Becoming a Vegetarian...Spaghetti Squash and COWSPIRACY

                                                        
 Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve

Welcome...it's so nice to see you.

If you are here on my blog and interested in living a green, sustainable life, a life that leaves the lightest footprint on Mother Earth, then you are probably already living a vegetarian lifestyle. You may even be a vegan. In that light, I'm probably preaching to the choir but since I spend a good portion of mental thought on this issue of late, I wanted to share some of my struggles and inspirations in becoming a vegetarian. This may help those of you, like me, who are moving, or who have moved in that direction. Maybe you can also relate to this process.

If it were just me, I would be feeding my family a "total" plant based diet right now. I'm one of those people who can do things cold turkey when convinced of the benefits but I live with other people and their process towards change has to be considered. As you know, I have several children ranging in age from little to grown and up to now, they have been raised a certain way. I have been feeding my family what I believed was a balanced diet since they were little. I spent the last 25 years breast feeding our children, with the exception of only a few years between their weaning. Anyone who has devoted that much time ensuring their children are receiving the best start in life, knows that nutrition is really important. After all that effort building a strong immune system and a healthy gut in our little ones, we were careful to offer them a wide array of food choices, heavy towards whole foods, particularly vegetables with fruits as their sweet treats.

Since I often had a baby at the breast, I started going to La Leche League meetings where I found other supportive women who were choosing this method of feeding their babies/children and eventually, I became a leader. This was the start of my journey towards becoming a vegetarian, as several of our members were living this lifestyle and they always looked glowing and had an aura of well being around them. I wanted that too. Although, we made healthier choices for our children, we could never seem to cut out eating meat completely. It was how we were raised after all and the argument was, well we are healthy aren't we? When choosing our children's first foods, I wanted to lean towards more vegetables and fruit (and our children all loved their sweet potatoes, carrots, apples and bananas) but I also wanted to offer them a wide array of food choices without limiting anything that may cause deficiencies.

And so, we have raised them with meat and other animal by products in their diet. It was only with the arrival of our last three babies, when I started thinking about how our food choices don't just impact our health, but our planet and how other people are eating, or not eating in many cases. On the journey to completing our large family, ironically I was becoming more planet conscious and I knew if we are all connected, then how we feed our families has to shift.The process for me to change has been slow and arduous but I'm hopeful, after all, I grow our food and I buy the groceries. The control is ultimately mine. (and my husband who by the way is totally on board...always says he feels great after eating a plant based meal)

We started the big shift by growing our own food in our garden. That way we had more control over what we were eating and our children were also a part of the process, as they helped me plant, water, weed and harvest our crops. Another step was becoming more educated and learning to make one vegetarian meal at a time for our family. Still there is resistance and even I don't always think things through or am forceful enough. For instance, the other day when eating lunch out, I chose a beautiful Thai inspired salad but it came with chicken....did I think to ask for the waitress to hold the chicken? No I didn't, but next time I will. The salad came green and glowing, the plate loaded with vegetables and quinoa and slices of delectable chicken. The salad was delicious and I didn't need the meat....or the feeling later that I wasn't walking my talk. One step at a time and if I don't take those steps, how do I encourage my family to share the path with me. This is a process....

I've told our children that eating a plant based diet is healthier for our bodies. That in doing so we have a lower risk towards, 

• Heart disease
• Colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Wow~! and if that isn't enough of a reason to cut out meat, and meat by products, since I had our younger children late in life, adopting a vegetarian diet has been linked to living longer and having higher quality health as we age. I look at people like, Mimi Kirk, a wonderful mentor and a raw food vegan and think, I want that kind of health/energy too and I want that for my children.

And if improving health isn't reason enough to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, think of the health of our planet. We are wasting so much water, land, and resources in growing animals for food that it's alarming. Something has to change because if we stay on this path, we won't have a planet that can provide everything we need to survive. It's that simple. I'm not even going to get into the ethical reason to make the change but when we take care of each other, even the animals on this planet, our earth will hum in total balance and peace.

And so I continue to move and encourage my family to adopt this belief system. Like any change, I will take it day by day, meal by meal. I will move in the direction of health, not just for myself, my family,  but for our planet. I will be grateful for all I have been given. Speaking of being GRATEFUL, can you believe we are still eating wonderful food from our garden? And if health of the body, and health of the planet isn't enough of a reason to make the vegetarian lifestyle choice, think of the wallet! It cost $2.99 to buy a 6 pack of started spaghetti squash, (less if I had had saved seeds) and we still have a box full of squash to get us through winter. Talk about frugal...AND healthy. So many reasons to eat a plant based diet.

