Trying Something Different

I had 2 slices of pumpkin bread for breakfast, but of course when I eat breakfast I get hungry for lunch earlier. I wanted to stay cheap, but I hadn't packed any lunch, so instead of going to a dining hall or on-campus restaurant, I went to our campus convenience store and got Campbell's tomato soup and some chips. I had water to drink that I brought from home. It was pretty good- but I was reading the packaging because I was curious. And I noticed that both of the items I purchased were actually both 2 servings and taking this into account, I discovered that the lunch had 80% of my daily value for sodium. WTF?! That is ridiculous. Just saying. Anyway, dinner was delicious- I went to Tijuana Flats again and this time I tried the refried bean flautas and they were soooo good. The Jason's mom sauce went really well with them too, but I think my favorite topping combo was a jalapeno slice and the cheese sauce on it. Yummy! I'm sure that topped me over my daily value sodium as well, but I didn't notice. lol

Long Time, No Blog

Well not that long really. Anyways. I've been a little off my veg track, but I'm getting back on so I can feel better again and not feel permanently full/bloated. (Brian dragged me to Chili's yesterday and we split the crispy honey chipotle chicken crispers...i ate 1/2 the corn, 1/2 the mashed potatoes (bacon moved to his side) and less than 1/2 the chicken and I still felt full for most of the day after that...then I had black bean nachos, which were yummy but not exactly the most healthy lol.)

Sooo today the boyfriend and I tried out a new dining hall on campus- it's open to everyone for lunch, but breakfast/dinner is for athletes only. It's been there for forever, we've just never tried it before. Anyways, so I got a steamed veggie medley, corn, pasta salad and a PB&J sandwich (it was an all you can eat type place). Then for dinner tonight, I was going to do stir-fry but I ended up having a terrible, stressfull day so I made a vegan pumpkin bread from scratch (it is DELICIOUS!- I didn't add the dried coconut though because I didn't have any) and then baked a frozen cheese pizza. Yay for the convenience of frozen food for a college student. ^^

Any advice for ways to get back on track when you've been pigging out/off of your dietary goals? I need help! =)

Greetings from A Town/Veg Fail

I've been bad. I broke down and have eaten meat 4 times this week already (once a day, sad to say). It's been really hard not to.

Day 1- The trip on Friday

I was hungry. It was a long drive. There were 3 other people in the car with hunger too and the interstate was not offering much. Then we saw Zaxby's. Their non-chicken menu items are: fried cheese, fried mushroom, french fries, and onion rings. I figured I was going to being doing fried no matter what, and as a southerner I had to have another go at fried chicken.

Day 2- Sat

First day of the student part. They had a meet and greet lunch. Free food is hard to pass up. The salad had bacon on it- I passed. The main course had potatoes and veggies and was great...it also came with a chicken breast on it. I mean...it was already dead...and cooked...and I had already broken the day before. It would've just gone to total waste if I didn't eat it...

Day 3- Sunday

We got back to the hotel really late. Our feet were killing us. I had worn heels. We had to work on homework for a class. We ordered pizza....pepperoni pizza...

Day 4- Today

We wanted to go to a local, historic Atlanta place (The Varsity) and get stuff. It was a burger and hot dog joint....I guess that was my last cheeseburger for a while (hopefully).

Not only have my meat meals been meaty, but greasy, fatty, bad for anyone. BUT I haven't done all that bad (believe me, I could've done worse). In the morning I'll eat breakfast at the hotel- a bagel w/ cream cheese, fresh fruit, yogurt, boiled egg, cereal, waffles, stuff like that (I haven't eaten all of those...that was my list of options), and OF COURSE coffee. I never pass up free coffee. For lunch, we've been going to the CNN place which has a huge food court. I went to Dunkin Doughnuts (1 Boston cream doughnut...it was all I needed) because I hadn't in soooo long (12 years?). I went to Taco Bell. I went to this little organic soup, sandwich, salad place (so good!). Tonight we went to McDonald's and I got the fruit and nut salad- it was soooooo good (I was really surprised).

I will say this though. In a way, it's strengthened my desire to go vegetarian even more. I'm not sure if it's the meat, or the greasyness, or maybe just lack of sleep, but I noticed I do not feel as good. I've been more bloated, overly stuffed before I could tell. I've had less energy. I wear out easier. In short, my body was loving the vegetarian diet SO much more. I did some yoga in the hotel room tonight, hoping that would get me back on track.

