The Dream...

I knew it would happen sooner or later, and it happened last night. I had a dream that I was eating meat, then all the sudden realized that I was a vegetarian. Sounds silly, but this happens to me every time I cut something out of my diet. For example, I have had it where I was going for a glucose test in the morning and I dreamt I ate a great big piece of cake only to realize (when the cake was half gone) that I had messed up all my hard work. Why does my brain do this to me? And why do I still feel so guilty when I wake up as if I really had eaten the "forbidden food"?

I have been really sick all week. Being sick has been tough, but it hasn't hurt my vegetarian diet at all. In fact, I haven't been eating much, and couldn't taste much food, so I wasn't missing out on much! The only bummer that I have discovered is almost all canned soups are off limits, as most of them are made with some form of chicken broth. It is rare to find one that isn't. I even found a Campbell's one that had tons of veggies and tomato soup, but there down at the end of the ingredient list... chicken broth. WHY!?!?!? Canned soups used to be a staple for me when I got sick, now I need to find the ones without chicken broth and stock up, I suppose!

Last night I actually had a lot of fun preparing dinner! Since being sick all week, dinners have consisted of things that can be heated up in the microwave, Boca Burgers, and Subway! So, last night was my first night to get back in the kitchen and prepare a dinner all week. I have found (and maybe this is still the newness of it all) that cooking vegetarian is a lot more fun! Last night I started with what I thought was going to be basic cheese ravioli. I had the pasta, and the Prego Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Sauce (no chicken broth, which again, hard to find!!!), and I was just going to throw it together with some warm bread and voila... dinner. (Not my usual style, but again, I've been sick!) Anyway, as I went to the kitchen I thought, "Hm... I have all the stuff to make a basic white sauce." So, I threw the things in the pot for the white sauce. Then I started adding... I added basil, garlic, and Monterey Jack Cheese... Then, I started cutting up spinach, steamed that, and added that as well! Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! I have found that I can be more creative in the kitchen than I used to give myself credit for, and now being vegetarian I am having a lot of fun creating more new and exciting dishes!

Tonight as a family we get to go out to Souplantation! So excited! This is our usual Friday night hangout. Gives me a night off of preparing meals, the kids love it, and it is a healthy meal. I am so glad that the vegetarian diet has not forced me to change our usual night of going out. I just, again, have to stay away from those soups with the dreaded chicken broth. But, Souplantation is really good at labeling which soups have chicken broth and which ones do not! And the only difference to my meal is I now add beans to my salad!