Getting the local grass-fed beef will be a treat. We did that a few months ago and it was a revelation. It tastes completely different than "normal" beef. It may take you a little while to get used to it, but it's well worth it. Make sure you get some soup bones to make stock with. Depending on where you are in Scotland, be on the lookout for local salmon. When we were over there last May we were able to find a few pubs that had it on their menu. What part of Scotland are you going to?
Let me get this straight. I changed my diet based on what the doctor (wisely) recommended. Now we can make diet recommendations to the doctor? Can't pass this up. Rather than change one day of the week, I changed lunch to be no red meat. Lot's of fish, shrimp, and various birds. The interesting side effect of having no red meat for lunch, was that the amount of meat I desired at dinner took a big reduction. No idea why that occurred, but it did. The other thing to try is eat slower. Enjoying the meal makes a smaller amount go a lot farther, not to mention I learn something by listening rather than chewing.
Oh, and Evan, it's really important to eat lots of dark green leafies, as that's where you are going to get the most minerals, iron, and vitamins. It will help you stay healthy and feeling well, since the iron you used to get from red meat will be reduced. Just an FYI.
I'm only eliminating one day of meat....I will MORE than make up for my iron and protien intake on the other 6 days of the week.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I swear by this book: Deborah Madison is great, not preachy, and suggests a meat side dish if you are so inclined. 1400 ways to cook vegetables!
Well, yes, but if you are making up for it on the other 6 days, you won't actually be reducing the intake, right? :huh: That day without might make you feel entitled to eat MORE meat on the other six... by eating more dark green leafies, you won't have quite the urge to do that.
There was a time here in CO, I think it was the winter of '05-'06 that wind source customers were actually paying less than everybody else because NG prices at the time were so high. The Denver Post ran a story about it and I think there were a lot of folks interested. We've been on partial to 100% wind (not really, but you know how it works) for years now. Of course, CO has pretty good indigenous wind resources so it's easier for us to do. XCel has installed about 1GW of wind in the state, most of it coming on line in the last 2 years. We also get wind power from across the border in Wyoming. That is a state that could generate some serious power from wind. It blows... big time.
I'm not saying I'm going to eat more than I normally would on the other 6 days, I'm saying that my intake is already above average and I'll get plenty of iron and protein those days.
Holy cow, for a second I thought you wrote that they want $1.33 per KWH vs 10 cents least year. Yikes! I guess I need to read more slowly... I expected it would cost more for wind power which is why I waited until after the winter was over, since my electric bill in winter is about 3X more than it is in spring/summer. I figured it would seem like less of an impact on my budget if I timed it this way. Thanks for the link.
I don't eat a lot of beef. I prefer seafood and chicken. Seafood is rapidly disappearing, though; maybe I should give that up once a week. I probably eat beef two or three times a month. I didn't eat it for years because of a horrible chapter in the book, "Fit for Life" wherein the entire process of the body's digestion of it was described. Gross! Never read that if you like beef. I dont like it as much as other meats, though, so it wasn't that hard to give up.
Evan, We tried the meatless-day-a-week thing, but now go with meatless whenever the mood strikes. We consider it as another credible option, which is a lot farther down the vegetarian road than we once were. Another great source of vegetarian recipes, along with Bill Merchant's suggestion, can be found in the Moosewood Restaurant Collective series of cookbooks ("New Classics" and "Cooks at Home" are personal faves). We've had many great meals from that source. Best of luck, Jim
I lost 25 pounds a year and a half ago by greatly reducing carbs. If I didn't have meat I would be worthless. Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck... I like all seafood, and I also eat odd things like alligator, buffalo, emu, and anything else that has walks, flies, or swims just about... My doc says that if what i am doing works then to keep it up... Being green is one thing but feeling healthy is a bigger priority to me.
Too bad too many others in the world can't figure out a balance either and now we are stuck with load of environmental problems because of it. The fact is, high levels of meat consumption is terrible for human society and the rest of the living world.
