VEG UPDATE

You may recall this post from a couple weeks ago in which I pledged to go vegetarian and started with eliminating beef. Well, I haven't had any beef since and now I'm ready to step it up a notch. From now on, I'm not eating pork. Pigs. No more pigs. I would like to have a pet pig one day and I won't be able to look my little pig in the face after eating bacon, so I'm starting now.

Beef was pretty easy to give up. Pork isn't a big deal either. I'll eliminate chicken in a couple weeks, although I'm not eating much of that these days. Once you get started, things just sort of fall into place.

Tonight we're eating fresh wild trout that my father-in-law caught in Montana two days ago. We spent about a week in the Glacier National Park area and just returned last night. The garden went crazy while we were gone, and we'll be eating a fresh head of cauliflower from the garden with our dinner tonight! Photos coming soon...

24 OCTOBER 2009

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MINI-HARVEST

Last night's mini-harvest has already been eaten, but I took a picture to remember it by. We had enough green beans to share between the two of us for dinner, a beet, a handful of fresh peas, herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, parsley), and of course, a variety of lettuces.

Dinner was whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce made with the herbs you see pictured and some frozen tomatoes from last year's harvest. We also cooked up the green beans and beet, and had a large, lovely salad. There's nothing better than eating straight out of the garden!

VINTAGE BLISS

I love old things. Homes, furniture, people, you name it. Old things have so much more character than anything you could buy new. Reusing items is easier on our planet than constantly buying new ones. I've made some fantastic finds at garage sales and D.I. recently, like the set of glasses shown above, and I've also been seeing a lot of great vintage items in the KSL classifieds and on Craig's List that I'd like to pass along. Here are just a few of the items available now in the Provo/Salt Lake area:

Vintage Couch $50

Vintage Desk $129

Vintage Metal Bed $95

Vintage Swinging Cradle $35

Vintage Nightstand $10

NO EXCUSE

"What happens on your plate represents your most important engagement with the natural world and the biggest impact you have on climate change. Meat eating in particular represents a tremendous amount of greenhouse gasses produced." - Michael Pollan

I know, I KNOW. You're right, Mr. Pollan. I should stop eating meat. I've known this for a while now, even tried to go veg once. I have a husband who willingly (NAY, HAPPILY) eats my vegetarian cookin' and who LOVES RICE DREAM. I have a garden full of happy plants that is already offering up it's bounty. I have a desire to lose 5-10 pounds.

In summary, I have no excuse. No excuse to order chicken tacos at Guru's when I could have the Good Karma pasta. No excuse to grill up a "hamburger" (what does that word even mean? ham?) when veggie burgers are so tasty. No excuse to lament limited sources of protein and a burgeoning backside in the same conversation.

I'm going to do this in stages and keep you all updated on my progress every week. First step, eliminate beef from my diet. No more beef. And by beef I mean cow meat. Beef is a word that humans invented to avoid thinking of cows while they're eating. So no more cows. Period.

I'm doing it. Here goes nothing. Wish me luck. If you want, you can join me. And what's more, please share your veggie tips with me. Recipes, whatever. Encouragement is what I need.

p.s. Do you have a Winder Farms account? Did you know that they have a most delicious squash ravioli that goes wonderfully with their cilantro pesto? If what you want is a flavor explosion in your mouth, look no further.