I really recommend reading the book Food Matters. The guy that wrote it apparently has written quite a few books and is pretty popular, but this was the first I had heard of him. I liked that he isn't trying to convince us all to be vegetarians, but more to eat quality foods and to eat responsibly. One example he gave that sticks out in my mind is about how energy-consuming the production of (gross) meat is. He said that for all the energy required to provide a family of 4 a steak dinner, you could instead use that much energy in the form of gas, driving around in your big SUV for about 3 hours. As a big SUV driver myself, I have to admit it made me feel a little better about driving it, ha. He's talking about the energy necessary to create and feed the livestock you will eventually eat. And to transport and "process" said livestock to the slaughterhouses, and eventually to your grocery store. That was the gist of it anyways.
So, because I think too much and like to make my life voluntarily more complicated and make up little games in my head, I'm really trying to watch the amount of meat our household consumes, and try and see that most of it is better meat. From what I've read, the meat you want to eat is from grassfed animals. Animals are meant to eat grass, but of course we know that's not what they're eating on these grow farms. They're eating cheap, cheap corn and stuff.
That brings me to the title of today's post. I didn't make it up but Meatless Monday sure has a catchy tune to it doesn't it? I'm trying to go veggie at least a few days a week and mostly meatless a few more days. It's actually been kind of fun as I like to cook anyways and like trying new recipes. Also, I've reached the point in my life where I'm willing and even wanting to try new things and flavors.
I know some of my friends are reading the same things and thinking the same things so I thought it'd be fun to share our meal ideas. I've found the hardest part is to create meatless meals that aren't super high carb. Both Paul and I come from a long line of diabetics, plus I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies. So we are really trying to be proactive with our lifestyle in order to delay, offset, or minimize what is almost inevitable. The fact that we both have a very high chance of being diabetic at some point in our lives. A large part of that is purely genetics but I'm trying to at least do what I can about the non-genetic part. So, any meal that I share here will also be relatively low-carb as an added bonus.
I so love Suddenly Salad! I'm sure it wouldn't be so hard to buy my own noodles but until I figure out what it is they put in that little seasoning packet, here we are. As an added bonus, I found a great recipe on the back of the box. Basically I added two large broccoli crowns, 3 medium shredded carrots, tbsp of lemon juice, 1 diced cucumber and 1/2 cup of ranch dressing. One of those recipes you can kind of add and subtract whatever's in your fridge. And it's yummy!
OK so the hubby and friend just read the blog and made fun of my big box of pasta after talking about low-carb. I'd just like to point out that we need some carbs! There's more veggies than noodles in that salad and I'm standing my ground! Moderation, right?
Strawberry Spinach Salad
One of our favorites, especially with fresh-picked strawberries from King's Orchard. My kids love this salad because the dressing is sweet. The dressing is super easy. I got it from allrecipes.com but basically 1/2 c olive oil, 1/2 c sugar (you can go a little less), 1/4 c apple cider vinegar and 1 tbsp of poppy seeds. Mix it until it's uniform, and dress. I added sliced almonds tonight but I've done pecans too. Or maybe you can add some type of cheese too.
One of our favorites, especially with fresh-picked strawberries from King's Orchard. My kids love this salad because the dressing is sweet. The dressing is super easy. I got it from allrecipes.com but basically 1/2 c olive oil, 1/2 c sugar (you can go a little less), 1/4 c apple cider vinegar and 1 tbsp of poppy seeds. Mix it until it's uniform, and dress. I added sliced almonds tonight but I've done pecans too. Or maybe you can add some type of cheese too.
Add some cottage cheese if you're craving more protein, and dinner is served!
One last thought. One of the things that did disturb me about Food Inc was a section where they had an overweight family going through a drive thru, ordering from the $1 menu. They said something about how until the movie people talked to them, they thought any food at a restaurant would automatically be healthy for you or how could they serve it? Well I won't waste text breaking that thought apart but anyways they also said it was cheaper to eat junk food and that healthy food was too expensive. They later showed that same family at the grocery store, where one of their children wanted some pears. They were $0.99 a lb. The mom made the girl put some on a scale to see how many pears were in a pound. There was roughly 2 pears to a pound, meaning they'd cost about $0.50 each. The mom said that was too much and they could buy a lot more of the other foods for $0.99. She didn't get the pears!
So I know they put that segment in the movie to make a point, and they did. The point being (store brand) sodas, and basic crap food were cheaper than fresh produce. The father also said why would I pay $1.00 for a head of broccoli when I can get a double cheeseburger for a dollar that will fill me up? Wow. So I wonder how many people out there actually feel this way. My family and pretty much everyone I know is fortunate that we have enough money to make some decisions about what we eat. I certainly can't afford to buy as much organic food and grassfed meats as I'd like, but we're lucky enough that we can afford healthy food.
That being said, I thought it'd be fun to come up with a Dollar Dinner. Meaning that you could feed each person in your family a wholesome meal for about a dollar. Kind of competing with the fast food dollar menu if you will. So I'm going to kind of cheat and give myself the challenge of feeding my family of 5 (2 adults, 3 yr old twins, and a baby that eats table food) for $6.00. I figure that's fair because who really only orders one item off the dollar menu plus there's sales tax involved. I have no idea what I'm going to make but I'm pretty sure it won't be horribly hard, and I'm pretty sure they'll be beans involved, hehehe. Check back.
One last thought. One of the things that did disturb me about Food Inc was a section where they had an overweight family going through a drive thru, ordering from the $1 menu. They said something about how until the movie people talked to them, they thought any food at a restaurant would automatically be healthy for you or how could they serve it? Well I won't waste text breaking that thought apart but anyways they also said it was cheaper to eat junk food and that healthy food was too expensive. They later showed that same family at the grocery store, where one of their children wanted some pears. They were $0.99 a lb. The mom made the girl put some on a scale to see how many pears were in a pound. There was roughly 2 pears to a pound, meaning they'd cost about $0.50 each. The mom said that was too much and they could buy a lot more of the other foods for $0.99. She didn't get the pears!
So I know they put that segment in the movie to make a point, and they did. The point being (store brand) sodas, and basic crap food were cheaper than fresh produce. The father also said why would I pay $1.00 for a head of broccoli when I can get a double cheeseburger for a dollar that will fill me up? Wow. So I wonder how many people out there actually feel this way. My family and pretty much everyone I know is fortunate that we have enough money to make some decisions about what we eat. I certainly can't afford to buy as much organic food and grassfed meats as I'd like, but we're lucky enough that we can afford healthy food.
That being said, I thought it'd be fun to come up with a Dollar Dinner. Meaning that you could feed each person in your family a wholesome meal for about a dollar. Kind of competing with the fast food dollar menu if you will. So I'm going to kind of cheat and give myself the challenge of feeding my family of 5 (2 adults, 3 yr old twins, and a baby that eats table food) for $6.00. I figure that's fair because who really only orders one item off the dollar menu plus there's sales tax involved. I have no idea what I'm going to make but I'm pretty sure it won't be horribly hard, and I'm pretty sure they'll be beans involved, hehehe. Check back.
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