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New Year, New Recipes

Since it is the first day of the new year, I am sure a lot of listeners are contemplating making a resolution.

Often those have to do with dieting or going on a diet. One major change a person can make is becoming vegetarian. No matter what the reasons - health, concern for the size of your carbon footprint, animal rights or that you just want a change - this is a major lifestyle adjustment for those who are used to eating flesh products.

You will definitely want to do some planning and prep work.

First of all, what type of vegetarian are you going to be? That needs to be decided so that you can plan meals accordingly. If you are going to be lacto-avo like me, you will still have cheese and eggs but of course not eating meat. if you're going to be a vegan, you'll want to avoid all animal products including cheese and eggs.

Once you have decided on how you will be eating, start researching recipes and foodplans. Try looking at websites like the one by the Cancer Project - cancerproject.org. Their cancer prevention and survival diet is plant-based. They have many recipes you can try. Vegetarian Times is a wonderful magazine and has an equally wonderful website vegetariantimes.com. Another magazine I like with a website chock full of recipes is VegNews, and their website is vegnews.com. I recently read a piece on their website about the best vegan cookbooks of 2011.

Speaking of cookbooks, these can certainly help you on your way. My personal favorite cookbook writer is Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I loved her cookbook, Appetite for Reduction, with low-calorie vegan recipes. She also has a website you might want to check called the Post Punk Kitchen. The web address is theppk.com.

I'm sure you will also want to experiment with faux meat products as well. I can tell you that I have liked everything I have tried from the brand, Quorn. Their naked chicken cutlets are kind of scary in how realistic they are. Morning Star Farms has some good breakfast sausage patties you can try. Both of these companies also have recipes on their websites.

There are lots of wonderful resources on the web for vegetarian recipes, meal plans and advice.

The Veggie Chef offers recipes for vegetarians. Andrea Mattioni-Willis is a vegetarian herself and she loves to cook. She frequently experiments with new recipes and will share her findings with all of you.