Let’s change things up today. Instead of my usual recipes, I’m going to share a candid look at a typical week’s worth of vegetarian eating. I don’t have a big “vegetarian” label at the top of the blog, but it’s true—all of my recipes are meatless. My motto is, “Celebrating whole foods!” because I just want to show how wonderful vegetables and whole grains can be.
Michelle requested this post a few weeks ago. She told me that she’s moving more toward a vegetarian diet but doesn’t have enough go-to meals in her repertoire to give up meat completely. She said, “I’d love to see what a week-in-the-life so to speak looks like for a practicing vegetarian.” My knee-jerk reaction to Michelle’s email was, “No! My leftovers aren’t pretty and I’m not the world’s healthiest eater. What are they going to think?”
After giving Michelle’s request more thought, however, I decided to go for it. I know Michelle isn’t the only one wondering how to become a vegetarian or just how to eat less meat. I swallowed my pride about the imperfect phone photos because hey, real life is messy. Real life is busy. Making the unconventional decision to eat more plants and less animals on a daily basis seems hard at first, but it’s actually pretty easy once you get started. I hope this post provides insight on how to eat less meat, if that’s your goal, or just a behind-the-scenes look at this vegetarian’s lifestyle, in case you’re curious.
You might notice that I always eat breakfast. Always! I also eat a lot of leftovers, naturally, since I don’t have a family to help me polish off the family-sized meals I make for the blog. It takes me a few days to go through a tub of spinach or strawberries (you’ll see a lot of each in the photos below).
Protein seems to be a big concern for those starting out, but I get plenty of protein from eggs, beans, occasionally tofu, nuts and all the other whole foods that fill me up. Protein is generally present in whole foods, like greens, vegetables and whole grains. I would be hungry all the time if I still subsisted on my middle school diet of Cheez-Its and Dr. Pepper, but I’m definitely not going hungry now!
I should clarify that I’m not a super strict vegetarian. I’d guess that my diet is about 98 percent vegetarian, which is good enough for me. I never want my friends to go out of their way for me, so I don’t turn away their homemade soups when they forget to use vegetable broth. I eat quality fish when the opportunity arises because it tastes good and it’s good for me. I don’t check my cheese to make sure it doesn’t contain animal rennet, either.
So yeah, I could perhaps more accurately call myself a pescetarian or flexitarian instead of a vegetarian, but those terms just seem to complicate the point of a vastly meat-free diet. We make eating decisions at least three times a day, so any diet designed for the long-term should allow for some flexibility. I’ve been healthy and satisfied with my version of vegetarianism for the past five years.
Last but not least, I don’t mean to imply that vegetarianism is the only way to go. I don’t believe that there is one ideal diet for all human beings. A meatless diet suits me well, and I find peace in knowing that I’m doing my body and the environment a favor by eating less meat. I understand that a meatless diet isn’t for everyone. Take my brother Reed, for example. He has big muscles, loves to hunt, relishes a great steak, and doesn’t feel satisfied unless there’s meat on his plate. I get it. I don’t criticize his choices or even hope that he’ll change. I’m just happy to share my vegetarian favorites with him because, as it turns out, he enjoys kale salad with his steak.
Here we go! OKC to KC/Back to the grind
I spent an extended weekend in Oklahoma (above left) with my family before snapping these photos. I ate a lot of pizza while I was there, so I was craving lighter fare when I got home. Last week (Monday through Sunday), I was back in Kansas City and working hard to get caught up with work, so you’ll see a lot of super quick meals made at home.
Monday
Left: Standard breakfast of granola and yogurt. I try to eat yogurt every day because I’m a big believer in the benefits of probiotics. (I’m trying to make up for all the antibiotics I took for ear infections as a kid.) Trader Joe’s organic European-style plain whole milk yogurt is my current favorite. I added banana nut granola (blog reject, a riff on my honey almond granola) and rhubarb chia jam (a riff on my strawberry chia jam).
Right: I was hungry and in a hurry, so I threw together some huevos rancheros (tortilla, fried egg, seasoned black beans, store-bought salsa verde, pickled red onions, handful cilantro, crumbled feta). Here’s my favorite recipe for huevos rancheros.
Left: My friend Ali brought her pup, Henry, over for dinner.
Right, dinner: After a couple glasses of wine, I threw together a salad for us to eat for dinner. The salad wasn’t great, so I was a little embarrassed to serve it to a fellow food blogger. Ali provided cheesy homemade beer bread (similar to this recipe). I forgot how much I love beer bread.
