Meat Free Monday Menu Ideas

As you know, I'm a big supporter of Meat Free Monday - the campaign that asks you to go meat free, if not all the time, then at least once a week. I've mentioned it on my blog before.

What I haven't done is give you actual ideas of what you can eat on your meat free day (which doesn't HAVE to be Monday, by the way). You might be surprised at how many meals you currently eat are already meat-free.

Dinner: Pasta makes a great dinner. Most pastas (as long as you skip the meat balls, meat in the sauce, or chicken in top, etc.) are meat free.

Lunch: You can have a sandwich - peanut butter and jelly, egg salad, cheese, or try something special like a hot veggie meatball sandwich! Many veggie soups also make a quick and easy lunch.

Breakfast: A meat free breakfast is simple, tasty, and good for you, too. Have oatmeal, toast, pancakes, etc. One of my favorite breakfasts is a fried egg (I use organic free range eggs) and a veggie sausage patty sandwich made with an English muffin. The added benefit of that breakfast - you're sticking it to McDonalds.

Here are some healthy menu ideas I got from this website.

Breakfast (choose 1)
• 1 cup oatmeal with 1⁄2 cup blueberries; 1⁄2 cup fortified soymilk
• 1 slice whole-grain toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 egg and 1 egg white scrambled with 1⁄4 cup mixed mushrooms and onions and 1 oz shredded cheese; 2 slices whole-wheat toast; 2 mandarin oranges

Morning snack (choose 1)
• 4 cinnamon graham cracker squares; 1 cup fortified chocolate soymilk
• 1⁄4 cup lowfat yogurt topped with 1⁄4 cup fruit and 2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Lunch (choose 1)
• Sandwich of 1⁄4 cup hummus and sliced tomato on 2 slices whole-grain bread; 1 cup crudités dipped in 1⁄4 cup salsa; 1 cup calcium-fortified orange juice
• “Steak” sandwich: 4 oz WestSoy Vegetarian Stir Fry Strips with 2 tbsp barbecue sauce on a whole-wheat roll; 1⁄2 cup store-bought coleslaw

Afternoon snack (choose 1)
• 1⁄4 cup almonds; 1 banana (or other whole fresh fruit)
• 1⁄4 cup nuts-and-fruit trail mix
• Apple slices with 2 tbsp peanut butter

Dinner (choose 1)
• 1 cup pasta with 1⁄2 cup marinara sauce; 2 cups kale, steamed, then sautéed in 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup baked beans topped with 1⁄4 cup stewed tomatoes and 1 tbsp cheese; half a medium oven-baked sweet potato, cut into wedges, brushed with 2 teaspoons olive oil; and 1 cup collard greens braised in vegetable broth with tarragon vinegar

Dessert (choose 1)
• 1⁄2 cup lemon Italian ice with 1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1⁄2 cup lowfat ice cream with 1⁄2 cup fruit
• 1 slice pound cake topped with 1⁄2 cup strawberries

Happy eating!

Some Updates

This past week, I have posted a lot of short blog entries and they were starting to look strange and/or lazy, so I put them together into this one post. Enjoy and feel free to leave your comments.

• Torchwood in America: Torchwood is coming to America according to this article. Does this mean a certain person will come back to life?
• Shirtless Magazine Covers: In case you wanted to take a look... Johnny Depp appears shirtless on the cover of the latest issue of GQ. And (for some reason) John Mayer is shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone. They both have tattoos on their left arms.
• Villain News: Peter Saarsagard might play the villain in the new Green Lantern movie.
• More Good News: Soon, you will be able to stream Netflix movies from your Wii!
• Traffic: I read this article today about the areas in the U.S. with the worst traffic. I can't believe only two of these are near me (in the L.A. area). It's nice to know that other Americans share the grief of the Angelinos.
• Grammy's 2010 (Um, 2009?): Here is an article from the L.A. Times about how Phoenix is up against Depeche Mode at the Grammy's.
• Death Metal Rooster: If you haven't seen this YouTube clip of the Death Metal Rooster, you should watch it. Turn down your speakers a little bit, first.

I warned you.

By the way, you wouldn't want to eat anything this cute, would you? Check out Meat Free Monday!

Meat Free Monday 2010

2010 is almost here and most people are thinking about making New Years Resolutions. May I make a suggestion? If you don't want to go all out and become a vegetarian this year - why not make 2010 the start of your Meat Free Mondays?

Did you know that livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions? That's more pollution than is caused by transportation! By lowering (or stopping) your meat consumption, not only can you help to reduce the suffering of animals, but you can also help save the Earth!

All you have to do is to choose at least one day a week (it doesn't have to be Monday) to eat meals without meat! Afraid you won't have very many options? Well, a lot of the food you eat each week is already meatless. Think about it, you might have toast in the morning, or cereal. For lunch you might have an egg salad or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for dinner - how about spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread, and a green salad? Miss the meatballs? Vegetarian meatballs are one of the most delicious meat-alternative foods available!

If you are interested in making a difference in 2010, please give MFM a try. Visit the website here:

http://www.supportmfm.org/

And the Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Meat-Free-Monday/85068389629

Want to give vegetarianism a try? Check out this website for helpful starter tips and make the 30-Day Pledge to be Veg!

http://www.goveg.com/

Happy New Year!

By the way, this is my 100th post! Thanks for sticking with me this year, faithful readers (and welcome new ones)! Here's to a healthy and happy new year!

あけましておめでとうございます!

Meetup.com

If you have not yet discovered meetup.com, you will now - and it will change your life!

I discovered it when I was looking to join a book club and I found not only a really cool book club that meets once a month (and chooses books democratically that are NOT on the Oprah list) but also a film club (once a month we go to the local independant/foreign film art house theatre) a ladies' social club (we're going to a haunted house!) and a yoga-in-the-park class!

Meetup.com is a website where you can search for local special interest groups and activities based on interests or location (I searched only for groups within 10 miles of my city). If you live in Jacksonville Florida (zip code 32241), for example, you can join:

The Jacksonville Shetland Dog Meetup Group

The "Going Green" Small Business Forum

The Jacksonville Single Moms Support Group

Argentine Tango Group Classes

The Jacksonville Horror Movies Fan Group

The Florida Xtreme Racing Club

and more... all within 5.5 miles of the city center!

So go there now, join the local book club and get started! There's no book club near your city? Start one yourself! I'm thinking of starting a Meat Free Monday dining club!

Bento

I love bento. It's super cute, convenient, time-saving, and for me it brings back memories of Japan. So, I was excited when I recently discovered this website (here) that sells bento lunch boxes big enough for American appetites.

A good site for buying authentic Japanese bento boxes and accessories is jbox (here). Though, I don't think I've actually ever bought anything from there. Discover picks, punches, cups (they look like tiny paper cupcake cups), shapers, bottles, etc.

An awesome blog for bento ideas is Vegan Lunch Box (here). If you are scared off by the word "vegan" you can always get ideas from the site and make whatever dietary changes are necessary - or you can use this site for your Meat Free Monday lunch!

I'd better go pack my lunch for tomorrow! :)

(The photo above is from luckysundae's Flickr page. Yay for creative commons)!