The Power of Seitan

If you want a bit of fun, or are looking to thoroughly confuse a grocery store employee, I suggest going to a big box grocery store, like Stop and Shop (or Meijer, for all you Michiganders) and ask someone if they have seitan (pronounced much like Satan) in the store.  I guarantee you will be met with quizzical, if not somewhat alarmed looks, followed shortly with, “What?  What IS that?”  You explain that seitan is wheat gluten, a protein that is often used as a meat substitute.  They think, and then lead you to what I refer to as the “fake meat” section of the grocery store, where you will invariably find tofu, and depending on the store, a small variety of other meat-ish products.  If it’s a good grocery store, they might even have pre-made falafel.  They will likely not have seitan. 

The lack of availability of seitan in mainstream grocery stores is a pity.  I’m not big on fake processed meat substitutes (though Gimme Lean sausage is a guilty pleasure), and I’m not crazy about tofu either.  The common conception is that vegetarians eat a lot of tofu, and maybe some do, but I rarely cook with tofu.  I prefer to cook with bean and grain combos (which combine to make a complete protein), mushrooms, and a wide range of veggies rather than leaning heavily on meat substitutes.  The main problem with tofu and other soy-based meat alternatives is that most soy produced in the United States is genetically modified.  The risks of eating GMO foods are numerous, and most GMO foods have been banned in Europe due to a lack of research on the safety of GMOs in the human food supply.  Therefore, leaning heavily on soy-based meat alternatives is risky business for vegetarians concerned about GMO foods.  (For more info on GMO foods, check out Jeffrey Smith’s website). 

Seitan, on the other hand, comes from wheat, which is not genetically modified, and is also more “meat-like” than tofu.  I love to use it for chili, and have made this recipe several times.  Once, at a party, a guest who arrived late missed my explanation of what was in the chili.  After finishing his bowl, he commented on how good it was, and asked what was in it.  When I explained that it was vegetarian chili, he was surprised that it didn’t have meat in it, and seemed slightly shocked that it was so delicious.  So, I have found seitan to be a crowd-pleaser even with non-vegetarian types. 

But where to buy it, if not at Stop and Shop or Meijer?  Luckily, an alternative exists to big box, chain grocery stores.  Food Co-ops are great places to find natural, organic, and local food and goods.  I have had luck finding seitan at co-ops, as well as many other slightly quirky ingredients in vegetarian recipes.  Many co-ops are similar in format to grocery stores, adding a level of convenience and familiarity to newcomers to the food revolution.  Co-ops are member-owned and founded on democratic principles.  The structure varies depending on organization, but all follow the Rochdale Principles, 7 principles of operation for cooperatives.  The concept of a cooperative organization is obviously broader than natural food stores (think credit unions), and offers an organizational strategy that is more democratic and allows for an escape from corporate control.  These are the 7 Rochdale Principles:

1. Voluntary and open membership
2. Democratic member control
3. Member economic participation
4. Autonomy and independence
5. Education, training, and information
6. Cooperation among cooperatives
7. Concern for community

These principles are especially appealing in the context of food supply, since food is vital to life and health, so having control over where your food comes from and what is in it is important.  Buying food at a co-op is a form of resistance against corporate control of the food supply, as well as community engagement and support of local producers.  Most co-ops are open to the public, so you don’t even have to be a member to shop there.  I encourage everyone to find a co-op near you.  The National Cooperative Grocers Association has many members around the country, and Local Harvest is a great resource not only for natural food markets and co-ops but farms and farmers markets as well.  (Note that these lists are not complete, for instance, Fiddleheads Food Co-op in New London is in neither directory- a Google Maps search is also suggested). 

The notion that organic or natural food is more expensive is a common one, so some people may shy away from co-ops due to cost.  However, I argue that even if the cost is higher, it is worth it to know you are buying quality food that is likely organic, GMO-free, and supporting local farmers.  Also, as this comparison chart from the Willimantic Food Co-op shows, buying food at a co-op is not necessarily more expensive.  Many co-ops also have large bulk food sections, which often have a price advantage over buying individually packaged goods.  The benefits of the co-op far outweigh the cost, and often the cost is similar to that of any other food options.

Join the revolution!  Shop at a food co-op!

