This year I’m offering a beginner’s guide to eating vegetarian (also a guide for people who just want to eat less meat). This will serve as the landing page, so check back each day in October to find recipes and balanced advice on eating vegetarian. If you have any burning questions, let me know in the comments!

The Last Day of September Means Write 31 Days!

For the past four years I’ve participated in the #write31days series. This yearly blogging challenge helps bloggers discover the discipline of blogging daily for an entire month. It sounds easy on September 30th, but completing an entire 31-day series challenges most of us who participate.

The benefits outweigh the headaches of posting daily, though. I’ve discovered vibrant communities of fellow bloggers, friendship, new readers, and tons about myself as a writer. The first year, I wrote about our cancer journey. My daughters, Sarah and Laura, helped me write my second series, the most difficult series to write because we shared our journey with mental illness. The third year I started a new blog (this one), and wrote about the beauty lessons I learned whilst driving in and around Alaska. Last year I introduced the MAPS concept and how self-care involves finding wholeness in four important areas of our lives: Mental, Academic/Artistic, Physical, and Spiritual.

This year I’ll dig deeper into the physical wholeness aspect of self-care and write a guide for those wishing to explore vegetarianism (or eat-less-meat-ism).

Breaking Vegetarian

When I came up with the idea for the series, I thought ‘Breaking Vegetarian’ was the perfect title. After asking around, I discovered that ‘Breaking Vegetarian’ meant different things to different people (and those who had never seen the Netflix series didn’t get the allusion at all).

When I asked a group of bloggers what the term ‘breaking bad’ meant to them, one of them turned the question around and asked me that. Fair enough. For me, ‘breaking’ means a slow change.  Of course, the ‘bad’ part means exactly that. Thus, ‘breaking vegetarian’ seemed to encapsulate what I wanted to write about.

Vegetarianism is good, though, not bad. But change challenges us because we like our comfort zones and would rather stay the same, thank you very much. I don’t advocate abrupt change, because it seldom lasts. Little changes, I’ll call them micro-habits, ARE sustainable.

Since I’m not a dietician or physician, my goal is to invite you into my lifestyle and give you an insider’s point of view. Eating less meat doesn’t have to result in a bigger budget, an altered lifestyle, or bland, tasteless meals.

Whether you’ve eaten vegetarian your entire life, or just feel curious about what vegetarians eat, I invite you to come back each day for new recipes and guides to cooking healthy, tasty, vegetarian cuisine.

Eating less meat doesn't have to break your budget, alter your lifestyle, or require you to like bland, tasteless food. #vegetarianism #healthyeating #meatlessmonday Click To Tweet

31-Day Guide to Eating Vegetarian

All recipes are vegetarian. Some are vegan and /or gluten-free (GF), as well. I’ll let you know!

Celebrate World Vegetarian Day & Try this Spicy Cauliflower Chipotle Soup! (Vegan, GF)
The Best Easy Creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup Recipe (GF)
Vegetarian Tuna Casserole: Is it for Real? (Vegetarian)
Easy Tomato Basil Bisque (Vegan, GF)
The Truth about Preparing Tasty Tofu (Vegan, GF)
Spicy Enchilada Casserole (Vegan, GF)
Get Your Pulses! Vegetarian Indian Lentil Soup (Vegan, GF)
Who Needs Meatloaf when You Can Make Lentil Loaf? (Vegetarian, can be GF)
What to do with Mung Beans: Mung Bean Curry with Coconut Milk (Vegan, GF)
Instant Pot Chana Masala (Vegan, GF)
Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (Vegan, GF)
Spicy Garbanzo Burgers (GF)
The Mighty Black Bean: Basic Black Bean Recipe for the InstaPot (Vegan, GF)
How to Make a Healthy Haystack
Black Bean Quinoa Lime Casserole (GF)
Moros y Cristianos in your Instant Pot (Vegan, GF)
Creamy Chipotle Sauce with Tofu, Black Beans, and Noodles (Vegan, can be GF)
Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Tomatillo Sauce
Easy Whole-Wheat Hamburger Buns (Vegan)
Make-Ahead Vegetable Lasagna with Homemade Sauce
That’s Amore! Quick Pesto Potato Pasta (can be GF)
Meatless Meatballs Meat Lovers will Enjoy
Rosemary Garlic Bread (Vegan, Vegetarian)
Tortellini Vegetable Soup (Vegetarian)
The Best Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough (and Three Tasty Toppings)
What do Vegetarians Eat for Breakfast? Pumpkin-Spice Waffles!
Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze
Fake Meats and Other Weird Vegetarian Stuff
Vegetarian Pozole for a Crowd (Vegan, GF)
Spicy Vegetarian Taco Burgers
Celebrate with Healthy (er) Brownies!

If you have any burning questions you’ve always wanted to ask a vegetarian, go ahead and ask in the comments!

Inspire Me Monday Instructions

What’s your inspirational story? Link up below, and don’t forget the 1-2-3s of building community:

1. Link up your favorite posts from last week!

2. Visit TWO other contributors (especially the person who linked up right before you) and leave an encouraging comment.

3. Spread the cheer THREE ways! Tweet something from a post you read, share a post on your Facebook page, stumble upon it, pin it or whatever social media outlet you prefer—just do it!