Salad photo credit: Ali’s Instagram.
Tuesday
Left, breakfast: Running low on groceries. I used up all of my yogurt at breakfast yesterday, so I toasted the last little slices of whole grain bread I had left. Topped my toast with peanut butter and rhubarb chia jam. The rhubarb jam is growing on me. Anyone want the recipe? (Update: here it is!)
Right, lunch: Final recipe test for my snap pea soba noodles.
Not shown, dinner: More soba noodles.
Wednesday
Left, breakfast: Still out of yogurt, now out of bread. Spread peanut butter and rhubarb jam on a warm whole wheat tortilla, topped it with sliced strawberries and rolled it up. Wished I had almond butter.
Right, lunch: Bon Appetit’s carrot salad. I am now obsessed with the combination of coriander, lemon and carrots. Recipes to come.
Left: My dog is a cat.
Right, snack: Procrastination via fro yo.
Not shown, dinner: Egg quesadillas recipe test. Quesadillas turned out so well that I couldn’t stop eating them. That’s when I knew I’d found a winner.
Thursday
Left, breakfast: I woke up late and almost missed my appointment to get my hair trimmed. Grabbed a little bag of Trader Joe’s trail mix on my way out the door.
Right, lunch: More leftover soba noodles. Realized that leftovers don’t taste so hot after a couple of days. Updated recipe to reflect that detail.
Left, snack: Got hungry at the grocery store. Snacked on an apple and sourdough bread. Thought I was buying whole wheat sourdough but it wasn’t. Ate it anyway.
Right, dinner: The remains of my egg quesadilla photo shoot.
Left, after-dinner walk: Took Cookie on a walk since I was feeling overstuffed after eating too much quesadillas.
Friday
Right, breakfast: Leftover quesadilla with Cholula hot sauce and guacamole. Ate the remaining slice of quesadilla for a late-morning snack.
Left: I wanna do what she’s doing.
Right, quick lunch: Toasted bread with smashed avocado, topped with burst cherry tomatoes. It was good, but I’m an avocado toast purist and I’ve pretty much decided that toast + avocado + sea salt is the best way to go.
Left, late dinner: Threw together some spinach, sliced strawberries and radishes, toasted pistachios and goat cheese, tossed in my standard lemon dressing. Liked it so much that I made more after I polished off the bowl shown.
Saturday
Right, light breakfast: I’m going to brunch later, but I can’t skip breakfast or my blood sugar level will get out of whack (I’m hypoglycemic). More toast with peanut butter and rhubarb jam since I forgot to buy yogurt at the grocery store on Wednesday.
Left, brunch/lunch: Met up with Sara, a local blog-reader-turned-friend (love it when that happens), after working up my appetite at a morning yoga class. Polished off that artichoke/spinach/goat cheese frittata and potatoes. Made a mental note to return to Room 39 and order Sara’s meal sometime (toast with artichoke spread/arugula/poached egg).
Right, dinner: Ahalogy came to town and took some bloggers out to dinner at Tannin Wine Bar. We all shared appetizers and then I ordered this interesting tofu/white bean/chimichurri dish for dinner.
Sunday
Left, light breakfast: Still out of yogurt (good grief) but found some abandoned strawberry keffir in my fridge. The keffir is still too sweet for my liking so I didn’t finish it all. Keffir went back to abandoned status in the fridge.
Right, brunch/lunch: Met up with Kristin, Lila and Kate for brunch at Westside Local. Ordered the veggie scramble with a poached egg on top.
Left: Meet Mirabel. She’s my favorite. Mira loves her mama, Tessa’s dogs and asparagus, but she’s not so into peas right now.
Right, dinner: Weekly dinner with friends. Appetizer of morel mushrooms, foraged (how I hate that word!) by Dane. Gluten-free eaters got dibs on the corn tortillas. Everybody else ate beef tacos. Mine (bottom left) were black bean tacos. I bring a can of black beans over for such occasions—I just mix some spices into the beans and warm them up.
There you have it! One week of meat-free eating. If you’d like to learn more about nutrition and food, I highly recommend reading Michael Pollan’s books, like In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. For more meal snaps and Cookie pics, feel free to follow cookieandkate on Instagram!
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Ali | Gimme Some Oven
I love this post!! And I love how you go about being a vegetarian — thoughtful, creative, gracious and TASTY. I thought that salad was quite lovely myself, as was time with you. :)
And ha, yes, Cookie IS a cat!!