Below are some of my favorite co-ops, obviously relevant to areas where I have lived or spend a lot of time.  Seeing as most of the people who read this also are in those areas, I include these profiles:

Michigan

East Lansing Food Co-op (ELFCO)

• ELFCO was the first co-op I shopped at regularly, and thus holds a special place in my heart.  Though small, the co-op has a great atmosphere, friendly staff, and a surprisingly wide range of produce, national brand organic products, and locally produced dairy products, produce, and household goods.  Conveniently located within walking distance of the Number 1 CATA bus route, ELFCO played a huge role in my cooking endeavors while I was at Michigan State University.

Connecticut

Fiddleheads

• Located in downtown New London, CT, Fiddleheads is the lone southeastern Connecticut food co-op.  Though small and with slightly higher-than-average prices, Fiddleheads is a great resource for local produce at their Saturday farm markets, as well as a location where raw milk from Connecticut dairies is available for purchase.  With planned expansions and improvements on the way, Fiddleheads is definitely up and coming on the New London grocery scene.

Willimantic Food Co-op

• This co-op wins my award for best in Connecticut.  A fairly large store with a wide variety of products, friendly staff, first time visitor discounts, and a sunnily landscaped streetfront, the Willimantic Food Co-op is a great reason to visit Willimantic, home to another of my favorite places, Cafémantic.

Vermont

Hunger Mountain Food Co-op

• Located in Montpelier, the capitol of Vermont, Hunger Mountain is a delightful store in walking distance of charming downtown.  A large co-op, including a deli and hot food buffet, Hunger Mountain is an example of the thriving co-op scene in Vermont.  My local sources seem to quite enjoy shopping at Hunger Mountain, and I myself am partial to their Green Monster deli sandwich.

Onion River/City Market Co-op

• I have already written about City Market in this blog, and it is a Burlington favorite.  City Market boasts a wide variety of foods, as well as a prepared foods buffet and an excellent deli (with exceptionally helpful staff).  City Market is located close to many downtown Burlington attractions.

Obviously this is a limited selection, and I encourage everyone to locate a co-op near them.  It’s a great place to shop, and to find seitan without harassing Stop and Shop employees. 

Until next time!  Happy eating! 

The Way Things Should Be

The world feels right side up again- I ate cereal for breakfast, a hummus and veggie sandwich for lunch, and a black bean burrito for dinner.  Rob is eating meat again with relish, and is likely, as I write this, at home making up for all the delicious lamb, pork, and rabbit he missed out on when we were at the farm over Christmas.  I never did get the promised lamb chop though, so I am preparing myself for another lapse in my vegetarianism in the near future. 

Though I feel healthier already (Rob claims he does too), this experience has made me a little more flexible in my thinking about eating vegetarian.  The health benefits of a vegetarian diet still play an overwhelming part in my argument for vegetarianism.  Meat is full of saturated fat, and protein is available in such a wide range of plant foods that eating meat is truly not necessary.  Healthy vegetarian diets are lower in fat and higher in fiber and nutrients than omnivorous diets.  Therefore, I fully intend to remain mostly vegetarian.  However, my main motivation for being vegetarian is the environmental impact of meat production.  Reason would follow that if meat is raised in a sustainable manner, I should have no environmental qualms about eating it.  Aside from the health benefits, the only reason I follow a strict vegetarian diet (as in, not even eating sustainably raised meat) is a matter of principle (making exceptions is a slippery slope).  In viewing Rob’s frustration of being home and not being able to enjoy the rabbit or pork that was raised on their own farm, I realized that some sacrifices are unnecessary ones.  For Rob, who knows exactly where the meat he eats at home comes from, being vegetarian doesn’t make sense.  (Rob also disputes the health claims of vegetarianism, but he will have to write his own blog entry if he expects those to be represented.  Hint hint…).  Thus, my willingness to eat a lamb chop in the near future. 

My final foray into the meat world consisted of roast beef and potatoes, and I made sure to take seconds, just for good measure.  Rob’s last vegetarian meal was mushroom-manchego quesadillas.  In my attempts to make vegetarianism seem delicious, I also made kale lasagna and hummus for New Year’s.  I really don’t feel like I’m missing out when I’m eating vegetarian, but it is tough when you are not in control of the menu.  Over the holidays, Rob ended up in a number of situations where he nor I was doing the cooking, and those are the situations where the vegetarian is most likely to feel like they are missing out on the main show.  I fear that Rob got a slightly skewed (although still realistic) view of what being a vegetarian is all about.  So I hope I mitigated that to some extent with tasty vegetarian cooking. 

