Mary Goes Vegetarian

After years of flirting with vegetarianism, I've decided to go all the way with it. I was starting to have a hard time having chickens for pets and also eating chicken for dinner.

Whenever I see packaged chicken:

All I can think of is this:

(Actual picture of our chickens, which are much bigger now.)

The rest of my family--Alan and the kids--do not see chicken meat this way. I don't think Maddie cares that much, but Aidan and Alan definitely see this:

(A succulent chicken feast, not photographed at 

our house because I could never make our food look that good)

In fact, all three of them have happily devoured a roast chicken at a friend's house the other night. So, I guess it's just me.

Aidan has been complaining loudly and clearly that he is a CARNIVORE and that his mother is not cooking meat for him. He has gotten several people, including other kids' parents, to give him meat as a result. My next-door neighbor has such pity for my husband Alan that he has given him meat, too. Truly, where there's a will, there's a way.

I'm hoping that my family will get used to having meatless meals at home and enjoy an occasional burger when we go out to eat or visit a friend's house. What's funny about all this is that we didn't eat much meat before and I don't think Aidan would have noticed if I hadn't said I was going vegetarian.

You might be wondering why I stopped eating other kinds of meat, and not just chicken. (It is true that we don't have any cows or pigs as pets.) The underlying reason is that I no longer feel comfortable buying meat that has come from factory farms where the animals are treated very poorly. Watching our chickens happily scratching for bugs in our yard and responding to us (in their own way) when we pet them has made me realize that these animals do need to be treated well. I think if I took the time and energy to look into it, I could find better sources of meat, but right now the price of such meat seems prohibitive.

What makes being a vegetarian easier this time around (I tried it for a year when I was a teenager) is that I have a vegetarian meal plan sent to my inbox every week. I just print out the grocery list, go shopping and cook the recipes each night of the week. This way, I don't have to think about what to make and I know that the food is healthy and contains enough protein and iron to make up for the lack of meat.

I'm still considering this to be an experimental phase. It depends on how the rest of my family adjusts and if I can keep my iron levels, and energy, high enough. So far, so good.

I'd love to hear your own thoughts on vegetarianism in general or you can share your own story. Feel free to comment below.