I always have some wacky food goals and exercise goals and they often go hand and hand. For example, the last one involved working out at 2 gyms, training with a personal trainer and running while going on a high protein diet. After 6 months of hell and intervention on the part of my fiancee I realized the craziness of my ways...and the craziness of spending $200 a month on gym memberships...oh and guess what my butt was the exact same size as when I started. My realization probably also occurred when my personal trainer told me I had to give up red wine if I wanted to lose weight...oh really...at that point I thought if I saw another chicken breast I would fling it at the wall. 

However, my current food/health goal involves trying to eat one vegetarian meal a week. We often hear about how Americans eat too much meat and the cholesterol/fat problems associated with this. We also always hear on all of the cooking shows the importance of proteins and we have seen it time and time again the fight for proteins on such shows as Top Chef. Therefore, when I started cooking it became all about the proteins. Actually to be honest my protein neurosis started as I child...as I mentioned I was raised vegetarian however my Mom was always concerned about me getting enough proteins for my growing body...could that be the reason I am only 5'4" and I am the shortest person in my family (read bitterness here).

So currently I am trying to cut back on the fat in my diet, eat more vegetables and try to eat a more well balanced diet. I thought it would be easy to eat one vegetarian meal a week...but its not! I thought my Mom did this for every meal when I was a child so why can't I do one meal a week. It is a challenge to find vegetarian meals that aren't so completely carb loaded that you feel completely bloated and heavy the minute you put down your fork. Its hard to find meals that aren't completely loaded with fat...I keep finding recipes that must substitute the protein for a mass amount of cheese...love cheese but that kind of diminishes the point of eating vegetarian. Its hard to find meals that don't have so many vegetables that you feel so gassy the next day that you are afraid people hear the gas bubbles in your stomach. And its hard to cook a vegetarian meal for a man who thinks that meat and potatoes are the only food group...oh wait there is also the chocolate group for him...and he walks to the table excited with what is before him.

So I am on week 3 of this goal. So far I have made eggplant parmesan...good but tasted like eating a rubber tire the next day when I tried to bring it to work as leftovers. Tofu chocolate pudding...one of the nastiest things I have ever eaten...grainy, chalky and the man had one spoonful and just walked away. Vegetable sloppy joes w/blk beans...good but see gas bubbles above. Tofu w/peanut sauce...good but the peanut sauce had so much fat it drowned out the healthful benefits of soy. I am not willing to give up this cause as of yet, however if anyone has any suggestions I am all ears.