New Arrivals at the Farmhouse!

The day I’ve been waiting for since we bought the farmhouse in September of 2012 has finally arrived!!!  The chicks joined us yesterday.  So internet land, I present to you the ladies:

 

Aren’t they just adorable?    I spent basically my whole day off ewwwing and awwing over them, after all they grow insanely fast and will only be little balls of fuzz briefly.  I honestly can’t believe they are finally here!  I’ve wanted a backyard flock since I was a kid.  I had a friend who lived on a full fledged family farm and I was always so envious of her.  (of course she was envious of me for having cable and only basic chores) I thought it was the neatest thing to spend the night at her house and go out the next morning to collect eggs for breakfast.  Throughout the years I put the idea out of my head, only thinking it occasionally. When I lived in Johnson City, TN there was a story about the city banning backyard chickens, citizens were protesting the decision and the dream was rekindled.  When we moved back to Knoxville and found our little dream house with plenty of space for a tiny flock I was elated to discover that the city of Knoxville welcomes backyard chickens.  I started telling people that I was going to get chickens, responses varied from thinking it was the coolest idea ever to people thinking I was straight up crazy.  

Just like every new endeavor I attempt, I started researching like crazy.  For Christmas of 2012 I received multiple books on the topic and read each one cover to cover.  Seeing as how this is a lifelong dream of mine, I couldn’t just take whatever chickens were available, I researched breeds extensively to find breeds that would be excellent pets, hardy in the winter, decent layers and weren’t strong flyers. I decided to focus on the garden in 2013 and work on projects around the house, and bring the chicks into the mix this year.   Then came time to find a hatchery with these breeds available.  This is where I hit a temporary wall.  Every hatchery I found had a 15 chick minimum to ship, and the local options all were very limited breeds or straight run only (meaning the chances of getting a rooster which would need to be re-homed), then I found the wonderful folks at My Pet Chicken.  They only require you order 2 chicks for most of the year (in the winter the minimum is higher as the little babies require each other’s warmth), they have basically any breed you could possibly want, and they’re sexed.  

Now, all I had to do was find a hatch date when all the breeds I wanted would be available, this was tricky but I managed to find a date, Monday June 16th.  I took off work on Tuesday so I could pick them up from the post office and spend the day appreciating their cutest fuzziness.   I got the email that they had “Flown the coop” Monday afternoon, I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  I barely slept Monday night, like a child on Christmas eve.  I woke to the sound of my phone ringing, I didn’t get to it in time and a voicemail was left.  It was the post office “We received your chicks, please calls us back” before I called them back I got dressed and turned on the heat lamp attached to the make shift brooder I put together so it would be nice and toasty when I got the ladies home.  Then I returned the call,  a man told me that they opened the box to inspect them and they had all died in transit.  I was crushed, I had waited for that day for my entire life and my dream was instantly destroyed by the poor postal employee who had to break the news to me. I contacted the hatchery and was pleasantly surprised by their level of customer service.  The rep assured me that they don’t require “proof” to issue a refund, but she strongly suggested I pick up the box to see if there was damage as she believe the chicks were mishandled.  My husband and I went to the post office to retrieve the cardboard coffin. When we got it home and opened it, what happened was obvious.  They had been dropped.  I took them out one by one, all but one had a broken neck. I was furious.  I called the hatchery back to let them know the condition of the birds and again, fantastic customer service.  The hatchery offered either a refund or a reshipment at their expense (fun fact: the post office in the only option for shipping chicks yet they take no responsibility for their safe arrival).  I decided to give it another shot.  The rep found a date where all of the breeds were available, just with different color variations, and the countdown started again.   

As the month went by I tried to not get excited, I didn’t want to be too disappointed if the same thing happened again.  Yesterday morning, again a message was left by the post office and I hesitantly checked it.  “We have your shipment of chicks ready to be picked up”  and the excitement was overwhelming.  I rushed to get them and bring them home, driving like an old lady the entire way home as to not disrupt them too much.  I opened the box and was instantly in love.  I gently transferred them to the brooder and just watched them.  

