I had two new year's resolutions; supporting causes I care about and going meat-free once a week.

Supporting Causes I Care About

For Q1, I went with journalism. And I failed hard. I had planned to buy subscriptions to a few different quality news sources. The only one I actually did subscribe to was The Athletic, a premium sports news site.

My local paper, The Houston Chronicle, has a deal for first-time subscribers. Great. But information on how much the subscription costs after the deal expires has been difficult to find, so I've put off subscribing. I'll fix that tomorrow.

The other two sources I'd like to support are The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. These are both papers that I've enjoyed the content of in the past. I already have WSJ access through the family. I don't know why I've put off the NYT sub. That will be another project for tomorrow.

#MeatFreeMonday

I'm sure some of you have noticed me tweeting with #MeatFreeMonday. My first resolution was to partake in Meat Free Monday for the year, with some exceptions. I can skip under one of two circumstances. First, if eating meat free becomes especially difficult (such as on a travel day, perhaps). Second, if a particularly hard-to-refuse offer of food becomes available, such as being invited to a steakhouse for dinner on a Monday. In either case, I'll eat meat on Monday and go meat free the following day. Thus far, I haven't run into a need to eat meat on a Monday.

Setting aside discussions of the ethics of eating meat, the primary reason that I decided to do this was to make myself exhibit just a bit more self control. The reason that I attempt to tweet each meat free meal is both to encourage others to do the same and as a policing mechanism. I expect that if I went a Monday without tweeting my meat free meal, at least one of you might notice and call me out on it. As a little bonus, eating meat free tends to be healthier.

And now, pics of every meat free meal I've remembered to tweet thus far. Duplicate meals have been removed.

This was the first intentionally-veggie meal I cooked for myself. It's as simple as breading some firm tofu, shallow frying, and then tossing in buffalo sauce.

Vegetarian Mexican food is surprisingly easy. Just be sure to ask what's in it before eating rice or beans, as the rice is often made with chicken stock and the beans are often made with lard.

I classed up a boxed soup with some parm and pepper. This was really good but after tweeting, I realized my presentation could use some work. A better picture would've wiped down the sides of the bowl.

There's a newish thing in cuisine where you take easy, frequently cheap, classics and class them up. I don't know what it's called but I love it. This sandwich is delicious and I've had it a few more times since. My only problem with it is that it's always oversalted.

Mediterranean food is another genre that's surprisingly easy to go veggie on.

Again with the bad pic due to a bowl coated in sauce! This recipe was great and I'd strongly recommend it. However, as someone who loves a good carbonara, it really underscored just how much the pork does for the dish. It was good. It was not as good as a carbonara with pork.

Believe it or not, I've actually never had egg salad before. I don't love eggs outside of breakfast but I love everything Local Foods makes so I figured I'd give it a shot. I really liked it though a friend who tried it later hated it. The red beans and rice are a non-traditional take that were served cold. They were quite enjoyable. The kale is my go-to side at Local Foods.

I accidentally bought fat-free mozzeralla for this dish. It was fine but it certainly would've been better with real mozz. I'm actually trying a different method for this recipe right now. I have seven minutes left to finish this post before they're ready.

Gouda balls. What more do you need to know? The jalapeno jelly complimented the gouda nicely but was overly-sweet. The truffle mac is always better in the store than it is to go.

This is by far the worst dish on this list. It was veggie garbage tossed into a tortilla. There was no cohesion to the dish and very little spice. And who the hell charges extra for avocado on veggie tacos!? Beans were great. My dad pointed out that they probably had pork in them but the menu said vegetarian so hey, I tried.

This was a lazy night. Sauteed pre-sliced mushrooms, put them on chips with cheese and pico, tossed under the broiler, then topped with guac.

Looking toward Q2

I'm not sure what my focus will be for supporting causes next quarter. A lot of my charity giving in the past has occured at events in Q3, so I may be putting off charity until then. Perhaps I will do some more active support. I considered writing someone who represents me each month this year but decided that would be too great a task for a resolution. I'm thinking maybe I'll try that just for Q2.

For food, I look forward to trying some more exotic cuisines. Vegan friends had turned me on to several foods I'd never even heard of and couldn't begin to think of how they might be cooked. I have some time off coming up that I'll be spending at home. Maybe a veggie cook-a-thon.

That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading. Have a good Q2 2019!