J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats
I’m not really a vegetarian but found that I end up having mostly vegetarian days (breakfast + lunch + afternoon snack) just out of trying to be healthy/convenience. For dinners we tend to make more elaborate meals but when I was single often times it was also just salad or cereal and I was perfectly happy with that. Don’t think I’ll ever convert to full vegetarianism but I do try to minimize my meat intake.
Although I will say that I do believe locally sourced, free range animals are less damaging to the planet then mysterious-origin soy in tofu that can often come from slash and burn agriculture in rainforest areas.
Kate
J.S., great point about quality meat vs. mysterious soy. Part of the reason that I gave up meat was because I don’t love meat enough to bother sourcing and paying for top-quality meat. I’d rather just go without. I don’t eat much soy and always try to specify organic/non-GMO soy in my recipes, but I could go into that more in a future post.
Alix
Great post! I think we all hesitate to share our scrounge-y or leftover-y meals with others, but why not — looks like a delicious week!
Alyssa
This is really helpful to see that sometimes meals aren’t perfect, but we can make do with what we have. For the past four months I’ve been trying to navigate college eating as a vegetarian…lots of meals in my little dorm room (I don’t really trust dining-center tofu scramble :/) made up of fruits and veggies and beans and grains.
Also, within the past two months I’ve read both The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and I’ve found them to be super great resources!
Kate
Alyssa, thank you for commenting! Sounds like you are eating better than I was when I lived in the dorms. Glad to hear that you are a Pollan fan, too!
dana
Great post! Lovely seeing what you eat in a week. It’s funny reading this as I had JUST written a post last night about where I’m at with my diet but haven’t decided whether or not to post it. Such a sensitive subject, eh? Also, YES TO THE RHUBARB JAM. YES.
Kate
Well, I’ve gotten such nice, supportive feedback on this post that I think you should publish your post! I might be willing to give up dairy if it would make my skin look as lovely as yours. :) P.s. Rhubarb jam coming to an internet near you, soon!
Mrs. D.
Thank you so much for this post! I am hypoglycemic, too, so I have always been leery of the lack of protein in a strictly vegetarian diet. I have been learning much, much more about the whole foods type of approach, though. And this blog has been helping me save money, inspiring me to prepare more veggie-loving meals. :)
Kate
You’re welcome, Mrs. D! The key for me is to eat well-balanced meals containing a combination of protein/fiber/fat/complex carbs. I always eat a hearty breakfast, which helps a ton. Simple carbs are what do me in. The worst is when I travel and forget just how badly I need to eat a good breakfast. I went to a blog conference a couple years ago and only had a pastry for breakfast. I was a mumbling, shaky, sweaty mess for a few hours until my blood sugar levels got back to normal.
Shannon
Love this!! I sort of follow your approach although I dont really say I’m “vegetarian”. I just don’t eat a lot of meat…but fish, eggs, dairy are all ok. I’ve had lots of luck using recipes from Jack Bishop’s A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. I really enjoy the seasonality of the recipes as well. I’ll be honest, I end up roasting vegetables in the oven many weeknights, since it’s so easy and can be done days ahead. Thanks for sharing your meals. Its always helpful to see what others are making, even if it seems mundane to you. :)
Kate
Thanks, Shannon! I’m going to look up Jack’s book now. Roasted vegetables are sure hard to beat!
Jeanette
Loved this post! As weird as it is, I think a lot of people are always intrigued by what other people eat, especially those who follow a specific dietary approach, i.e. vegtarianism, paleo, raw, etc.!
Jeanette
Kate
Definitely true! I can’t resist clicking on food diary posts when I see them.
Jeanette
You could almost make this a series! ;) I love that it gives non-vegetarians easy meatless meal ideas!
Nicole
I think everyone loves a good peek into other people’s lives and this post is so fun! Thanks for sharing!
Melissa
I loved reading this! I’ve been trying to east mostly vegetarian for a while and I always find that staying full is difficult for me without meat. It can be done! I think I eat more Greek yogurt than the country of Greece. And I love Michael Pollan – I’m seeing him speak at Harvard next Monday. Thanks for sharing!
Kate
Have fun at Pollan’s event! He came to Kansas City to talk about his lated book, Cooked. I was so inspired that I couldn’t stop reading the book until I finished it a few days later.