I’m stunned by how individual they all are.  Ethel (a light Brahma), possibly my favorite, is very laid back and kind of lazy. Her favorite pastimes seem to be eating and sleeping.  Thelma and Louise (both Easter Eggers) are quite the duo, Thelma is clearly the leader though.  Dolly (a White Crested Polish) is pretty sassy and truly believes she can fly.  Zula Mae (a Golden Laced Polish) is the observer of the group, she examines everything and I often catch her starring through the glass outside. It’s amazing how quickly they learn and I can’t wait to see them grow into beautiful hens.  I’m sure I will post an update when they are transferred to the coop, for now though, here are a few more snapshots from their first 24 hours home. 

 

Ethel stuffing her face.

 

 

Dolly spreading her tiny wings.

 

 

Zula Mae

 

 

Thelma and Louise meeting our fat cat, Pants.

DIY Shower Gel

So if you’ve been reading my blog you know that my husband and I have been gradually cutting out all chemicals from our life.  I’m excited to tell you that I’ve figured out an amazing shower gel substitute.

You will need:

2 cups Castile Soap (I use Dr. Bonner’s Tea Tree Soap)

1/2 cup Raw Honey

1 Tbs Grapeseed Oil

5-10 drops of Essential Oil (I use lavender)

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (I use Bragg Organic)

First, find an old container to put it in.  I washed out an old lotion container with a pump dispenser.  You may want to have a clean jar with a lid on hand for any extra. Mix all ingredients except for the soap in a large bowl, once everything is mixed thoroughly, SLOWLY add the Castile soap.  Transfer your shower gel to your chosen container, this part will take some patience as obviously soap suds up and you’ll have to transfer it gradually as the subs die down.

 

I have been using this instead of store bought shower gel for a little over a month now, and my skin feels fantastic!

Happy Showering!

Thinking of Starting a Garden?… Read this first.

If you read my previous post, you know that this is only the second year my husband and I have been gardening, and you also know that we failed horribly last year. Read more about that here. There are a few things I learned last year that hopefully will help you if you’re where I was last year.  This time last year I was so confident in my research, I just knew that we were going to be giving veggies away by the bushel.  I was wrong.  This year, I feel much more prepared. Here’s the best advice I can give for anyone just starting out.  

1. Start Small We “inherited” a HUGE garden plot when we bought the house.  If we had been smart, we would’ve only planted a small portion of it, however we went crazy and planted the whole thing.  Weeding became next to impossible, and we had too many plants to tend to.  This year, we aren’t planting the entire plot.  We let a friend of ours use a section for his own garden, we planted some cool weather stuff in another section (kale, lettuce, beets and radishes) and won’t plant anything else there once that section has been harvested.  We’re also planting a cover crop of foxtail millet in the remaining unused area.  The space we are using is separated into beds, with about 4 feet between each bed. 

2. Plan, plan, and plan some more Last year I made one planting chart and just went with that. I didn’t chart out when various plants needed to go in the ground, so we planted everything at the same time.  This year I made a total of 5 planting charts, before picking the one I was satisfied with. 

3. Watch the Weather The weather can be a gardener’s best friend, or worst enemy.  Last year, we planted too early.  It didn’t freeze again after we planted, but it did get pretty close, and stunted the growth of the small transplants.  

4. Weeds are the enemy Keep an eye out for weeds sprouting up.  Trust me, once your garden is over taken, it’s basically impossible to reverse it.  

5. Prepare the ground- A LOT Last year, we tilled the plot a couple of times and then planted.  This year, we tilled the entire plot a few times, the marked of “beds” for each items, then tilled the individual beds, ranked them smooth, tilled them again, and ranked one more time.  Doing this is especially helpful if you have a lot of rocks in your soil, like we do.  It also helps get any roots that have been left behind.  

