Because I could totally be a vegetarian

There's a lot of different opinions on what healthy eating actually is. I happen to subscribe, at least at this point, to a pretty "whole foods" way of thinking. Basically, lots of fruits and vegetables, the fresher the better, some dairy, some meat, whole grains, that sort of thing. I'm not counting calories or carbs to plan meals. I'm just looking to find a balance of things, and to feed my family well.

One thing that we have agreed on is that we would like to consume less meat. We don't desire to cut out all meat, but we do want to eat a higher quality of meat, and less of it overall. As such, I've been working to plan one or two(or three) vegetarian dinners a week. These have resulted in varying degrees of success. Our general pattern thus far is..... if it's Indian, it'll be good. Anything else? Hard sell.

This meal was red lentils, palak paneer, and basmati rice. Pretty simple food!

We did have luck the other day with a chickpeas and tomato pasta salad. The kids liked this one, too, so it will have to stay in rotation. And it calls for a lot of vegetables, which is awesome. I also love single dish meals for some really ridiculous reason, I'm sure.

And the finished product is quite attractive!

Tonight was another veggie success! Garden Gumbo. Well, the kids and I liked it. The husband went to bed really early after a very long day, so hasn't actually eaten it yet. I did, however, notice he stole a piece off the garlic knot rolls I baked. Those are not pictured because they were a first attempt. They tasted good, but, the aesthetics are lacking.

This recipe also had lots of nice, fresh vegetable ingredients! It also used one can of tomatoes.

And this is the closest thing you get to a finished product picture because I got busy with, y'know, life, and forgot to take a picture before we ate and I packed leftovers away. Whoops!

So in conclusion..... I could totally be a vegetarian because I made these three vegetarian meals and, like, ten others so now I'm an expert and could totally do it forever.

Or..... Maybe it's just nice to give the budget and the belly a little break from meat, and we'll go with that.

Edit: I am adding links to the recipes for these meals.

Red lentils and rice

Palak Paneer

Paneer

Chickpeas, Pasta, and Tomato Salad

Garden Gumbo