FLEXITARIANISM & NEW-AGE DIETS
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Posted by Deeba PAB
Stopped by school a week ago to pick the son after soccer practice & the daughter from her guitar class, & ran into a bunch of teachers avidly discussing diets, mainly vegetarian vs non-
vegetarian. Coincidentally, the very evening, I read an article on diet trends & it offered an interesting perspective to something called part-time vegetarianism & new-age diets. The focus was on a flexitarian diet which seems to be gaining popularity & breaking new ground. Flexitarianism refers to being a vegetarian of convenience; or following the ‘eat-less-meat movement’. 
The topic intrigued me, & I found that I had been sub-consciously veering towards flexitarianism for a while now. 
For the non-vegetarians amongst us, how often do you eat non-vegetarian food as part of your main meal menu in a week? Daily, alternative days, bi-weekly, or once a week? We have non-vegetarian food twice a week in our home on an average, & almost battle it through the rest of the week trying to encourage the kids to eat their veggies. 
Pasta days pass off peacefully as they love their pasta. Blanched French beans with a small dollop of cheese spread work fine, a cottage cheese wrap with a yogurt dip, onions & bell peppers is now being accepted more easily now. It’s easier for mine to down 2-3 helpings of fruit in a day than battle the veggies! I find cottage cheese a really good option, & a rice pulao with a raita goes off well too, but it’s the veggies that face most resistance. Veggie pizza makes them sing, as do savoury vegetarian pies like galettes.…but then cheese is processed & fatty. Oven baked potatoes are good news, but spinach doesn’t work.
Interesting options I found
Frankies/Roti Wraps
A Healthier Recipe for Mac & Cheese
Savoury Vegetable Ricotta Pies
There's an interesting article here on Daily Tiffin titled 'Vegetarian Kids'. It's a great write-up on introducing creative & diverse vegetarian meal options into your diet, & covers different food groups as well. I’m a flexitarian; what are you? Am interested to hear your thoughts on the 'veggie' front? Do you face a battle with veggies? Are you cutting back on meat for health or economic reasons? Do you think that cutting back to semi-vegetarianism can be quite beneficial to health, to the budget & to the environment/global warming?
Check out Tiffin Tuesdays which has some really tempting vegetarian recipes on offer ... Fried Halloumi Cheese Bento, or how about a potato salad with faux meatballs or falafel, appetizingly packed into a Potato Salad Bento! Collecting new ideas for serving ‘exciting vegetarian options’ to kids are priority on my search engine…thankfully, one doesn't have too wander to far.
The idea for my post germinated from a Newsweek article ‘Part-time Vegetarians’.Are you interested in contributing to The Daily Tiffin? Drop us an email: thedailytiffin@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your ideas.
This Post was written by Deeba from Passionate About Baking
that's a beautiful writeup on Flexitarianism Deeba! Loads of people have become more aware about the importance of veggies in their diet, and hence adopt it as part of their daily diet. As long as you have the right balance of nutrients, you are good!:)
btw, welcome to DT, and thanks for a great first post!:)