Back on Track?

Allright all my loyal readers. Today I get back on track and introduce you to Week two of my experiment. Week two was actually extremely easy. I got on my bike, rode to safeway and hit the vegetable isle. It was a little overwhelming at first, I wandered the shelves and stands, and I remember my cart being filled, but not how. Luckily I do have a prior background in cooking and realized my mistake before hitting the checkout stand.

With a sudden change like becoming a vegetarian you may feel like it's a good idea to pickup all those vegetables with exotic names that you've never seen before; but please listen to a down to earth cook, don't! Choose one or two after looking up recipes with them, or you could try it my way and hit up the restaurant scene. The cooks in these kitchens are professionals. There are all sort of places with vegetarian menus and or items to choose from and you'll get to experience first hand what these vegetables can do when cooked to perfection.

A sleeper hit for me was the bean sprout. I had overlooked it because of it's plain look, it just doesn't stand out much. But it is in fact an incredible vegetable! You miss that satisfying chew of a fresh steak? Well boy do I have something for you to try. It's a simple mix, and can go into just about anything to replace meat with a satisfying substitute. You take bean sprouts and you put them in a hot pan, with a small amount of oil (one or two teaspoons) and add to it an equal amount of thinly sliced mushrooms. Saute these and add what spices you like. I personally will add an extra step before the saute to get a real flavor kick. Add a clove of fresh garlic, minced, and an appropriate amount of onion. For a pound of bean sprouts and 8 ounces of mushrooms (roughly equivalent in size) I add half of a large onion. This will result in one great base, but if you're not up for the extra slicing and dicing, you can always just add garlic powder and minced onions flakes. Lastly remember to add some salt and pepper, mix it in and you're done!

Now if you want a demonstration of this base with a recipe it goes along great with leave a comment and request it. If there is ever a recipe I mention that you want to see and cook along with me just ask, I'll be more than happy to grab the ingredients, pick up my camcorder, and record it, step by step. We're in this together everyone so don't be afraid to ask. Over and out everyone, best of luck to you.

Odd One Out

So I feel i should depart from the usual today. Rapid change has come into my life, and not the kind I've told you about up until now. My mother has gotten another divorce, and with it I am being withdrawn from my High School and dragged with her up to Nevada City. I don't know how I feel about it yet, I'll miss my friends and especially the girls I like. Yes, I said girls. I might not have elaborated this yet, but I am in fact male and quite straight. Unfortunately for me most women find me unattractive. A result of that has been my rather... Broad view of women. I don't invest a lot in women before I pop the Girlfriend question, a fault of mine, i do admit. I could go into this more but I think that rather defeats the purpose of this blog. For my personal feelings and day to day event you should go to Loveless Listless Lifeless , my blog that specializes in that. And lastly if you want to read my writing try Writer Writer.

The First Week

This was both the easiest and the hardest so far. It was easy in that I had not yet tired of my favorite meatless foods. But the difficulty laid in something I had not even considered. Remembering that I WAS a vegetarian. It's really easy to forget and just eat that piece of chicken or that plate of spare ribs in your fridge. I know I came close on several occasions before I just said said to hell with it all and invited my friends over to raid my fridge. With the temptation gone I felt a lot better. Well and a lot worse too....

Turns out you actually need meat. Well not meat exactly, but the nutrients and minerals it gives you. You CAN get this from a well balanced Vegetarian diet, but for those of us who throw/ are thrown into it suddenly don't usually fare so well. This site was a great help to me, and hopefully will aid you or any other vegetarian you know.

I'll continue writing in the past tense until we catch up to the present, which shouldn't be that long. I hope that you will join me in this experiment, after all i used to be a carnivore. Just like you.

The Proposition

Sometimes a single statement made in passing can have a great effect. An impact far greater than the speaker ever intended, or probably even considered possible. This blog is proof of that. On the twenty fourth of September A buddy confronted me with a serious question. Could I help out a friend of his and house her for the weekend? Words were exchanged and i acceded, after all, it was the right thing to do. So I prep the house, clean it and we spend most of the weekend together, just talking. We meshed pretty well except for one thing. She was a vegetarian. Now I know what you're thinking, and that's not why i started this grand experiment. Well at least not all of why I did it. In truth it has most to do with pride and a simple statement. "It's disgusting that you can't cook without relying on meat."

As a cook and as a person I'm embarking on a grand journey. I'd love for all of you reading this blog to join me on it as well. Lets see what it's like to go half a year without any meat. That's a drastic change for a lot of you and so i don't expect any of you to actually do it, but I would like to have you follow me on my journey and see if maybe this isn't a way of life suitable for you.