where did my love for meat go?

I used to eat a lot of meat. I used to eat red meat for most dinner meals in a week. For a long time I thought most entrees consisted of red meat--- ya, I was struggling. I didn't really know a lot about food or cooking or eating. Well, I knew how to eat but not how to eat good.

I never made a conscious effort to stop eating so much red meat; I just became more aware of cooking, recipes, and other options. Then as I learned more about nutrition I realized the benefits of not eating so much red meat. Did you know that a diet high in red meat can be an increased risk for developing certain types of cancers? Eating red meat is not a bad thing because it is a good source of iron and several vitamins, but it should be limited to less than 18 ounces a week & we need to choose leaner cuts!


In an effort to save money on our grocery bills, we started having vegetarian night intentionally one night a week (I say intentionally because I have vegetarian dinners probably half of the nights in a week). We still get protein-- from our beans! I am becoming a big fan of beans these days! And vegetarian night has been a lot of fun. Of course, most of the time, it consists of tortillas, cheese, beans, and salsa but we'll have to start branching out soon or we'll get tired of it.


My suggestion -- lay off the red meat a bit and give beans a try!










And no, not these kind of beans...




Picture Credits:

Mine (can you tell?)

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=401176

http://dialogue4health.ning.com/photo/beanspeasandlentilsposters-1?context=latest

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=257591

http://beckyandthebeanstock.com/?p=235

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/online_media/cpac_candy_coverage_pretty_sweet__152754.asp