“Where’s the beef?” Welcome to Meatless Monday. Meatless Monday is a movement encouraging people to improve their health and improve the health of the planet by lowering their meat consumption. My Meatless Monday adventure began last week (impressive, I know) and it went quite well. My family is on-board and we’ve been having a lot of fun concocting the meatless menu for this week (thank you Trader Joes). If you’re going meatless at least one day a week (even if you’re not) here are a few important things to think about when prepping your daily meals:
- ADD BEANS: If you are eating a vegetarian based diet, beans are an important addition. They are a great source of carbohydrates and protein. If you are using beans from a can be careful- many of the cans have BPA in the lining. Eden Organic canned beans are the only brand without BPA in the lining. They also have a line of BPA free tomato products packaged in glass jars.
- REDUCE YOUR BPA EXPOSURE: Say no to plastic for cooking and storing your food. A recent study shows that we can reduce our BPA exposure significantly by cooking fresh foods at home, avoiding canned foods, choosing glass and stainless steel food and beverage containers, and not microwaving in plastic.
- USE LOCAL INGREDIENTS: When buying your produce pay close attention to where it came from. Did your carrots travel far to reach you or were they grown locally? Think about joining a CSA. Joining a CSA allows people to reconnect with their food while eating seasonal, fresh, organic food that comes from a local farm.
- USE REUSABLE NAPKINS: Invest in a few reusable napkins to help the environment and save yourself a few pennies.
- GO GMO FREE: Genetically modified plants grown from seeds engineered in labs are in much of the food we eat. Most corn, soybean and cotton crops grown in the United States have been genetically modified to resist pesticides or insects. Stick with organic if you can.
- BUY ORGANIC: Organically produced foods must be produced without the use of antibiotics, synthetic hormones and genetic engineering. Organic foods are minimally processed without artificial ingredients or preservatives to maintain the integrity of the food.
- SAY NO TO BOTTLED WATER: It’s expensive, leaches toxic chemicals into our water and produces unnecessary waste that’s killing our wildlife and not decomposing in our overflowing landfills.
- SHARE WITH OTHERS: Think about organizing a Meatless Monday potluck party with other like-minded folks. This would be a simple way to share all your meatless recipes, ideas and suggestions with friends and family.
- TALK ABOUT WHY YOU ARE DOING IT: We have had some pretty interesting conversations over here about Meatless Monday. Everything from “what is meat?” to “can we still have ice cream?” I was pretty amazed when my 10 year old asked me (without any prompts) what we were having for Meatless Monday this week.
- TRY SOMETHING NEW: Step outside your comfort zone and use the excuse of Meatless Mondays to try something new-maybe tempeh, quinoa or edamame (a favorite over here). It could open up a new door leading to unlimited possibilities for meatless meals.
Most of all enjoy!
Do you already think about any of these when making a meal? Do you have any more ideas for the list?
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[Top photo used under Creative Commons from Cookbook Man 17/Flickr]
[Dinner party photo used under Creative Commons from David Sifrey/Flickr]
Great tips! Sharing this post!
Great list. I’d also add to the list to add some greens into your meals. Do my best to incorporate them into every meal.
Great suggestion Mike. It is so crucial to add greens to every meal-filled with so many vitamins and minerals. A great way to green your Meatless Monday.
You’re welcome Charise! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m so happy to hear that your Meatless Monday adventure is going well. I like the list. I do still have canned beans on hand because I’m not great at the whole planning ahead thing (soaking dry beans…eh), but otherwise I do pretty well at following the things on your list. One of my unofficial food rules is to make sure vegetables or fruit make up at least half of my meal. I love vegetables (always have, even as a child), so it’s definitely not a hardship.
Yay! Between Meatless Monday and Fish Friday (Lent) we are working our meat-free bookends here!! Veggies are a MUST, but I don’t stress the protein as much- we fill up on Kefir smoothies after lunch, and my little squirrels love their nuts- but beans and tofu? Nope. Everyone in my house HATES beans..except for me, and after attending a Tofurkey fiasco, I am tofu- traumatized.
Hmm..I think we need a recipe exchange around here… 😉
I’m not great at planning ahead either Jennifer! I really like your food rule to make sure fruits and vegetables make up at least half your meal. That’s great advice. You are lucky to love them-I love them too. I have my CSA pickup today and I’m so excited to see what’s in the box.
