Last Wednesday, I ended my week-long Cool Vegetarian Challenge. It actually went 8 days, but not by choice. On the last day, I never got around to getting meat for lunch. And then I was going to make chicken curry for dinner, but got home late and instead cooked a couple of VeggieBurgers from the stockpile.

I wish I could say that I had some transcendent epiphanies from going without dead animal for 8 days, but I didn’t. There were a few things learned though:

• It stretched my boundaries a little on what I’ll eat. I’m not picky, but Veg Week forced me to alter my habits. My usuals for lunch – McDonald’s snack wraps, Jamaican Jerk chicken, anything from Subway – were off the table. I ended up eating falafels, veggie pizza, and even nothing for a couple of days. I was getting less hungry, which was weird.
• I could’ve gone much longer. I wasn’t craving meat by the time I had it. There was just chicken thawing in the refrigerator, and I didn’t want it to go to waste.
• Cool Mum took up the challenge as well. However, I didn’t realize until the end that CB involuntary joined in, too. I felt bad for taking meat out of his diet for a week, but with plenty of beans, cheese, and yogurt, he did quite alright.
• Meat is not behind my frugal ways. With meat out of the equation, I was still a cheapskate. I thought about splurging a little on a Chinese place for lunch until I realized that I couldn’t handle paying $6 and having half of the menu not be an option. If I’m eatin’ fancy, I’m ain’t gonna keep it to just peapods and rice!

I think just about anyone could do the Cool Veg Challenge. It wasn’t a big deal, just a little inconvenient at times. Now to plan my weeklong meat-only diet, the CCC – Cool Carnivores Challenge…

Related posts:

1. Natalie Portman and the Cool Vegetarian Challenge
2. Cool Vegetarian Challenge update: into the weekend…
3. Lessons from Lent and tomorrow’s news
4. Living in NYC on one income–some numbers
5. Bacteria…yum!