Interestingly enough, it was watching Rob be a vegetarian, not eating meat again, that was the most meaningful part of this month-long switch for me.  Since Rob’s diet is already very environmentally conscious and healthy, being a vegetarian seemed like more of a burden than an idealistic choice.  It was also interesting to see how other people viewed Rob’s vegetarianism.  Family and friends lamented his vegetarian status, and would sometimes purposefully relish in meat eating in his presence.  For instance, we went out to a restaurant and my own mother purposefully ordered ribs because he had mentioned how much he wanted some.  The nerve!  As a vegetarian, I do not get the pity nor the taunting that Rob seemed to experience, probably because of the special circumstances of Rob’s vegetarianism.  But it was a small picture into how the world views vegetarianism.

My main observation from the month was that though I ate some delicious meat dishes, meat is still something I can easily live without.  I really wasn’t missing much (although that lamb was mighty tasty).  So, with no regrets, I say farewell to meat once more!

PS: Though the month-long switch is concluded, I will continue writing in the blog.  I obviously barely scratched the surface on so many of the food issues I am truly passionate about, and was not able to post as much as I would have liked (why I chose to start a blog during the holidays is beyond me).  So, stay tuned for partial excitement!

In the meantime, check out michaelpollan.com and watch this video. 

Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit

An Ode to Garbanzo Beans

Oh thou glorious bean

How can I say what you mean

To the hungry herbivore?

When I go to the store

I buy more and more.

The things you can do with a chickpea!

I prepare with glee

Hummus for me

And falafel to pass around.

This bean can be found

By ounces and pounds

In pastas and veggie sauté.

There will ne’er come a day

When I tire or say,

“No more chickpeas for me!”

Everyone must see

The beauty that be

In the great garbanzo bean.

But seriously, garbanzo beans are the best.  I did not truly appreciate the chickpea until I focused in earnest on healthy vegetarian cooking.  It is quite possible to eat an unhealthy vegetarian diet, and I must admit, when I first transitioned, I ate too much dairy, pasta, and dessert to make any health claims about my diet.  My excuse was that I was limited to cafeteria food, and since I have been able to cook for myself more, I have discovered the joys of healthy vegetarian options.  Especially beans.  Beans are the perfect food bundle.  They are loaded with protein and healthy nutrients, high fiber, and relatively low fat, of the unsaturated variety.  They are versatile, taste delicious, and come in lots of fun varieties.  Beans are also dirt-cheap, especially if you buy dried beans, which are a little more labor-intensive, but usually well under a dollar a bag.  Canned beans are also very affordable. 

The garbanzo bean, also known as the chickpea, is one of my favorites.  I first realized the power of the chickpea when I started to eat hummus (back in the cafeteria days, where they served hummus from Woody’s Oasis).  Hummus is essentially ground-up chickpeas, tahini (ground sesame seeds), garlic, lemon juice, and various additional flavoring.  The possibilities are endless, though I am partial to red pepper hummus.  Garbanzo beans are also found in falafel, a delicious Middle Eastern specialty (if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend you do!).  They can be ground up into flour for gluten-free dishes (although baked goods made with chickpea flour are rumored to taste slightly fishy).  I also find garbanzo beans delicious in their un-ground state in pasta, sautéed with vegetables, in soup, or cold on salads.  And don’t worry, your digestive system soon adjusts to eating lots of beans.

Below are some of my favorite chickpea recipes, for both vegetarians and omnivores.    Most of these recipes involve a food processor, which I discovered is almost a necessity to vegetarian cooking.  However, a blender usually is a good substitute.

Chicken-Butternut Squash Soup

(Better Homes and Gardens)

This is a good dish if you are cooking for a mixed crowd of vegetarians and omnivores.  Just serve the chicken as an add-in and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

1 ¼ lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in ¾-inch pieces (4 cups)

1 small red onion, cut in ½-inch wedges

1 Tbsp. curry powder

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 14-oz. cans chicken or veggie broth

1 15-26 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup dried apricots, snipped

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp. olive oil

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 deli-roasted chicken

Fresh cilantro leaves

1. Preheat oven to 425° F. In shallow roasting pan toss squash and onion with curry powder and the 1 tablespoon oil.  Roast, uncovered, 20 minutes or until tender.  Reduce oven tem to 350°F.

