We challenged friend of Global Cool Demi Heath to try turning vegetarian for a week. Here’s her photo diary of the ups and downs…
Day 1
Global Cool challenged me this week to go veggie. Tonight was my last meaty meal so I treated myself to a tasty steak! For those of you who know me will know that I’m a bit of a carnivore when it comes to food, so the next week should be interesting! However, I’m out to show that anyone can turn veggie or at least cut down on meat consumption very easily, and I hope, create exciting, tasty dishes with fresh, healthy ingredients!
Day 2
So it’s my first official day of vegetarianism. Unfortunately, this event has coincided with me catching the freshers flu for the third year in a row! However, I’ve been well looked after and this afternoon was provided with heart-warming, home-made spicy lentil soup and home-made bread! And for dinner it was vegetarian shepards pie, made with Quorn mince. My appetite hasn’t been normal today, let’s hope it resumes tomorrow! Be proud Global Cool!
Day 3
Home made pizza was on the menu, completed with chillies, mushrooms, onions and lots of cheese, of course! Home-made pizza is always so much better…
Day 4
So, unfortuantely the image from my meal last night got corrupted somewhere between the camera and the laptop, but I’m happy to let everyone know that I’m still holding strong (despite being desperate for a bacon sandwich yesterday morning, and surrounded by people eating succulent chicken last night), and made myself a calzone, which was quite yummy, even if I do say so myself! I’ve found myself making a lot more effort with the food that I’m eating, now not having meat in my diet and a lot more care and preparation is going into each meal! Only half way through though….let’s see how the week continues…
Day 5
A roast was on the menu and whilst my family munched away on succulent roasted lamb shank, I contented myself with the roasted veggies and the dauphinoise potatoes and home-made gravy! I’m surviving so far!
Day 6
I made Chilli ‘sans’ carne, which was very attractive and just the right amount of spicy, I made it with Quorn mince, which did actually taste pretty close to the real thing!
Day 7
Today I made pizza with spinach and ricotta (pictured), ricotta is definitely an underrated cheese!tomorrow is my last day and I’d like to go out with a bang, must start thinking about what to cook now…
Day 8
Due to a very very long day travelling and shooting in London my plan to go out with a big bang didn’t really happen! However I did make potato wedges with lots of herbs and spices and the classic mix of cheese and beans. Perfect comfort food after a long day!
Final thoughts…
Its been a very interesting week, and although I don’t think I could ever become a veggie I’ve defintely realised this week how much meat I consume (usually two meals a day), I know that I could easily cut down on this without cutting that awesome bacon sandwich out of my life completely! Thanks for the challenge Global Cool!
It definitely got me to enjoy creating and putting together a meal more, to actually enjoy the experince of cooking and the excitement of trying new things and new combinations. Found it a lot more challenging than I thought I would, seeing as the amount of meat I consume in a week is actually quite high, and I did find myself craving meat about half way through the week, especially being surrounded by friends and family tucking into their roast etc! However, I really would like to take on some of what I’ve learnt in the future and cut down on my meat consumption overall and just enjoy cooking a meal more and taking more time and care in its preparation and in the produce I use. Genuinely eye opening and I would recommend other people giving it a go just for a week and see what they think!
All the meals were home made and a lot of the fresh produce was bought from local grocers rather than supermarket chains. This was an added insight for me, as I always presume that a supermarket would be cheaper, which I found not to be the case at all, and I also found real enjoyment of helping the local small business rather than helping Tesco take over the world!
Do you have a vegetarian story to tell? We want to hear it in the comments box below or on Twitter @global_cool…
