some catching up to do

Hello out there, again with the craziness, I hope it ends soon.  I have been doing some diet changes, still a vegetarian, but supplementing my diet on those crazy days I'm not going to get all my nutrients.  First I gave up coffee, I was stressed enough as it was with packing, all the purging and the selling of our house, I didn't need anything to keep me awake at night.  Well, that lasted about 5 days, then right back on it, I have no will power, sigh!  But I have been taking melatonin at night to help me have a more restful sleep and that seems to be doing wonders.

I have also started taking Greens+ in the morning, although not the best tasting drink, I do feel better and have more energy.  These days have been hectic and anything to keep my energy up and keep me healthy is great. 

I found a great facebook page yesterday, Vegetarians Rock, I loved that the people commenting on the site were mostly vegetarians in a non-vegetarian family.  It gave me comfort to know I wasn't the only struggling to prepare meals with two different ingredients.  Like I have said before, I don't impose my new way of life on my family, I do a bit on the children, mostly the daughter, she is just starting out and want her to be on a good path.  My husband has given up pork, after viewing a video, so I can only hope that he comes to the same conclusion about beef and chicken as well, but in his own time.  Here is the website, I find their Facebook page as alot more stuff, plus I like to comment.  http://www.vegetariansrock.org/

My other experience this past weekend was a awards reception that I went to, to support my sister.  It was at a nice venue and I was hopeful for my vegetarian meal, sigh!  A big disappointment, there were four vegetarians in the group of about 100 people.  The waitstaff kept coming up to check my ticket to see that I was a vegetarian and checking if I was vegan, it seemed quite the relief that I was a just a vegetarian.  So what did I get for a main course, a big plate of roasted vegetables, piled on top of each other, I think they were trying to make it look appetizing.  Oh and a small triangle of scalloped potatoes.  Needless to say, I ate alot of bread.  GROAN!  I am going to write to the venue today, not to be nasty, but to inform them of all the other vegetarian choices besides vegetables.  As a beginner vegetarian, I could have made myself a much better meal with more imagination then that.

Also today I have my new favourite recipe, Gouda & Lentil Soup:

1 TB butter
1 C chopped onion
1 C celery or baby spinach leaves (I hate celery, so I use spinach, I have also used Kale)
4 C diced sweet potato
1 tsp cumin (I love cumin, so I sometimes add a bit more)
4 C vegetable broth
19 oz can of lentils (I usually use dried lentils, just eye ball it, I never have canned, you will need to cook it a bit longer)
1 C gouda cheese
1/2 C grape tomatoes

1. Over medium high heat, melt butter, add onions and celery (if using) saute for 3 minutes, stir in sweet potatoes, and cumin, saute for 2 minutes.  Add broth and dried lentils (if using) and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender.
2. If you are using canned lentils, once the sweet potatoes are tender, add the canned lentils, cook over medium heat until heated through.  At this point you can puree part of the soup, but I love the chunkiness of it just the way it is.
3. Remove from heat, add spinach and half the gouda, season to taste with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls and top with remaining gouda, ENJOY!