2. In 4-qt Dutch oven combine roasted vegetables, broth, beans, and apricots.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, 10 minutes.  Cool about 5 minutes.  Transfer half the soup to food processor or blender.  Cover; process or blend until smooth.  Return to Dutch oven; heat through.

3. Meanwhile, in bowl toss walnuts with 1 tsp oil and the nutmeg.  Spread nuts on baking sheet.  Bake 7 minutes or until golden and toasted.  Reheat chicken according to package directions, if needed.

4. To serve, top soup with nuts, chicken, and cilantro.

Hummus

(Vegetarian Times)

3 cups cooked chickpeas, or 2 15-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained twice, hot or warmed in microwave

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup tahini

Purée warm chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, and 2/3 cup water in food processor 3 to 4 minutes, or until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary. Add tahini, and purée 2 minutes, or until mixture has consistency of soft cream cheese, adding 1 to 2 Tbs. water, if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.  Enjoy with pita chips (I recommend Stacy’s Pita Chips).

Spaghetti with Chunky Tomato Sauce

(Vegetarian Times)

8 oz. (2 cups) sliced white mushrooms

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1 large leek, white part cut into chunks

2 Tbs. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)

2 Tbs. dried oregano

2 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 15-oz. can, rinsed and drained)

1/4 cup red wine

8 cups baby spinach leaves

8 oz. spaghetti

1. Place mushrooms, bell pepper, and leek in bowl of food processor. Pulse until ingredients are coarsely chopped.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add mushroom mixture and garlic, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until vegetables are softened and most of liquid has evaporated. Stir in oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes, and cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, and wine, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach, and cook 3 to 5 minutes more, or until spinach has wilted.
4. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Serve spaghetti topped with sauce. 

Chickpea, Asparagus, and Corn Sauté

(Weight Watchers)

This is a recipe that is easily adaptable and open to experimentation.  I make it frequently and it’s never the same twice.  My favorite variation is adding swish chard in with the asparagus. 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (or thawed frozen)

1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 (11 1/2 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the asparagus and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green, about 3 minutes.

5. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus are tender, about 2 minutes.

6. Remove the skillet from the heat; stir in the tomatoes, onion, basil, salt and pepper.

7. Serve right away or at room temperature, over brown rice, if desired.

I realize this post has been pretty vegetarian.  So I will briefly relate my recent meat-eating adventures.  We had lamb yesterday for Sunday lunch, and it was delicious!  We were trying to figure out why lamb is not very popular in the American diet, but came to no definite conclusions.  If anyone has any answers to this, feel free to share!  I am quite fond of lamb, though, and Rob has promised me even better lamb chops straight from Muscle in My Arm Farm when I visit over winter break.  Can’t wait!  Until then, you all can have this song going through your head too. 

Ground Beef is Weird

Meatless spaghetti sauce can be a scrumptious thing.  It’s smooth, savory, with delicious tomato flavor, and can be made even more delicious by adding garbanzo beans, vegetables, and spices.  Adding ground beef to spaghetti sauce, however, is now on my list of weird things to do.  Ground beef is just weird.  All the other meat I have eaten so far has seemed normal, even though I haven’t eaten it in a while.  The texture seems familiar and not very far removed from the turkey, chicken, or pig roaming around the barnyard.  Ground beef on the other hand, has a rather unpleasant texture, and seems a far cry from the cow chewing its cud out in the pasture.  I realize that it’s just ground up beef, but my palate has had a hard time adjusting to eating hamburger.

It doesn’t help that most commercially available ground beef is treated with ammonia to kill E. coli.  I hope the ground beef we are eating at my house wasn’t treated with ammonia, seeing as it touted the label “All Natural” (I realize this label is virtually meaningless, but I’m pretending it’s not).  However, most beef served at fast food restaurants, sold in grocery stores, and served in school lunches is treated with ammonia.  Nine years ago, Beef Products, Inc developed a process to treat fatty trimmings from the beef industry with ammonia to kill salmonella and E. coli.  This meant that the trimmings could now be used for more than just cooking oil or pet food.  However, as this New York Times article reports, testing of the Beef Products, Inc. meat in school lunches revealed unsafe levels of both salmonella and E. coli.  This questionable process, researched by the company selling it, doesn’t even do what it advertises.  Yet Beef Products, Inc. was still able to get their product approved by the USDA and sell its way into almost every hamburger consumed in the USA. 