I feel like this trip has also been letting me do some soul searching too. Not just on the veg front. On life. What do I want from it? How do I want to live it? What do I want to do to make a difference, be a positive influence? I know it's cheesey, but we've been getting a lot of climate change talks. I admit, it's not my normal subject of interest, but it seems like there's been no better time to be involved in expanding our knowledge on the subject. I've been contemplating how I can make a difference. Vegetarian lifestyle is one way. Studying climatology is another. It's something I really hadn't considered before, but am becoming more interested in. But more importantly, I think it's about living by example and demonstrating your beliefs. Going veg, recycling,  bringing your reusable cup to Starbucks and getting your Fairtrade coffee (you know, if that's your kind of thing...) Not even that- living other beliefs too. Standing up for people, showing people you care. I'm a college student, so I'm not donating to the Haitian crisis, but if you can, I've heard that if you donate to the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian government will match every dollar you donate. Or just sticking by your friends and becoming closer to real people and not living through the web.

lol Ok I'm just starting to ramble now...anyways, I need to go shower.

Bye for now!

Busy Busy

Ok so super busy day (or night really).

I came home late. While bf was in a meeting thing, I worked on homework on campus. Then we went home. I started cooking. I started laundry. I finished ALL my grad apps (FINALLY!) and my in state tuition waiver thing for one of the schools. PLUS, I got an e-mail with the application imformation for a job I REALLY want...so I printed out all of the application forms for that. Basically I'm eating late night snackage (Triscuit pizzas and jalapeño poppers) as I'm packing for my trip and trying to do other things too. It's like being in high school all over again (o IB).

Game Night

So I told another Tallahassee friend and her boyfriend the news (that I went veg) when they came over for dinner and Cranium/American Idol tonight. I tried not to make a big deal about it, especially since we already had a dinner planned that was involving meat. We did a pork and green pepper stir fry. I just didn't serve myself any pork and added cashews again. Oh- and we had a side salad. It was a pretty good dinner I think. (Especially because they brought over a bottle of wine! ^^) Breakfast was an orange and trail mix. Snack (lunch?) was a whole wheat bagel with veggie cream cheese. Other snack was El Monterey frozen spicy bean and cheese chimichanga with guacamole.

As for how she took the news- it was pretty much the same as the friend I told yesterday. She asked me why, said she didn't think she could do it but whatever, and make sure you don't live off of salad or straight tofu. Stuff like that. She was really nice about it and supportive. I don't know, I figure if I tell the people I hang out with then it won't be so hard...but it's going to be surprisingly hard telling my meteorology friends because they all seem to be meatatarians even if they're going into climate change studies. Seriously- whenever we eat on campus they only want to go to Chili's or Hardees. The only veg stuff at Hardees is fries, onion rings, sodas/milkshakes and cookies. And Chili's only has a "black bean" burger and soups and salads- but you have to ask them to not put on bacon (or cheese if you're vegan). That's it. Hopefully though they won't just go to burger places on the trip and so I'll actually have menu selection...

Surprise Visit!

So today I had a wonderful surprise text from a friend who had graduated and moved away, but was apparently on her way back to town and we got to hang out! It was a wonderful surprise! I told her about my newly found vegetarianism and she said that she could never do it because she loved meat too much, but she liked that I was sticking to my values and reminded me to eat my tofu and beans and nuts for protein and not to live on salads (which obviously I'm not, but it was sweet of her to mention). Basically she was pretty supportive for a non-veg and it made me happy. :)

We went to the mall (which was really nice because I almost never get to go shopping with girls, lol) and went to TCBY for a snack. I got golden vanilla frozen yogurt with chocolate chip cookie dough bits and hot fudge. Ok, it was a caloric splurge, but it was worth every bite. Now it's dinner time and I'm having leftover medley. I had already finished off the black bean enchiladas and refried beans (unfortunately...although I do still have some gaucamole), but we still have food from his parents that we need to use up (yikes!) so I ate rice, green beans from his mom's beef and green beans, some chives and spicy peppers from his mom's spicy shrimp, and added my broccoli and carrot medley from my Chili's leftovers. I still have some leftover black bean burger and I'm not exactly sure what to do with it. I mean, it was good at the first couple of bites, but then I got SO full (even while leaving half of my food) that I'm kind of avoiding reusing it. I crumbled it up and was thinking of maybe making a stir-fry with it? Or...something. I don't know.

