calling all vegetarians!

As I'm sure you're all well aware at this point, I am not a vegetarian.  Come on, I want to put bacon in my apple pie - do you get much more carnivorous than that?  I haven't always been such a meat eater though.  Once, during my experimental college years, my roomie and I dabbled with vegetarianism.  She's still pretty close to being a vegetarian (I think she eats meat, but not too frequently... she does live in Texas after all,) while I lasted maybe 7 hours before withdrawal set in and I had to haul ass to Frisco Burritos for an overstuffed chicken with trinity - if you're ever in Towson, Maryland you should swing by and get one; they're delicious.  But all of that meat doesn't interfere with my love of vegetables or decrease my admiration for those of you out there who manage to resist the greasy goodness of hamburgers, whatever your reasons for such resistance may be.

I'm not really sure how this happened, but I've somehow ended up with quite a few vegetarian friends.  These relationships have thrown a few hiccups into delirious kitchen prep since my supper clubs and dinner parties are usually centered around a main course of meat or fish, menus where the veggies are merely backup dancers.  But as I perused my wacky new Facebook feed this morning I saw that two of my friends were promoting or liking Vegetarian Awareness Month.  October is known for a lot of things, but vegetarians?!  And today, October 1st, is World Vegetarian Day... who knew?  Apparently, I am unaware.

I kind of already planned on whipping up some brussel sprouts with pork belly for supper tonight, but technically the 'day' will be over by the time I enjoy such a meaty meal, one that doesn't quite fit into the veggie theme of the day.  But until the 6:38 sunset that concludes today, I plan on existing as a vegetarian.  But my venture into vegetarianism doesn't end there.  I've been thinking about it for awhile now and have finally decided to embrace the trend of Meatless Mondays.  I've been attempting to stockpile recipes as I come across them or as they pop into my brain, but I need your help friends!  Though the beautiful pictures and creative cuisines presented at Green Kitchen Stories are inspiring and deliciously tempting, they aren't real to me because I don't have the veggie know-how to decide which ones to try and which ones to leave in the garden.  That's where all you vegetarians come in to play - I need your recommendations for blogs, recipes & restaurants.  I need you to volunteer to be my guinea pigs and guests for Meatless Mondays.  I want you to guest post!  Come on down gang and help this meat-lovin' gal embrace your meatless ways.  Seriously, I need your help so that I can become more aware.  Here's to a fun journey through greener pastures!

Green Kitchen Stories' self-proclaimed World's Greatest Vegetable Lasagna