Vegetarian Ravioli Lasanga

I love anything Italian. Pasta, cannelloni, pizza - anything with sauce and cheese. Oh, how I love my pasta sauce.

Since becoming vegetarian I've had to adapt to making food filling without the use of meat, and one of the little things I've learned is that making any type of Italian dish is easy. You can substitute meat for tofu, spinach, broccoli - whatever. But I'm a very simple person. So all you need for this recipe is a few things.

I'm At a Crossroads

 This picture means more to me than you can imagine. I grew up watching The Simpsons since I was a baby that couldn't even crawl. It's a show that brings me nostalgia of my childhood and warm, fuzzy memories. But this episode specifically, when Lisa goes vegetarian - this one really got to me.

I've had a special connection with animals my entire life. If I could, I would be surrounded by animals at all times and rarely talk to other humans. Seriously, they are so much better than people. In grade eight I made the decision to go vegetarian and haven't intentionally eaten meat since. (we all make mistakes, sometimes you really don't know what you're being served)

Over the years I've learned more and more about the food industry, and it's not pretty. Now I'm not going to share the gory details with you as I'm not here to preach, but what I've learned really gets to me. Mother cows give birth to calves just to produce milk for us to drink. I love milk - it's one of the main reasons I haven't gone vegan. But recently I learned that most of the calves that are born are slaughtered within days, and I haven't drank/used it since.

It's been years since I've eaten meat, and I'll admit it's very hard and frustrating to live in a place with very few vegetarian options. Going out is always an ordeal and on top of that, fruit and vegetables are much more expensive than junk food and pop. There's been many times when I've been frustrated with myself for making my life harder than it was. It is so hard to have limited options. At family dinners, they don't always give you alternatives. If the only thing you can eat is asparagus and bread, then you do it. But it does suck.

However on the other hand, think of all the meat that goes to waste. Am I really making a difference by not eating it, even if it is just for myself? Or are those animals that were slaughtered for us to eat, were they thrown out without being used? I don't want to support animal cruelty and what goes on in the places that do it. And I don't want to continue on missing meat and the easy lifestyle it has to offer.

These thoughts have come up more and more recently, and I'm really not sure what I'm going to do. What are your thoughts on vegetarianism and the whole meat industry? Share with me as I could really use some insight.

xoxo Monst3rs