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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Beef or Bison : Meat Follow Up.

A friend asked me about the difference between using 90% lean ground beef versus "regular" ground beef.  The 90% is a great ground beef choice, but I want to challenge you who buy beef to think about switching to bison.  You might have to take a trip to whole foods or a special meat market to find it, but it would be so worth it to stock up and maybe even freeze some.  I have bought bison at Kroger next to the organic packaged ground beef, but it was pre-packaged.  There is something about the meat at whole foods that seems so much fresher!  Plus I kind of love supporting the movement!  Another point for bison that I made on my last blog entry is the more humane treatment of the animals.  So far, I know of no bison factories, like the cow factories that produce beef.  This means, the bison are free to roam and eat grass which is so much better for them and our environment.

I also want to challenge you all to decrease your meat consumption in general.  My new goal is to eat meat about 2-3 times per week.  This is so hard if you are married to a meat loving man, but so possible.  Just think bean soups, mexican bean pies, and lentils!  Did you know that lentils have 13 g of protein in 1/4 cup dry beans.  That is almost as much as a chicken breast.  Plus you get the benefits of all the fiber that fills you up!  Meat has zero fiber.  So you are left hungry and in need of that side of carbohydrate.  So cook up some beans or lentils for dinner instead of meat.  Save the meat for weekends and special times.

Also a quick thought on beans.  First, please look for the lowered sodium if you buy canned.  We get way too much sodium in our diets, it dehydrates us, then we feel even more hungry when we are really just thirsty.  Did you know that your body only needs 300mg of sodium/day to function!  However, we get around 2,000-5,000mg per day.  Dry beans do take a while to cook, but what I've started doing is cooking an entire bag at once.  Then I make a delicious beans and rice, carrots, celery soup, and have leftovers for a long time.  My husband loves this with a side of oven fresh cornbread!  I freeze the soup in tupper ware containers for later consumption.  For a quick and easy alternative, try lentils or split pea soup.  Throw some veggies in with whatever you are cooking.  They even have organic lentils and split peas in bags at Whole Foods. Buy some parsley and cook them in chicken broth for added flavor.

Take time to think about your food, where it comes from, who is profiting from it, and you will usually be better off health wise if you do.

1 comment:

  1. Can you give or lead me to some good bean soup recipes? I'd love to make a few and freeze them for when the baby is here.

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