lately, I feel repulsed when I stroll my cart past the meat department. Especially looking at cut-up chicken parts. I've even felt repulsed at the idea of buying processed foods, frozen and boxed. I feel happy at the thought of eating things like tofu, beans and fresh produce from the local farmer's market. I wish you could have seen the face of my mother as I told her the other day that I plan to go vegetarian. I'm 44 years old. My mother is in her 7O's. She was raised with the basic belief that you would die of malnutrition if you didn't have your daily serving of meat. Only hippies and strange cults did things like being vegetarian. She rolled her eyes at me and then, literally laughed at me. As a child, I was extremely underweight and a picky eater. I hid my peas in my milk. I only ate corn as a vegetable and today, I wonder if corn even really passes as a legitimate, nutritional vegetable.

Although I still don't eat peas and carrots to this day, my tastes have vastly expanded. Every morning starts with a green smoothie loaded with fresh fruit and kale. Once I bring myself to justify the expense of a Jack LaLaine Juicer, I may get my daily dosage of beets and carrots after all.

The way I see it, there will be several challenges in this process:

1. What type of vegetarian will I become? How far am I willing to go? Am I really prepared to give up dairy products and eggs? I freaking love these things. I can't even imagine giving up shellfish at this point (maybe I'll have to start watching Lobstermen on the discovery channel until I feel so guilty about those crustaceans that there would be no way to eat it).

2. Every one else in my house eats meat and/or poultry. My daughter and husband eat it all. My son only eats turkey, fish and chicken. My daughter would rope a cow from a car speeding at 80 MPH. As it is, I find myself preparing 2 different meals to accommodate the four of us. Now I'll be adding a third meal for me.

3. The ultimate dilemma: if I find that it is unacceptable to buy and prepare meat for myself, what gives me the right to justify that it's okay to prepare it for my family?

So, what's been on my plate since Friday, May 1?

*eggs and homefries
*miso soup and vegetable sushi
*green smoothies
*eggplant Parmesan and Caesar salad
*bowtie pasta with pesto, red peppers and shrimp