Day 9

I have successfully made it through an entire week without meat! And it feels damn good. It has been easy and it has made me feel lighter, fitter, and like I am making a difference! I am very happy that I have made it this far. I have 51 days left of my pledge but I don't think that I will be able to go back to my old meat-eatin' lifestyle. I just don't feel like I can continue to eat meat when I know how hard it is on the environment and animals. I definitely want to make a trip out to visit Animal Acres once my VegPledge is done. I think that will continue to deepen my understanding of what I am doing and propel me towards continuing to be a vegetarian, and eventually, a vegan.

In all honesty, I have been tempted by meat. More than once. Often, actually. I work around meat four days a week and it's in my home everyday. Not being able to eat what my co-workers and family are eating has been hard on me, but it has also fueled my creativity. I do get tired of eating veggies all the time, which has spawned some of my own meat substitutes. For instance, at work, I have created my own version of the Veggie Burger. It's higher in calories than a traditional, frozen veggie burger, but it's also way more delicious and still meat-free. I know that I am not giving up meat for weightloss, but instead, to lessen my dependence on products that are harmful to the environment. Therefore, I find it perfectly acceptable to create my own, more fattening meat subs. I hope you will give this little recipe of mine a try! It's simple and will definitely make you forget about beef patties forever!

Cami's Potato-Patty Veggie Burger

Ingredients:
1 whole-wheat hamburger bun
2 slices of cheddar cheese (optional)
1/2 c. french fries (frozen or purchased from a restaurant)
lettuce
tomato (sliced)
pickles (optional)
4 mushrooms (optional, but definitely should be mandatory ☺)
ketchup and thousand island dressing (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 400°. On a sheet of aluminum foil, place your french fries down in a cluster, roughly the shape of a circle, that will fit on your hamburger bun. Place your sliced cheese on top of the french fries. Place foil into the oven, not covered, and bake until cheese is melted.
2. On your stove-top, place your mushrooms in a pan. Press down on the mushrooms with a grill weight, or smash the mushrooms before placing them in the pan. Let them brown on either side and then set aside. While your mushrooms are browning, toast your hamburger bun either on your stove top or in a conventional toaster oven until both sides are lightly brown.
3. Take your toasted buns and apply ketchup, thousand island dressing, and/or the condiments of your choice. Then, lay down pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms and/or any veggies that you enjoy (ie, avocado, onions, beets, zucchini).
4. Remove your cheddar cheese fry-patty from the oven. Using a spatula, remove the "patty" and all its cheesy goodness onto your burger bun!
5. Dig in and enjoy every single bite! That's what I do ☺

I would have liked to show you pictures of the entire process but I was making this at work and customers interrupted my photo shoot. Sorry, but enjoy the photo of the finished product!