Monday, September 12, 2011

Going Vegetarian Once a Week


One of my goals in my quest for a healthier, more frugal lifestyle is eating less meat.  Now that I'm not waiting tables (ever again!), I have been cooking dinner regularly.  I love to cook, so I'm pretty excited. 

I've been planning out our weekly menu on a spreadsheet--with links to online recipes, if applicable (a post coming soon).  At least once a week I cook a vegetarian meal.  

There are two main reasons for going veggie once a week:

1. For health.  Americans eat way too much meat.  Its not always a bad thing, but by cutting out meat, I can integrate nutritious ingredients that I don't use as regularly.  Plus, I'm learning a lot about where to find protein--in beans, veggies, and grains.  And, by focusing on veggies, we can get a lot of vitamins and minerals that we often miss in other meals.  Some good info about vegetarian basics can be found at Vegetarians in Paradise

2. For the budget.  Lately, I've been trying to buy higher quality meat--less chemicals, hormones, and fillers. The only problem is that good meat is expensive.  So, by cutting out meat at least once a week, it saves quite a bit of money. 

So far I've developed quite a love for quinoa and bulghur wheat. Not to mention beans. We never ate a lot of beans, minus red beans and rice.  And, one of my goals is to cook more with greens--like collard greens and mustard greens.  

I've been on the search for some good vegetarian cookbooks, and have found some great websites with vegetarian recipes.  Everyday Vegetarian and Eating Well are just two sites that have some good ideas. I'm excited, too, about experimenting with Indian, Middle Eastern, and Thai recipes. 

I'll be posting some recipes soon!

What's your favorite vegetarian recipe?


4 comments:

  1. Kelly and I have been trying to eat more vegetarian meals too.

    I'll have to send you a recipe we have for a spinach-chickpea curry that we love and it's super yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's great! Spinach-chickpea curry sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We started having " veggie day " once a week years ago now we go days with out having meat.

    I think you would like this http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=366

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Frankie! Stuffed peppers sounds delicious! I'll have to try it.

    ReplyDelete