Vegetarian, sort of

So, we've decided to go vegetarian for the foreseeable future. Well, not entirely vegetarian, we'll probably still eat fish and seafood. This isn't a huge leap, since we've been eating many meat-free meals in the past, but it's a leap, nonetheless.

Our reasons are threefold:
- I have issues with how factory farming works. I went to a Farm Exhibition last year and was pretty saddened by how they kept the chickens - and that was what they felt free to SHOW me! I read recently that every dollar we spend on factory-farmed meat is a vote for that meat, so I want to reduce my consumption of something I don't agree with.
-Grocery store meat is expensive and not that great for what you pay for. Grain-fed free range meat actually tastes better. So if we stop eating meat all the time, we'll be able to afford the expensive, more delicious stuff on occasion.
-Eating vegetables=more healthy. We have been trying to live by Michael Pollan's 7-word mantra "Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants." , and so going vegetarian for awhile will help us make healthy food choices. One of my favourite meats is bacon and I know that's terrible for me, so it's probably good for me not to eat that for awhile.

We're not going to worry about forcing our choices on anyone else, so we'll still eat meat at friends houses if they offer, or possibly if we go out to eat.


There was a small hitch in our plan, however. When we made this choice, we said we'd start when we'd eaten all the meat in our house. Somehow, we had a chicken, bacon, meatballs, a whole ham and sausages in our fridge/freezer. So, we've had some very meaty meals leading up to this.  But now we have purged our fridge, so it's meat-free from here on out.

Our mantra, on our fridge. 

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

So, as we are waiting for some income to start flowing in from various sources for the upcoming year, we are living on a bit of a shoestring for a couple of weeks.
BUT! It is good for us. We tend to make bad habits of going out to eat ("Why, hello Extreme Pita just a block away! Yes, please."), but with a tight budget this month, there's no room for eating out on a whim.

So, we went to the farmer's market and stocked up on yummy veggies and I made a meal plan (which I try to do even in the best of times). Some highlights were a pot of fresh herbs to grow (parsley, thyme, rosemary and oregano), and multi-coloured tomatoes (which we made into salsa yesterday) Today I made a fantastic and very delicious meal that I totally invented, so I thought I'd share it.
I don't know how often I'll post recipes on here (a la The Mama), but I may post a few that I'm particularly proud of.

Summer Squash, stuffed with Split Peas 


I picked up some small round yellow summer squashes at the farmer's market, I'm still not sure what kind they are, but they're pretty similar to a yellow zucchini.

3 Summer Squashes
1/4 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup split peas (I used yellow, but I don't think green would make a difference)
2 tsp chicken bouillon
Bay Leaf
dash of oregano
sprigs of rosemary and thyme
2 Tbsp Sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp crumbs (bread or cracker)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the squashes in half scoop out the seeds  and discard and then scoop out the majority of the flesh and set aside, leaving barely a quarter-inch thick walls.  Lob off the bottom bit of each half so it sits flat.

Boil the peas in about 2 cups of water, add boullion and all other spices. Cook until the peas are fairly mushy and have absorbed most of the water. You may need to add more water if the peas get dry while boiling them.
Meanwhile, boil the flesh of the squash in some salted water until soft.

When everything is cooked, mix together rice, peas, squash flesh, sunflower seeds and some more salt and pepper - maybe a bit more spices as well. Scoop the filling into the squash shells and sprinkle on the crumbs.

(this is also a view of our tiny kitchen)
Bake at 350 for about 10-15 min, changing the oven to broil for a couple minutes at the end so the crumbs get toasted.


Serve and enjoy!


G loved it, she kept saying "Yummy!" and ended up eating two of the littlest ones (an entire squash!). She has gotten pickier lately, so it was great to have her love something so much that she ate every morsel.


I also cooked up some beet greens and made a peanut sauce to go on them. I don't think I've eaten the greens on beets before, but they were similar to chard, but maybe a bit more bitter. The peanut sauce really helped with the bitterness. We got a HUGE bunch of beets at the farmer's market for only $2. The greens were this meal, and I think the beets themselves might last at least two more meals. Pretty sweet deal!

Stuff

This move involves some serious downsizing.  Which is a surprisingly liberating experience.  I think it's fair to say that I have a complicated attitude toward stuff.  On one hand, I seriously covet stuff.  I want an iPad and a new computer, and a nicely decorated apartment, and beautiful copies of my books.  I want G to have all kinds of great toys, and I want to have kitchen stuff that is both beautiful and functional.  And much as I wish I didn't, a part of me really resents people who DO have all that stuff.

And that, really, is the problem.  I don't believe that having all the stuff I want would really make me happier, and even more, I don't believe that having it would make me better.  I don't believe having that stuff would make me a less resentful, more peaceful, more contented person.  But that is the person I want to be.  It's a cliche, but I think it's true -- stuff ends up owning you instead of the other way around, if you will let it.

So we're selling and giving away and throwing away a lot of our stuff, and I'm kind of happy about it. And when we get to St. John's, we're not going to replace most of it.  We're going to try to be minimalists, and buy only what we really need.  And of course, what we decide we "really need" will probably be a lot more than we ACTUALLY really need, but hopefully, it is a step in the right direction.