Adding a vegetarian night to your weekly dinners can be one of the healthiest changes you make for your family. Studies of vegetarian diets have found that people usually weigh less, have lower cholesterol levels, and lower risk of developing cancer and diabetes. If your family is not acquainted to “no meat” nights, I recommend that you slowly introduce the two together. Maybe try once every two weeks and see how that goes. Currently my goal for my family is once a week, even though ideally I would like it to be 2-3 times per week in my perfect world.

My charming husband does so well (most of the time) to tolerate my dietitian-isms. But he tends to draw the line when I cut meat out of the meals. At least once a week, I usually tolerate “The Look” and have a vegetarian night anyways. I’ve noticed if the recipe includes beans he doesn’t usually complain too much. I bought a new vegetarian cookbook from Half Price Books that I was super excited about trying and venturing out from our normal veggie dishes. So last night I tried to make tomato ratatouille. I had such high hopes with all the yummy veggies packed in to this dish. But to my dismay, it was an epic failure. The night ended with the dog eating my toddler’s ratatouille off the floor and my hubby making a trip to a fast food joint. So much for my healthy dinner. 🙁

I admit this failure, hopefully not to deter you from branching out of your family’s comfort zone, but to encourage you if it doesn’t go over well the first time you try – don’t give up! Even the dietitian doesn’t get it right every night! Try different recipes and see what works well for your family. One of our family’s favorite veggie dishes is Black Bean Sloppy Joes.

So let me know if you have tried incorporating a veggie night with your family. How did it turn out for you?