I had not commented on my blog lately about JD because I felt like a little bit of a failure. I probably shouldn't feel this way since he eats about 75 percent less animal protein than he used to. Thankfully he does not eat dairy (except occasional pizza) and never has. Trying to get him to make healthy lunch choices became nearly impossible because he eats out every day and does not like WFPB options. When I make him lunch on the  weekends I try to keep it plant based. He has given up beef and pork completely, and my dinners are still plant based. As I write this I am actually feeling a little better about how he is doing. He is definitely an example that you should start your kids on beans and lentils earlier in life. Trying to start him on them at forty years old has proven to be difficult if not impossible!!! I am not giving up though. If you have to give children foods 10-15 times before they develop a taste for it maybe it is 50 times for a 40+ stubborn husband!
 
 It was interesting watching the progression of him going from eating no meat or animal products for three months to slowly letting them creep back in. He thought, well maybe I'll just have a little chicken here and there or a little fish there it will be ok… I see now why every doctor who recommends a plant-based diet recommends doing it wholeheartedly.  It is too easy to go from I'll just have a little chicken to that wasn't so bad I'll have it again a couple days from now, to where you're having it every day.  It really does creep back in and I watched that happen for JD.  It's just more convenient. Bottom line. Easy to get a chicken salad for lunch. Easy to find a chicken sandwich. Harder to find a great bowl of lentil soup. I'm definitely working on getting him back on track.  He really wants not to eat animal products, but he's having trouble with the convenience factor. I let myself be inconvenienced and go the extra mile to find the vegan food. He definitely does not. We live in LA where it is really not that hard to find WFPB food!! However, he gets hungry, he wants to eat, and when they send out for stuff at work he gets whatever's easiest.  There is so much peer pressure to eating! To most people what he's eating would be extremely healthy, but I now have a different view of extremely healthy.

I'm going to keep up the plant-based meals every night and I am trying to expand my horizons a little bit and jump into those recipe pages online and try to find things that are a little different and more fun. I feel more comfortable doing this now because I have experience making the simple recipes.  I definitely have a pretty good repertoire under my belt now and am looking forward to expanding horizons. On a solid note, Cooper has realized that he feels a lot better not eating lots of animal protein and is seeking out alternatives. The old dog is having a little trouble right now but the little doggie is starting to get it!!
 

I knew two things about my family reunion. It would be very fun, and there would be a lot of meat there. My cousin Peter with a lot of pride, had taken the year perfecting his smoked beef brisket and was very excited to bring it along. The place we go has a notoriously meat based menu. Even the pancakes are made with lard. Breakfast usually consists of eggs, pancakes (made with lard to make the crispy) sausage, bacon, and kielbasi. Dinner is usually stuffed cabbage stuffed with beef and rice, and some other type of meat. There are usually some pretty sad looking vegetables sitting off in the corner drowning in oil. My family has been going to his place for about 60 years as my grandparents helped build it. The home was actually built in 1905 by group of Russian immigrants and for years Russian, Ukrainian, and a few Pole families have been getting out of New York City to take refuge in this beautiful place in the Appalachians. Russians (as well as lots of other cultures.... meat = prosperity) thought they had made it when they had a lot of meat to eat and could steer away from the borscht, potatoes, and cabbage. And so the tradition continued. So what was a veggie girl to do?