No more meat

I haven't had meat in three days. For health and taste reasons only. I could care less about cattle and chickens. Meat is tasty and all, but so are chick peas. When I found a recipe for mock tuna salad that tasted better than any tuna salad I've tried, I figured I'd take the plunge.

Next came fake hamburgers. They taste nothing like hamburgers, but it doesn't matter. Again, they're mostly chick peas and tofu, and they're fried instead of grilled. They taste great.

I don't know how long this will last. I have eight promising recipes, but my downfall will probably be restaurant related. In Philly, I would have no problem staying veg. My favorite Chinese place and favorite sandwich place are both vegan and located in Philadelphia. I took my mom and brother to the Chinese place and they liked it.

Locally though, aside from the Chinese places, all we have are chains.

Sub shops aren't too hard. I order the veggie sub 90% of the time at Subway anyway. I just double the cheese and toast it. Quizno's has only one vegetarian option, and it's the same price as most of the food I normally get. I tried it today and it was tasty enough.

The taco places aren't hard either, though we only have a Taco Bell in York. No Qudoba or Chipotle, which actually have great vegetarian options.

I'll probably just stop going to the Wendy's-, Burger King- and Arby's-type places. Fries are about the only thing a vegetarian could get there. That's probably better for my health anyway.

I'm not going to cut out meat all together. I'll still make fish every few weeks, and I'll probably still eat beef at nice restaurants or weddings. But cutting it out of my everyday diet should be pretty healthy.