Celebrate your Health–it’s World Vegetarian Day!

As promised, World Vegetarian Day is just a few moments away, and I wanted to take just a few of those moments to share some words of encouragement, and a nudge to you to go out and explore your local groceries and stock up on ingredients you’ll need if you decide to take the plunge and celebrate beyond today. As more of us decide to take the plunge and try going vegetarian, it’s important to note that you have to start with the basics, and that means the ingredients.

If you shop alot, or even a little, it’s hard to miss the soymilk, tofu and veggie burgers commonly available in most grocery stores.  And most stores have natural food sections now, too.

Beyond these choices, if you plan on taking the plunge this World Vegetarian Day, now is the perfect time to graze your local produce stands and farmers markets while newly-harvested produce is still abundant in supply.

If you’re lucky enough to live in a city with a diverse population, ethnic grocery stores are great places to check out, and often have lots of interesting, meat-free products to choose from. Most Asian grocers routinely offer tofu, miso, noodles, stir fry sauces, vegetable broth and seaweed,  and at noticeably lower prices than manstream natural foods stores. I recommend trying out some new sauces for your favorite stir-fries or for a delicious tofu marinade.  Some also stock exotic fruits and vegetables and a variety of mock meat products. Middle Eastern and Greek grocers are a great source if you’re in the mood to check out new flavors.  Try their grape leaves, hummus, tahini, baba ganoush, falafel and grains. Jewish or kosher stores typically carry a wide variety of dairy-free items for you to check out.

But like everything else, you can find these same types of products online. Some of the best places to check out include Pangea Vegan Store, VegeCyber for mock meats and Food Fight Grocery.

So make it easy and go online, or make it fun and get out and explore. One thing is for sure, you do have a lot more choices than you imagined. Just because you’re dropping meat, don’t feel like you are losing out on something. Think of it this way–it’s opening a door for you explore your mind-body connection, and your heart to a new way of eating that’s actually good for it.

Peace.