To be or Not to be - Meat Free

I decided this weekend, after a day of eating in diners without a vegetarian option, that I was going to try to go meat free for 30 days. Saturday, for lunch, we stopped at the Eaton Cafe in Charlotte. Surprisingly great salad with chicken and Monte Cristo sandwich. Not the kind of sandwich that is deep fat fried but made on homemade French toast. After a day of yard sale-ing we then went to dinner at the Napoleon Cafe. I really don't know why I ordered dinner. I should have gone straight for the dessert. Napoleon Cafe is known for it's pies, but I went for the pineapple upside-down cake.


So after a Saturday of overindulgence and the thought that I really didn't enjoy the ham and turkey in the Monte Cristo. I realized I would have been just as happy with the French toast and raspberry sauce. So, why do I eat meat? I don't know. When your favorite meat is sausage followed by tonkatsu, why continue to eat it? It really isn't good for me so, I am going to give it a real try despite the fact that I have lovely slices of pork loin from Rountree's (http://www.rountreemeats.com/) in the freezer and a package of Koegel franks (http://www.koegelmeats.com/) in the fridge.


Tonight I tried a recipe I found online at the Vegetarian Times - Spicy Asian Stir-fry with Whole Wheat Linguine (http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10900getariantimes.com/recipes/10900getariantimes.com/recipes/10900). Super easy and delicious. I thought the sauce was a bit bland. I don't think that my chile sauce is as hot as it could be, so I added a bit more of my vegetarian Hoisin Sauce and a quarter teaspoon of red pepper flakes. The red pepper flakes and peanuts really made the dish. Being the busy chef that I was I didn't even think about a picture until I decided to write about dinner. So... the photo is from the site.






I have found the web to be a wonderful resource for vegan and vegetarian recipes! My favorite sites right now are:
http://www.vegweb.com/ - mostly vegan. Several recipes have become weekly staples. http://www.fatfreevegan.com/ - a blog with never a bad recipes! http://vegandad.blogspot.com/ - blog with lots of "meat" alternatives and now... add http://www.vegetariantimes.com/ - I think I need a subscription!



Today's brew - The last of Sterling's Northern Nighthawk from Dead River Coffee in Marquette.


Tomorrows brew? - I went to Jackson Coffee today and bought a bag of Black & Tan (my favorite from this roaster) and a bag of Kenyan AA.