Around the first of March of this year, I decided to 

transition, again, to a meatless diet. The desire to not eat meat began the summer after 5th grade when we bottle-fed a dozen calves, who were shipped off to the sale barn in the fall. All summer I knew what the fate of the calves would be, but I just didn't think about it until dad started talking about it. I begged and pleaded to keep my special calf, Pollyana Pierce, but dad would not give in, and so my 11 year-old heart broke when the auctioneer put a price on her head and sold her to someone who would ultimately feed and fatten her up for slaughter. I couldn't touch beef for a very long time and I was angry with dad for awhile, too. But it was 1967 and I lived on a farm in Iowa, so being a vegetarian was something I'd never heard of, nor was it a viable option.

I  stopped eating meat in 1976 when working at a fishing resort on an island in Lake of the Woods, MN. But after returning to college later that year, and eating food in the dorm, I went back to an omnivorous diet.

After moving to Colorado in 1992, I cut out most animal flesh from my diet for several years, but then gradually abandoned vegetarianism. For no good reason that I recall other than I just drifted back to fish and chicken in my diet.

This time, I believe it will stick for several reasons. Health and my love of our non-human animals that we live with are primary reasons. After all, what's the difference between a pet and a meat animal as I so painfully recognized in 1967?

So far, I've purchased a couple of excellent cookbooks and was given another couple of vegan promotional books that included recipes in them. I've found an exellent lasagna recipe in Good Housekeeping's "Vegetarian Meals"; a gravy recipe on allrecipes.com in their Thanksgiving section; a Cream of Broccoli soup recipe in “The Vegetarian Way” by Virginia and Mark Messina; 

One night last week, I used leftover mashed potatoes and gravy to make a shepherd’s pie. I cooked a vege burger with some chopped onion. Then crumbled the vege burger, added a sliced carrot (shred it next time or slice it VERY thin), some frozen peas, the leftover gravy, and some vegetable stock to make the gravy more liquid. Mixed well then topped with mashed potatoes. Baked at 350 for 45 minutes and it was really delicious. Could top with shredded cheese if desired, but it didn’t need it.

Tonight I made I made Al’s Creamy Mushroom Risotto from “The Everyday Vegan.” It was good and definite keeper recipe. It would be good as a main dish for Thanksgiving, combined with mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, cranberries, etc. I learned about Arborio rice which was in the recipe. It has a nice, creamy texture.

So far, I have a handful of great recipes that I'd be proud to serve to company.