the vegetarian and the carnivore - happily ever after

Although I haven't eaten meat in over four years (that's longer than I've known my husband, and technically longer than you spend in college) there are still a lot of people who don't know that. Surprise! I don't. It's crazy considering that my father and brothers are some of the most avid sportsmen I know. One of my brothers is obsessed with hunting and fishing. I actually don't think "obsessed" covers it. It's like he works to support his hunting habit. He was literally born that way.

Evidence. A bow wasn't enough so he needed sais and another knife.

So it comes as a surprise to those who know my family when I tell them I don't eat meat. Surprisingly, though, I have no problem with hunting or eating animals (or is that surprising? Our fridge is full of deer meat). I would eat meat it if I could. When I was 19 or 20, my doctor suggested that I become a vegan to combat some digestive issues I was struggling with. I tried the meatless and cheeseless diet for a while, but honestly, I could not give up the cheese. And being meatless was not easy! I doubt that I got the proper amount of protein for a couple of years.

Fast forward to 2010, and I was going to spend six weeks in Uganda. I tried to start eating meat again for this trip to make it easier - I knew that explaining my "aversion" would be awkward and difficult so I tried to acclimate myself to meat and digesting it. About halfway through the trip I decided it really wasn't working, and went right back to my meatless ways. It wasn't fun... I'll leave it at that.

Now here I am - pregnant, and a vegetarian. It makes for interesting entertaining! No meat, no wine. I often get asked what we like to eat, which is a hard question for me. I feel like we eat fairly "normal" food. If I cook mashed potatoes and green beans, Austin gets some deer meat or chicken, and I eat a black bean patty. If I make a casserole that calls for beef, I sub out Morning Star Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles (it's beef-like but made from vegetables, and really easy to cook with). As a matter of fact, that stuff is an awesome substitute for beef in almost any recipe. It's not gross, but you can tell the difference - I won't lie.

This is what we had for dinner last night (sorry my pictures aren't food-blog-worthy):

You'd think it's beef... but it isn't!

This is just lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, corn, black beans, tortilla chips, and the Grillers Recipe Crumbles sauteed with some taco seasoning (just like you would do with beef). We used a mixture of guacamole ranch and Taco Bell chipotle taco sauce as dressing (that stuff does delicious things to tacos!). It was ready in about 15 minutes, and we demolished them even more quickly.

Typically, I use Pinterest to assemble our meals for the week - my d-licioso pinboard is easily the one I pin to the most, though lately all I've liked, apparently, are sweet foods. I'm not a chef, so I don't plan on posting recipes often, but I felt the need to share this part of our life that isn't very... typical! And Ethan seems to be growing quite fine on my vegetarian diet, too! (No, I didn't crave or eat meat in my pregnancy! I definitely started wanting sweets, though I didn't eat them much previously).

love,