Taking it easy

I've been a vegetarian cook for about 30 years or more. I got started because my roommate in college, Marian, was vegetarian, and we all cooked for each other, so I had to learn if I wanted to feed her. That was back in 1973, and oh the experiments Marian and Mary had to put up with! I had a hard time finding recipies and I remember one tragic loaf -- lentil and oatmeal loaf -- from a meat cookbook that was trying to include some vegetarian info, of course.

I was vegetarian for about three years, but started eating meat again because it was too hard to go out to eat with friends, or go to their house and eat -- especially in Texas! Plus, I have to admit, I like the taste of meat. I just don't think about where it comes from or how it got to my mouth.

I never went back to cooking meat, my partner Betty has to do that. But I'll eat it, or put it in some dishes. But slowly over the years more and more meat made its way into my diet.

What's changed? My friend Larry Brick read a book, "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell and it scared him into a plant-based, low-fat, vegan diet. He and his wife, Carolyn, have eaten well for years, focusing on healthy food, but not vegetarian. This book impressed Larry so much that he's embraced vegan eating with enthusiasm, and they bought the book for me and Betty. Campbell wrote a very compelling book proving through study after study that a plant-based diet can reverse the causes of cancer, heart disease, dementia and probably alzheimers. So, I am easing my way back to how I was eating and cooking 30-some years ago.

Carolyn and Larry seem to have an easier time of it because they both like salads and raw fruits a lot more than Betty and I do. Betty isn't willing to cut out meat. But she read a few pages of "The China Study", the ones focusing on dementia and alz, and agreed to stop eating lunch meat every day. So I'll have to make her beloved turkey sandwiches an occasional part of our dinners when we're in the mood for simple soup and salad suppers. I don't want to give up cheese and eggs yet! But I'll work on reducing my dependence on them for quick meals.

While often through the years I've had vegetarian days or weeks -- no meat, poultry or seafood, but I haven't had a vegan day yet. Every day I've had some cheese, or yoghurt, or something! Today Larry and Carolyn are coming for dinner. When I woke up from an afternoon nap, I decided to have a vegan day. So I had a banana, and some tortilla chips with hummus instead of of sour cream, and some more granola with soy milk when I was still hungry.

Gotta get cooking for dinner!