Any ideas for reusing the crumbled half of a leftover "black bean burger" which consisted of black beans, rice, tomatoes and spices? Let me know if you do! I'd sure appreciate it. Especially since I'm leaving town for a week on Friday....

O! and I have another friend coming over tomorrow for dinner...I'm not sure what I'm making for her actually...I should call her. If I can't think of anything else, I might just do spaghetti.

So full!

My meals of the day:
On campus all you can eat place- veggie omelet with spinach, mushrooms, red onion, tomato and cheddar cheese, and a side of garlic spinach and potatoes with chives and tomatoes in them.
Snack- carried my trail mix with me- and it came in handy when I had to wait for my boyfriend to get out of a meeting and I had a blood sugar drop like woah.
Dinner- leftover bean enchiladas, refried beans and guacamole. I'm so stuffed now, but it's all a very good, happy stuffed.

Also, I have updated my blog- changed some colors, added some links to other cool veg blogs, recipe sources, and information about the environmental impact of meat eating (I'm not going to lecture people, I'm just providing them with informative resources in case they are curious).

Aaaand I wanted to share a few more links (articles) about stuff you might be interested in.

1. Fresh v. Frozen Vegetables Which is more nutritious?
2. Where to find local, organic produce A search engine that shows you where the good stuff is.
3. Vegan Pumpkin Bread At lunch today, my friend was telling me about this amazing pumpkin bread that her grandmother makes with coconut milk and how moist it was aaand it made me want to try it soo...here's a recipe so you can too!

Alright, happy vegging!

Refried Beans

Alright I made the best refried beans ever tonight and I will give you the recipe:

1 can Old El Paso Vegetarian Refried Beans
2 tbs canola oil
1 large clove garlic, sliced (or minced I guess, as long as it's fresh)

In a sauce pan, heat oil and garlic on medium heat until garlic becomes fragrant. Add can of beans. Use spatula to get as much out as possible, because believe me- you'll want to eat it. Mix oil into beans. Reduce heat to low. Heat all the way through, stirring occasionally. Serve hot. Garnish with cheese if desired (but you won't really need it).

Oh and guacamole:

1 avocado, sliced
juice of 1 lime
2 tbs salsa

After slicing avocado, use lime juice to prevent browning. Mash up mixture. Add salsa and mix thoroughly. Chill until ready to be served. Great as a dip with chips or on top of enchiladas or in a wrap. ^^

Enchilada Decisions

Alright so my lunch was an amazing avocado sandwich:


two slices of bread, toasted
1/2 an avocado (used the rest for guacamole for dinner ^^), sliced
1/2 a roma tomato, sliced
mixed salad greens
mayonaise to taste


I thought it was really good, it could've maybe used some pepper (I like things hot, lol).


Snack was trail mix (of course).


Dinner will be black bean enchiladas. Now, this is going to be a toughy but hopefully not too tough.
You see, bf will have his chicken enchiladas and I will have my black bean enchiladas and they will have to be distinguishable in the pan- I think I'm just going to throw extra black beans on top of mine or chicken on top of his or both. lol. Hopefully that will work. Also, this is my first time cooking vegetarian enchiladas, so I needed to fins a new recipe and I thought I'd share some of the recipes I found.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=520672
Above is probably the recipe I will use (approximately, I'll probably add more veggies) mainly because I have all the ingredients execpt the jalapeño.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1726,148174-250195,00.html
This recipe looks/sounds really good, but I don't have kidney beans right now, I have black beans and no wheat bulgar.
http://vegetarian-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/vegetarian_enchiladas
I used up the last of my mushrooms on my stroganoff, but otherwise I would probably try this. Actually minus the mushrooms this is about what I'm going to make.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/enchiladas.htm
No tofu, zuchini, or olives in my house right now, but this sounds yummy too. ^^
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/vegetarian_enchiladas.html
This recipe is by far the most creative, least authentic sounding recipe. But it also sounds good and I might try it sometime.


