Reflections of meat

This is it. The last day. I woke up this morning and when I realized it was February 28th, that tomorrow is the first day of March, I felt a bit of panic. I'm over the panic now (after all, I've had 2 full months to mentally prepare), but I find myself a bit wistful and reflective. I haven't had the "gotta eat meat!!!" mania I expected to have this week. In fact, this past week I caught myself having a few of those veggie burgers I mentioned earlier. On one of those occasions, I had a "what are you doing?" moment and promptly drove to the nearest Subway for a chicken teriyaki sandwhich. SO much more appropriate.

However, I AM throwing a "Bon Voyage Meat" party tonight as a suitable send off. Marinated steak and shrimp cocktail are on the menu, and my guests have all been told to bring an appetizer of some sort. I don't care what kind of appetizer, as long as it is meat. That is the only requirement. Something tells me that all this meat might create a gastro-intestinal disturbance of some kind, but I'll get over it. But now that I think about it, maybe I should do some research. I know what happens when you drink too much milk at one sitting... what happens if you eat too much meat? Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. I will have to research. But FEAR NOT! The party is still on. I'll just go into it with eyes wide open.

So on the eve of my vegetarian month, I ask myself... why do I love meat? Truly, I think it's what I'm used to. Nearly every evening meal I prepare consists of a meat product. In planning for dinner, I start with "Do I want something beef? Something chicken? Or something pork?" And then I go from there. I will need to develop an entirely different set of questions now. "Do I want something tofu? Something tempeh (seriously, what IS this)? Or something pasta?" Truly, I don't think it will ever come to that. I think a far smarter strategy is to plan out a series of meals in advance, buy the ingredients, and then prepare it for dinner. Allowing myself to contemplate "what I want" for dinner will only cause problems because historically "what I want" nearly ALWAYS involves meat.

And "what I want" for dinner tonight is a big hunk of marinated steak, shrimp cocktail, and a veritable smorgasbord of meaty appetizers. Can't wait!