Breaking the Rules
Overall, I’m doing really well with my decision to not eat meat once a day, a decision which essentially cuts my meat consumption in half. It’s been a good choice I think: forces me to think about what I’m eating, requires that I shop and make myself lunch to bring to school. I’ve become acutely aware of which restaurants have decent vegetarian offerings on their menus. Its a good thing.
I’ve settled into a nice routine where I food shop and cook my lunch for the week on Sundays. Last Sunday I made Mushroom and Barley Soup from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Even though it was for lunches, I made my parents try it. My mom said she liked it better than the Tarascan soup I made (how is that possible? That soup’s great!). Dad was pretty grossed out; he doesn’t like mushrooms. Points to both of them for trying; I will spread the gospel of homemade food and vegetarian meals! The soup wasn’t the best thing I’d ever eaten, but it was pretty good and I was proud of myself for eating vegetarian (vegan, even), cooking my own food and sucessfully dealing with dried porcini mushrooms and barley, neither of which I’d done before.
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That was Sunday. Today is Friday. And despite the fact that I still have a serving left (Side note: how is it possible that no matter how closely I follow a recipe, even if I halve the recipe, I still end up with more servings than the recipe says I will?), I could not bear mushroom and barley soup for the fifth day in a row. Not when there was a serving of left over ravioli sitting in the fridge. Chicken ravoli.
So, I broke my own rule. Maybe I won’t eat meat for dinner (unlikely, if one of my parents cooks). I feel a little bad about it, but not much. The ravioli was darn good. I’m pretty sure ravioli, tomato sauce and 2 tangerines for dessert still doesn’t qualify as a “bad” meal. Sometimes, you just have to set your principles aside.
I’m making vegetable and barley soup for lunch for next week (I’m a soup addict). I think I’ll be more excited to eat it than I was the mushroom. At least, I hope.
Related posts:
food
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family, lunch, recipe review, soup, vegetarian
Themocracy
I love Mark Bittman! A few months ago I didn’t even know he existed. I’m trying to cut out meat & dairy for breakfast and lunch. Some days it’s pretty easy, some days it’s not. He has a lot of videos on Youtube from his Minimalist series.