The Benefits of Meatless Dinners

Despite ever-rising obesity rates, eating a less meat based diet has quietly become mainstream. So, what are the benefits of meatless dinners?

Notice the growing vegetarian options on restaurant menus and the exploding number of vegetarian recipes - ample evidence that eating healthy is alive and well.

Meat Casseroles

Today people are making plant based items - fruits, veggies, grains, nuts, and seeds - a major component of their diet. According to numbers out of the American Dietetic Association, almost 2.5% of the adult population of the U.S. eats a meat free diet.

Going meatless is easier than ever before. There are plenty of meatless products on the shelves of your local grocery stores - you can try several brands to find something you like.

There are also countless vegetarian cookbooks, magazines and online resources for great tasting, family friendly recipes. If you want to give going meatless a try, make the change a gradual one. Make a single day (or meal) meatless and see how you do.

Meatless meals most often feature veggies, beans and grains. Think of the foods that you like already that don't have meat in them, like lasagna, pasta, soups and salads.

Lots of times you can use your own favorite recipes and just substitute beans or another vegetarian option in place of the meat. You might try:

- Beans and legumes - in casseroles or salads

- Vegetarian refried beans - in burritos or tacos

- Tofu - in stir fry

There's a term being coined for those who follow a mainly plant based diet, but still eat some meat, poultry or fish - flexitarian.

A growing number of us are embracing this way of eating, and some consider it to be very similar to the Mediterranean diet - an eating plan that limits red meats and includes ample amounts of fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains and healthy fats.

Research has consistently shown that eating this way cuts the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and perhaps even cancer, as well as helping out with weight loss.

Removing the meat from some of your meals also has benefits to your budget. In fact, cutting a meat meal from your weekly menu will almost certainly bring your grocery bill down.

To save on the meat you do buy, take advantage of special sales, separate the meat your bring home into meal sized portions (be sure to label and date the packages) and freeze these.

Another way to stretch a dollar is to buy a larger size roast than you need for a single meal and use it (creatively) as leftovers for 3 to 4 meals.

Protein isn't just available in a cut of red meat. There are other sources that are just as natural, but cost a whole lot less. A large egg brings you 6 grams of protein. A glass of milk delivers 8 grams of protein a serving. Another often-overlooked protein source is cottage cheese, which is a healthy, and affordable, way to get your protein for the day. Lastly, tofu can cost as little as 6 cents for a full gram of protein.

Beyond saving you money, getting your protein from non-meat sources has some rather impressive benefits to the body-

- Fewer calories and less fat - which can lead to improved cholesterol numbers and better weight management.

- Improved longevity - a National Cancer Institute study found that those who ate 4 ounces (114 grams) of red meat daily were 30% more likely to die of any cause over 10 years than those who ate less red meat. Even sausage and lunch meat increased the risk.

- Less disease risk - including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and some types of cancer.

If meat simply must be a part of all your meals, at least be sure you're eating a proper portion size. A serving of protein should really be no more than 3 ounces (85 grams).

This is about the size of a standard deck of playing cards, and should take up no more than a quarter of your dinner plate. Veggies and fruits should take another half, with the last quarter left to whole grains.

The benefits to your health of replacing a few "with meat" dinners with tasty and nutritious meatless dinners are plain. Just experiment and try a few different options and you are sure to find something you like.

The Benefits of Meatless Dinners

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6 Ways to Make Your Vegetarian Dinner Guest Feel At Home

There few more nerve racking events than the big holiday dinner parties.  Christmas, Thanksgiving, you want them all to be just perfect, a happy family time where everyone is catered for and everyone is happy.  Only this year, your son's new girlfriend is coming and she's a vegetarian.  You realise you have never cooked for a vegetarian before.  Just how do you make your vegetarian dinner guest feel at home?

A freelance writer working from home.

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Brandied Moose Meat Roast Recipe

In this Brandied Moose Roast recipe you will discover how to cook and turn naturally dry moose meat into a deliciously tender roast dish, perfect for any family gathering or guest dinners. With this cooking method, not only natural juices are preserved, you will actually add the extra moist to the meat just o make it more tasty with infused smoky flavor.

For preparation, we will need:

Meat Casseroles

1/2 Cup of brandy

1 Cup of water

3 Cup of red wine

1/2 Olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of liquid garlic

2 teaspoons of oil

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 small sliced onion

1 small sliced carrot

1 teaspoon of minced parsley

1 teaspoon of dry thyme leaves

2 bay leaves

For more tasty roast, first inject the moose meat with flavored oil mixture and then marinate it prior moist smoke-cooking step.