So that's it. You can vote on your favorite enchilada recipe listed or share your own if you'd like. Actually, any and all recipes are always welcome because I love trying new things and I love food. ^^


Have a nice day! :)

Lazy Saturday- Wake Up in the Late Afternoon

First off I'd like to thank Allie for being my first commenter and adding great tips to the blog. :) It's kind of cool that someone besides me reads this. lol. Plus I get the benefit of someone with years of veg experience on me. ^^

So today was an awesome Saturday. After waking up at 11:30 I checked my e-mails and did some semi-productive stuff. I ate eggs Benedict without the Canadian bacon and had OJ to drink (Tip: I've heard that consuming vitamin C with iron-containing foods increases your iron absorption by 300% v. the iron-rich food alone). Then my boyfriend and I went out shopping for school supplies and groceries. At Sam's we got some samples and I basically just gave him all my meat in the samples (sorry, I can't resist Bertoli's chicken Florentine and farfalle...so I basically ate the spinach alfredo-ness and gave him the chicken). We went to Walmart for groceries, but didn't end up getting anything because we were in line FOR AN HOUR before we finally gave up and left (which is totally ridiculous especially since we only moved up one cart!). So we came home empty handed and I cooked mu shu veggies (and pork for the bf) and used flour tortillas instead of the real stuff. And now I'm watching SNL.

Brain Exploding

Basically my head is exploding with grad school and fellowship app stuff that I need to get in ASAP, so I'm gonna keep it short.

1. I have a conference coming up the week after next that I'm going to, and I changed my banquet meal request to vegetarian (I did that a while ago actually...). And today I bought 4 Tasty Bite meals at World Market (on sale 2/$4 through tomorrow ^^), so I could have some CHEAP, easy veg meals during the week.

2. I remembered to bring trail mix, orange and coffee with me today but still somehow ended up eating at the on campus all you can eat place. But at least the vegan sloppy joes were yummy. Yay campus meal plan.

3. Dinner was eat out again too because I got too hungry while out trying to get supplies for this semester... BUT it was DELICIOUS! Tijuana Flats- Spinach & Artichoke Quesadilla + Jason's Mom's Sauce = AMAZING. It was savory (spinach and artichoke) and sweet and spicy (sauce). Yay.

And I REALLY gotta stop eating out so much since I have that trip soon... =[ I can cook. I promise. I'm just lazy right now.

Don't Go To Chili's

Ok, so I already skipped a post. BUT I had good reason- I was searching for and applying for fellowhips and e-mailing for references and application information. Basically I was a busy bee.

Today I've been a busy bee too. I woke up early, cooked a good breakfast- fried egg, toast with butter, and a half of a grapefruit (and my coffee). Then for lunch with my boo, we went to an on-campus Chili's and the ONLY thing that I could do vegetarian-wise was their black bean burger which came with a steamed broccoli/carrot medley. It was..ok. I thought it was good at the time, but like always, even when not eating half of my food I left feeling stuffed to the point of explosion. And now I feel exhausted so I don't think it had a lot of protein in it despite it being a "black bean" burger (I saw whole black beans in a reddish-brown patty, not ground black beans forming a black patty...). Then I had a busy afternoon of classes and chores and picked up my boyfriend from his lab (which ran over 40 minutes late!) sooo I did apartment/house shopping in the library until he got out. Now I'm tired and I don't feel like cooking anymore. Soo unfortunately I think I'll just be ordering a cheap cheese pizza from Hungry Howie's and embrace my lazy broke college student within. I know it's not the healthiest decision, but at this point I really don't care.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Last Day of Break

So, my classes start tomorrow- and I have a heavy course load, so I'm not sure if I'll be updating as regularly, but I'll try. I feel like this is a good way to keep myself on track with becoming vegetarian. I've looked up local places to eat out that have vegetarian/vegan friendly meals on HappyCow and VegGuide (links provided so you can look up stuff in your area if you want). I've also been noticing more vegetarian options at normal places while being out and about this week. For example, Sabarros has a couple different types of veggie pizzas and Taco Bell has some good options (fresco bean burrito, bean and cheese burrito, seven layer burrito, quesadillas, three or seven layer nachos, cheese roll up, etc.) however it is a lot harder to find stuff without cheese at these types of places. There's also smoothie places (you can always just get the ones without yogurt). So, if you think about it, even with eating out it's not too hard finding meatless options. Although we do all know that it is always healthier to pack a snack with you. So I know I for one need to keep this in mind when heading off to classes and grab things like PB&J, oranges, apples, dried fruits, nuts, peanut butter crackers, trail mix, maybe yogurt or string cheese (like mozzarella, low in fat) occasionally too.

