Being experimental...

There are definitely some upshots to this experiment; I’m certainly eating more veg for one, and bizarrely the whole thing seems to be coinciding with the realisation that I don’t actually hate all fruit. Black grapes for example are ruddy delicious, why hadn’t anyone ever told me before?!

I’m also eating more fish, which I’m very happy about, and I’ve overcome a slight fear of prawns in the process. So here’s my first recipe recommendation, tried and tested (with a few of my own twists thrown in for good measure). The basic recipe I followed was this:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3752/prawn-and-courgette-linguine

However, I used a splash of white wine to cook the courgettes instead of water, added lemon zest in with the prawns, and finally a good dollop of crème fraiche at the end with a squeeze of lemon juice instead of the tomatoes. It was pretty damn good too, it even impressed my foodie housemate which was a relief. In fact I’m gutted I forgot to take a photo – next time...

After my shellfish success I’m determined to be more experimental over the next few weeks, and rely less on pasta and potatoes. Bean burgers are on the menu for this weekend – so wish me luck because I’ll be cooking for the boyfriend, and if there’s anyone who enjoys a good burger, it’s him!

Temptation everywhere!

Meat is everywhere! I’m officially finding this really quite hard; every M&S food-porn ad is like torture, and even food shopping is like running a temptation-gauntlet.

There have been 2 specific incidents where I’ve really had my will-power tested to the max in the last 2 and a bit weeks, and they revolve around the same weekend… I had known for a while that I would be attending a big work conference / awards thing in Brighton, and the decision to go veggie really hit me when I had to RSVP with a “special dietary requirement” for the first time in my life. On the night, I was dreading a nut loaf being put in front of me, but the reality was far worse… a STEAK! An amazing looking steak – I almost cried. I had to ask the servers to replace it with the vegetarian option which was really disappointing gnocchi - is it usual that far less effort is put into veggie options btw? I’d be really interested to know... So, while everyone else was delighting in telling me how delicious the beef was, I was sulkily chewing on tasteless potato lumps in watery tomato sauce, not a great start to the night.

By the next morning, after an ocean of wine, all I could think about was bacon: delicious crispy, salty bacon, mmmm. I walked around the buffet and thought fuck it, I want bacon, I’m going to have bacon, and I popped some onto my plate. When I got back to my table however, a very wise person pointed out that if I ate it, it would have essentially wasted that gorgeous steak that I turned down, and I would be so disappointed in myself when the hangover cleared. She was right. The result being, I DIDN’T EAT THE BACON! (See evidence below...)

Now, that might seem like a very small victory, but it really isn’t. I’m finding I have to think so much harder about every meal I cook, and I’m convinced that I’m thinking about it all the time. I’m pretty sure that this is actually because it’s something I’m denying myself though, rather than a complete preoccupation with it. Or at least I hope this is the case...

I’ve also come to a bit of a decision about what I want to get out of this… While I’m pretty sure I won’t be a convert after this experiment, I would like to rely far less on meat to make a meal, and eat it less – instead buying better quality meat as a treat occasionally. Who knows if that sentiment will last though, I really would like a bit of bacon right now…

My meat-free 40 days and 40 nights...

So I've been rather naughty, as I'm already 5 odd days into my meat-free lent, but I'm only just up and running online. Despite my laziness, I figure I should still start at the beginning, and explain why this signed-up meat-eater has decided to give up yummy animal flesh...

It all started with an anniversary dinner (5 years of happy dating, thanks for asking), and a fair bit of booze. Without thinking, I chose a fully vegetarian meal from all the delicious options on the menu at the Moon and Sixpence in Bath (which has apparently since closed down - a real shame). Before I knew it, I had challenged myself to a meat-free 2 months, which swiftly became a meat-free lent (which frankly seemed more manageable).

As Ash Wednesday drew closer I actually started getting nervous.. I really enjoy meat; there's nothing more delicious than a juicy medium-rare steak - the buttery blood oozing onto the chips, it's pretty much the only time a soggy chip is acceptable, and it's wonderful. My signature dishes are lasagne and spag bol, I find it incredibly rewarding to rustle up a succulent chicken curry from scratch, and who doesn't crave a bacon sarnie with a hangover?

My family have always been a meat-and-two-veg kind of family, and the prospect of basing my meals around something other than meat was oddly daunting. Luckily, I also love fish, cheese, mushrooms and puy lentils, so I was pretty confident my taste-buds and health wouldn't suffer. Plus I was encouraged by my pescatarian Auntie, who has faith I can do it!

I set myself 1 ground rule:

- I will not buy meat to cook and prepare for myself for the duration of lent (this is carefully worded as I knew I had a dinner party coming up with a very meaty menu and I didn't want to put the host out by demanding veggie options!)

As someone who loves to cook, I'm also excited to experiment with new recipes and expand my dinner repertoire, so I intend to try a completely new recipe a week. Success stories will be posted up here, in case anyone else fancies giving them a whirl.

And that's about it, I'm curious as to whether a meat-free diet will affect my well-being, my mood, my weight, and my wallet. I'm not particularly up for revealing my weight on here, but my BMI is 22.6 - I'm interested to see whether that will change. I also hope I'll spend slightly less money on food each week. Meat is pretty expensive these days, will substituting it for fish / cheese save me money?

So, here I am: my name is Ellen, and I'm Veggie-Curious!