How my family went plant based

Hi. I wanted to take a second to talk about how my family went plant based. It was a process. I had one goal in mind before we started. I wanted to make sure we did this gradually so we wouldn’t be overwhelmed and left without ever eating our favorite foods again all at once. With this in mind, I set out a plan of action. The first thing I did was make up a list of what I would cook using my same recipes. I went to A natural health food store and saw that I could buy chicken, sausage, ground meat, pepperoni, cheese, turkey meat, cheese slices and mayonnaise and more for our meals. But these items were not dairy or meat. They were made from plants. Specifically soy. At first, I kept all of my usual recipes. I just substituted the meat and dairy for the soy food items. We were able to eat sandwiches that looked the same as we always ate. I would also have “pepperoni” and “cheese” sometimes as an appetizer. I did this for a good month so I would get used to cooking this way. And, my family was happy with the change. Then I started gradually adding a complete plant based dish once or twice/week using various recipes until I started developing my own. After a few months, I had more plant based dishes without the “meat” and “dairy” substitutes. It’s a process, but well worth it. Every once in a while, I’ll still get soy cheese and make a pizza with it. It is plant based. For me, personally, I do try to minimize what is considered a “processed” food, in my meals, if I can help it.