6. Take the easy route Grow plants that are easy to grow in your area.  Our beans were really the only thing that was super successful last year. If you’re just starting out, get transplants from a nursery.  We started everything from seed last year, and also this year.  However, last year, I planted my transplants even if they looked weak.  This year, I opted to buy a few transplants to replace any that didn’t look like they would make it.  All of my eggplants and most of my bell peppers are store bought transplants.  Those two things seem to take the longest to reach a good transplant size.  

7. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst I think this was actually the biggest mistake we made last year.  We were so hopeful, that when things started to turn south, we got discouraged and pretty much just gave up.  My final hope was shattered last year when the raccoons destroyed my corn.  I’m hopeful this year, but also I’m mentally prepared for a few failures along the way.  

8. Research Through the past year and a half, I’ve read dozens of books and watched hours of youtube videos.  Some of my favorites are this guy, this guy, and these folks.  There’s so many different methods out there, take the time to figure out which method would work best for the space you have and the time you have to dedicate to it.  

 

That’s about all for now.  Happy Gardening!!!

Face Wash = Waste of Money

So, about a year ago my husband and I started weening ourselves off of chemical-heavy household cleaners.  We primarily use Dawn for everything.  I do laundry with Borax and vinegar. So it seems the natural next step would be to get rid of chemicals in personal care products.  I’ve tried a few different natural face wash techniques, but I have found my favorite and I really can’t stop talking about it.  Honey! (raw honey that is) I’ve been covering my face with honey for the past four mornings. My skin is clearer, softer, and firmer. That’s significantly faster results than any of the high-chemical, high-cost face washes I’ve tried in the past.  Since the honey is naturally moisturizing and firming, there’s no need to spend even more money on creams and lotions.  But just because it moisturizes, that doesn’t mean it’s bad of oily skin!  I’m not a scientist so I won’t try to explain the HOW but Raw Honey is some how drying and moisturizing all in one.  In short… it’s actually a miracle for skin care.  The best news??? It’s so much less expensive than any decent face wash on the market.  I bought a jar of raw honey (it has to be raw, pure honey) for about $10, which if you’re looking at it as a condiment is kind of expensive.  However, compare that to the Olay Regenerist “system” (because they expect you do buy all of the products to get the full effect): The Cleanser alone is about $9, the Mirco-scuplting cream is over $20, the regenerating serum is another $20, and don’t forget the eye-lifting serum which is another $20 for a 0.5 ounce tube. Get where I’m going with this?  Why not just try it?  It’s worth the price difference alone, but you’ll also be kissing all of the pesky chemicals good-bye!

My Method

In the morning, while I’m doing my daily 20 minute oil pulling session, I pour about a small amount of honey into my hand.  I add just a bit of warm water to make it easier to spread.  I apply the raw honey to my entire face. I leave it on for about ten minutes. Then I wipe it off with a warm damp wash cloth.  To increase skin firmness, I use apple cider vinegar diluted with water as a toner. 

It’s important to know that Honey Cleansing does not remove make-up, so to remove make up at night I a mixture of 2 parts coconut oil and 1 part olive oil. – a little bit goes a long way, so try not to over do it with the oil.  

 

3 Superfoods I Wish People Would Quit Claiming to Love.

By now we’ve all heard the term “super food”,and we all know these natural nutrient packed foods are incredibly good for us.  I think plenty of these foods are quite delicious; blueberries, kiwis, almonds, broccoli, asparagus, melons, pistachios, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, pretty much all herbs, granola, honey, goji berries, avocados, carrots, beets, spinach, greek yogurt and many more.  However, there are a few foods that have gained massive popularity in recent years, that quite frankly I wish everyone would quit pretending to LOVE.  Don’t get me wrong, I have all of these items in my kitchen, and I do eat them regularly because they are all insanely good for you, that doesn’t mean I don’t disguise them as much as possible.