Kate
Oh, I forgot to say—the key to staying full, for me, is to eat well-balanced meals that have complex carbs, fiber (vegetables and greens!) and some protein in them. If I eat simple carbs, I get hungry pretty fast.
Taylor
Hi Kate,
Loved this post! Helped me realize I eat mostly vegetarian too. Lovely photos too – I really like the more candid/relatable approach to food photography. Thanks!
Kate
Thank you, Taylor! I’m glad you appreciated the post. I’m planning to post more candid food-related posts since this one went over well.
Sammi @Sammi Sunshine
I didn’t know you lived in KC! I do too! I am somewhat new to being a vegetarian, so this is a great resource. I’ve found I’ve turned to mostly pasta and bread because I am so not creative when it comes to interesting meals. VERY unhealthy. And I am the same “type” of vegetarian you are. I don’t turn my nose up at veggie soup with chicken broth, and occasionally I will have a couple bites of my husbands steak. Hey, it works for me!
Sammi Sunshine
A Food Blog
Teffy Perk
I really enjoyed this post!
You’re so right, the day to day is not a glorious and glamorous food photo shoot, so it’s amazing to see what you eat like on a day-to-day.
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health
im not a vegetarian either but i try to include more vegetarian inspired meals. thanks for this sneak peek.
Sarah
Thanks so much for sharing this! The way you eat (both your general description and your week of food) reminds me a lot of how I’ve been eating since I cut way back on eating meat a few months ago. It’s very helpful to get some new ideas too!
Nicole
I guess I never realized you were a vegetarian because I don’t eat that much meat myself. Thanks so much for sharing. I loved getting a peek at what you’re eating — even the leftovers you were shy about look great.
Kate
Thank you, Nicole! Glad you appreciated the post.
Isadora
I love all the pictures of Cookie! I have a cat that acts just like a dog :)
Amie@RunningOnHealthy
Loved this post! I am also about 97% Vegetarian and I have been for 4 years now. At first I was very strict about it, and I have gone through periods of trying veganism, but at the end of the day I love certain chocolate that has milk products in it, and I want to eat yogurt that tastes like yogurt some days.
Lol’ed at your comments about being out of Yogurt and loved seeing the pics of Cookie. So cute!
Kris
For the past two years, I’ve listened to my body to discover my ideal “diet”. Through a 3-day juice cleanse last year I discovered dairy was a real energy drain for me, in this year’s juice cleanse I discovered gluten was also a big culprit (bigger in fact than the dairy). I was eating vegan until the no gluten. Now, I eat vegan+eggs+fish/seafood and I feel better than ever and my weight stays very stable.
Kate
Kris, I love that you have been listening to your body and making adjustments as necessary. Sounds like you’ve found a way of eating that works great for you. I really don’t think gluten or dairy have that effect on me, but a juice cleanse would be an interesting way to taste that theory.
Martha
Don’t think I can emphasize enough how much I love this post! I was nodding along as I read. Your “most-of-the-time” approach to vegetarianism sounds the same as my approach to veganism… I do it as much as is realistically possible but don’t like to put people out. And I decided long ago that a life without cheese is not a life worth living so I have that a few times a month too! I completely agree that there is no single right diet.. it’s different for everyone! Seeing your meals gave me lots of ideas, I’ve been in a rut lately! Thanks for sharing!
Kate
Thank you, Martha! Sounds like we’re on the same page. I love cheese far too much to give up completely. Glad you found some inspiration in this post!
Meredith @ Unexpectedly Magnificent
I love this post! As someone who plans their weekday lunches and dinners in advance, it was very interesting to see your meals and how you came up with them. :)
Five oclock shallots
What a great post. I try to eat as little meat as possible and there are some very nice ideas here. I find that I get pretty regimented and stick to a veggie I like for a while. Okra right now has my focus after years of not enjoying it. Go figure. Thanks for a lovely post, and for the hilarious my dog is a cat pic :)
Kate
How do you like to cook okra? I’m intrigued! I love pickled okra.
Nancy
Great post!! this is reality. We’re all trying to figure out what to eat when.
What’s the recipe for your lemon go-to dressing? thanks!!
Kate
Hi Nancy! I’m always improvising the lemon dressing (made with lemon juice, sometimes lemon zest, sometimes garlic, always olive oil, honey, some Dijon mustard, salt and pepper). Here’s a version of it: https://cookieandkate.com/2013/the-little-green-salad/
Jeanine
Loved the jam on tortilla day :) Totally been there…
lisa @Garlic+Zest
I think I could do this, but it’s baby steps for my husband and daughter. I’m opting for vegetarian meals a few times per week. Love your candor!
