Two Months and Thriving

Well it is been quite awhile since I posted last. Life has gotten the best of me. We have continued to endure on this journey of vegetarianism and the family has adapted well. The children are doing an awesome job at trying new foods and not complaining. I think my daughter has eaten some of the foods I haven't been fond of better than myself.
My husband says he likes eating Vegetarian better since we are eating a wider variety of foods. I've  been trying hard to accomodate tofu into our diet. That has proven to be a challenge because we are all a bit trite to the texture of it. My daughter's favorite meal so far has been the Mushroom Rissotto. I will post a few pictures of what I've made since I last wrote as well as try to add the recipes.
Black Bean Burritos
Bean Bolognese
Tofu Parmigiana
Tofu Mac and Cheese
Portobello "Philly Cheesesteak" Sandwiches
Tandoori Tofu
Simple Tofu Stir Fry
Bean and Cheese Enchilada's

Feeling Good

Tuesday April 2, 2013

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad with Spinach and  Parmesan

Tonight I made Veggie Burgers with Black Bean Chipotle Patties and Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad. They were both very good. The kids ate most of their dinner. For lunch I had a smoothie which I shared with my two older children.



http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Sweet-Potato-and-Quinoa-Salad-Naturally-Ella-46314

Wednesday April 3, 2013
I made Baked Shells with Tomato and Mozzarella and Baked Fennel with Parmesan. The fennel turned out delicious. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of either one before I brought it to church and both dishes got devoured. For lunch I had grilled cheese with sharp white cheddar and Minestrone soup. No smoothie today. I did attempt a walk with my two dogs and my two youngest children. It ended up with me and my stroller being toppled over. My knee is scraped up and my son hitting his face but not getting injured, thankfully.

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Baked-shells-with-tomato-and-mozzarella-310024
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Baked-Fennel-with-Parmesan-and-Thyme-Martha-Stewart

The Beginning of Week 3

Hello all! I am coming to the realization that posting everyday is not going to happen. It is too hard to keep up. My new goal will be to post 2-3 times each week. I will be updating what we have eaten and how we feel. I will also include links to the recipes I use and occasionally products I buy. This last weekend we celebrated Easter with our family and church family. It was a great time.

Saturday March 30, 2013

Today we had waffles and jelly for breakfast. The kids had cupcakes and sugar snap peas and watermelon at the Children's Easter Celebration for Church. When they returned home I fed them honey roasted peanuts and walnuts because they were starving. For lunch I had my left overs. Dinner I made a Toasted Pita Salad with Corn Chowder. The salad was delicious.


Sunday March 31, 2013
It was a very nontraditional Easter Dinner spread at my parents house. Since we were the only guests my mom opted out of cooking her traditional Ham and baked potatoes with rolls. My dad barbecued tofu dogs, veggie burgers and hamburgers. We had fruit salad, chips and dip, cheesy potatoes and baked beans. The veggie burgers tasted a lot like the Vegetable Meatloaf we had cooked previously. My whole family felt stuffed.

Fruit Smoothies for breakfast 

Fruit Salad

Veggie Burger and Tofu Dogs for a late lunch/ early dinner

Monday April 1, 2013
For breakfast the kids had waffles. I just had coffee. For lunch Zoie had a Nutella and Jelly sandwich with Goldfish and Pirate's Booty. We had the Smoothie for an after school snack. For dinner we had a celebration for the Church Martial Art's 2 year Anniversary. We had cheese pizza and cupcakes. I did not take a picture of the pizza!

Tuesday April 2, 2013
For breakfast the kids had Frosted Flakes. For lunch Zoie had Nutella and Jelly. Brodie shared beans and rice with cheese which I ended up turning into Nachos. For dinner I am going to do Veggie Burgers again and make a Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad. I will substitute the Feta for Parmesan because I need to go grocery shopping. I will post pictures in the near future!

Links to New Recipes

I am trying to keep a running set of links to all the recipes I have been using. For some reason it is not allowing me to add links. Here they are for right now. Once I have figured out this technical problem I will have them listed under the Recipe Links.
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/caramelized_onion_white_bean_flatbread.html
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/black_bean_quesadillas.html
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/tortellini_primavera.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hearty-vegetable-lasagna/

Coming to Terms With My Health

I know I have slacked off on posting this past week. It has been Zoie's spring break and I have fallen ill. So here is I am playing catch up, again.
Once again the other night I fell ill. It leaves me question what in my diet may be causing this. The only thing I can pinpoint is the fact that I over indulged on sweets both of those nights. This feeling happened to me several months ago as well. Anyways on to the main reason I am writing this blog, to share my food experiences. All the recipes I use for dinner can be found under the recipe links. If a recipe calls for broth or stock I use Organic Vegetable Stock from Trader Joe's.

Sunday March 24, 2013
                                                 I skipped breakfast and had a smoothie for lunch.

