Why spend a month as a vegetarian? Because I can! Years ago, during my senior year of college, I decided that I wanted to become a vegetarian. Tons of potato chips and 15 pounds later, I realized that I just wasn’t knowledgeable enough, capable enough, or ready to become a vegetarian. I’m not sure if I am quite there now, either, but I feel much more prepared to take it on. So I decided to try a month as a vegetarian. For the month of May, I planned on eating as many vegetarian and vegans meals as possible. Not only to allow me to be healthier, but also to help Mother Earth.

How does being vegetarian help the planet?

Being a vegetarian is more than just eating lots of veggies. It is about changing the world around you too. Just one month of not eating animals can have a huge impact. The information above is from VegNews. I particularly love this article. I suggest you check out the research or sign up for my free 4 week vegetarian e-mail course if you want to learn more.

What about protein? I need protein!

The largest argument I come up against when discussing a vegetarian lifestyle is “but where do you get your protein?” I knew this before I started and so I tried really hard to find a decent source of protein. Turns out, it’s pretty easy! Here are my favorite vegetarian protein sources.

  • Tempeh: Super easy to use (I treated it just like chicken) and is an awesome source of protein.
  • Lentils: Umm… have you tried cooking lentils recently? It’s SO easy! They can go in so many recipes and are delicious!
  • Chickpeas: By far my favorite (and go to) source of protein. Chickpeas are so simple to use and make great snacks!
  • Quinoa: Another easy source of protein – quinoa cooked in veggie broth is delicious, quick, and so yummy.

Tips and tricks

Many vegetables and other ingredients (like nutritional yeast!) have protein as well. I never had any issues with being hungry and lacking energy, so I felt like my body adapted well and I found sufficient protein sources. Don’t forget – you can see what I ate and recommend in my free e-mail course!

What about recipes that call for chicken broth?

It’s insanely easy to switch out chicken broth (or beef broth) with veggie broth! There’s never any loss of flavor and it’s such an easy switch. Walmart has an awesome organic veggie broth too that’s really affordable!

What about eating out while traveling?

I reached out to my business partner, Kelci Defrancesco for this question! She’s been a vegetarian for many years and so I knew she would have the low down on where to eat. The answer – Starbucks or Taco Bell! Starbucks has some great vegetarian paninis and when you order at Taco Bell, anything on the menu can be made with just beans. Both are located almost anywhere you go, so it’s pretty easy to make it work!

What did you LOVE about it?

There were so many little things that I really loved about being vegetarian. Some were big deals – like it was less expensive, my body felt great, and it was fun to try something new! Other things were unexpected – like I wasn’t worried about what touched my counters while cooking because there was no chance of salmonella. It really was easy to switch and I spent less money on groceries each week! I will definitely be making the switch towards more and more vegetarian meals every week.

Will you be vegetarian here on out?

Probably not! But I will definitely be cutting back on how much meat we eat. There’s so many healthier and better options out there that I want to explore, so I plan on switching over some of our beloved meat recipes to vegetarian options.

Was it hard to get your significant other on board?

Nope! My husband is pretty easy going when it comes to dinners. He gets his own breakfast and lunch at work so that part didn’t really affect him much. And I made sure not to get *too* crazy with my meals so he still had yummy food that was filling.

So what about the recipes?

First and foremost, I planned our menu every week using Plan to Eat and Walmart Grocery Pickup. (Use those links for money off your first order!) They make life so much easier. Plan to Eat saves my favorite recipes and creates a grocery list based on my meals. Then I can shop online using grocery pickup – it seriously is THE best.

As far as recipes go, I scoured Pinterest and blogs! For others, I tried to mix up some of our favorite go-to recipes as meatless options. If you’re interested in learning more, just sign up for my FREE e-mail course where I share all of the recipes I tried. I only include my favorites, so it’s definitely worth it! I also have a tiny baby at home so you know none of the recipes are complicated or take very long 😉

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