Kate
Sounds like a great way to go about it. The more vegetables, the better, I say!
Courtney @ The Fig Tree
Great post. I love seeing what other people eat throughout the week. I’ve been a vegetarian for so long that sometimes I get stuck in a rut and eat the same things over and over. Thank you for the wonderful inspiration. Your post is a great example of how leading a veggie lifestyle can be very fulfilling, flavourful and just plain fun. :)
Kate
Thank you, Courtney!
Emma
Love this post Kate! I am asked about my diet frequently by the veg-curious, now I can refer them here :)
Lynette
This post came just in time! I went vegetarian (again) a month ago, feeling like it was finally going to stick! I love to cook and absolutely love eating vegetarian, but with a meat-loving husband and three kids, it can feel like a lot of work pleasing everyone. Anyway, I was feeling that my meals weren’t providing enough variety as far as nutrition and was ready to give up (again). This helped me to see that I’m doing just fine! Thank you so much!
Kate
Lynette, I can imagine that it would be difficult to be a vegetarian with a meat-loving husband and three kids! I will probably have to adjust my cooking style if/when I get married and have kids. Re: nutrition, as long as you’re eating a varied diet with lots of vegetables and other whole foods, I think you’ll be fine!
Cathi
Thank you so much for posting this! Everything doesn’t have to be as beautiful as your recipe posts to be interesting to us. And it actually makes me feel better that you are normal and aren’t eating perfectly styled food all day every day!
Kate
I am definitely not eating perfectly styled food every day! I try to make the recipes pretty so they look appealing, but I’m glad the cat’s out of the bag—leftovers just aren’t pretty. :)
dishing up the dirt
LOVE!!! Thank you for this post. XO
Heidi Eilers
I too, loved this post. And I too, love rhubarb!
Kimberly C.
Thanks so much for sharing your weekly adventures in eating. I am rather new to this journey. I began about 9 months ago and call myself an accidental vegetarian. I was intrigued with whole food and plant based eating after watching Forks over Knives. I did some research and began by following a VB6 style of eating, which is eating vegan for most of the day except one meal. But as time went on I found myself eating less and less meat even when I could and since I love cooking it sent me on a new food journey I did not even know existed. I love your relaxed style which is kind of what my journey has evolved into, I occasionally eat fish probably less than once a month and I don’t freak out over every tiny detail but over all I eat alot less meat than I once did or ever thought I could. Thanks for sharing.
Kate
Thank you, Kimberley! Bittman’s VB6 concept is really cool. I think vegetarian cooking is fun and more varied. Glad you’ve found a new way of eating that you enjoy!
Kasey
You know I’m not a vegetarian but I LOVED this post! I really appreciate your honest and authentic approach to eating…It doesn’t have to always be 100% :) xo
abby @ thingsforboys
Such an interesting read! I’ve never really thought about it, but most of my breakfasts and lunches are vegetarian. I only really eat meat at dinner time. And I never really noticed that there’s no meat recipes on your blog :)
Kate
Thanks, Abby! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my meatless recipes!
Andree-Anne @ singly scrumptious
Wow! thanks for that! I’m actually planning on doing the vegetarian week challenge on the week commencing the 19th and this will come in very handy. :) thanks
Handmade by Lorna
I love seeing what you eat in a week – just nosey I guess. I have just returned to vegetarianism after a couple of years on the dark side!! and I am always looking for new and interesting recipes. Great post, thank you.
Leah
I loved this post – I really could be a vegetarian and I try to eat whole foods most of the time, but I’m definitely a believer in flexibility. Especially in the south, many restaurants use meat products even in cooking the vegetables, so you could definitely drive yourself crazy obsessing over what is in every little dish. I loved Michael Pollan’s books and I highly recommend them as well!
Kate
Hi again. :) So true. I refuse to drive myself crazy over all the tiny ingredient details. Life’s too short! Glad to hear you’re a Pollan fan, I just think he’s the best!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
Great post, Kate! I love your honest approach to eating what just feels right to you.
