Cow Juices

Just over two days into a life without meat. It is still not that unusual at this point, but psychologically it is harder than an ordinary two days without meat. You know how it works I am sure, how you want something that much more just because you know you can’t have it. I have not been face to face with any delicious cuts of meat yet, that will be a sad day.

There is something very appealing about the look of meat, isn’t there? I was in the dining hall trying to figure out how to find food I am allowed to eat and I wandered over to the previously foreign vegetarian bar. There was a stir-fry there with what looked like delicious, marinated, grilled cubes of chicken in it. I was excited, because it looked like I might be able to eat some chicken and claim ignorance because it had a big sign over it reading “Vegetarian.” But no such luck, the supposed chicken definitely crumbled into little granules when I ate it…tofu...not half bad when its soaked in Asian liquids, but noticeably worse than chicken. It was nice to have something resemble meat though. I do appreciate the fact that the dining hall is assembling protein-laden dishes for me to eat for the next few weeks, makes my protein planning a little easier.

The dining hall is not always so kind, however. A couple hours later I was driving behind the building and got a big noseful of burgers on the grill. That made me pretty mad, but I held it together, reminding myself that the dining hall makes the worst burgers in the world. But you know, it doesn’t matter, the smell of cow juices dripping into a fire is equally divine no matter what grade the meat they seeped from may have been. (Now I am aware some people deny the existence of cow juices, claim they are blood or something, but they are wrong)

I am about to go grocery shopping (an awesome pastime) but my grocery list looks pretty different these days. Grace taught me about complimentary proteins, so I have a table that tells me how to match up various foods. I will be buying so many new things. I suppose that’s good to diversify my diet regardless of the circumstances. I was reminded of the existence of veggieburgers last night! It filled me with hope. They have inferior juices to leak out onto the fire, but if I cook some cow next to it, I can smell the real juices burning while it cooks and fool myself into thinking I am eating the tastier, yet forbidden, option.

If anyone has any favorite vegetarian meals you should post them, or make them and invite me over ☺