Treating meat with ammonia is the perfect example of what’s wrong with our food system.  In the NY Times article, school lunch officials point out that they continue to buy Beef Products, Inc. beef because it is cheaper than other beef.  Subsidized agriculture and “economies of scale” result in school children in our country being exposed to unsafe food.  When corporations control our food supply and are simply looking to make a profit, the safety of the food supply is in jeopardy.  Though treating beef with ammonia could be viewed as a positive for food safety, it is in fact the wrong “solution” to a problem with the very structure of the food system.  The strain of E. coli targeted by such treatment, O157:H7, is a mutation of E. coli that originated with the rise of large-scale feed lots for cattle.  These concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are unsanitary and prove to be a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria that affect not only the cattle themselves, but the consumers of beef.  The real change needs to come structurally with a focus on grass-fed cattle that are not subject to the factors that require meat to be treated with ammonia.

The issues surrounding cattle feedlots are numerous, so I’ll leave the rest to this fun little video.

A safe and delicious alternative to hamburgers and a vegetarian staple is the black bean burger.  I made some for Rob to enjoy this week, and here is the recipe I used.  My batch was slightly stickier than I would have liked, so I suggest making sure not to cook the rice too long.  I also do not recommend making bean burgers without a food processor or a really, really good blender.  Mashing black beans burger mush with a potato masher is not a good time. 

Black Bean Burgers

3 cups cooked or two 15 ounce cans black beans (other beans work also)

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs. catsup

1/2 to 3/4 cup water, or as needed to process

Combine black beans, brown rice, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, scallions, chili powder and catsup in food processor, and process, adding just enough water to blend, until smooth. Form into equal-sized patties (makes about 10 depending on size of patties), and chill 1 hour. 

Cook for about 5 minutes on each side in oiled skillet on medium heat.

Enjoy frequently on hamburger buns.

For more great vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free recipes, check out vegetariantimes.com.  Better yet, subscribe to their magazine and get mouth-watering visuals and fun articles to boot!

A Bite of Bacon

And so it began.  The location was The Skinny Pancake, an excellent restaurant in Burlington, Vermont (for vegetarians and omnivores alike), and the date was December 4, 2010.  It’s somewhat a mystery to me why I chose bacon as my first foray back into the world of meat-eating, but it was what I had been craving.  Bacon has this way of slipping itself into otherwise normal, innocent foods, like salads, and making them some sort of testament to grease and fat.  Bacon has its place, of course, but there seems to be an upswing of bacon additions to dishes where they do not belong.  I often tease Rob about getting his “daily allotment of bacon”, since it is so common it seems like it must be a daily necessity.  However, when I thought about eating meat again, I came back to bacon again and again as the only meat I was truly looking forward to eating.  And so I found myself looking at the menu at the Skinny Pancake and getting excited when it said “Add bacon from Winding Brook Farm, $1.45” for the dish I was considering.  I heard myself requesting bacon added to my Breakfast Monster.  It was an odd sensation.  It tasted delicious.

My next venture into the world of animal flesh came at dinnertime.  We were selecting picnic-type supper fixings at Onion River Co-op (another Burlington favorite for planet-healthy victuals).  I strayed over to the deli counter to select a meat to accompany our bread, mozzarella balls, and olives.  Faced with such an array of deli meat, I felt overwhelmed.  I quickly called on Rob and the attendant for help in picking something that would properly complement the deliciousness we already had collected.  My former self would have found that more than enough for a meal, but I realized that I must expand my idea of a meal to include fleshy protein.  Pastrami was suggested as an acceptable companion, but I realized that I had no idea what pastrami actually was.  After a basic description, I selected it, but had to do some further research later to get to the bottom of the tastiness that is pastrami.  Though I didn’t eat pastrami in the traditional way (warm, on rye bread, with sauerkraut), I did enjoy it very much.  As a vegetarian, I tell myself I’m not missing out on anything by not eating meat, but the plain truth of it is that I am.  Not that I regret being a vegetarian or pine away for meat, but being a vegetarian by definition requires excluding an entire category of food from one’s diet.