Wow-between Meatless Monday and Lent you are really eating your fruits and veggies! Good for you. There are lots of other great sources for protein-I’m guessing the little squirrels don’t like lentils either? How about eggs or dairy? I’ve tried Tofurkey and can imagine how it would turn into a disaster. I’m not a fan. There are so many yummy tofu recipes out there. I think we need to try clear you of your trauma. Recipe exchange is in order!
I am trying. Its going OK. I started trying to experiment with meatless meals a few years ago, more so for health benefits and I was tired of meat! I have a hard time finding recipes my family will eat. But I’m still plugging away.
One thing that I have found to help, is to go meat less, instead of completely meat free, for a few meals a week. I figure we are doing the equivalent of one meatless meal a week. When I make tacos, I still use ground turkey or hamburg, but I use half of what I normally would and add black beans, corn, whatever else I have to bulk it up.
@Petunia – a recipe exchange sounds great to me!
I love the idea of meat less Kristina-that’s a great place to start if meat free for one night doesn’t work. I think having an awareness, like you do, about the amount of meat you are using is really what this is all about. Being aware and cutting back will have a tremendous impact on your health and the health of the planet.
The biggest challenge for me is #8: Share With Others. Generally I don’t specify that pot-lucks should be free of meat because so few of my friends would know what to prepare! But I’m going to try again and provide them with some resources (like the ones from your previous Meatless Mondays post) and see what happens!
I think it’s hard to share with others too Andrea. We are usually home on Monday nights-most week nights-doing homework or other activities. We barely have time to eat. If you are already doing potlucks, you already have the venue-now it’s how to get people on board. Keep me posted.
Tada! So great, it had to be a Baby Step, along with your excellent primer > http://groovygreenlivin.com/2011/04/meatless-monday-why-its-green-to-eat-green/
Shared ’em with the beans, hope you like it! >> http://getyourgreenbeans.com/healthy-recipes/meatless-monday/baby-steps-to-cleaner-greener-living-week-4-drop-that-drumstick/
Great list. I especially like the idea of a meatless monday potluck! Unfortunately, I am finding few who embrace the meatless life! I promote it on FB and usually get pretty lame excuses for not giving it a try! It’s not easy to be surrounded by people who are not like-minded! Makes me appreciate reading posts like this and comments from others!
As for forgetting to soak the beans overnight?…I just put them in my crock pot on high in the morning with plenty of water and let them go all day. By evening they are perfect and no soaking was involved! Home cooked beans don’t begin to compare to canned store bought! Garbanzos are our favorites and can be added to many dishes!
Glad you liked the list. Keep on promoting and spreading the word-you might be surprised and connect with others that are like-minded! What a great idea to put your beans in a crock pot-I never thought of that and I love my crock pot. I’m going to give it a try.
My one idea for the list is cook your beans with a pressure cooker. It used to take me 2 hours to cook dried beans on the stove – Now, it only takes 12 minutes of cooking time with my new pressure cooker. That adds up to a lot of energy savings over a years time.
Pressure cooker-another great idea. I don’t own one. Do you think it’s worth the investment? The time saver alone seems to be worth it! Thanks Karen.
Great article! I am new to meatless mondays but the meals I am trying to make are not just meatless, but protein-full (beans beans beans!) It is taking some adjusting for my kids who are used to the lazy man’s way of using meat in everything. Meatless Monday has forced me to look beyond the standard meals and reach for food that I wouldn’t normally use (garbanzo beans, lentils etc). Love it! Great article.
Thanks! I also love that Meatless Monday inspires you to look outside the ‘meat’ box. There are so many great sources of protein out there that aren’t meat based. Have fun exploring!
Instead of potluck, we do a “circle supper” with friends- we take turns cooking a big, vegetarian family meal. It is almost always hosted by us- we are centrally located- and it’s a great way to try different recipes.
What a great idea Xine. Do you do this every Monday?
Great tips! Beans & tofu are the new meat! Although – I had to respond “other” to the poll because I am a “weekday vegetarian”. Not ready to go full-veggie yet, but I’m working on it!
That’s OK Cameron! You do whatever works for you and fits into your lifestyle!
Awesome post. I’m a vegan and also try not to buy plastic stuff, but bottled water is still a problem. Sometimes I just don’t have any choice except buying another one. I believe I should think of something for such cases.