Impossible

*Casie here*

I know all most of you are thinking there is NO way my family could ever go meat and dairy free. Let me just say, I DON'T BLAME YOU. This is a HUGE mountain to climb, it seems overwhelming and nearly impossible. I totally get it. I'm just going to be honest with you. It is VERY hard in the beginning. V.E.R.Y. I will also be completely honest and tell you it WILL NOT WORK if both partners are not on the same page or at least not for very long. It will be nearly impossible. Seriously. Both you and your spouse/significant other need to be on board 100%. I can not imagine if my husband or I were not fully committed to this. It really would be so hard to keep it up, making two seperate meals, having things around that shouldn't be, watching them eating things you are not, just too hard.

Here is my advice and tips for you. Start VERY small. Maybe just try one night a week where you make a meal that is meat free. You can do that, can't you? Just use one of the recipes on here. Truthfully, the fall/winter I feel is the easiest time to be meat free. There are so many different vegetable soups that you can make, they go a long way and in the end are not very expensive. 

If you can't do a dinner, just try to do one lunch a week that you go meat free. (I also have lunch ideas for you *HERE* that will give you a good start). 

Give yourself time to learn what all the products out there are that you can substitute meat with. It took me nearly a year to be comfortable enough to start making recipes. We just had a lot of pre-made frozen meatless burgers and canned veggie soups for a LONG time. Only now am I getting comfortable. You will SLOWLY try different products and try different recipes and slowly get more comfortable with the substitutes and what all the names of the products are.

Here is another EASY tip. Use your same meals that you are eating now (and you are comfortable making) and just replace your regular meat with a meat substitute like Seitan, Tempeh, Tofu, etc... Most come pre-cooked in strips like chicken or groud like ground beef, so all you have to do is warm it through. Throw it into your dish like 10 minutes before it's done. You can seriously fake everyone out. No one will know, I guarentee it. It looks the same as hamburger or chicken and tastes the same. So, that's easy and doable. You don't have to learn any new recipies, just swap the meat out.

Try switching your dairy milk with non-dairy milk. Try all the different kinds and see which one you like the best. I L.O.V.E. almond milk. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! My favorite brand is Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Vanilla. I will NEVER go back to cow's milk. There are other options besides Almond. There is Coconut, Rice and Soy Milk. All these products also have substitutes for other 'dairy' products like sour cream, cream cheese, cheese, butter, ice cream, yogurt, etc...There are so many good items out there.

You have to start somewhere, this is at least better than doing nothing at all. You can do it!