100%

Good Morning!

Hope your new week is off to a great start. I know Mondays can be kind of hard, but I have a feeling this might be a good Monday. 🙂 So, are you ready for the BIG news today???

Here goes:

I’m going 100% vegetarian! Let me explain it to you though. It all started on Saturday when Craig was at the grocery store with me. I was picking up different grocery items that we needed, and happened to grab a box of veggie burgers. I like to keep them in the freezer, just to have in case I don’t feel like cooking.

Craig happened to ask me about them and how they tasted. I told him that they were really good, and I like all of the Morning Star brand foods. (they are all vegetarian) Then he said something about me cooking and if I liked to cook vegetarian meals…and if they actually tasted good. I told him that I do enjoy cooking all vegetarian and that I have some great recipes to try. (from Mama Pea’s new cookbook!!) I told him that I could eat vegetarian dishes all of the time, but cook chicken & turkey for him. I don’t mind at all, but I would be fine with substitutions for meat.

Then he said something that made me feel like a child on Christmas morning, he said that he wouldn’t mind just eating vegetarian meals for dinner. I was beyond excited!!! I never thought I would hear that coming from the man who swore he could never eat vegetarian meals. He made my day!!

Immediately I stocked up on some new goods for my NEW dinners.

Now, first let me tell you that this is not something that I just thought of. I know some people might think that I’m going vegetarian because that’s the ‘cool thing’ to do in the blog world, but that is not why I’m doing it. Honestly I have been wanting to go vegetarian for a while…way before the blog.

For me it’s not about ethics, it’s about preference. (thanks Twin for putting it that way 🙂 ) I honestly just PREFER not to eat meat…I don’t have a desire to eat more, nor will I miss eating it.

Craig will be doing it differently though. He will still eat meat, like for his lunch, but dinner will be 100% vegetarian meals. He is willing to try it, and I have promised him that he will not be disappointed! 🙂

I have some great recipes that I am excited about making & I think I will be able to prove to him that it really is possible to enjoy meals without meat.

So in honor of our new way of eating, we shall celebrate with a cookie…or two! 😀
I saw a recipe on Jessica’s blog this week for Giant Rainbow cookies, and I knew that I had to make them. The way that you bake them is the coolest part- you stack on on top of the other before you put it in the oven. She says that is the secret to this recipe…and I DEFINITELY trust her 100% in anything involving a recipe. 😀

Giant Rainbow Cookies
(Copied Directly from How Sweet It Is)

Ingredients:

makes 18 large or 36 small cookies

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) of salted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup mini m&m’s (or something else that you love) **I used pretzel M&M’s because I could not find a big bag of the mini M&Ms
(<–that’s what I needed them for, not Craig’s ice cream 🙂 )

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and sugars until they are combined (and look like the first picture above). Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together.

I even used my hands to help at one point. Fold in the m&m’s. (I first put a cup of pretzel M&M’s into my Magic Bullet to kind of chop them up…I should of used a chopped or food processor because they came out kind of funny, but it still worked)


(and I added in a few chocolate chips too….for good measure 🙂 )

Divide the dough how you choose (1/4 cup portions for 18 large cookies or 2 tablespoon portions for 36 smaller cookies). Shape each portion into a ball with your hands then pull each ball into two equal pieces. Turn each half so that the rough side of the half (what used to be the inside of the ball) faces upwards and then squish both halves together. Place the dough rough-side up on a baking sheets. If you’re doing large cookies, I’d leave about 2 inches in between each.
Bake for 12-15 minutes (large cookies) or 8-12 minutes (small cookies) or until the edges are slightly brown. The centers should be soft and puffy. Do not over bake. Let cool completely then dig in!

Note: to melt the butter I simply microwaved it, and to let it cool I allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes. (a tip from Jess!)

Hopefully Craig’s co-workers will have a happy Monday…I’m sending him in with a plate full of cookies! 🙂

I also made Craig something special with some of the cookie dough ice cream that I made & the cookies…

Needless to say, he had a good Sunday night with his ice cream treat. 🙂

Just wanted to let you guys know that my blog isn’t going to change…I will still post recipes with meat, I will just not be eating them. I also told Craig that if he requested a meal with meat that I would be happy to make it for him…but I think he really is going to try to stick to vegetarian dinners! I will also still be making meals with meat whenever we have guests, again I will just not eat them, but I’m not going to force anyone that eats at our house to eat vegetarian. I will make a dish with meat, and then one without meat for me! 🙂 It’s just a preference that I choose to live this way, I don’t want to push it on other people.

Anyways, I hope you have a great Monday!!! 😀

Questions:
1. Are you a vegetarian, or have you ever considered becoming a vegetarian?
2. What is your favorite kind of cookie?? (I love Snikerdoodles!!)

Posted by Holly at Holly on the Run on July 18, 2011

https://greekyogurtandappleslices.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/100/