so....three years later.  still haven't gotten the "diet" thing, as far as vegetarian or vegan down.  i mean well, i really do.  i have a husband that doesn't understand my need to change things.  my weight is at an all time high, i'm being tested for sleep apnea this week and my health is just not that great all around.  i can't run any longer.  i just had surgery to fix a work injury on my left foot/ankle and walking is painful at the moment.  i need things to change.

i manage to do the 21 day vegan challenge a few times, but it never sticks.  and i've been pretty good at getting processed foods out of our house, with very few exceptions.  i'm a sucker for oreos.  who isn't?  actually, i'm a sucker for trader joe's joe joe's.  but, you get the picture.  i don't keep convenience foods around, so that's not the reason for my failing at making the final commitment.

i just happen to have a  husband that likes his meat and potatoes.  eat rice and beans?  that's crazy talk.  and lentils?  forget it.  garbanzo beans?  i can't get them past him.  now, i love a good falafel, but he won't go near it.  and the only place here in town that i knew to get a really good egyptian ful has closed.  and that's a shame.  so.....what's a girl to do?  i don't want to rely on pre-packaged "pseudo" meats.  i can get that past hubby and little one every now and then, in tacos and such.  i need to motivate them to start eating more vegetarian and vegan options.  but so much resistance!  at least boca burgers are acceptable.  but there you go again, pseudo meat.  and i'm sick to death of broccoli.  ugh!  it's the only veg that little one will eat, with the occasional pea.  what's wrong with carrots, cauliflower, chard, kale (yum!) spinach, haricot verts?  asparagus?  can't get it in them.  i LOVE the stuff.  i just need to find a way to do this. 

it's not for lack of creativity, or resources.  i've got vegan and vegetarian cookbooks to spare.  it's just that, "doesn't have meat in it."  GAH!  why is it, in america, every meal has to have meat?  i had a LOVELY lunch today, with hubby, that had NO MEAT in it at all.  well, at least mine didn't.  a beautiful caprese salad and a warming bowl of mushroom soup.  vegetarian, yes.  vegan, most definitely not.  but we're talking baby steps here.  i'm taking baby steps.  i don't know if i'll ever be able to give up cheese and butter.  i'm a midwestern girl.  i love my cheese and butter.  it's part of who i am, literally.  it's my hips.  seriously. 

i've never lost any weight when i was eating vegan, but i probably wasn't eating properly.  i need to read more, research more and be more direct and insisting with my family.  every time i try to do "meatless monday" it just falls apart.  hubby comes home with something that he wants, and then it just goes to hell.  well, that's got to change.  we're going to have to sit down and plan our monthly menu and monthly budget.  and i'm going to have to be ruthless with the finances.  i think we should try the "food stamp experiment" and try to live a month on what is allowed for a family of three.  basically, it's $87/week.  that $87/week goes a lot further buying rice and legumes than it does buying meat and dairy.  true, plant milks aren't always the least expensive, but i think we can make it fit in the budget.  so this may be the next part of this omnivore's dilemma.  the food stamp challenge.  let's see if i can sell it to the family.  and figure out what we can do with the money that we will be saving by not buying meat and dairy.  wish me luck, i'm going to need it.