My boyfriend is starting to be much more supportive and is even trying to do some research to make sure I'm eating right. He's really sweet. We talked about it, and it turns out he was really worried about not getting to eat his favorite foods that I make anymore, but I really didn't want my decision about my eating habits to effect his, so we're working on it. I want to be able to make the same meal for both of us, but without meat for me. For example, right now we have stuff for beef/mushroom stroganoff, so he can have his beef and I can enjoy just the mushrooms and pasta in the sauce. He's right, it will take a little more effort, especially cleaning an extra pan or two, but hopefully it won't add to my stress too much. We'll see.

Anyways, I need to get some stuff done before tomorrow, so I'll update laters!

Grocery Shopping

Well after eating leftovers yesterday and coming home to a well- emptied fridge from before I left, I knew I needed to do some grocery shopping and as this is my first official grocery shop, I thought I'd share with you my shopping list/what I got.

Orange juice
Roasted, non-salted cashews
Raw almonds
Triscuits - whole grain :)
Bread (lol white, not whole wheat because it's what me and the boyfriend are used to)
Dried black beans
Dried Split Peas
Dried lentils
Egg Noodle pasta
Fresh Garlic
Yellow Onions
Organic pre-packaged mixed greens
Avocados
Organic Celery
Tomatoes
Broccoli Slaw mixture (I have a mu shu veggies recipe)
Local grapefruit
Local oranges
Organic bell peppers
Mushrooms
Whole carrots
2% Milk (again, what my boyfriend and I agree upon)

Now I want to point out something- the organic stuff. Since all my nutrition is now all coming from plants and I'm not paying for expensive meat stuff (my boyfriend is paying for his meat and I'm continuing to cook it for him lol), I can afford to splurge a little on organic veggies. But I'm shopping at Walmart because again, I am still on a budget. So here is how I've decided to try and get as little pesticides as possible while staying on budget: shopping organic for the "dirty dozen". For the list of some of the most (and least) dirty (with pesticides) vegetables, see this page. Unfortunately there was one vegetable on this list that I could not find an organic version of at the store, which was carrots, so I am carefully washing and peeling them with usage.

Also, I wanted to share a recipe for a delicious, vegetarian snack that my mom has made for me all my childhood and now I make for me:

Trail Mix

Ingredients:
oatmeal
walnuts
craisins (dries cranberries)
chocolate chips (best with Ghirardelli, but whatever you have on hand works)

mix equal parts together and keep in a travel safe container because you will want to take it with you
also works well as a substitute for oatmeal in oatmeal cookies ^^

Enjoy!

Ranting

I slept in again, so my brunch was a fresh fruit smoothie that my mom threw yogurt into (again with the dairy...). I headed back to my apartment for school and packed some leftovers for an easy dinner, so my dinner was leftover eggplant parmesan (sans spaghetti this time) and my desert is leftover cheesecake bar with some spiced apple cider.

But there's something else on my mind that I wanted to discuss tonight...

Support System...Or Lack Thereof

I've read that to make the switch, it's helpful to have I let my boyfriend, my mom, my best friend, my boyfriend's parents, my other friends know about my decision and well....I really only had the support of one friend and my mom. My boyfriend is respecting my decision, but has also kind of rubbed in my face some of the foods that I'll be missing...My best friend did the same thing. She gave me a nice, long list of all the things I'll be missing and said that it was the stupidest decision I've ever made. I will be missing the food, they are not wrong. I have eaten meat my whole life and I've always been active in my kitchen at home- I know how to make everything taste perfect. But I just wish they would be a little more supportive about it, especially since I gave them my reasons and they couldn't really argue with my reasoning...

Also, my boyfriend's parents were told. They argued about my decision saying sooo many things...

It's not healthy

Actually, it is. You just have to eat a balanced diet. Not too much sugar, fried foods, proper portions, etc. Eat healthy. All the nutrients I need are in plants, except B12 but I was already taking multivitamins anyway...

You need to eat meat to be smart

Einstein was a vegetarian. Need I say more?

