No-Meat January

One thing I decided to do for myself in 2014 is make a goal every month and complete it.
Several months ago I wanted to go a month without eating meat. January seems like a good month. It's not grilling season, but considering I'm an omnivore, any month would be a challenge.

So it began. Not being able to eat bacon the day after NYE is a challenge, let me tell you. But it quickly passed as I knew that eating bacon would mean I didn't reach my goal AND I would have failed on the first day. Let's fast forward.

It's all about planning. Making meals ahead. If I let myself just have crackers, cheese, and peanut butter in my cupboards...well, that's what I was going to be eating. I love cooking vegetarian food and luckily was able to test out a bunch of recipes I had been waiting to try.

My meals primarily consisted of salads, eggs, tofu, homemade protein balls, and sweet potato macaroni and cheese (yes it is extremely delicious). The biggest challenge was restaurants. I quickly learned that I needed to avoid them. It wasn't because I thought I was going to order something with meat in it, it's that it reminded me of the fact that I wasn't eating it and I missed it.

So here we are the last day of January and I've almost succeeded. I'm happy I was able to try something new.

You can bet that I'll be eating bacon bright and early tomorrow before a great day of skiing.

The best recipe I found during this month that I will make from here on out are Sriracha Honey Lime Brussels Sprouts. To. Die. For.

Ingredients:
1/3 c honey
1 tbs sriracha
1 tbs fresh lime juice (honestly I wing it)
1/4 c olive oil
2 c Brussels sprouts, halved

Put oil in a saucepan and heat to medium-high. Add Brussels sprouts halved side down. You will need to have a saucepan large enough so the sprouts are on the flat part of the pan. The sprouts will start to fry so watch out for hot oil.

While the sprouts are cooking, mix the honey, sriracha, and lime juice in a small bowl. the consistency should not be sticky so add lime juice as needed. Use tongs to turn the Brussels sprouts. Remove when the bottoms are golden brown.

Toss in the sauce and serve warm. Enjoy!