I ate an animal.

For the first time in over 4 years, I ate an animal. It was a decision I made after a lot of thought and consideration. Nathan & I decided to take a month or two, a trial period, to incorporate fish into our diet. Why?- you might be wondering. Well, here are a few reasons:

I've been feeling very lethargic and exhausted over the past few months, and I'm guessing it's due to a lack of iron. I would be willing to bet that I'm slightly anemic due to iron deficiency, which is often a problem in women my age, particularly vegetarian women. And despite my attempts to naturally increase my iron intake through a vegetarian diet, my body seems to be wanting more.

Also, I recently heard a presentation on The Chemistry of Joy by Henry Emmons. Dr. Emmons uses Eastern wisdom & Western science to treat depression & anxiety through holistic health. This means focusing on diet, sleep, and mindfulness. Dr. Emmons made me realize that I need to focus more on what nutrients my body isn't getting, or isn't getting enough of. Nathan & I do eat pretty healthy, and we consume a variety of vegetables, grains, fruits, dairy, etc. But I think my diet is just unable to keep up with my body's iron needs. Another extremely beneficial reason for eating fish is the Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish. Even vegetarian sources of Omega-3-type acids don't quite measure up to the real thing.

So, we decided to try eating fish. I thought about it a lot, and a lot. Something about eating a cold-blooded animal was more bearable to me. I actually always really enjoyed eating fish, too. But you won't see me eating anything warm-blooded, probably ever again. I just can't imagine it & can't really bear the thought, which is perfect reason for me personally to stay away.

Well, after day one (we used my bonus check to have a nice night out at J Alexander's & ate their delicious salmon dish) my tummy was not too pleased with the situation, but it seems to be more tolerant of fish now.

One interesting part of eating fish is learning how to cook it. We've never really had to think about "contaminants" in our kitchen because we've never had any raw meat in it. And I've been vegetarian since college, so I've basically never cooked my own meat of any kind. Well, we had a very successful first attempt. Nathan got as-fresh-as-you-can-get-in-TN swordfish steaks from Whole Foods and made an awesome marinade for them. Then he proceeded to grill them perfectly. They were tender, flaky, flavorful, and not too fishy or meaty.

And who better to share our first fish-cooking experience with than our favorite power-couple, Sarah & Lauren. They're such great friends, and we haven't seen them enough lately. But last night's dinner was hopefully the beginning of a weekly tradition of sorts.

Nathan made flower arrangements from pretties in our yard.

sauteed onions are the sign of a good evening ahead.

Watermelon-Cucumber Aqua Fresca. YUM.

Gorgeous green beans from our farmers, Bountiful Blessings.

Delicious salad provided by Sarah & Lauren. Swordfish, green beans, & rice.

Delicious. Fish was perfectly cooked.

Sarah: "you know she's gonna put this on her blog, right?" 

It was an excellent night. They are great friends, and graciously put up with my tipsy-rambles. I just love them.

And, apparently I like eating fish!