Kathryn and Victoria with a bit of our squash harvest...next year I'm growing MORE

Today we are choosing to eat Spaghetti Squash with a tomato sauce and a green salad. Oh yum...and another side benefit is HOW EASY IT IS! While the squash is roasting, you have time to get out in nature. Later today, I'm taking the kids skating in our little town's outdoor rink. Not only is it a great way to get some exercise, have some fun with the kids, be out in the community, but it's free...I love things that are free. They tend to be good for our planet too.

Before I go though, I will share with you my spaghetti squash recipe....get ready for easy and it doesn't even need any special equipment....no spiralizer, just a fork.

For our large family, I cook 2 spaghetti squash...but 1 large squash feeds most families of 4

How to prepare Spaghetti Squash



Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half, lengthwise.

Save the seeds and let dry in a coffee filter....that way you will have a box full of delicious squash next fall after harvest time....did I tell you how easy they are to grow... they practically grow themselves!...all you have to do is plant them, mulch around them with some grass clippings throughout the season...and maybe water them occasionally if it's really hot.

Okay...back to cooking squash. Once the seeds are scooped out, you brush the insides of each half with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Place cut sides down on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 40-45 minutes depending how big your squash is....it's done when you can easily pierce with a fork.

Brush the inside with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and turn squash over...with skin facing out

Now let it cool for a bit before using a fork and gently scraping the inside of the squash....you will see that spaghetti like strips pull off. Continue stripping them off with a fork until you get down to the outer skin. Even with 1 large squash, you will end up with a big bowl of the pasta looking vegetable. 

Top with your favourite tomato sauce, add a piece of parsley, a green salad and my family loves my homemade dinner buns and voila...dinner. It's that easy. It's that delicious too. My little girls LOVE spaghetti squash. 

Spaghetti squash....one meal in my vegetarian recipe collection

And before waving goodbye, I wanted to share a well done documentary called, "Cowspiracy" that I watched a month ago. I found it at my local library and one evening I watched it all alone and was blown away. It's not that I wasn't aware of the far reaching effects that our meat industry has on the planet, but it was so well done and thought provoking.

For my birthday, I asked my two older sons, who are still living at home, to watch this documentary...as a gift to me. I'm never eloquent enough to describe all the reasons that I believe  becoming a vegetarian is the best choice for our planet and Cowspiracy does just that. Plus, the film maker, Kip Andersen, is a lot more hip than their mom and you know, being cool can be persuasive.

When I found it on YouTube, I just went YEAH! Because I wanted to share it with you too. If you have a bit of time....hey and while you are cooking your spaghetti squash you may have some, grab someone you love and watch it. I'd love to hear what you think of it too and also how you became a vegetarian....or whether you are thinking of becoming one and how the journey is going. Sometimes, I feel like I'm just out here in the world, blogging away and no one is thinking along the same lines......as I type this, my Siamese cat, Ryuuki is curled up against me, his little warm body, laying on my typing arm....if you have a pet, curl up together to watch this "Cowspiracy" film. 

(click on the hyper link above if you can't see the video link below)

 Well, I'd better get going. It's a lazy Sunday here..thank heavens! After all the stress of  yesterday and the break down of my van...right in the middle of driving my kids to their activities; a voice recital practice for Grace where the accompanist was waiting on her keys, the little girl's first Saturday skating lessons and Will's first introduction to hockey class. It was a crazy day! I need a day to just breathe. As I kept turning the engine over and over yesterday, as the clock was ticking towards the next activity and Grace and I growing colder and colder in the van (it was FREEZING here yesterday) and the van was DEAD, I kept saying to myself, "this too shall pass." And although my husband is out of town on business right now, he was reachable by phone. Thank you David! The whole family and Blair, a nice tow truck driver who jump started my van, got me back in action and on the road.

It's when there is a crisis that you realize that you really aren't alone...you just need to ask for help. I know this sounds kind of sappy....but I feel like the world is in a crisis right now. In so many ways people are reacting negatively but then there are droves moving with light energy and helping to heal our planet. I think when we eat a plant based diet, we have more love energy to spread around the world. 

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world. :)

....you are that to me...thanks for coming for a visit! And please drop a comment about your journey and your thoughts.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope