While not every family is up for going completely vegetarian, most can enjoy the occasional vegetarian meal. Incorporating vegetarian meals into your regular rotation is a great way to cut back on meats, which are much less environmentally friendly as well as less healthy when eaten in the usual American excess.

Decide how you want to go about it. You might try buying a vegetarian cookbook or you can check out vegetarian recipes online.

Think about how often you want to go vegetarian. I try to have any lunches that I’m not eating as leftovers be vegetarian and I also regularly cook vegetarian meals for dinner. For you it might be once a month, once a week, whatever works.

It can take some experimentation to figure out what works well for your family. Some people have a very low tolerance for changing their eating habits and you may have to go more slowly. On the other hand, you may hit upon a well loved vegetarian meal that quickly goes into rotation for your family. Mine loves Sand and Shells, for example.

Eating vegetarian meals gives you a lower environmental impact from that meal, and you’re likely to be eating something healthier as well. You might be surprised at how delicious some of these meals are.