Money Crashers: How to Become a Vegetarian

I just had a look at the list of labels I use on my posts here, and I discovered, not much to my surprise, that the most common of all is "food." (It's currently beating "gardening" by 178 posts to 143.) I think this topic comes up more often than any other for two reasons:

1. It's something you need every day. Home renovations may only get done every few years; new crops only go into the garden once a year; but you've always got to eat.
2. It's an infinitely rich and varied topic. There are only so many things you can say about yard sale shopping or invasive plants (though every so often I do learn something new), but there's literally no limit to the number of ways to grow, prepare, and serve food.

Since I eat a mostly vegetarian diet, a large percentage of the posts I make about food are about vegetarian cooking. I'm not a true vegetarian, as I'll eat meat that's humanely raised, but since that stuff is pretty expensive, we eat very few meals that truly center on meat. We'll do it for something truly worthwhile, like Chicken in Rhubarb Sauce, but most of our meals contain no meat at all or use only a touch of it as a flavoring agent, like a bit of bacon in a pot of baked beans. The only reason I haven't made "vegetarian" a separate category is that nearly all the recipes I post are vegetarian anyway, so it seemed superfluous.

However, I've never really made a post here that was specifically about vegetarianism: its benefits, its challenges, and the ways to adapt to it if you're used to a meat-centered diet. So for those who are curious to learn more about this subject, my latest Money Crashers article is a good place to look. It's a complete primer on vegetarianism, covering:

• The many different types of vegetarian diets, and what they all mean
• The answer to the age-old question, "But what do you eat?"
• The benefits of a meatless or meat-light diet, including animal welfare, environmental benefits, health benefits, and lower cost
• How to make sure you get enough of specific nutrients
• Learning how to cook vegetarian
• How to stick to a vegetarian diet when eating out or dining with friends 

Get all the details here: How to Become a Vegetarian – Diet Types, Benefits Challenges