We ( as a family ) are eating less meat.
As much as I would like? No.
But.. it is not just my decision.. so I have to start small... and then maybe we can go bigger.
It's been funny this last month. Every time I ask someone for a yummy "meatless" recipe.. the first thing I am usually asked is " Are you going Vegetarian?" Always.
Then... I explain that I am trying to better my health by following the Word of Wisdom.
If you are not LDS ( Mormon ) then let me explain what the Word of Wisdom is:
It is a Health law and guide as to what we believe to be good and bad for our body.
This information is in D&C Section 89
To summarize it.. we are advised not to partake of Wine, Alcoholic beverages, Coffee and Tea.
It advises us to eat meat sparingly-- more so in times of Winter, cold or famine.
It states that grains, fruits, and vegetables are good for man... and is the "staff of life."
The promise of keeping these laws is that we shall receive " health in their navel and marrow to their bones: that we will have wisdom, and run and not be weary..and shall walk and not faint."
I myself have always tried to stay clear of the harmful things that we are warned against.. but were we truly living the "healthy guidelines?"
Not so much.
We ate meat everyday. Always.
I am now changing that.
And it has been a HUGE adjustment.
It wasn't something that everyone in the family was so pleased about..
but they are coming around.
I just want to share a list of the meals -- that are "meatless" that we have enjoyed.
Stir Fry
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Pancakes
Veggie Pizza
Tortellini
Mushroom/Leek Lasagna (good!)
Avocado veggie sandwich
Veggie Burritos
Black Beans and Rice
Salad bar
Hawaiian Haystacks
Chicken Noodle Soup ( Minus chicken )
Baked Potato Bar
In helping to simplify cooking.. and my life.. we usually have breakfast food for dinner once a week.. and so that has been an easy fix.
We now try and eat Baked Potato bar often as well... because everyone in the family LOVES it.. and it's super easy. I put out about about 10 toppings.. peas, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, pineapple, olives, yellow peppers, sunflower seeds, etc.
The kids have to take at least 4 toppings.. and they love it.. because they are choosing!
We are still eating meat 4 days in a 7 day week as a family.
I am eating less meat than the rest of my family.. because I watch breakfast and lunch as well.. and the kids eat lunch at the school.. so I can't change that yet.
I am hoping to do much better as it gets warmer.. and more fresh produce is abundant.
I am looking for more recipes.
I prefer tried and true recipes-- so if you have one that doesn't require meat.. please share.
I know I could look at Vegetarian sites.. but I prefer to trust family and friends.
Because of this goal.. it has forced me to "Meal plan" and it has been good for me.
Chad and I even enjoy planning date nights even more -- and it is usually to Texas Roadhouse where I can have a 6 oz steak * Medium* YUM.
Today I am Grateful for:
Goals that bring good changes
Payday
Good Health
Phone calls from friends
A happy Family
14 comments:
You should try tortilini soup. So good. My kids love it. We have it all year except summer. Also Cheese soup. I will try to get you the recipes. The cheese soup has ham in it but you could just leave that out. Good luck with this!
You inspire me! I need to step it up and just do meal planning in and of itself. I hardly ever cook. I always feel lost because I don't know what to cook. I get tired of cooking the same things but I am not brave enough to just try any recipe. I need to work on that.
I have several that are very good, but I am still tweaking all of them. My lentil loaf and lentil sloppy joe recipes are amazing, but I'm still adjusting how much barley I'm putting in to make it texturally more meat like without having it become spongy.
Good for you in doing this, by the way! It's a major step, and not such a small one! We went in saying meat once a week and I REALLY don't think that's enough. Really. We're trying to up our meat intake slowly until we feel we have hit the right spot. But right now, eating only once a week leaves me feeling a little weak and desperate for meat. LOL. Even more than how I feel desperate for chocolate!!!
So share your recipes and I"ll share mine! :)
It all makes sense to me.We too try not to eat so much meat.
We all like garden burgers morning star is really good and their lil corn dogs are yummy too! Trader Joes has Massala Burger, very good.
We love beans and rice anything and german pancakes are awesome, just google the recipe.Youtube also has lots of recipes.
Best of luck to you! Good for you trying to eat healthier. ~Cheers Kim
I couldn't agree with you more! Church members eat too much meat, and we should know better, given that the Word of Wisdom spells it right out for us. Researchers are using Seventh-day Adventists in their health research more than Latter-day Saints now because the Adventists are healthier! (Most of them don't eat meat.)
We eat meat about three times a week now, and I appreciate meat and the animals who were killed for it much more now. I'm much more conscious of the whole food industry, and I feel healthier and better than ever. We eat a lot of whole-wheat pastas with veggie-loaded marinara sauce, and things like spinach lasagna, soups, breakfast foods, stir-fries, salads, and lots of fruits and veggies. There are some good new meat-food substitutes coming out too, though I have yet to try them. Eventually I'd like to get our intake of meat down to just a few times a month. For most people, if they're eating enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, they should have most, if not all, of the nutrients they need. Heavenly Father provided our nutrition for us from this great earth that He created!
Anyway, thanks for letting me stand on my soapbox for a minute! :)
I always love getting about eight or more different types of of vegetables and making filo parcels (wrap cooked vegetables and grated cheese in layers of store bought filo pastry and make into a strudel type parcel - bake until the filo pastry is golden brown). Include lots of colors and textures e.g. peppers, kumara, potatoes, peas, semi crisp brocoli, apapaugus, pumpkin, onion, kidney beans, etc. Whatever is in season, is left over from last nights dinner or is in your freezer!
The cheese melts through and it is delicious. Serve with some tomato based sauce on the side, and a salad if you want.