Coconut Oil. This stuff is good for almost anything and for me it provides a daily dose of caprylic acid without having to take supplements.  It’s an excellent anti-aging moisturizer.  It works better than Neosporin on cuts. It can treat dandruff.  However,  it’s gross.  I just recently started consuming it to treat Candida overgrowth and I thought I could just wake up and take a tablespoon full of it.  Wrong!  It was like what I imagine trying to eat a spoon of Crisco would be like.  Since then, I’ve found that the only way to fit it in to my diet is to hide it anyway I can.  I put it on bagels before toasting in the oven, then put greek yogurt cream cheese on it.  I use it when I stir fry veggies.  I mix it with honey, greek yogurt, fruit and granola for breakfast.  I can still taste it, but it’s not as pronounced.  I’ve never been a huge fan of coconut, but the oil doesn’t really taste like coconut to me,it tastes like shortening.  Yet, people everywhere claim it’s the tastiest stuff ever created!  Liars.

Quinoa.  This stuff is packed full of good-for-you wonderfulness.  It’s an excellent source of protein, fiber and iron.  It’s an antioxidant.  It’s gluten free (which I really don’t care about-but it’s worth mentioning for those of you following that trend).  While it does add a nice crunchy texture to salads and can be thrown in to almost any meal,  it has almost no flavor.  Yes, there’s a mild nutty flavor to it, but nothing worthy of the immense praise it receives.  If you claim that you just LOVE Quinoa, please go cook some plain quinoa, eat a big spoon full and describe in detail this mythical flavor profile.  Good luck.  However, the lack of flavor works as a benefit if you’re trying to incorporate into your regular diet.  You really can use it with practically anything.

Kale. It’s naturally fat free and low in calories.  It is a must for heart and cardiovascular health. It’s a common food for detox, and has a high vitamin content.  By itself, it’s pretty inedible though.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t hundreds of thousands of people out there claiming to love it.  When I put it in salads, I chop it up as much as possible and add it to whatever lettuce or spinach I have on hand.  When I cook with it, I do a 1/2 and 1/2 spinach-kale mix.

15 Items Every Vegetarian Pantry Should Have

In the coming weeks I hope to start post vegetarian recipes at least once a week.  Before I begin that, I would like to share my personal list of “veggie-friendly pantry necessities” that I always try to have on hand.  When you’re living on a tight budget, but still trying to eat as well as possible, stocking up on a few key items will make your life so much easier.

1. Vegetable broth. I chose to buy organic veggie broth.  I use it for soups, crock-pot recipes, as a base for sauce, and so much more.

2. Lentils.  Cheap, easy to prepare, and great for your health.  I throw lentils in all on my crock-pot meals.  They take about 45 minutes to cook so I like to make a bunch in advance and store them in the fridge to be used quickly.  They’re an excellent meat substitute and go with pretty much any meal.

3. Barley. Concerned about your fiber intake?  Eat barley, and forget about it.  I use barley in pretty much all of the same things I use lentils, the two almost seem to be made for each other. Prices vary greatly for barley and sometimes the more affordable stuff can be difficult to find in the store, but in my opinion the taste is similar for all “brands”.

4. Wheat Pasta. Who doesn’t love pasta???  I wait until the store puts it on special and buy several boxes/varieties at a time.

5. A fully stocked spice rack. How you stock your spice rack depends on the types of food you like to cook.  Obviously, if you hate Indian food, you probably won’t need curry powder.  However, everyone should always have black pepper, salt (I use sea salt), basil, oregano, rosemary and nutmeg (if you haven’t cooked with nutmeg, you haven’t been cooking).  My personal spice rack is crammed full.  I love spicy food so I have chili powder, cayenne pepper, and 3 varieties of cajun seasoning.

