Day 12

It's been 12 days since I became vegan.  Wow! Time flies.  It's been 2 weeks since I made the pledge online to begin this journey and I have to say that I am loving everything about it.  It's difficult and overwhelming at times but nothing compared to what I know our animals are going through.

I promised not to preach and I won't.  I want to make it clear as to why I am doing this.  It's for my health but I want to think that I am making a difference in the animal world as well.  It's one less cow, chicken, pig, duck, goose, turkey, etc, that has to suffer to feed me and that makes me feel good. 

That being said, I don't have much of a problem cooking for my family.  Since I started this 'health kick', my family has been eating less meat and alot more veggies.  I am cooking alot less meat as well so there are not many leftovers.  My youngest son has lost 5lbs and my oldest son is feeling better physically and also sleeping better at night. 

I am trying not to make meat such a priority in our meals.  It's not easy but it's doable.  I've grown up thinking that meat is the main ingredient in a dish.  It's really not, as someone pointed out to me.  I am now making it a point to work the meals around veggies and view meat as the side dish.  It's a nice change.

Thanks to some great advice, I am not leaning so hard on myself to perfect meals.  If they don't come out quite as planned, so what.  I'm eating it and it all tastes good to me.  I am sure that with practice, I'll be better at it. 

I've been reminding myself alot lately that in the past few months, I had already been trying to make meals healthier for my family.  I've added zucchini to hamburger helper, added whole wheat noodles to regular spaghetti noodles, made pasta sauce with shredded zucchini, carrots and brocolli stems, mixed sweet potatoes in with ground beef to make hamburgers.  My family hasn't complained once about my changes. In fact, Cayden said that it was the best hamburger he's ever eaten.  Who knew? 

I don't have any plans to make my family vegan but making meat a side instead of the main ingredient seems to be working for me.  They are becoming healthier and trying things that they've never tried before and actually liking it.  It's a good boost to my ego and though it's a bit more work, it gives me strength to keep doing what I am doing.