Your children could make thier own individual parcels.
I'm sure you can do it, there are many great meatless recipes to pull from.
I've cut back but we're beef farmers and pullin' Farm Boy off totally would surly convince him he was dyin'! Heeehehe!
God bless you and be with you on your journey sweetie!!! :o)
Good for you! I def don't eat as much meat as I used to, but could cut back more. But dang, I love me the beef!
I have never been a big meat eater. I have always interpreted use meat sparingly as not eating large portions. For instance, if we have steak for dinner I usually just eat a sliver - Maybe enough for 4 bites.
In the U.S. especially people eat HUGE portions of meat (and everything else) and it is definately not good for anyone. I worked with a guy who ate huge amounts of beef for dinner every night and by the time he was 30 he had Gout (google it).
I think you are doing great and I love your list of meals!
I think however you do it - cutting it out of a certain amount of days or cutting your portion size WAY down that eating less meat makes your body healthier and there is room for good stuff - fiber, grains, fruits and leafy greens (wink)!!
Good Job!!!
I have never been much of a meat eater. In fact as my family continues to grow older, I find that they do not like meat and complain if there is too much meat in anything I make. Most likely because we just don't eat a lot of it. However, we have a big problem getting in enough protein and iron.
Our bodies cannot get enough iron from greens, because dark leafy greens that are high in iron are also high in calcium. The calcium prevents the absorption of the iron.
I have had a very hard time loosing weight and my trainer has helped me identify my problem to be a shortage of protein. I do not eat enough protein to build and rebuild the muscle I use during excercise. Thus, I have to continue eating less and less calories in order to loose weight and I end up loosing more muscle. Which backfires, leaving me vunerable, hungry and tired; none of which are good when you are trying to loose weight.
I find that I have to work very hard to get in enough protein. The best ways for us are beans. We love beans and eat them for dinner about 5 days a week. We eat a lot of Mexican type foods, because they are the easiest to use beans in; tacos or taco salad with pinto beans instead of hamburger, black beans in fajitas instead of chicken or beef, refried beans in burritos, vegetarian chili, taco soup etc. I have also started drinking a protein shake every day and make sure I get at least three servings of diary which include Greek yogurt, which is higher in protein than regular yogurt. Whole grains also are higher in protein than processed so we try to use whole wheat pasta (51% whole grain thin spaghetti is best anything thicker tends to be a little too much . . . something and doesn't go over as well) and brown rice (the kids and I love Lundberg short grain brown). The kids actually like the whole wheat pasta and brown rice better. Daddy has a harder time with it. :D We also eat a lot of eggs for lunch.
I know eating less meat is good for our bodies, but our bodies are designed to need protein. While cutting back on meat you need to increase your protein using other food sources, as well as iron (vitamin C helps with iron absorption), or you will not reap the benefits you are after. I know from experience.
I really am impressed and think you are awesome for taking on this feat. It must be very hard with a family that loves meat. Good luck!
Oooo, I am gong to keep your menu ideas!
How perfect that as I was planning our meals for the month, and I come to your blog for a break! You gave me some great ideas. I have a few questions if you get a second -1. Do you have a homemade recipe for black beans n rice or do you use a box like Zattarans?
2. I used to eat hawaiian haystacks at singles ward break the fast get togethers. But I can not for the life of me think of what they consist of?! Could you remind me please?
Ideas for no meat meals from me - sour cream n cheese(white sauce) enchiladas and spaghetti no meatballs with big salad.
PS I love your salad bar idea!
Here is a link to DELICIOUS Lentils: We love to serve it over Brown Rice and Chinese Noodles: http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2009/07/wonderfully-delicious-lentils.html
Also, moderation is how I like to approach eating...instead of adding in a few chicken breasts, I just add in one chicken breast to anything I am making. I also, save chicken/turkey carcasses and boil them up and make a batch of chicken soup.
We have found the yummiest thing to do with a Rotisserie Chicken...when we go on our weekly date we usually buy a 3 pound container of Spinach and a Rotisserie chicken and other fruits like a large pineapple, oranges, etc.... Here is what we do with it...we usually take part of the chicken and make up sandwiches...we when make a large SALAD with a bunch of the spinach, some of the chicken, and we add in tomatoes, carrots, apples, oranges and cheese. I then take the chicken carcass and boil it and make up a batch of soup. We use the rest of the spinach to make GREEN smoothies the rest of the week (green smoothies have spinach, a slice of lime, stalk of celery, large serving of pineapple, one or two oranges and ice....SO yummy and SO healthy).
Here is a link to 2 soup recipes that are pretty much "vegetarian" (You just use a handful of leftover roast and that is the only meat it in...SO yummy).
http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-i-make-roast-stretch.html
Here is post I did that has a link for a yummy Pasta Salad recipe AND it has a yummy link for Cabbage soup AND photos showing how I make use of a Whole Cooked Chicken:
http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2011/07/kimmie-in-real-life-week-8.html
ALSO, you can't beat a yummy bean/legume soup!! One of my kids very favorite soups is SPLIT PEA SOUP, or Ham and Bean Chowder!
http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2012/01/healthy-frugal-new-year.html
Here is a post that has a link to VEGGIE cobbler that is meatless... really good too!
http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2011/07/kimmie-in-real-life-week-5.html
Anywho, sorry to ramble. Hope this is helpful... YAY for your progress!!
We eat a LOT of salads and veggies, but I do like to use chicken breast here and there. In recipes that call for ground beef I use ground turkey and love it - so much healthier! And I try to have my favorite - baked salmon - at least a couple times a month (it's expensive but I watch for sales). I almost never eat beef, and don't really like it much!
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