One down, 30 to go

So yeah, yesterday was not bad. And I am happy to report that I suffered no ill effects from the excessive meat consumption at the party. Other than the fact that I have a NASTY cold, but I don't think it's related to meat consumption. And now, the meatless month begins!

I had always wondered what those meatless hotdogs taste like so yesterday for lunch, I bought some Morningstar Farms meatless mini corn dogs and heated them up. To my surprise, they tasted just like corn dogs! What a treat! But they weren't enough to fill me up and higher in calories than I would have liked, so I supplemented with a meatless tomato/basil pizza burger topped with meatless spaghetti sauce and fat-free mozzarella cheese. I was content.

I followed through with my pizza plan and went with my husband and step-son to my favorite pizza place, Dewey's, where I created my own pizza. Green peppers, onions, roasted red peppers, fresh basil, dried oregano, and minced garlic. YUMMMMM!!!!! The plan would have been perfect if it wasn't for the fact that my step-son decided to order my all-time favorite pizza (BBQ chicken) for his half. And when they brought it to the table, they put the chicken half directly in front of me. In my rush to get the chicken out of my face, I knocked over my wine glass and dumped it all on Cody. Serves him right for making me watch him eat BBQ chicken pizza. He won't try THAT again any time soon!

All in all, Day One was not hard. But I can already tell that it won't be an easy month. My friend Miriam was intrigued by my quest and decided to join me as a vegetarian for a month so we went out to lunch today. I had NO idea where to go but I had heard one of my favorite restaurants was "vegetarian friendly" so I got on line to check out their menu. I think "vegetarian friendly" must be code for "they have a few salads on the menu" because I did not see a one vegetarian entree, other than a cheese pizza. This is a bummer because I like that place.

We opted instead for a new "100% organic" restaurant up the street. When I hear things like "100% organic" I think "earth friendly" which makes me think "tree hugger" which makes me think "vegetarian and possibly vegan" so I was optimistic. A quick online search did not come up with their menu, but I found a review that indicated they were not a vegetarian restaurant but that vegetarian choices were "good, but not as many as you would think." This is code for "They have a few salads, squash soup, and a few meatless pizzas." Options were fairly limited. I am hoping this is not a trend. For the 2nd day in a row, I had vegetarian pizza. It was quite tasty, but I simply can NOT eat pizza every day. For a wide variety of reasons that go without saying.

Tonight, my husband is out of town so I am going to experiment. I found a recipe for ... get this ... "Cottage Cheese Roast" which is also dubbed "Vegetarian Meatloaf." Since I have not yet been able to find "mung beans," this will be my "so disgusting I have to try it" recipe of the week. I told Miriam I will bring her some of the leftovers. She was less than enthusiastic. Wait until she hears about the mung beans!