6. Cornstarch. You don’t HAVE to buy organic, but if you want to avoid GMOs, I recommend only buying organic products made from corn. It’s really the best way to thicken sauces, soups and GRAVY (I’ll be posting a fantastic recipe for vegetarian gravy soon)

 7. Whole wheat flour. Forget bland unhealthy bleached white flour, once you switch to whole wheat flour, you will never want to go back.

8. Canned Beans. Again, I highly recommend organic canned products.  I prefer canned beans over their dried counter-parts for a few reasons-they are super easy and quick to prepare, you don’t have to soak them (which never really seems to work for me anyway), and they can be used straight out of the can uncooked.

9. Apple Cider Vinegar. In general, apple cider vinegar is my vinegar of choice.  I use it all the time on just about anything.  I make dressing with it, I toss pasta in a mix of vinegar and olive oil, I put it on sandwiches, and I dilute a small about in water before each meal as an appetite suppressant (it works… try it) 

10. Olive Oil. It’s expensive, especially if you get the high quality cold pressed kind.  So I actually blend it with a light, nearly flavorless oil light Sunflower oil.  You get the great flavor of Olive Oil without imagining all those dollar signs with every drizzle.

11. Granola. I don’t think there’s anything better for breakfast than greek yogurt, fresh fruit and granola.   It comes in so many flavors now, there’s sure to be one you will love.

12. Crackers. My go to snack option, plus I love cracker in soup or crushed up on those of a casserole. My personal favorite is wheat saltines. In my opinion they are the best for all around uses and pretty cheap compared to “gourmet” crackers.

13. Peanut Butter. (sorry for those who have a peanut allergy) I’m one of those people who will never out grow a good PB&J. Plus, cooking with peanut butter is fantastic! *Tip* if you want organic, don’t only look in the organic foods section!  Several more affordable organic options can be found right next to the regular stuff!

14. Sunflower Kernels. They’re amazing on salads, mixed into stir-fry meals, or just by the handful!

15. Package Mac&Cheese. This may seem like an odd thing to end this list, but I always stock up on organic mac&cheese when it’s on special.  Throw some fresh spinach and bell peppers in white cheese varieties, or broccoli in the traditional varieties and you have an quick meal.

It’s Seed Time in Tennessee

This is one of the busiest times of the year for me.  As the weather starts to warm, we’re on a time crunch to get a long list of things done before Spring planting.  Possibly the most item on our to-do list is starting our transplants inside.  Last year, being our first attempt, we did WAY too much.  This year I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible.  Doing too much did offer a nice learning experience as far as what methods work the best for starting seeds.  Last year I tried pretty much every possible method. I made pots out of newspaper scraps. While this method was the cheapest by far,  it was painfully tedious and incredibly messy.  I highly doubt I will do this again.

I purchased nursery cell packs. You can find these for around $3 bucks for the cell pack and the nursery flat. (if you’re in the Knoxville area, I recommend Mayo Garden Center) I found this method fairly easy, but it was also messy and somewhat time consuming.  Transplanting from the cells can be a slightly challenging.  I would probably do this method in the future if I were selling transplants.  However, I prefer using containers that disintegrate and can be planted directly in the ground.

Then I discovered Jiffy Pellets!  These things are AMAZING!!!  In my opinion the cost equals out to be less than the cell packs, because you don’t need to purchase seed starter soil.  You can find boxes of 36 small pellets for around $3-$5 at Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and even Dollar General.  Mayo Garden Center sells larger pellets for 13 cents each.

This is by far the best method I have found for starting transplants.  It’s quick- just put them in water and forget about them while you do other chores. Transport them into a nursery flat after they’ve soaked up as much water as they can hold

Put a couple of seeds in each pellet and cover them lightly with your finger or a fork.

Label them and wait for sprouts.

Make sure you save those seed packet though, you will find all kinds of useful information on them.

