Today turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would. I’m finding it’s pretty easy to have variety for breakfast and not eat meat products. There’s a place in my heart for my kitchen, and making muffins is actually pretty relaxing for me, so after lemon poppy seed bliss…I headed to work.

I knew that there were a few people at work who were vegetarian (or who knew folk who are) so I asked around a little bit for some advice. The big topic of discussion was the “evils of soy.” Really? I had no idea? While I’m not one to form an opinion without reading multiple sources, I was surprised that a few people agreed relying on soy solely as your main source of protein was bad. I’m not going to be able to do that anyway, but I thought it was pretty interesting that this is the first time I’m hearing about it. I’ve been drinking Silk soymilk for years because milk and I no longer got along. Might be worth reading more about, but if you have resources or links on the subject I’d appreciate them.

Besides the soy discussion, I’m consciously trying to move toward better portion control. Funny thing is, I slow down when I’m eating vegetables so I’m wondering if the inhale of carbs has something to do with my habit for over-sized portions. Of course, there might be another culprit for that — caffeine. I know I drink way too much and I’m quite addicted to the stuff, but darn it all! This is my last vice. So, as part of this experiment I’m going to consciously cut back to three cups of coffee a day and stick with the “no soda” option. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Wanted to make sure I had lunch for tomorrow that consisted of something other than soup, so shared salad and homemade mac-n-cheese. The mac-n-cheese recipe I have comes from the book pictured here: The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. I have to say that I get a lot of use out this particular cookbook, because there are recipes in here my meat eater will gladly indulge in. There are two recipes for mac-n-cheese here with variations for vegan vs. not. One is a milk-based sauce, the other is tofu-based. I haven’t tried the tofu-based one yet, but am keeping that as an option since I have issues with cooking tofu.

The true test of this pesca-vegetarian journey is going to be the next few nights, which look like they’re pretty busy. Until next time…