Whew. Glad we got that over with.
Moving forward...Have I mentioned that Kaston has decided to be a temporary vegetarian? Yes, Kaston, the meat loving fool we all know so well has decided that he is going to live without meat for a while. And he's doing impressively well. I attempted it with him for about a week, realized that I was incredibly agitated, sort of on edge, and felt like I was starving to death, so I caved and ate some chicken. It was rough.
Obviously after that whole "I wanted to kill someone because I wasn't eating meat" thing, I'm not doing the full-fledged vegetarianism, but I have been exploring way more vegetarian recipes and I must admit it's incredibly interesting. It's sort of tricky to find something substantial that the guys will eat and like sans meat. But it's opening the door to all sorts of recipes that I probably wouldn't have tried before for fear that the guys would just warm up a hot dog and leave me with more leftovers than I would know what to do with.
If you haven't guessed already, this week's Meal Plan is based on some of the new vegetarian recipes I've been exploring. I highly encourage you to check them out even if you are a carnivorous being. Everyone could use an extra dose of veggies every once in a while!
Monday:
Let me tell you a secret. You have to start out slow with the whole vegetable thing. Give them something that isn't too crazy. Mac and Cheese is an old classic, so you just slip in some veggies and they'll never even notice.
Broccoli Basil Mac & Cheese
-from 101 Cookbooks
Tuesday:
So far I've found that some of my favorite vegetarian meals to make/consume have to do with Mexican dishes. You get to play with black beans, rice, cheese, avocado...mhmm.
Tortillas with Spinach in Black Bean Sauce
-from Herbivoracious
Wednesday:
Red Beans and Rice was a favorite even before the meat ban began, so I'm sure this will be a boy-pleaser and requested on a regular basis.
Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Eggplant
-from Chubby Vegetarian
Thursday:
Yesterday while at Trader Joes, I was startled by a Southern classic sitting on the shelves of a New England store. Grits. Stone Ground Grits. I still have no idea what they are doing this far North of the Mason Dixon but I had to buy them. And I also have to use them this week.
Cheesy Grits and Smokey Greens Casserole
-from The Wimpy Vegetarian
Friday:
Do you know what I've found a lot of while searching for vegetarian recipes? GOAT CHEESE. Which makes my heart sing. While searching for an eggplant recipe, I was thinking of something more along the lines of an Eggplant Parmesan...but then I found this. And of course the goat cheese beat out the Parmesan. Sorry, Parm.
Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad
-from Love and Olive Oil
Alright, it's time for your input...
Do you have any favorite vegetarian recipes or blogs? Will you share them with me?
Help me feed the new herbivore!
Booo. I don't see any meat and potatoes haha.
ReplyDeleteHaha I know I'm sorry. As I was writing this post I was actually thinking about how disappointed you would be. I promise if you come over I will make you the manliest dish ever created.
DeleteI can't wait to try some of these recipes! Thank you so much for doing a post on vegetarian meals. I gave up meat for Lent and it's been challenging, although I have found it fun to try out a new way of cooking as well. A few of my favorites are...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.treehugger.com/easy-vegetarian-recipes/weekday-vegetarian-smashed-chickpea-and-avocado-salad-sandwich.html - delish!
http://www.marthastewart.com/891255/black-bean-burgers-pickled-onions - totally awesome
Have you cooked with any lentils yet? They are packed with tons of good stuff and are very simple to make - they don't require much soaking beforehand like other beans. Giada de Laurentis has several good recipes on her site and you can just substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. I love them with brown rice or bulgar wheat.
Also, I love curry so here's a chickpea curry I posted last week - it was very good!
http://munchomom.com/2012/03/29/quick-chickpea-curry-with-homemade-falafel/
Check out the Flaming Vegan website too if you haven't already. Awesome recipes there!
Oh and I can't leave out Smitten Kitchen's Vegetable Ratatouille - it's perfect, especially with summer right around the corner.
Happy Cooking!
Carol, this is absolutely WONDERFUL. Thank you so much for all of these lovely sites and recipes! I've already bookmarked a few of them and I will be throwing them into the dinner rotation very soon. Do you think you will continue eating without meat after Lent?
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