My doctor told me to think about a Walrus.... Walrus eat shellfish and stuff.... No "meat" in the sense that humans consider meat, and Walrus' have a significant amount of fat.... So he said to consider that if it is possibole for a Walrus to get fat eating shellfish then I needed to find the balance that works for me. It has been a year and a half that I have maintained my weight so for me I have found a balance. What I do not understand is why we have focused so much on beef. Living in the boonies things like rabbit, squirrel, possum, and other "critters" that the civilized world associates with rednecks and hillbillies are actually very good food. My Wellesley educated wife had never even tried rabbit stew until I prepared it for her one night... It is amazing what a little open mindedness can do.
Here is a dish I cooked last night. A vegetarians delight. Thinned out the turnips (the plants with the large leaves) in one of our square foot garden beds. Saute with spanish onions (from another plot) and darned store bought mushrooms and you get. One little baby step.
We LOVE turnip greens! Heck, any green... Kale, Chard, Mustard greens, Beet greens (bonus points if there are little beets attached!)... I even, once, accidently steamed some Arugula along with some chard... it turned out not too bad, though I would have preferred the Arugula raw, in a sandwich!
I installed my hand pump and water the little garden at least once a day. These turnip greens can be eaten right off the plant. Very sweet and crunchy. All organic...not vegan though. I use blood meal and bone meal. Recommend anyone who has 8 hours of sunshine and water plant at least one 4' X 4' square foot garden.
You are quite an example for a lot of us Jim. For those interested in creating their own food (gardens) here is a .pdf from the Texas Water Development Board on Rainwater Harvesting. If you are into audio formats here is a great audio cast at a Bioneers seminar talking about Watershed Literacy and some of the very interesting ways a group of people have reshaped their local area and yards to capture rainwater and feed their gardens with greywater. The file is 35.8MB and stored on a personal server so "right-click" and save might go faster.
Thanks F8L, Eliminating transportation, storage, production costs of food by producing your own should have a positive impact on the pocketbook, the environment and the soul. Active gardeners or folks who would like to give gardening a try may want to add the current printed edition of Mother Earth News to their reading lists. Two articles might be of particular interest; one on container gardening and another on an easy way to establish a garden.
Just stay away from the industrial ag meat. It's loaded with Omega 6 fatty acids and has no Omega 3 fatty acids. Farm raised fish is about the worst kinda meat you can eat! Grass fed beef is almost assuredly much healthier (I think we've discussed that before in this forum) and is reported by several folks here to taste WAY better. The problem is, as F8L, points out that it's not a scalable solution (unless we started eating each other). You're absolutely right that limiting carbs will result in weight loss. It's been shown (but not widely reported) that highly refined carbs are the major contributor to the obesity epidemic, the Type 2 diabetes epidemic, etc. Eating a very high fat diet (and a decent amount of protein) will not make you fat. The problem is that meat is very energy intensive, so with 6+ billion folks all wanting to have a go it's not gonna work. Second, the fact that so much of our meat is produced in an industrial setting means that there are health risks associated with it (namely, the complete lack of Omega 3 fatty acids). So eating a high meat diet will basically "crack your pipes" (this is exactly how Dr Atkins died). The trick is to eliminate the refined carbs. A vegan diet can do that, but you have to be careful. No pasta. Eat lots of nuts (good fat intake so you feel sated) and other things that have a lot of protein and not so many carbs. The green veggies are quite safe, they're generally only about 5% carbs. Potatoes and the like should be avoided. Mashing them makes it worse. If only we could all live like the Innuit. They're diet consists of NO veggies at all. It's all meat, and they don't get scurvy. Why? Because their insulin levels are very low. Insulin leaches Vitamin C out of your body. Crazy huh? Sadly though (well, sadly for some of us anyways), we can't all live like that so my goal is to find a sustainable way lowering my environmental impact, saving money, and improving my health. I'm working towards a vegan diet because I want to see if it'll help my RA. If I'm rid of it there ain't a steak in the world that is worth it.
