Vegan Once Again

I am once again declaring veganism! If you've been reading for a while, you'll know that I was vegetarian for almost 10 years before I got pregnant with M. Then in the first trimester I started getting these INTENSE cravings for beef! Not chicken, or turkey, or eggs, but all beef baby! I upped my spinach intake thinking I was low in iron and that would get rid of the craving, and well that still didn't work. Momma wasn't happy until I had a Wendy's cheeseburger in my hand! Turns out, despite being a beef eater once again I was still anemic. My OB put me on iron supplements, which I ended up having to take  until 3 months post partum.

Well ever since then, I have maintained a mostly vegetarian diet. I only have meat maybe 2x per week, but I do eat cheese and egg whites. (Let me just preface that I was never a vegetarian for religious reasons, or diet restrictions, it was purely for ethical reasons and the fact that I don't want my 9 year old to have boobs because she has been eating hormone filled chicken breasts her whole life.)

So yes, I started eating meat, and yes, I have always prepared meat for my family (K and my H are big meat eaters) but I have always paid the premium for that by buying only all organic, hormone free, well treated animal meat. Period. It's not the meat that I have a problem with, its how people treat to put them, and the shit they inject into them just to produce more meat, to make more money, to then put them on our table that I'm not down with.

I understand that not all people can afford to buy happy meat for their families, that today's society makes it hard to be vegetarian or vegan, or that a lot of people don't know how to properly maintain a vegetarian diet, but being veggie is easy for someone like me. Even as a child I was never a big meat eater, and salad is my favorite food for gods sake! No lie!

So I am going back to what I believe in, and going 100% meat, cheese, and dairy free. I will not push my beliefs on my family (although I do think little M is just like her mom, she is not a big fan of meat and salad and vegetables are also her favorite food) or anyone else, but I will always advocate for the ethical treatment of animals and cruelty free meat, whether I eat it or not.

And I can finally wear my Kiss Me I'm a Vegetarian Hello Kitty shirt again :)