Are We Going Vegetarian?

Mmmm. Farty food. Our family has been eating a lot of it lately. Beans and lentils. Peppers and broccoli. All that good green stuff.

Contrary to popular belief (or my dear husband's complaining) we do eat meat from time to time. The truth of the matter is, we're simply eating less meat than we used to. This hasn't been a conscious decision, though. Our eating habits are slowly evolving and changing.

Why are we eating less meat? I think the change is partially due to the fact that I mostly try to buy antibiotic-free, "natural" meat. The meat I buy is not certified organic (but that's essentially what it is). Quite frankly, it's expensive. Meat is becoming more of a treat. A good piece of chicken is not something we take for granted anymore. Roast beef is a real extravagance. Pork is totally off the radar. We don't even buy it because I haven't found a good supplier.

When we eat rich food, we eat rich food. This is especially true of our family dinners on Sunday and Monday nights. Our moms spoil us. After all that good home cooking we're set for the week. Sometimes it feels like we need a few days of simple, meatless meals to recover from the overindulgence.

Also, our family does eat out fairly regularly. If I'm honest, it's at least once a week. We're not talking about gourmet restaurants, though. Pizza Delight is about as fancy as we get. Wendy's is another favourite. If we're going to spent our money (and caloric allotments) on fast food we need to make up the difference somehow. We eat a lot of beans for our other meals.

I'm also really into soup lately, for whatever reason, and am especially drawn to meatless recipes. Vegetarian soups are easy, healthy and economical. Our kids will eat almost anything and they seem to like the beans. I love simmering soups in my crock pot on cold, blustery days.

So, no, we're not going completely veggie. Ben and I will continue to enjoy eating meat. Everything in balance. Everything in moderation. Some meat is very good. (And some beans are even better.)