First is that it’s a socially conscious decision…mass manufacture of meat is very hard on the environment. You can do a quick google search if you’re interested in learning more about this. I don’t want this to turn into a social debate…so I’ll leave it at that.
Second is that daughters of friends keep getting their periods earlier and earlier. 10 years old and even younger. There are some studies that indicate that this may be due to the large amount of growth hormones fed to animals to fatten them up for slaughter. We could buy the farm-raised meat at the health food store (and we haven’t ruled this out as an option yet), but those meats are so expensive. So, we decided that reducing consumption of them would be a better plan for now.
The final reason is that I want S and all my kids to grow up with a different view of food than I did. I grew up thinking dinner was not dinner without meat. Actually, in large part I felt the same way about lunch (pb&j being the notable exception). Even breakfast…pancakes without sausage…why bother?? I’d rather my kiddos think that dinner is not dinner without veggies! A and I both grew up in very traditional homes where the traditional meat and potato type dinners were the norm. But, I want my kids to be exposed to all kinds of food from very early on so that they can learn to love variety. It all falls in line with the main reason I’m working to change my lifestyle…to leave my kids the legacy of a healthy lifestyle!
So, we are taking several steps to help us reduce our meat consumption:
The first is that we have committed to one seafood dinner a week. Salmon, tilapia, and shrimp are our favorites.
Second is that we are not eating as many meals where meat is served all by itself…instead we use it as part of a dish. So, instead of serving a grilled chicken breast I use chicken breast in a pasta or rice dish (with veggies of course) and therefore greatly reduce the amount we eat. Just the other night I made a pasta dish with 2 chicken breasts. The pasta dish made 5 servings and so instead of each of us eating an entire chicken breast we each had just less than half. That’s not to say we don’t still enjoy a shake’n’bake porkchop or a nice thick turkey burger (or even a steak…mmmmmm) occasionally. Just that we don’t eat those meat centered meals every night any more.
The third commitment we made was to try and reduce the amount of leftovers we throwout. We are terrible about not eating all of our leftovers. I hate to think that an animal gave its life for me and then I turn around and toss it in the trash. Waste of money and waste of life.
The final decision we made is to commit to one vegetarian meal a week. We still consume dairy products at these meals, just no meat. I’ll admit…since I’ve never really cooked vegetarian meals before..my creativity on these nights has been minimal. Grilled cheese and tomato soup served with veggies, baked potato with broccoli and cheese, frozen veggie burgers with roasted potatos and veggies. So, this week I decided to do some searches online and I found this recipe for “two bean tamale pie” on better homes and gardens. I decided to give it a try.
Two-Bean Tamale Pie
• 1 cup chopped green sweet pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 15-ounce can kidney beans or black beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed
• 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed
• 1 6-ounce can (2/3 cup) vegetable juice
• 1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers, undrained
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 8-1/2-ounce package corn muffin mix
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro or parsley
Directions
1. Grease a 2-quart square baking dish or 10-inch quiche dish; set aside.
2. In a medium skillet cook sweet pepper, onion, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in kidney beans, pinto beans, vegetable juice, chile peppers, chili powder, and cumin; heat through. Spoon bean mixture into the prepared dish.
3. Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions. Add cheese and cilantro to muffin mix, stirring just until combined. Spoon cornbread mixture evenly over top of bean mixture. Bake, uncovered, in a 400 degree F oven about 25 minutes or until golden. If desired, serve with salsa and sour cream.
We both really enjoyed this. And it was easy (a must for a new mom like myself!) I used the pre-chopped frozen onion and pepper mix that I got at the grocery store to save me the trouble of chopping veggies. Still sauteed them with the garlic and oil. I opted for black beans instead of kidney. I used Jiffy corn muffin mix and used 1/3 cup water instead of milk when prepping the mix(didn’t have any milk on hand). I also added a drained can of tomatos to up the veggies. Finally…I didn’t have the cilantro so I skipped that altogether. When I make this again I will drain a can of corn and add half of it to the corn muffin mix along with the cheese before pouring it over the top. I think the actual corn would go really well with these flavors. We ate it with a dollop of greek yogurt on top. Two thumbs up from my household. Not spicy at all…just flavorful. Made 6 servings (6 WW points per serving if you’re counting). We each ate 1.5 servings and now I’ve got three servings for lunches next week.
So, what about you and yours…do you eat meat at every meal? Could you eat a little less? If you already eat vegetarian meals regularly…what are your favorites? I could use some ideas!
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