The Story of the Farmhouse

Anyone who knows my husband and/or me can tell you that we absolutely love our house.  Of course, I think all first time home buyers love their house, but for us the reasons go far deeper than that.  First off, we honestly thought we would be renters for at least most of our life.  Like many people, I made horrible financial decisions when I was in my early 20s giving me an almost impressively low credit score. On the opposite end of the spectrum my husband has literally NO credit at all.  On top of that, we’re just another couple living paycheck to paycheck, so the idea of even saving up a down payment on top of all the other bills was comedic.  Becoming home owners was placed at the bottom of our lifetime goals list and that was that.  We accepted it as a fact that we would spend decades handing our hard earned money over to landlords. We got married on St. Patrick’s day of 2012 and shortly after moved home to Knoxville, TN.  To save money while looking for a place to rent we moved in with my husband’s family.  It was suppose to be for a couple of months tops, of course it didn’t work out that way.  One day my mother-in-law asked if we wanted to go look at houses with her and her father.  We looked at two foreclosures, the entire time thinking “well, this is a waste of time, we don’t have any way to buy a house.”  Both houses we looked at on that day were in subdivisions. Both were more space than the two of us needed or even wanted to deal with.  One had a questionable large crack in the foundation and the other had a horribly overgrown back yard and evidence of mold in the basement.   We went home and forgot about the houses.  Then a few weeks later my mother-in-law mentioned a small farmhouse that had just been listed and asked if we wanted to go look at it.  We agreed to look at it even though we knew that it wasn’t going to turn into anything, because again we had no financial way to purchase a house.  The next day we met my mother-in-law, her father, my sister-in-law, and a real estate agent at the tiny farmhouse.  We pulled up and our hearts sank, we loved this house immediately, and knowing there was no way it could be ours felt like the cruelest form of punishment.  We got out of the car and my mother-in-law said “There’s a really huge garden in the back yard!” We walked up the driveway to investigate.  Talk about pouring salt in a wound!  There in front of me, was a dream come true… a garden approximately 50’x60′, beyond that was a large area of lush grass and a huge raspberry patch. I was equally overwhelmed with excitement and disappointment.  Our dream house existed, but it would never be ours!  Before we even entered the house, I was starting to get mad at my mother-in-law for even putting us through this torture.  After spending what seemed like forever walking around the yard and looking at the detached garage (which of course had a built-in work space-yet another dream come true), we took out first steps into the house.  We entered through the backdoor, into a small mudroom/laundry room- “All appliances are included” I heard the agent shout as the door closed behind us. Next, we walked into the kitchen and my heart melted at the site of the beautiful natural cabinets with hammered iron hinges and handles.  The rest of the house was equally adorable, just enough space for the two of us.  Both of us were trying hard to hide our growing depression. We met up with everyone outside and my husband’s grandfather asked “So what do you think? Should we make an offer?”  Dumbfounded we stated that we loved it.  The agent, who of course wanted the sale, expressed that we needed to act quickly, the house was priced to sell ($90,000) and had only been on the market 10 days.  My husband and I kept quiet because, honestly we didn’t have any idea what was going on, and just let his grandfather and the agent talk.  We meandered around the yard discussing how much we loved the house, then I heard the most amazing words I think I’ll ever hear. My husband’s grandfather spoke with confidence, “Let’s start out with a cash offer of $75,000”  WHAT!?!?!  I almost collapsed!  This had been the plan all along, the our house to be financed by my husband’s grandfather.  No mortgage companies, no credit checks, no unavoidable rejection letters.  I couldn’t believe it!   A formal offer was put in that day and after some and forth over the next 24 hours, we got the house for $80,000! I couldn’t wait for a closing date, so I had my dad come look around just the outside of house.  When we got over there, we were surprised to see a truck in the driveway.  It was the son of the women who had lived in the house.  He had grown up in the house with his brother.  Through him, I learned that his mother had tended to the garden and yard by herself up until entering the hospital and passing away.  He seemed relieved when I told him that we were going to continue the garden, and offered to turn it in the fall for free.  The stories he told me, made me love our house even more.  It had history and had been loved greatly.  We moved in and started planning these to change as we could.  We spent the winter reading and researching gardening techniques.  We started seeds to transplant, my parents bought a tiller for Christmas,  we couldn’t wait spring to come so we could spend time in our garden.  Then, on April 1st, 2013 I was on my way back from the store and my phone rang.  It was my husband, his grandfather had died that morning.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  I rushed home to comfort my distraught husband.  He was in the 2nd bedroom where we were growing our seedlings.  “He didn’t get a chance to see our garden”  is all my husband said before burying his head in his hands.