It's okay for girls, but boys can't be vegetarian

Actually they can. It's a perfectly healthy diet for all human beings. I assume they were worried about me converting their son, but I assure you I won't push him into anything he's uncomfortable with because I love him. I'm just going to cook my meals and cook some extra meat for him if/when he wants it. And he's paying for his meat now on his own, it's at his discretion.

I spent New Year's with them and we went to casino buffets and I got talked into eating seafood to get my money's worth...But they knew I was sort of uncomfortable with it. As much as I love the taste, it's not exactly the best way to start my new year's resolution... THEN when we both came home with home cooked food they sent him with:

Fried rice with egg, chicken, sausage, and a little broccoli and chives

Spicy garlicky shrimp (unfortunately, this is my FAVORITE dish his mom makes)

Beef and green beans

Chicken

So basically...nothing I can eat.

Aaand from all the dairy my mom fed me while trying to make vegetarian friendly meals for me (very sweetly mind you), I am constipated. :[

I guess I'm kind of on my own. We'll see what my other friends think when I tell them I guess, maybe I'll have more support here in town...

Off to a Good Start

Well, it's my break so I will be honest and tell you that I slept until about 10:30, got dressed and did my yoga, then ate lunch.

Lunch

I had a big salad, with mixed greens, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, raw cashews, pineapple, a little feta cheese and homemade croûtons (stale bread sautéed in butter and garlic ^^) with Newman's Own Caesar Dressing. It was delicious! I know salads are kind of cliche for vegetarian fare, but it was honestly a very delicious, filling salad. Although, I will tell you that I cannot eat salad every day, I would get sick of it.

I didn't really have any snacks, but I was busy making a desert I haven't eaten yet and got a few little tastes in the process while drinking green tea.

Dinner

Grilles Eggplant Parmesan with spaghetti. The eggplant's baking, the pasta's boiling and the sauce is in the microwave. I haven't eaten it yet, but I can smell it and know it will be amazing. ^^

Desert

I tried out a Food Network Recipe I had read a while ago and e-mailed to myself. They're called chocolate cheesecake candy cane bars and well...I've yet to try it, but I expect it will be tasty.

My only worry so far is that I might be relying on cheese a little too much. This could be a problem...lol although not yet.

Alright, well it's my dinner time!

Edit after eating:
Both Dinner and Desert were fantastic. :)

New Year, New Beginning

Hi, I'm Katie and I'm new to this- blogging, being vegetarian, everything. So please bare with me.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to become vegetarian.
It all started out a little before exam week last semester- I was shopping for meat for the week and was just disgusted by how big the chicken breasts were compared to the real, organic ones that happened been hit up with hormones. I decided I wanted to treat my body better, eat healthier. I'm not fat by any means, I'm actually on the small side of the healthy range, but I don't want to get cancer by eating all these hormones! I've already had a lot of family members die of cancer and I don't want to suffer the way they did.

At first I wanted to eat organic, but I'm a college student and I'm on a budget so I knew I wouldn't be able to afford that very often. So I was thinking I might just limit my meat consumption and up my fruit/vegetable consumption. But then I started thinking about it and doing some research.

I was raised by a hippie. My mom tried being a vegetarian for a while, but she's allergic to corn, beans, and soy...so obviously it was a bad choice for her. But on the other side of this, I've been raised to respect the environment- reduce, reuse, recycle, buy local/in season produce when possible, go paperless with bills, etc. And a lot of my friends have had similar values my whole life. I know a lot of vegetarians. I don't have the same allergies as my mom, so why not try it out?

I'm majoring in meteorology. I'm not a climatology kind of girl, but I have taken a couple classes in the subject and know that despite the leaked e-mails, the science behind the studies is real. Our Earth is warming and it is, in fact, our fault. From my research, I've learned that livestock farming, slaughtering and distributing emits so many greenhouse gases that I'm doing more for the environment by becoming vegetarian than someone buying a hybrid car. The meat industry emits 40% more greenhouse gases annually than all forms of transportation combined. The meat industry is also tainting our water supply and taking up most of the space in the torn-down rainforests. This is a major reason behind my switch.

Of course in my research I came across those PETA ads about the animal abuse and cruelty. But as I'm sure you've all heard this and may be sick of those ads, I will spare you the details and assume you can find that information yourselves if you choose to. I will just mention that as I love my pets, I wouldn't want to eat them. :)

So there you have it- my resolution and my reasons.

Happy New Year!