My co-worker/lunch buddy is seemingly on the fence about this process. Yesterday, he was totally supportive though and we went to Down to Earth for lunch at their hot bar. I had the MOST delicious piece of white pizza with olives, mushrooms, and basil. The dough was super soft yummy goodness sprinkled with herbs on the bottoms...omg tasty. I complimented that with a fresh salad from their salad bar with a lovely red pepper dressing. I could eat that lunch every day for the rest of my life...really.
On the way home from work, I stopped off at Safeway and found lima beans for the aforementioned Lima Bean Parmesan and bought the stuff to make my own granola. Yes, I said it...make my own granola. No, I'm not going to quit shaving my legs. I'm sure if you have known me for any length of time, you are laughing your ass off right now.
Anyway, I came home and made this.
Dinner was a Veggie Burrito Casserole, compliments of CRH's iPhone recipe app thing and Beer Garitas, compliments of Southern Living. The verdict - I loved it, he liked it (though he said he wasn't feeling good and was super tired, so he may have loved it), and Eve hated it. It sparked her asking to watching Food, Inc. since this movie was changing her life. She decided she wanted to see it. I immediately agreed and then she promptly changed her mind, started crying, and said I was forcing her to do things she didn't want to do. Can ya'll imagine what my life is going to be like in 5 years if I'm getting this now?! We talked about it some and I told her I wasn't "forcing" her to do anything. I wouldn't make her watch the movie if she didn't want to and as far as becoming a vegetarian too, that was up to her when she wasn't at home but that I wasn't cooking meat here anymore outside of some select seafood. Fortunately, the convo ended when her bff came over to pick her up for a last minute sleepover. Good Times, really.
Here's the recipe for the casserole. It totally packed my 8x8 dish and CRH thought it needed more tortillas, but he loves bread a lot.
Ingredients
3/4 cup white rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 (12 ounce) package frozen soy burger-style crumbles
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 (10 inch) burrito-size flour tortillas
1 (14.25 ounce) can vegetarian refried beans, divided
1 can green chilies
1 1/2 cups salsa, divided
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
Directions
In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Place soy crumbles, tomatoes with juice, chili powder, cumin, and taco seasoning in a medium frying pan over medium high heat. Cook and stir, breaking up tomatoes, for 10 minutes.
Lay 1 flour tortilla in a lightly greased 8×8 inch baking dish. Layer with one half of the beans, green chilies, rice, salsa, soy mixture, and 1 cup Cheddar cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients, beginning with the flour tortilla, and top with remaining 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
About Recipe submitted by Barbara T.
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My son is not vegetarian, and I doubt he ever will be because of the diet restrictions he has. I think if you didn't raise Eve as vegetarian you have to get her consent before you make her change. Are there any meatless meals you made before you decided to do this? Maybe make those more often so it doesn't seem so weird. Also sometimes you just have to feed the kids something different. If she sees you sticking to it, and starts thinking about where food comes from maybe she will join you, but it needs to be her choice. Instead of making her think you're trying to control her, do this transition gently, so she knows you are doing it because you care. If you still cook her meat (that you know is at least less processed than chicken nuggets) but give her the option of trying your new veg meals she will feel less scared I think.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right on. CRH and I have fed her under the 'you will eat what is served and we are not making multiple meals' philosophy because she was such a picky eater as a toddler and I did spend a period of time making her other things. We'll try easing her into it and seeing how it goes. Timing wise this is weird because she's only going to be home until the end of the month before she comes to NC for the summer, where I assure you all her meals will have meat. Basically, I get a do-over in August when she comes home. Thanks for the advice!
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