Nearly Meatless

I was recently pleased to realize that I am getting closer to truly living a nearly vegetarian lifestyle. I guess you could say I’m a vegetarian that plays it loose- You know, a little meat now and then never hurt the finest men. Or, my husband says we’re TRULY living the word of wisdom, by only eating meat as needed. (Please speak with HIM if you have issues with that statement ( : )

I realized this when I saw a discussion about meatless meals to stretch a grocery budget, and people were saying how difficult it is to think of meatless meals, and I thought- Huh? I have a hard time of thinking of meals WITH meat now ( ; Really though, what began as a difficult chore is now second nature. John and I are thoroughly enjoying the change. We still have meat on occasion (working through some canned tuna and salmon in the pantry, and tilapia in the freezer), but very rarely. Although I do make some exceptions every once in a while, like bacon for a party dish. We enjoy meat on occasion when we eat outside the home, and are not ready to become full fledged vegetarians at the moment. We even plan on doing a Thanksgiving turkey this year, if we can purchase a pastured one from a Virginia farm ( :

But, oh how yummy that will be because it is not part of every meal, or every day, but a gift from the earth to be appreciated and savored. There are a number of reasons we considered in shifting our meal focus. They included environmental and ecological reasons, health reasons, and yes, some ethical treatment reasons. We’re enjoying the journey, and trying to take things one step at a time. We may or may not become more truly vegetarian, and I certainly can’t see becoming a true vegan- although we do try to purchase local farm eggs, and would REALLY like to raise our own eggs (check out the eglu website).

If you’re curious, this is our most recent menu- covering about 2 weeks.
Breakfast consists of cold or hot cereals, yogurt, milk, pancakes, eggs, fruit, you get the idea.
Lunch is leftovers, grilled cheese, or PBJ sandwiches.
Dinner is: Mezze platter (pita bread, veggies, hummus, cucumber yogurt sauce, etc)
Chili over rice or polenta
Lentil loaf and mashed potatoes
Vegetable pot pies
Baked beans, veg. and cornbread
Broccoli cheese soup and bread or muffins
Taco salad (with black beans)
Shepherds pie (made with lentils)
Boc a burgers, oven fries, and veg.
Creamy veggie pasta
Pizza with veg. toppings
Ricotta pasta
Breakfast for dinner
Generals tofu and brown rice

It may not be for everyone, but it is certainly working well for us! I’d encourage everyone to consider perhaps going meatless just one day a week, meatlessmonday is a good website with information on that ( : Many good meals to all!