Our friend Jodie over at the Valley Independent Sentinel has decided to give veganism a try! She's committing to one vegan meal a day. Please wish her luck.

I'm dipping my toe in the vegan waters.

For health reasons -- to cut down on my cholesterol intake -- I've decided to eat one vegan meal a day.

This blog post marks the start of my journey -- from a place where all my meals are formed around meat, to a place where variety, healthfulness and flavor are king.

I'll admit I'm intimidated. It never occurred to me how much of the food I eat includes meat or eggs. (I'm lactose intolerant, so I've already cut out most dairy.)

But I'm determined to lower my cholesterol and broaden my diet, so I'm committed to making this work. Publicly stating my intentions is one way to make sure I stick with it.

You've probably heard of partial vegan diets like Meatless Mondays or vegan before dinnertime.

Mine's a little different, but with the same reasoning. It's not easy to quit cold turkey (sorry about that pun!).

And I still want to enjoy favorites like seafood.

Also, I love the traditional Polish meals my boyfriend's mother whips up everyday. Pierogi, kielbasa and stuffed cabbage are part of their culture, and I want to continue sharing those meals with them.

So this approach gives me lots of flexibility and lets me ease into a new diet so I'm more likely to stick with it.

I'm in what I like to call preparation mode.

That's the stage where I take out every vegan cookbook in the library, try out some recipes and have long talks with some old vegan friends.

While I'm in this mode, I've been eating vegan breakfast: Cereal or oatmeal with soymilk and fruit.

I've thrown in a couple vegan lunches too. (See photo of the grilled veggies I put in a wrap Wednesday afternoon. Eggplant, roasted peppers and spinach sandwich was Thursday's lunch.)

I'm armed with two great cook books: Veganomicon and Everyday Vegan. (I apologize in advance to the other Shelton residents thinking of becoming vegan this week. These two books appeared to be the entire vegan collection at the library.)

Veganomicon has great chapters on how to cook certain vegetables, beans and grains. Everyday Vegan has an excellent introduction explaining the vegan diet, and other tips to eat healthy foods.

Wish me luck!