 I made Fontal Polenta with Mushroom Saute and Shiitake and Sweet Pea Risotto with fresh garden greens. After watching many a Chef's mess up Risotto on "Hell's Kitchen" I naturally assumed this is what I would have messed up at home. It turned out phenomenal. The Polenta on the other had I went astray somewhere. It turned out runny and un-edible. Luckily I had saved some of the Polenta I bought and salvaged something to be somewhat edible. My son and daughter wouldn't eat it but my husband and I managed to get it down.



Monday March 25, 2013




For breakfast again I had a smoothie. I must say I am kind of addicted. I always use yogurt, mixed berries and spinach. This week I started adding kale because of the added protein. For lunch I had leftovers which has become a trend as long as my husband doesn't take them to work for lunch. The kids had soy hot dogs which they loved. For dinner we had Black Bean Enchilada's, white rice, avocado and fresh home made salsa.

Tuesday March 26, 2013

For breakfast I had a Fiber One bar on the way to my Doctor's appointment. I briefly talked to my Doctor about starting this diet so she ordered a full panel of blood work for me. My weight right now is 172 pounds and on my chart my doctor noted obese. This is a very real moment for me. I am really hoping that this diet will help me loose this weight. I know I gave birth 6 months ago but that is no excuse for being obese. I really hope within this year I change that note on my file. For lunch my kid's finished off the soy hot dogs and I had the remaining Black Bean Enchilada's. For dinner we had Tortellini Primavera which was AMAZING! The recipe called for frozen mixed vegetables but I used fresh carrots, sugar snap peas, sweet peppers, asparagus and broccoli. This was by far my favorite recipe to date. It was filling and I looked forward to eating the leftovers for lunch.





Wednesday March 27, 2013

For breakfast I had a smoothie and for lunch I had leftovers. For dinner I mad a vegetarian lasagna. I personally do not like ricotta so I substituted cream cheese which I whipped with garlic. I took this to a Church event and the entire dish was cleaned out. It was a hit by my family and everyone at church. Next I know to bring A LOT more. This was also the night I ended up getting very sick. I believe it was from eating too much ice cream after dinner.

Thursday March 28, 2013
I did not eat breakfast due to feeling ill. My husband stayed home from work to help me with the children due to me feeling sick almost the entire night before. I got blood work done and asked for a whole panel so that I can compare my results from now to a year from now and see exactly the implications this diet has for my health. When I got home I had a grilled cheese sandwich. For dinner I made Carmelized Onion and White Bean Flatbread Pizza served with grilled asparagus. It was delicious.

Friday March 29, 2012
For breakfast I had waffles with the kids. We went to the Zoo and snacked on Pirate's Booty and Goldfish. Lunch we stopped at In N Out Burger and had Grilled Cheese and animal style fries. Dinner we also ended up going out to eat at Johnny Carino's. We had Spinach Artichoke Dip for a starter. I had Angel Hair Pasta with Artichokes which had sauted Roma tomatos, capers, olives, garlic and fresh basil. Matt had the Fettuccini Alfreda with Artichoke hearts. Zoie had a pizza with tomatos and artichoke hearts and Brodie had a pizza with olives and tomatos. It was all very good.

Day 6:Starting to feel the Effects

Saturday March 23, 2013

Last night I started to feel ill and I believe it is from the grease in the Grilled Cheese I ate from In N Out and the sugar I consumed. All dayII've felt a little off. I skipped breakfast and had a bean and cheese burrito made from the left overs from the rest of the week. For dinner we had  Black Bean and Cheese Enchilada with Ranchera Sauce. It was good but a little on the spicy side. Next time I will tone down the spiciness.

Day 3, 4, and 5: Feeling Great!

Wednesday March 20, 2013
For breakfast I had my usual coffee and smoothie. For lunch I had the leftover Vegetable "Meat" loaf and my kids had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. For dinner I made Chipotle bean burritos with white rice and home made pico de gallo sauce on corn and wheat tortilla's.

Corn and Wheat tortilla's and Sour Cream topping

Chipotle Black and Kidney Beans

Home made pico de gallo sauce
tomatos, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice

Thursday March 21, 2013

For breakfast I had a smoothie and my children had oatmeal. For lunch I had a salad at +ChuckeCheese KSA and my kids had cheese and olive pizza. For dinner I had Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup from SavvyVegeterian.com in the slow cooker. It was good but I cooked it for 6 hours which turned it to mush.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

 Friday March 22, 2013
 I started this morning off with a smoothie, coffee and couldn't resist the mixed berry whole wheat pancakes. For lunch I made home made macaroni and cheese. For dinner we opted to go out and indulge in Grilled Cheese from In N Out burgers. For those of you not familiar with the "secret menu" at In N Out Burger a Grilled Cheese is in essence a cheeseburger minus the beef patty or any patty of the sort. After eating mainly fresh ingredients all week the meals I had today have me feeling a bit bloated.