Last summer was rough, we tried to do too much, we got a cold spell after we transplanted, the rain never seemed to end, and raccoons stole all of our corn. In fact, the garden was such a failure, no one would blame us if we planted grass on the plot and moved on with our life.  We refuse to give up though, I think we owe it to the house’s history and my husband’s grandfather who had faith in us to try again and again until we get it right!  As another planting season approaches I’m feeling that familiar twinge of excitement and hope for the garden.  We’re simplifying this year only using half of the garden so we can focus on the maintenance, I still have hope that we will succeed…. eventually!

This was the farmhouse as purchased in 2012.

Still a work in progress, but the freshly painted door and shutters makes it look younger. The paint for the shutters was found in the mistint area at Lowe’s for $5, the paint for the door was $13. Completely different look for under $20.

The kitchen we when move in, please note the beautiful cabinets!

Some paint, new window treatments, and a table found on craigslist.  Total cost of kitchen make over $160.

Freshly tilled.  We still had so much hope.

We were so excited at this point!  All the little seedlings… so much possibilities!

I was so proud of my trellises.

We did get plenty of raspberries!

Then the weeds came…

…and the raccoons.

But I still can’t wait to try it all again! 

5 things to expect when going vegetarian

I hate New Years resolutions.  I have never made one, so I have never broken one.  Until this past December, my husband suggested that we go completely vegetarian for 2014.  This is something we’ve talked about a lot, and we rarely buy and cook meat anyway, so I agreed to make a resolution for the first time ever.  Overall, it’s been amazingly easy, but I credit that to decreasing our meat consumption greatly over the past few years.  I’m sure this whole process would be considerably more difficult if we had been eating meat at every meal or even every day.  That being said, there are a few things that we have encountered since we made the meatless plunge that you should prepare for if you chose to do the same.

1. At least one of your friends will say “If we weren’t suppose to eat animals, why are they so delicious!?”  Your response on this will depend on your reasons for going vegetarian.  For us, we are attempting to do our part for the environment and the process of raising poultry and meat awful for the planet. (Google it)

2. Say goodbye to fast food-seriously, the vegetarian options are laughable; Hardee’s suggests a Thick Burger with no burger… so lettuce, tomato and sauce on a bun??! I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but sometimes I miss getting a breakfast sandwich on my way to work.   There are a few exceptions like Dunkin Donuts tasty Veggie Flatbread sandwich.

3. Even at “vegetarian friendly” restaurants you will be limited to a handful of options.  I personally like this because if I’m going out to eat with someone it’s because I want to spend time with that person and the meal is a bonus.  Having fewer options makes the decision process quicker.

4. Pretty much every non-vegetarian in your life who loves you will say the same thing “I hope you’re making sure you’re getting protein”  I always have to bite my tongue when this happens, because I realize it comes from a good place, but it still gets old.  Especially since protein exists in pretty much all food.

5. People apologize for eating meat in front you.  Why?  I’m not really sure.  I don’t care if someone eats meat in front of me, it’s not like I just found out I have a deadly chocolate allergy and you’re eating a huge brownie sundae in front of my face!  Are you apologizing for eating an animal?  News flash, as I stated above, I’m vegetarian for environmental reasons, I understand how a food chain works, you’re allowed to eat meat.