What do you eat as a vegetarian??

I get asked the above question a lot! So, I figured I would dedicate this blog to explaining what I eat as a vegetarian. Think about your favorite food or dish........Now think about substituting the meat for beans or soy. I know SOY YIKES!! It seems like a scary thought but honestly, its not all that bad. Think about it this way, its soooo much healthier for you than meat; PLUS it has the protein you need to stay healthy. Ok enough with my ranting, im going to post a few pictures with descriptions. If you see something you like feel free to email me Ill get you the recipe, Enjoy!!


Black Bean and Corn Tacos W/ Spinach and Cilantro

Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Red onion and Sprouts
Caramelized Brussel Sprouts and Carrots

The Latest Veggie Adventures......

WOW it has been a while since I posted a blog. I have been so busy with life that I haven't had a chance to update my virtual world. I apologize for the delay. I'm back and I will fill you in on what has been happening.

Last Blog I was heading out for a fun filled day shopping with my mom. The weather that day ended up being a drag but we had a good time. It was drizzling all day and since we were shopping at an outside market, we were soaked! I bought myself some loose leaf tea, a travel mug that I can steep my tea in and a few goodies from the cheese shop around the corner. We ended up eating lunch at a great Amish restaurant and they had a few vegetarian options for me! I had the steamed veggie plate. It was broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots steamed with cheese on top along side some rice pilaf. It was delicious and my plate was empty! I was very envious of the chicken and dumping my mom had but my belly was very satisfied with my healthful veggie lunch.

After that trip 2 weeks ago, I have been working a lot of hours and came down with a nasty cold last week. I am finally recovering and feeling great. The Memorial Day holiday that just past was semi-event filled and I was nervous with all the cook-outs going on. I was invited to a cook-out on Saturday and I took a package of veggie burgers so I wasn't standing around not enjoying the food. I also attended a cook-out with my parents and I took two vegetarian dishes to share (Pasta Salad and Cole Slaw) while everyone else enjoyed the burgers and hot dogs. In the end I was very proud of my self control in not wanting to sneak a burger or dog!

Tonight is grocery night and I love shopping for food for the week. I have a list of a few new things I am going to try. I found an fast and easy recipe for Collard Greens and rice. I have always noticed all the choices of greens meijer has to offer but I was always hesitant to buy any since I didn't know how I would use them. Hopefully I enjoy this recipe and I can buy them in the future. I will update and hopefully take some pictures when I make this. Also on my recipe list are two different kinds of taco's. Black Bean and corn taco's and Avocado Taco's. While they both have very similar ingredients, I hope they aren't so similar I get sick of taco's!

I almost forgot to share that I have started to plant a mini garden! My boyfriend and I discussed growing a tomato plant since he is always making homemade spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes and the price of grocery store tomatoes is insane! We have a few small pots of tomato seeds starting to grow. I also decided to grow some fresh Basil, for his sauce and for me; and also some bib lettuce. They are starting to sprout very good and I can not wait until we can actually use them! The box of tomato plants we bought say each pot may produce up to 60 pounds of tomatoes!! We will see how true that is, but come late summer, early fall if your in need for some tomatoes we may have some you can have!

Time now for my Light Lunch (I know it's a little late for lunch but I work second shift!) of Veggies in a light olive oil sauce. :) Happy Eating!

Its grill season.....

As we all know the grilling season is approaching very fast. Every year I love when it becomes time for all the cookout's and parties. This year is a little different for me. My eating habits have changed drastically since the last grill season and its going to be very difficult for me to get into it. I have already attended one cookout and I have been invited to a few more during the memorial day holiday. While everyone else will be enjoying their juicy burgers,dogs, steaks, and ribs, ill be enjoying most of the side dishes as my main event.

This past weekend I attended my first official cookout of the year. There was roughly around 20 people there and of course lots of food. At first I was a little scared on how my discipline I would give myself before I dive into a burger or hot dog. Thankfully I managed to consume only the necessary plant like items. I bought myself a pre-made salad at a local grocery store just in case the side dishes were not to my liking. When the party started it looked like I was going to be able to eat enough vegetarian friendly dishes that I wouldnt have to be victim of the nice juicy burgers. I had a plate with pasta salad, potato salad, potato chips and some raw broccoli and carrots. After that plate my belly wasnt quite satisfied so I went to my back-up plan and ate my delicious salad. At the end of the day I was very proud of myself for sticking to my guns and not indulging.

As we went on our weekend run to the grocery store and browsing at the mall. I passed a Barnes and noble and thought hmm....maybe I should look into a vegetarian cookbook to give me a little more direction instead of thinking on my feet when Im at the store. I purchased, Family Vegetarian Cooking by Good Housekeeping. The book has 225 recipes and lots of beautiful pictures. I have only had the chance to browse through it, but so far I have at least 10 recipes I can not WAIT to try and even my boyfriend thinks some of the recipes look yummy! Whenever I decide to make those recipes I will take a few pictures of prepping and final product and share with all of you the recipe and how much we/I liked it! Off for a fun shopping day tomorrow with my mom! I hope the restaurant we go to have a few easy options for me......

May 11th 2010---Beginning of the Blog Life

I want to start off by introducing myself. My name is Megan, Im 26 years old and I am not married. I live with my boyfriend Chris, our cat Ally, and our Dog Buddy. I just recently graduated from college in Sept. of 2009 with an associates degree in computer networking systems. I now work in a great office where I am a customer service representative.



The reason I am starting this blog is because I have recently became what I call semi-vegetarian. I do not eat any kind of meat but I so eat dairy products such as eggs, cheese, and milk. The big difference from being a Vegan and Semi-Vegetarian is the Dairy products. Vegans eat nothing that comes from an animal period; while us "semi's" do. I been eating this way for a little over three weeks now and Im feeling great.

Now for a little background on where I was before I ate this way. Im the kind of girl that would pick a big juicy steak on the menu over a garden salad anyday and the burger category, forget about it! I LOVE Burgers! One of my top favorite foods. One day I woke up and realized I didnt like what I looked like or how I felt everyday and I decided to make a drastic change.



I did a little research into vegetarianism and thought this is going to be very hard for me. In reality, Im shocked I didnt quit sooner. Its very rewarding to me to not only feel great about what I was eating but seeing the results on the scale. In the last 3 weeks I have lost around 5 pounds just from making healthier food choices with a little exercise thrown in.



This blog is going to be my way of keeping track of the progress and help motivate myself. I would also encourage any tips, recipes, words of encouragement or just a nice pat on the back from the readers. This is more for my personal benefit than entertainment. I hope you like what I have to say in the future blogs and thanks for taking a few minutes out of your time to read about my lifestyle changes! :)



Wish me luck!!!!