This Week, Summarized

Yes, I know that I forgot to write my article on the correct day again. It is obvious that I have failed the 'post your articles' on time challenge, but I think that the paper towel challenge went very well. I did quite a bit of research on paper towels and the cloth alternate, and shared some of that information with you. Amber and I used 5 paper towels this week, which is a lot less than what is normal for me. We have cloth rags in our kitchen that before now, I never really used. This week, I wiped up more messes with the cloth rags than with paper towels. The only times that I actually used paper towels was to clean up beans in the microwave, and when making sandwiches. I will continue to reduce the number of paper towels that I use, and try to wean myself off of using paper towels entirely.

Also this week, we are finishing off our one month vegetarian challenge. I cannot believe that it has actually been an entire month without meat! The change was surprisingly easy and I didn't face any difficulties. There has been no significant change in the vitamins that I have been getting, so I do not feel any different health-wise, than I did before the challenge. I do feel that not eating meat is a very easy thing to do, and very healthy as well. I would encourage anyone to try a month off meat to see how they feel about it. At the beginning of the month, I was very intimidated about having a while 30 days with no meat. I thought that it would stretch on forever. Now, I am actually kind of sad that the month is over. I am not sure yet whether or not I will become a full time vegetarian or not. Knowing what I know now about how bad meat is for our planet, I think that I would feel bad to eat it when there is tofu and other options out there.

And so, I think that I will have those fish sticks that Amber has been craving, and I am kind of intimidated to eat a steak or hamburger after so long. I don't that meat has the same appeal as it did when I started the challenge. Not only because I will bad about the environmental aspects, but also because of the health aspects. And, the smell and texture of meat are not as appealing as they used to be. I know that I will not eat meat nearly as often; I will continue to experiment with and eat tofu, I will eat vegi-burgers instead of hamburger ones, etc.

The tofu meals, and favorite vegetarian meals of this month would be:

• Our first official tofu meal - tofudogs, fried tofu, stuffed tofu bell peppers, creamed spinach and curry burritos, vegetarian chili and pastas, pumpkin ravioli, rotini pasta with beans, lots of quesadillas, and tons of delicious fresh fruit.

The one thing that I must point out about this whole month that is probably the funniest, is that not once did we have a salad! I used to eat salad quite frequently, but over this whole month I didn't eat any!

Well, the week is over, and so is the month. We are now officially 1/12 of the way done through our big one year challenge, and I am feeling pretty good about it. Amber and I have learned a lot about how we can make a difference already, and are excited to learn more. I feel really good to know that I have already reduced my carbon footprint so much. It is one thing to care about the environment, and it is another thing to actually do something about it. We are doing something about it, and it feels great. 

I look forward to telling you about our first experiences with meat and how my tastes have changed - I know that I am curious. 

-Morgan