Breakfast of Champions

Zoie eating her Macaroni and Cheese

Fresh Cantaloupe for a snack with
Khloie's freshly made babyfood

Day 2 At Home

  Yesterday was our first full day at home of eating meat free. My husband and I searched online for recipes for the rest of the week. I went shopping and I spent around $100 on all the groceries for the week.

For breakfast I had a green smoothie containing spinach, pineapple, mixed berries, orange juice, honey and low fat greek yogurt. It was delicious.

For lunch I had a bean and rice burrito with pico de gallo salsa, sour cream and sharp cheddar cheese.

                                              My children had minestrone from Trader Joe's.

To top it off we made a delicious Vegetable Meatloaf (recipe link on my homepage). We found the recipe on +MyRecipes.com! It did not taste like meatloaf yet it was rather pleasantly tasteful. Both my kids and husband loved it but my daughter's friend who was over wasn't fond of it. Today I am feeling very energetic. My son has started to sleep better at night as well. So far this diet is proving positive.

Day 1

Last meat dinner

First vegetarian dinner

Today was the first day of eating vegetarian. We had a huge dinner last night at Kyoto Japanese restaurant in Santa Barbara! Matt, Zoie and I had steak while Kaleb got chicken. It was a great way to end our meat eating days.
Today for breakfast I had oatmeal with strawberry and banana yogurt and a bagel with cream cheese. For my birthday lunch since we were on the go we ended up having ice cream at McConnell's in Santa Barbara, CA. I had a delicious salted caramel chip, the kids had Cookie Dough and Matt had peanut butter, butterscotch and death by chocolate.
For an early dinner we stopped in Ventura at Nature's Grill. Zoie had a bean burrito on a whole wheat tortilla. Kaleb had pasta with butter and parmesan cheese. Matt had a Zen Burger with a rice and veggie patty. I had a Buddha Burrito which had brown rice, pinto beans, jicama, cauliflower,  broccoli and cheese served with enchilada sauce. We all finished our meals.
We are feeling great but because we ate so early we are hungry again. I'd say overall we are feeling good.

Apprehension Sets In

March 16, 2013
As the day approaches I am getting more and more anxious to start this new diet. I am a bit apprehensive about beginning on Monday now that I know I will be gone most of the day. This diet will be easy to control while at home. While we are away from home is when the temptation of veering off will strike hardest. Especially with three young children. I am doing my best to research Vegetarian restaurants but unfortunately there are not a lot of choices where we are traveling and it will be our first day of the diet. It looks like a supermarket trip to load up on goodies will have to suffice. A change in plans and we will try to be home early enough for me to cook our first vegetarian dinner.

To a healthy heart

My daughter told me this morning that she will try this diet but she isn't sure about it. I am glad she is being honest with  me about this. I think it will be hardest for our children because they are not really being given any say in this decision. One other thing is trying to have our children stick to this vegetarian lifestyle while away from home. My daughter often spends the night at friend's houses so this may be an issue. I truly want my whole family to keep on this vegetarian regime 100%. I will definitely be going to my brother for advice on recipes and how to stay true to this change. He has been on a vegetarian diet for the past several years now. Although on occasion he has been known to venture off but that is few and far between and mainly only when he visits Southern California. There seems to be a lack of vegetarian cuisine where we live.

About Me and My Journey

My name is Kristin Ward. I am turning 30 in a mere 3 days. I am married with 3 beautiful children and 2 beautiful dogs. I am a born and raised Southern Californian. I was raised shopping till I drop, going to the beach and living adventures. While on the go we would eat a lot of fast food. My dad was a meat and potato's kind of guy and I married a man that follows suit. This is about my journey with my family to change our eating ways.

My husband and 2 oldest kids
Excalibur in Las Vegas
February 16, 2013

I have lived a lifestyle that consists of the typical American Diet until now. Well in reality on March 18 (my 30th birthday) my family and I are changing our diet to become Vegetarians for 365 days. I am starting this blog to share my experience on this monumental change in our lives. My husband and I decided to make this lifestyle change after watching the Documentary "Forks over Knives" (directed and written by Lee Fulkerson). My husband, who up until now would refuse to eat a meal if it did not have meat in it, offered up this challenge. I quickly agreed and set a start date, my birthday. My goal is to post every day about what I eat, how I feel and how the diet is effecting my family.

This challenge is not only to change our eating habits I am also including a challenge for myself to lose weight. I gave birth to my youngest child 6 months ago and am struggling to lose the weight I gained during pregnancy. I guess this would be a good place to introduce my children. Zoie is my oldest and is a 6 year old girl who enjoys Martial Arts. She is a Purple belt in the American Taekwondo Association as well as trains at our Church. My second child is my son Brodie. He is 3 years old and is a whirlwind of energy and amusement. My youngest is Khloie and as mentioned above she is 6 months old and is a complete Momma's girl. My entire family trains at our Church in the Martial Arts ministry. Our dogs are both pit bulls. The oldest is all white with black spots named Chopper and the younger is champagne and white named George.