However, there are definitely things that I miss about being vegetarian that have to do with the exclusion of an entire category of food.  For instance, when eating out, I have gotten used to looking at the corners of menus, hunting around for the 1-2 options available to me.  Being vegetarian dramatically simplifies the decision-making process of selecting something from a menu.  Although even with limited options, I find myself fraught with indecision, and at restaurants that cater to vegetarians I could spend hours pouring over the menu.  I shudder to think of the pains I will have to take now that the entire menu is open to me!  Old habits are hard to break, and on Sunday when selecting lunch from the Onion River prepared foods buffet, I lapsed back into vegetarianism, disregarded the beef stew, and hunted for the vegetarian options.  It is going to take time to restructure my food selection process.

My digestive system might have a few adjustments to make in regards to this endeavor also.  After my Saturday of omnivorous eating, nausea and discomfort ensued.  Although Rob claimed to also have an upset stomach (he blamed vegetarianism), it does seem that other vegetarians report similar problems once they resume a “normal” diet.  Apparently, the enzymes required to digest protein and fat drop in a person following a vegetarian diet, but quickly build themselves up again, though there seems to be a dearth of actual research on this problem.  However, it seems that starting with small portions or focusing on fish or poultry can ease the return to meat-eating.  Though I went straight for the red meat, I have been limiting my portion size, and have had minimal problems since Saturday.

This brings me to a topic that has been cropping up fairly frequently on this adventure.  Rob and I seem to have varying definitions of a portion, evidenced by his declaration that I wasn’t eating enough of the turkey on Sunday.  I went to mypyramid.gov and entered both of our body-type information to see how much of the meat/bean group we are supposed to be eating every day.  I thought there would be a big difference, but it turns out that I need to eat six ounces and Rob needs to eat seven ounces of the meat/bean group.  There goes my theory that I need far less protein than him.  Thus, I need two 3-ounce servings of protein-rich foods per day.  Mypyramid.gov, being run as it is by the evil bureaucracy of the USDA (I’m not a fan, can you tell?) has little information on what one serving actually is.  Wikipedia saves the day once more, saving me the work of sifting through USDA propaganda.  Also, as I recall from my Weight Watchers days, a 3-ounce serving is the size of the palm of my hand.  So basically, Rob wins this argument.  I need to be eating bigger servings of meat.  I plead indigestion but I have a feeling that argument won’t hold water for much longer. 

Meat I have eaten so far:

• Bacon
• Pastrami (beef)
• Turkey
• Maple sausage (deliciousness from Vermont)
• Chicken

Next post: Black bean burgers, a possible appearance from the Robert, and fun in the kitchen!  In the meantime, check out this sweet website by a fellow Connecticut resident: http://www.thegreenchiclife.com/.  Happy Eating!

A Vacation from Vegetarianism and a Meat-Free Month

Perhaps both are secretly hoping the other will make a permanent switch.  The idea was hatched several months ago, and December was named the month of the great trade.  Genevieve, a vegetarian of two years, will eat meat for a month while Rob tries out vegetarianism temporarily.  The ground rules are that Genevieve has to eat meat at least once a day; Rob eats no meat (including seafood), though he can eat eggs and dairy products (ovo-lacto vegetarianism, which Genevieve practices).  Genevieve agreed to this arrangement because there will likely be a net decrease in meat consumption.  Rob’s reasons for agreeing are hazy at best.  Perhaps he is simply crazy.   

This blog is meant to not only document our adventures with eating/abstaining from meat, but to serve as a resource for sustainable, healthy eating of both vegetarian and meat-eating varieties.  We will try to include resources, further readings, and recipes each post, and hope to inform and motivate people to make healthier, more environmentally-conscious food choices.  As a two-year vegetarian, I realize I am fairly new to this, and would love to hear about different resources and readings than the ones I am familiar with. 

My vegetarianism is motivated by environmental and health concerns.  As an environmental policy major at Michigan State University, the more I learned about the impacts of food production, the clearer I understood that the meat I was consuming had a far greater impact on the environment than other food products.  I could no longer justify eating meat when presented with the adverse effects of modern large-scale meat production.  Therefore, though I have agreed to eat meat for a month, my environmental ideals are still with me, and I will focus on eating sustainably produced meat products, like grass-fed, local, and organic meat.  Rob shares my environmental concerns, and I hope to learn more about healthy, positive meat production.  I will be the main contributor to the blog, but Rob will make occasional appearances, and we will try to keep the viewpoints as balanced as possible. 

December 4 is Day 1 (exactly two years since I became a vegetarian).  For now, enjoy:

http://www.themeatrix.com/