Meatless March is an annual event that encourages people around the world to take part in a vegan or vegetarian diet during March.
Forgoing meat can be a great way to improve your health while doing something positive for animals and the environment.
However, going meatless may not be easy for some people. Below are simple tips to help you go meatless without feeling like you are missing out on anything.
You never know, this could be the beginning of a new chapter as far as health and diets are concerned.
Find foods you enjoy
A good first step is to review your current diet. Make a list of foods that you regularly eat, paying special attention to vegetarian or plant-based foods that you like.
Next, aim to incorporate these foods – along with a variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans – into your eating plan.
A good way to include vegetables, for example, is to add them to the foods you already enjoy, such as pasta or rice dishes.
If you are going vegan and eliminating all animal-based food products, look for dairy substitutes including calcium-fortified soya milk and yoghurt.
Plan your daily meals in advance
Planning your meals and precooking what you can in advance will make your days easier because instead of cooking after a long day, you will only need to assemble your plant-based plate.
It is best to do meal prep during the days that you are less busy and cook whatever will keep best in advance, including legumes, vegetables, and whole grains.
If you are prepared, you can also whip up some vegan sauces for pasta a day or two earlier and freeze them.
Collect recipes
It is easier to transition into and maintain a vegetarian diet when you cook. Collecting recipes and ideas for vegetarian meals will help make the transition easier.
It can even be fun. Head to your local bookstore and look for the cooking section. Vegetarian cookbooks are common. Google is another good source for amazing recipes.
Season vegetables the way you would meat
The herbs, spices, and rubs you would normally use for meat have a place in vegetarian cooking too. Love a good lamb fry? Carry those spices into spiced eggs with tzatziki or stuffed sweet potatoes with curried chickpeas. Into chicken?
Take that seasoning blend and put it in a creamy potato salad or collard green-wrapped tofu.
Be adventurous
You do not need to force-feed yourself tofu and broccoli, especially if you hate it. There is a world of naturally plant-based foods that await you, so do not be afraid to be adventurous and try a new vegetarian food each week.
Reorganise your kitchen to be more user-friendly as possible
If you want to be successful in cooking meatless meals throughout March, you may need a new set of pans or some more spices. Take an inventory of your kitchen supplies and reorganise them in a user-friendly way.
Keep anything necessary and rearrange everything else, so it is easier to find what you need when you want it.
When your kitchen is better organised, it will be much easier to whip up a plant-based meal.
Explore cuisines from different cultures and new ingredients
One of the wonderful things about going meatless is that it can inspire you to try new and interesting foods from around the world.
Sample the vegetarian menus from various cultural restaurants such as Indian, Thai, Japanese, and Mediterranean.
When it comes to ingredients, there are thousands of edible plants to choose from, so why just stick to the same few you have always eaten? It is time to take a stroll down the produce aisle and pick up some new and exciting ingredients you have never tried before.
Search out your local farm or produce markets to source fresh and seasonal produce that is bursting with flavour and often is so much cheaper than when bought from the average supermarket.
Avoid being a junk food vegetarian
When cutting meat out of your diet, it can be tempting to just swap in easy junk food options.
But subsisting on frozen waffles, chips, and microwave meals will end up with you feeling sluggish in no time, which prompts many newbie vegetarians to start eating meat again.
To successfully stay meatless, try to keep junk food to a minimum and instead focus on wholesome ingredients like whole grains, legumes and fresh produce.