48 Hours and Counting

I did it.

For 48 hours, so far.

I've given up meat completely.

I was down to only chicken and turkey, with the rare fish, having given up mammals completely about 4 months ago. And I just decided I didn't want to eat meat anymore, from an animal rights and health (though mainly the former) standpoint. Blame it on the Kentucky Derby. I realized that, if I believed animals shouldn't die for (or during) our entertainment, then they didn't have to die for my own consumption now that it is easily possible to live a meat-free and healthy life. I'm not going to be preachy or righteous about this; it's just what is right for me, right now.

I've been a vegetarian before, at the most for about 6 months. So it's always a work in progress. But I feel more committed, more ready this time. We'll see. I imagine I'll still sometimes be a "social meat eater," (mainly because I found that being dogmatic a). doesn't work for me in the long run and b). is annoying) like when I go down to Texas--do they even have vegetables in Texas? Wait, yes, they do . . . with salt pork!

The kids can eat whatever they want, so I'll still be cooking chicken and such. (Though, I will try to choose as organically and humanely as possible, which Mark Bittman and others has suggested is the best way, better than vegetarianism actually, to affect the industrial meat industry in this country.) The kids can decide when they're older. Thankfully, because I just mastered baked chicken, meatloaf, and chicken cutlets. They just don't appeal to me as much anymore. I'll keep dairy and eggs, though. Mama is supportive but will probably eat with the kiddos. I think I'll be making 1 1/2 meals for dinner--a big vegetable dish for me that they can eat too and then a meat protein for them.

So, if you have any favorite meat-free dishes, let me know. I always like to try new things.