Welcome Back Meat. Now Go Away.

I made it through Lent – no meat. I sustained myself on a crap-ton (literally) of beans, grains, fruits & vegetables, and a bit of rice and pasta.

I learned that I am not a fan of meat/protein substitutes. I don’t need tempeh or tofu or fake bacon, I’d rather have a deliciously prepared dish that is free of processed foods. I do, however, like soyrizo. I made a pretty darn good Soyrizo Paella with Edamame; I’ll have to remember to post the recipe. I also have some seitan that I never got around to using so I’ll have to do that soon – I’ll let you know what I think.

I also had tuna sandwiches and peanut butter sandwiches, scallops, bean this and bean that, veggie pizza (another post-worthy recipe) and stir-fries. I wasn’t tempted to eat meat. At. All.

Easter morning my mom asked how it went and asked (somewhat sheepishly) about my… stool. See, a friend of hers cut out meat for awhile and said that her poop didn’t stink while she was a meatless eater. I said I didn’t notice a difference.

Then I ate meat. Sausage during breakfast. Ham, turkey, and ribs during dinner, then more ham, turkey and ribs for leftovers. Let me tell you – my digestive system was PISSED! I now know that those folks on Survivor were not faking in the least when they doubled over in pain after eating the big meal – you know, the one they get after they’ve starved for a month and then win some challenge? I wasn’t doubled over in pain, but I wasn’t comfortable. And you know what else? My poop stank to high-heaven. I may have not noticed the smell go away, but I sure did notice it come back.

So after finishing my leftovers on Monday, I had some nice lentil soup on Tuesday, risotto Wednesday and Thursday, and a peanut butter sandwich is in my lunch box today. So much better.

I think I’ll stick to seafood one time per week and meat one time per week (if that). I didn’t ever – not once – crave meat for 40 days. I definitely don’t want to rely on it as a staple, but I definitely don’t want swear off it for good. Ya never know if a craving will strike, and sometimes… meat just sounds good.