“Do you get enough protein?”
“Do you miss eating meat?”
“OMG, I could never be vegetarian!”
I have been a vegetarian for almost 3 years now and I cannot count the amount of times people have said these exact words or a variation of them. In response I usually say, “Yes,” “No,” and “That’s ok, but I bet you could if you tried.”
Being a vegetarian is not as hard as it may seem and there are a lot of benefits (including helping save the Earth). To the people who say they could never be vegetarian, I ask them if they would consider doing one day a week without any meat (a very popular one is Meatless Monday). To help you get started, here is a quick run-down of what I typically eat day-to-day.
Breakfast
On a typical day, I eat one of two breakfasts. One is fried eggs on toasted Ezekiel bread with a slice of pepper jack cheese. The other is peanut butter rolled oats with honey, cinnamon, chia seeds, and strawberries. Yes, both are delicious and very filling and nutritious. On occasion I will have avocado toast, pancakes, or if I am in a rush, cereal.
Lunch
I’ll admit, I don’t really have a typical lunch. I mix it up. Sometimes I make a frozen Trader Joe’s pizza. Sometimes I make some pasta with vodka sauce and veggies. Sometimes I pretend I am seven years old again and make homemade french fries with chicken-less chicken strips (Yes, they are a thing and yes they are so good. I get mine at Trader Joe’s and my non-vegetarian friends now buy them too. They are bomb). There are also days I eat leftovers or premade Trader Joe’s salads.
Dinner
Dinner is similar to lunch: I don’t have one go-to. I love black bean tacos with peppers, onions, avocado and cheese. I also love roasted chickpeas with peppers and onions and couscous. Trader Joe’s frozen meals are also a staple in my freezer and they have so many vegetarian options to pick from. And I’m not gonna lie and tell you I’ve never had cereal for dinner… I’m a college student, let me live.
Snacks
I snack a lot. If I want something salty I will usually buy the bag of Vegetable Root chips or White Cheddar Corn Puffs from Trader Joe’s (almost everything I eat is from TJ’s). I also always like to have apples and peanut butter in the fridge for in between meals. Trader Joe’s spicy hummus is so good to snack on with some cucumbers, peppers and carrots.
There are a million vegetarian options out there. I promise you can find enough to fill one day a week with vegetarian meals. Even if you are craving a burger on a Meatless Monday, there are some seriously crazy dupes out there like the Impossible burger. One time, I had to double check it wasn’t actually meat because it was that good.
There you go! I recommend starting with Meatless Monday or Tuesday, Wednesday, or whenever works for you. If you would have asked me three years ago if I was going to be a vegetarian, I would have laughed as I took a bite of my honey barbeque boneless chicken wings. But here I am. I eat enough protein, I don’t miss eating meat, and I have a pretty good feeling you could do it too.