Then using flavor injector, add the roast with mixture of brandy, oil and garlic. Now saute the onion, carrot, parsley, garlic and thyme in hot oil until the onion is limp.

The remaining marinade ingredients can now be combined in a large ceramic bowl. Put in the left over ingredients, including the moose meat and marinate for 24 to 48 hours, turning the sides several times during the session.

After that, simply pat dry with kitchen paper towels. Now you are ready to add the marinade to a water pan. Place the meat into oiled cooking rack and smoke it for about 7-9 hours. At this final stage, you can use a meat thermometer to monitor the heat and ensure your brandied moose roast is well cooked.

Brandied Moose Meat Roast Recipe

This technique can also be done on gas bbq grills that have side burner rotisseries for slow smoke cooking with wet wood chips. But best results are achieved with barbeque smokers.

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How Much Protein Is In Medifast Food And Meals?

At it's core, medifast is really a low carb diet. I find that a lot of people are a bit surprised by this, myself included. I used to think that this was your basic low calorie, restrictive diet, but there's a bit more to it than that. All of the foods are very high protein and fiber, while being relatively low in carbohydrates and sugars. This is the formula that puts your body into fat burning mode and it's a very important part of the equation. The other day, I had someone ask me exactly how much of all of each part of the equation you take in on each day that you're on medifast. I'll answer this in the following article.

Lindsey Price often writes about medifast and has published a free medifast ebook called "Getting The Most Out Of Medifast".  You can get a free copy at http://easiest-diet.com/

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Ostrich: A New Red Meat

A New Red Meat

Since the high glycogen content of Ostrich meat confers to it an almost sweet flavor, it is suggested to serve it along with a complement of vegetables that contrast nicely with sweet, such as red radicchio and rocket. Rich in proteins and iron, the meat is also low in fat (1-2g per 100g of meat). A large part of those 2g consists of polyunsaturated fatty acids (healthier) as compared with saturated fats. This makes ostrich meat ideal for the diets of babies and the elderly, pregnant and lactating women as well as athletes and people suffering from anemia. As for its flavor; it is more or less similar to high quality beef, although it is much more tender and made up of very short muscle fibers that allow for easier digestion.

Meat Casseroles

Choice

Most ostrich meat comes from farms, many of which are located in Israel, South Africa and the US. Sold ever more commonly even in traditional butcher shops, the major obstacle to its purchase is its relatively high price. This due in large part to three factors: high mortality rates among the farm-raised birds, long growing periods (9 months to a year) and low meat yields relative to the animal's weight (35kg edible meat from a 150kg animal).

Preservation

This meat should be stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator soon after purchase, ideally wrapped in the appropriate polyethylene wraps or in wax paper. It should be consumed within one or two days of purchase at the most.

Cuts

Ostrich is a flightless bird because it has a flat breastbone that makes it unsuitable for flight. On top of making it flightless, the bird's flat breastbone means it does not have large breast or wing muscles. Therefore the meat from comes from the thigh, leg and back. Cuts are nearly exclusively from the various muscle groups found in the animal's leg, divided into the fillet, sirloin, and thigh. The last cut comes from the neck. From the fillet, cut from the less fibrous part of the animal's thigh, are cut the medallions, kebabs, carpaccios and roasts. From the sirloin; cutlets, steaks, chops and roulades. From the thigh itself; roasts and ground meat for meatballs and hamburgers, while the neck is used in boiled dishes and ossobuco.

Cooking

In dealing with lean meats such as that of the ostrich, especially when grilling, it is important to baste the meat with abundant extra-virgin olive-oil before cooking it in order to avoid the meat becoming hard and dry due to the quick evaporation of its juices. Another method, useful when cooking whole cuts, is to lard the meat in such a way that it keeps the meat moist. Even for the higher quality cuts, it is preferable to cook ostrich meat in the pan and for only a short period. It is also best if the meat is cooked rare and therefore should be removed from the refrigerator at least half an hour, this also allows for a shorter cooking time. In order to further avoid losing the meat's juices, it is wise not to puncture the meat with a fork but instead handle it with two spoons in a pincer movement. For the same purpose, it is a good idea to brown the ostrich roast in a pan with some butter and extra-virgin olive oil before cooking it in the oven, this creates a barrier on the outside of the meat that helps keep the juices in.

Ostrich meat's extreme tenderness, comparable only to the finest veal fillet, lends itself nicely to being eaten crude and therefore should be tried in a carpaccio or tartar.

Ostrich: A New Red Meat

David Russo, VMD, PhD

Veterinary Scientist, Gourmet Lover and Amateur Cook

GOURMET MEATS AND SEAFOOD [http://www.high-net-worth-gourmet.com]

CONTACT US

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