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Transitional Recipes for Vegetarians?


Noelle

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I have been vegetarian on-and-off for almost 15 years, and vegan for the last 6 years. I've decided to go back to animal protein, and I'm gearing up for my first Whole30 in January. I've made lots of lovely fish and egg dishes over the past week—but I'm not quite ready to sit down to a steak. (I'll get there. I loved beef as a child.)

I've noticed lots of former vegans and vegetarians on the board, and I'm curious about how you made the transition. Were there particular recipes/meals that were especially helpful (and delicious)?

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Hi! I was a mostly-vegetarian (had a little bit of fish from time to time) for 8+ years before doing my Whole30 over the summer and I took a lot of solace in salads my first few weeks. They had been - and continue to be! - a staple of my diet and they really helped me get my animal protein in while still eating the healthy, raw veggies I was used to. Thankfully, vegetarian to Whole30 is not as radical of a transition (compared to the Standard American Diet to Whole30), since you are used to eating a lot of veggies. Since you already are doing fish and eggs, why don't you try a nicoise salad, of sorts (I like hard-boiled eggs with compliant canned tuna/salmon or fresh baked fish)? Or bake some chicken breasts, drizzle them with homemade olive oil mayo or sunshine sauce on a bed of raw spinach with other sliced veggies? Once your gut is a little bit more healed, you might feel more prepared for more meat-focused dishes like curries or steak. I'm so far on the other end of the spectrum now that fried chicken liver with bacon is my idea of a treat! :D

That said, eating meat again was a visceral, life-changing experience and while everyone else was having dreams of chocolate cakes around Week 2, I was waking up in the middle of the night to insatiable cravings for roasted chicken and meatballs (I'm not kidding). I hope that you found re-introducing animal protein as nourishing and healing as I did. I haven't had this much energy in years, and have more or less cured my persistent low-level anxiety that has really made me miserable for most of my adult life.

Happy Good Food to you! :)

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Thanks for the great suggestions! I used to eat nicoise salad all the time (during my "off-again" times) and I had completely forgotten about it until you mentioned it.

I was already gluten-free, so I wasn't expecting too dramatic a shift. But it's absolutely remarkable how much better I feel after just a week of quality protein and no grains.

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Hi, I used to be a raw food vegan so it was quite a change :). I found, originally, meat that didn't necessarily look like part of an animal was easiest (obviously psychological) Cubed chicken mixed in with veg or ground beef in a bolognese type sauce etc. I have to say I found the whole transition much easier than I thought I would. I definitely feel better on this diet than i ever did as a vegan / vegetarian and now I'm really into getting bones for broth etc and have become absolutely hooked on beef. good luck

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  • 1 year later...

Hi! I would love to eat as less as possible meat. I like meat, but for me the part of animals living/raised, transported and killed in inhumane ways is a huge reason for me to not eat meat. The only meat I will eat is organic grass fed and humanely slaughtered (no transport to slaughter house, and stress free killed)

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