2011 meat-free january recap

last year i challenged myself and my mother to go one full month without eating any meat. i'm skipping the challenge this year, since now is not the time to be messing with my diet, but if you've decided to take on the challenge yourself, here's a summary of how last year's meat-free january went. looking for more meat free meals? check out 50+ meatless meals!

overall i ate some great vegetarian dinners, discovered some new foods, and learned some things - 

i went into this thinking it was going to be really really easy. which it was. for about 2 weeks. then i hit a slump - the "what am i going to eat? i already ate everything there is that doesn't have meat!!" slump. the problem is that i was focused on "vegetarian" recipes. once i figured out how easy it is to make meals that normally contain meat meatless, then i was on to something. fajitas that still taste like fajitas (with mushrooms instead of beef/chicken/pork) and potato, corn, & cheddar chowder (minus the bacon) were perfect.

i was driving home from work one night, listening to my stomach grumble, and while driving past the strip of fast food restaurants, realized how difficult it would be to eat on the go and still eat vegetarian. the only real option seems to be salad. i don't know about you, but there's only so much salad this girl can eat.

the only time i went out for dinner was for my birthday. lucky for me, i had the special - shrimp and lobster stuffed shells with romesco sauce. while this may have been the best meatless meal i had all month, it was also the biggest disappointment. i love veal and the full menu page devoted to it didn't really help my cause.

and even though i have every intention to go back to eating meat, i do hope to eat less and less of it. if there's one thing this month reminded me, it's that you don't need meat to feel satisfied. and sometimes, the meal is so good, that you don't even realize it's missing.