Ala
Okay Kate, can I just say how much I love this post? As a fellow whatchacallem-ian (I’m about 97% vegetarian too, but I will eat meat-based broths etc. at family dinners and such), and having spent a lot of time in Berkeley where flexitarianism was totally a thing, I really enjoyed reading about your approach to eating. Also, major props to your reader for suggesting this post because imagine how much more we would think about our meals (i.e. actually sitting down for meals, too, and not just my grab-and-go frozen banana with PB) if we photographed our way through them! I did that for an entire year once and it was a total game-changer. I do find that my protein intake isn’t as *varied* as I would like, and that overconsuming one type of protein (like nut butters) can throw my days off balance at times. Still working on that. May need to do a similar post for myself soon. Thanks for inspiring, Kate!
Kate
Thanks, Ala! I’m amazed that you documented your food for a whole year. What you said about varying your protein intake is interesting. For me, I get into trouble if I eat an unbalanced meal with lots of simple carbs in it. Like, if I eat just all-purpose flour pancakes for breakfast, I’m in trouble. If I eat whole grain pancakes with some peanut butter on them, then I’m ok.
Lauren
I loved this post! Thank you so much for sharing. I could look at pictures of Cookie all day:)
Kate
Thanks, Lauren! Cookie says hi. :)
Emily L
I LOVE this post! I’m mostly vegetarian during the week but will eat seafood/meat during the weekends. I am definitely going to try TJ’s European style yogurt next time I’m there. I always get the TJ’s plain greek yogurt.
P.S. I’m interested in the rhubarb jam recipe!! I’ve been making a lot raspberry chia seed jams lately.
Kate
Thank you, Emily! Hope you enjoy the European-style yogurt. It’s really smooth and creamy. I’m going to post the rhubarb jam soon, maybe tomorrow!
Sophie
YES to the rhubarb jam! I loved that strawberry chia jam. This was such a great idea for a post and I loved reading about your week! We have plenty of vegetarian friends and I certainly can accommodate them when cooking, but your graciousness to bring your own back-up black beans is just so thoughtful. Win-win. (Don’t you hate when you think you’ve purchased whole-wheat but ya didn’t!?)
Kate
Ok, I’m going to post the rhubarb jam soon! My get-togethers with friends are usually super casual potlucks, so bringing my own beans seems like a no brainer!
Tatum | EATS From The Oil Patch Blog
I just pinned your yogurt + toasted oats + chia jam on pinterest the other day, it looks too good to eat!! I am loving noodle salads lately, perfect for spring although we haven’t been receiving much spring weather here in Northern Canada!
Kate
Thanks, Tatum! Hope the weather warms up for you soon!
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog
Oh I love that you did this post! Even though I’m not vegetarian, I find myself trying out your recipes and loving them! I also love seeing what other food bloggers eat or just their general ‘day in the life’ posts :)
Kate
Thank you, Phi! I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes! It was fun to make this post and provide some behind-the-scenes shots. Sometimes I worry that my styled photos aren’t a fair representation of real life.
Chris
Oh, please tell me you’ll make this a regular thing! (also, I made your west African peanut soup the other night and it was amazing!)
Kate
Chris, glad you enjoyed the soup! I think I might make this post a seasonal series. It would be fun to show how my diet changes with the seasons, and plus, one week isn’t a fair representation!
Sini | my blue&white kictchen
What a great post, Kate!! I agree with you that there isn’t one right diet to follow. After all, we all are individuals. I think that the important thing is to get to know what your body and mind crave and what suits your lifestyle. I’m not a vegetarian. I eat a lot of vegetables and at least 3 dinners of 7 don’t have meat in it. Why? Because vegetables rock! If I eat meat, I set the same standards to it as to everything else I put on my plate: top quality. With meat and eggs, this mostly means trying to buy organic products. I don’t avoid gluten, wheat, sugar, or dairy because I haven’t discovered that my body wouldn’t like them. If I would, I would have to change my diet. I pretty much eat everything but in moderation. For me, moderation truly is the key.
Kate
Hear, hear, Sini! I’m with you 100 percent. It’s all about finding a way of eating that works for you, and it sounds like you’ve figured it out. I know that I need to avoid simple carbs like white flour and lots of refined sugar because they throw my blood sugar level out of whack. Moderation really is key!
Valentina @Hortus
This is so cool! :O
I think it’s great to see other bloggers’ actual everyday meals – both for readers and other bloggers themselves. Some might get the idea that we all cook fancy stuff everyday, but really…not.
I also love your approach to vegetarianism, but that’s probably because I go about it the same way as you do. The healthiest people are probably the ones who can stick to the rules they set for themselves but have flexibility as well.
