This week’s photo challenge from the Daily Post was to share a picture about resolving one of your New Year’s resolutions.
“1. Eat vegetarian… most of the time.”
Today marks Day 10 of eating vegetarian (and mostly vegan), much to the ire of my friends and, occasionally, my parents. Do I regret going vegetarian? Not at all. If I regretted it, I would just eat meat, wouldn’t I? The funny thing is, I only resolved to be vegetarian on the weekdays. I still haven’t had any meat, and the only dairy I’ve had is in the form of a bit of shredded cheese and the occasional organic yogurt.
No cravings so far, except for lumpia. Luckily, my friend Renxyoko Iglesias informed (after making me drool) veggie lumpia is more common in the Philippines. Maybe I need to go back just for the lumpia!
School is back in session, my lunches have been vegetarian, and I don’t consider this some “terrible secret” I need to hide from everyone. There’s nothing wrong with making better choices about your diet!
So what do I want to do next? I’d love to start a food blog—and later a writing blog—while leaving Kuya’s Notebook as my niche-less personal blog where I have the free reign to post about any topic. I’ve already started collecting and trying out recipes, as well as taking a few pictures of food—including the pictures you’ve seen in the last few posts! (And I love these photo challenges! They’re great for overcoming writer’s block!)
See y’all soon!
Joshua
January 10, 2013 at 10:41 pm
Josh, there’s a local franchise of food stands that sells vegetarian spring rolls (Aboy’s Fresh Lumpia)- and they use crunchy seaweed instead of pork rinds. It is absolutely delicious and for just P50 (a little more than a buck), it fills you up rather nicely. I hope you get to sample it when you come home for a visit.
January 10, 2013 at 10:50 pm
That sounds delicious! I’ll have to try it out when I go back
January 11, 2013 at 2:20 am
Weekday vegetarian ? I love your idea. Love your photo! I should try this !
January 11, 2013 at 7:07 am
You definitely should!
It’s great for easing into the vegetarian diet while still letting you have meat some of the time!
January 11, 2013 at 7:40 pm
I’m kinda like you…. Weekday vegetarian who goes carnivorous on weekends like its my reward
)
January 11, 2013 at 7:42 pm
I’ve completely cut out red meats, but I still have the occasional fish. I’d be okay with a little bit of chicken on special occasions, but I haven’t had any yet.
I’m glad you’ve reduced your meat intake! Just done go on a meat binge on the weekends.
January 26, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Hey, my friend runs a fusion food blog, entirely vegetarian (although there’s probably a LOT more dairy than you’d want). She’s an amazing cook, and her recipes are usually middle-eastern based, although she’s pretty experimental. If you’re looking for some (maybe new?) recipes, she’s here:
http://simply-soul-food.tumblr.com/
Enjoy, and good luck
how has the vegetarianism been going since?
Lily
January 27, 2013 at 2:05 pm
That’s so cool! Her recipes look great!
Thanks! The whole “weekday vegetarian” thing is working out great, since it gives the rest of my family more leeway (even though I’d prefer to be completely vegetarian except for travel). It’s surprising, though, how limiting certain foods makes you more creative and open! 
January 28, 2013 at 9:26 am
No problem
helping two friends at once: it’s great!
When you say gives them more leeway – do you mean in what they cook when? I’m only vegetarian when with certain people. As in, if I’m only with vegetarians, I don’t like eating meat. Even if meat is on offer, I feel a bit awkward?
It’s true – you have to work to make dishes with what you have. But I like having a wide variety of things I eat, and mixing styles of cuisine ^_^ my favourite cuisine is Korean currently and in my experience it’s mostly BEED [and other bits]. Oh dear :’)
January 29, 2013 at 8:04 am
Well, in what my mom cooks with and what they both eat! My mom wanted to be vegetarian long before I did, so she’s perfectly fine with the weekday vegetarian idea. (My poor dad is outnumbered on this one!
)
I completely understand how you feel! I guess that’s why they say the people you are eating with are a huge influence on what you eat.
For me, I feel that since I can have meat on the weekends, I’m not too limited. (I love Korean food too, and I don’t think I could ever give up my Korean beef, haha!)
It’s an interesting experiment for sure; I don’t know how long it’ll last but regardless of how long it lasts, at least it’s laying a good foundation for vegetables in my diet! (I hate when people refuse to even touch a vegetable. There are tons of meat-only people here in Texas.)
January 29, 2013 at 4:41 pm
I don’t think my family could give up meat :/ ahh well.
and yeah, I really need to increase my veg consumption. I’m not a meat only person – although I know a girl who is – but I don’t eat a lot of vegetables. It’s because they go off so quickly, and I have neither the time nor the money to go shopping often 
This is very true. I was planning on going on a three week holiday with my cousin this summer (sadly cancelled due to a complete lack of funds). She’s a vegetarian, and she suggested that while we live together we meet in the middle and become pescetarian – at least at home.
Korean beef is just too good! And you can eat meat when you go out to dinner if you so wish, right?
However long it lasts I think is good
January 29, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Pescetarian is always good! I guess I’m technically a weekday pescetarian, but I’d always say “vegetarian” because most people don’t know the difference.
Just a secret, we’ve all collectively decided to add a little bit of chicken back into our diets while still abstaining from other meats, since it’s easier to plan meals. Unfortunately, we don’t have a dietitian on hand to plan nutrient-filled meals for us, so we’d rather add back chicken—not as much as we used to eat, though. Besides, it’s all about health, right?
January 29, 2013 at 5:22 pm
I think some pescetarians don’t even know the difference, which is a bit awkward!
My friend only eats chicken and fish – she calls herself an edgetarian! I think that’s quite a good name! Maybe just have one meal a week with chicken? I think fish is a fairly good substitute, and things like nuts also contain a LOT of protein, which not many people now.
But – er – if you can’t get hold of any nuts then you’ll HAVE to eat chicken… yes, for health reasons! ;D
January 29, 2013 at 7:09 pm
We’ve agreed on the once-a-weekday idea, since that would probably be healthier than our (currently lacking in protein) diet right now. I’ll have to remember the nuts idea and pick up some at the store!
January 29, 2013 at 9:12 pm
Yay
nuts are always fun. My sister blends them for breakfast and has them with natural yoghurt and chopped fruit, like museli ^^ my favourites are pine nut, walnuts, pecans, cashews… okay, so the list is kinda long. Seeds are also great. I don’t know if they contain protein, but they’re nommy 
January 28, 2013 at 4:17 am
Oh, I got mentioned !
yes, you can wrap pretty much anything.. We just made lumpia of cabbage, carrots, ( well, shrimps,, too, but you can omit that ) and jicama. Just saute the onions, etc and the veggies… cool then wrap.
Or, chopped potatoes, sweet whole corn kernels, carrots, raisins…. gosh , there are numerous ways, and it all depends on your veggie preferences.
And of course, you do know that in liue of meat, you can use tofu ?
And in fact, you can cook regular dishes, sans the meat, as long as you add canned chicken or beef soup for the flavor.
happy eating. Kuya ! Cheers !
February 9, 2013 at 10:54 pm
Secretly, we still have seafood during the week. But we just don’t tell anybody, haha!
I actually love using tofu instead of meat. I was raised on the tofu trucks that would pass by our neighborhood in Tokyo, so I really enjoy the taste of it (and other soy products)! 