Easing into Vegan Eating, Part 2

So...let's say you've decided for sure you want to become vegetarian or vegan or maybe even just want to incorporate more vegetarian dishes into your life.  Or maybe you're wanting to become vegetarian on some level but the rest of your family is resistant...and maybe you're the cook in the family or at least one of them.  What are some things you can do to ease into the vegetarian lifestyle?  Here are a few things that I did along the way:

1. Have a salad with every meal.  A lot of families already do this and if you do, I congratulate you!  It's a great way to incorporate fiber and phytonutrients in your diet.  Salads don't have to be boring.  There are so many lettuces out there as well as tons of raw veggies just waiting to be chopped up!  And dressings...that's where I really enjoy experimenting.  If you can, avoid conventional bottled dressings--they're full of horrible additives, things like high fructose corn syrup and other sugars as well as a host of preservatives.  You can even make your own croutons with bread, olive oil, and seasonings, toasted in the oven.
2. If you can't get rid of the meat on the plate, at least make it smaller.  Nutrition experts say that a serving size of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.  So make sure it's no bigger than that.  Make the rest of the plate veggies!
3. Do you (or your family) have a favorite vegetable or fruit?  Find ways to incorporate that veggie in a lot of your meals.  For example, if the family can't get enough yams, don't wait until the holidays to eat them!  Thanks to the internet, you can search and find dozens of recipes online in no time flat.  Do a search for your veggie--for example, search for "yam recipes."  Try a new one every week.  Hang on to the ones that make everyone gobble it all up.  Who needs meat when the veggies taste so delicious?
4. Plan to make one meatless meal a week.  Even most hard-core meat eaters have one or two meatless entrees they enjoy.  So take advantage of that.  If the family likes broccoli and cheese casserole, then make it more often!
5. Find ways to convert old favorites.  Here's where the fun comes in.  If you like experimenting in the kitchen, see what you can do with some of your old favorites.  Maybe you had a dish that was made with ground beef.  Why not try making it once with Boca crumbles?  See what the family thinks.  With the right spices and other ingredients, they might not even figure out what's missing!

If becoming vegan is your ultimate goal, then keep trying.  No one's perfect!  But if you want to be vegan, you can do it!  My final recommendation is to find websites and books that give more information on vegan nutrition and offer tons of mouth-watering recipes.