A New Attitude...

So, our house is making a small overhaul in terms of our weekly mealplan. Currently we eat a variety of mostly heart-healthy fats (olive oil, peanut butter, etc), vegetables, fruits, whole grains (I've been slowly making the switch from white to wheat), and primarily lean proteins such as chicken, ground turkey or pork and legumes. We don't eat any offal (although I do enjoy Chris Cosentino's informative and funny blog) or a lot of red meat - maybe some form of beef (london broil, stew, steak) about once every two weeks (for home meals, a bit more if we are eating out a lot) and we eat virtually no ground beef.

In the last few months, I have been trying to make more vegetarian meals for two reasons: 1) I have issues with the handling & slaughtering of farm animals. Have you seen this video on cheap meat (warning - its not pretty)? and 2) I feel that diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, along with a mix of non-animal protein and some lean animal protein is much healthier than a diet high in red meat (for us :), not trying to tell others what is good/bad for their family).

I'm definitely not against eating meat - as I said - we eat meat (including fish), but I feel like cutting down and purchasing high-quality meat (check out this information about humane standards) is really the way to go for us. Better for us, better for the animals, better for the environment.

Anyway...the point of all this (finally, right?) is - we have decided to make it official and have at least one vegetarian night per week (usually more like 2 per week) and one fish night. So, say hello to Sunday Fish Nights (check out these guidelines from Seafood Watch about sustainable fisheries) and Monday Vegetarian Nights! We are excited - I think dedicating a specific day/night to this will make it fun to find and try new recipes and we will be more likely to actually stick to it. Of course, its not like we can't trade off for a Tuesday or Thursday and the sky will fall down on us or anything :)

I'll try to blog as many of these nights as I can so be on the look-out for new, healthy ideas! Feel free to pass along any good recipes!