So thank you for this post! I was actually thinking of doing something similar myself, but for a single day :)
Kate
Thank you, Valentina! I definitely don’t cook fancy stuff every day, so I felt like I should share more everyday ideas in this post. Glad you enjoyed it!
Kate (not the blogger!)
I loved this post! I love seeing how people eat in real life, and your version of real life is absolutely awesome. :)
Kate
Thank you, fellow Kate! :) I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
Mary Hicken
Funny, I was thinking of blogging something similar for next week. I have been vegetarian my whole life, however no one else in my family is. I’ve an allergy to soy, so no tofu for me, and a sensitivity to beans and gluten. I get protein from eggs, dairy, nuts and some fish too.
Thanks for the blog, it was helpful and interesting.
Kate
Hey Mary, sounds like you’ve found a diet that works great for you. I’m glad. Glad you enjoyed the post, too!
Kathryn
I love seeing how people (and especially food bloggers!) actually eat – thank you for sharing!
Erica
Hi! This is my first time popping over to your blog. You’re adorable! haha, Your week of food and family made me smile and laugh at parts. I eat meat, but our refrigerator woes sound suspiciously similar. :)
This was a lovely way to start my morning!
Kate
Welcome, Erica! Glad you enjoyed the post!
Shannon O.
It’s so easy sometimes to get caught up in the illusion that bloggers eat beautiful, perfect food al the time … mainly because that’s usually the only thing readers get to see! That said, this post was a welcome breath of fresh air, and also a reminder of just how much r&d goes into those delicious recipes. Random side note: Totally agree with you on the avocado toast thing. I’ve tried topping with roasted tomatoes, sriracha, radishes, etc. They’re all good, but nothing beats the original!
Kate
Thanks, Shannon! Glad you appreciate the post. Avocado + toast + sea salt = love forever!
Maria
This blog has come into my life at just the right time. I decided in January to gradually cut down on my meat consumption. Luckily I like most vegetables and love beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc. not to mention eggs and dairy – so finding a protein substitute is not proving difficult. However I’m not the most imaginative or inventive cook so the recipes here have got me excited and your “week in the life…” has given me some ideas.
Kate
Maria, I’m so glad you are finding inspiration in my blog. Hope you enjoy my recipes!
Michelle Reich
So I guess I wasn’t the only one interested! Thanks for putting it out there for us. I’m taking my interest in a plant-based diet a step further this month and joining a 30-Day Vegan experience hosted by Heather B of the blog Beauty That Moves. Your week made it look so easy to remove meat as the center point. 30-days meatless may just be a turning point for me. Thanks again and keep up the great posts.
Kate
Michelle, thank you for making your request! I’ve been getting great feedback from this post. Best of luck with your 30-day vegan experiment! You’re a brave woman for giving up cheese.
chloe
Thank you SO MUCH for this post! Like your reader who asked for this post, I’ve been dying to see a week of vegetarian meals. i’ve slowly been switching from a meaty diet to a pescatarian one, but since I don’t like eggs I struggle to get enough protein. I also found myself without go-to meals since my old stand-bys included meat. I still like meat & I eat it every other week or so, but I make a conscious effort to find organic/free range meat.
Kate
Chloe, I’m glad you appreciate the post! High five for better eating habits. I’ve learned to love eggs and beans in the years since I gave up meat—funny how that worked out. :)
Micheline
I applaud you for taking the time to put together this post. I know that posts like this take a great deal of time. I also get asked all the time what I eat as a vegetarian and i find that to be a very difficult question to answer. It’s probably a difficult question for anyone to answer, special diet or not! I don’t think my week would be as well rounded and pretty as yours, especially since I was obsessed with tacos this week and pretty much only made some sort of veggie taco.
S.M.
Reading this post a little late but had to comment — I decided to try a meatless diet about nine months ago after I felt like I had just learned too much about the environmental impact, potential long-term health effects (the China Study and others), etc…and I haven’t looked back since! My friends/family have had a hard time understanding why I’m doing it since I used to eat a good amount of meat (and roll my eyes at people with seemingly unnecessary “special diets”), and was never a health nut, but I’ve tried to explain that it just feels right at this point in my life, since I’ve learned so much about food and nutrition. Compared to a couple of years ago when I was fresh out of college, my diet is so much healthier (largely due to finally teaching myself to cook!)…but you still wouldn’t be hard-pressed to find me devouring late-night greasy pizza with friends from time to time. I’ve found that I love a lot of vegan alternatives but I still enjoy fish/seafood here and there — for me, it’s all about balance! I feel empowered knowing that I can make really healthy choices when I want to, but also don’t feel trapped following a strict diet that adds unnecessary stress or frustration to my daily life. I haven’t had meat since I started this experiment, but there may be a time when a burger just looks so good that I have to have it!
Kate
Hey S.M., I like your attitude! Once I learned more about the meat industry, going (mostly) meatless seemed like the clear way to go. I hope your family and friends are coming around. My family’s meals have definitely gotten more creative and feature more vegetables now that there’s a vegetarian at the table.
Vickie
Just posted a comment but just remembered what I started looking for. Yesterday I had a craving for a sweet potato, collard and pinto burrito that is served at a local restaurant. Unfortunately due to a shortage of sweet potatoes, they didn’t have any sweet potatoes. I was disheartened so I started looking for a similar recipe online and was fortunate enough to find your site. Hopefully, I can adapt one of your burrito bowls using those main ingredients. Will certainly follow your blog and use your recipes.
Kate
Vickie, that burrito sounds absolutely delicious. I don’t know how they prepare it, but I bet a burrito with roasted sweet potatoes and quick-cooked Brazillian collard greens would be pretty amazing. I made a note to try the idea later!
Norm
You had me at “dog lover”! I found you by accident searching for a tomato dish (can’t wait to try Med Stuffed Tom w/Quinoa). I am more of a flexitarian than a vegetarian — a recent one at that. But browsing through your recipes I am finding all kinds of dishes to try! Like the Quinoa Tabouli! Anyway, keep bringing them!
Thanks!
Kate
Thanks, Norm! Hope you enjoy the recipes!
Marnie Schwartz
Came to look from the Thanksgiving post. I forgot to mention how beautiful the photos are.
Quick is very good, particularly when I’m feeling lazy Looks like Cookie & Henry get a long well.
Did you publish the Rhubarb Jam. Rhubarb is one of my favorite foods. I’ll even eat it raw – its texture is similar to celery – stringy.
My dogs & cats have never had problems with their identity confusion – does Cookie?
Kol Toov (all good things),
Marnie
Kate
Thanks, Marnie! Yes, here’s the rhubarb jam. I’ll add a link in the post, too. Cookie and Henry are about to spend the entire month of February under the same roof, so I hope they get along then! I’m going to work remotely from Austin, Texas with my friend Ali that month. Cookie has some cat-like tendencies, but she’s definitely all dog! Happy holidays, Marnie.
Louise
Uhm, how about I just follow you around and eat your leftovers?… Fancy photos or not, it looks great!
Natalie
I love the aspect of how you included your daily routine in your blog! The pictures to go with it are great too! The part where you compare meat vs. mysterious soy is a great insight of what food really is. I found it easier to give up meat as a whole because i don’t enjoy many different kinds besides chicken. Funny how things work out. It is cool to see how you can dislike many food but when you get vegetarian ones you like it ten times better! Are you still a vegetarian to this day or just during the week trial? Thank you for sharing your post!
Kate
Thank you! I do like to give you some insight into my life. :) I am still a vegetarian!
Tara
I really enjoy both of your “week in the life” posts. It gives me ideas for planning family meals. And… I like to see what other people are up to in life. I’d love to see another one.
This week I’m taking your breakfast and frittata ideas to the kitchen. I love cooking and sometimes when bored, I find a blogger who’s dishes I can recreate for us. Fresh ideas keep it healthy and at home.
Warmly,
Tara
Kate
Thank you!
Harriet
Food looks lovely but it doesnt seem like enough! Do you eat lots of snacks? I have very low blood sugar also and I think that eating just three meals as you do and having just nuts for breakfast would make me shaky..
Kate
For me, it is about filling my body with the right things, and fueling it for the day. It isn’t always about how much, but focusing on the quality and what you are eating. Also, making sure you are getting the right amount of nutrients. (protein, etc)
Chase
SOOOO… i really enjoyed this read because im not a chef, i dont cook andything fancy, or bake, or any of the above. My go-tos are usually veggie stir fry, or grillin up a PREMADE(lol) veggie pattie on the BBQ. I have been scouring the internet trying to find what REAL people eat… not the instagrammers and super foodie bloggers that seem to have a 500 ingredient meal. You kept it simple and i really enjoyed that. It helped me feel better about my style of eating/cooking. The less i have to cook the better LoL.
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Chase!