Money Saving Tip of the Week - Meatless Meals

I'm a big fan of eating meatless meals. My daughter and I haven't had a hamburger for over two years since watching the movie "Fast Food Nation". That was a personal choice motivated by the mistreatment of animals shown in the movie, the horrible pollution of land and water caused by factory farms as well as not wanting to take the chance of being served a helping of sh-t mixed with the hamburger.

Since then I've been hearing much more about the benefits of eating less meat. On March 29th headlines were made when the results of a ten year study by National Cancer Institute researcher Rashmi Sinha were released proclaiming a shorter lifespan for men and women who eat red meat and processed meat.

Also, it was shown that those people who ate the most white meat (turkey, chicken and fish) were about 8% less likely less likely to die than those who ate the least white meat. So not only is red meat BAD for you but white meat is GOOD for you!

Living a loooooong life after I retire is a crucial part of my Five Year Plan - I want to suck that teacher's pension plan dry! Hee hee. I don't eat much meat but when I do it's only chicken, turkey or fish. So far this week I've had chicken 3 times: homemade chicken caesar salad, lemon chicken and rice and leftover chicken pieces in my homemade soup. I have supplemented my diet with kidney beans, yogurt and cheese (as in my Hot n' Ready cheese pizza tonight to celebrate the long weekend - hey I'm not perfect)!

Tami, a reader who works over at www.MeatlessMonday.com wrote the following in a recent comment:

"Meatless meals can cut a lot of time off of cooking and prep, plus cutting back on meat is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your health. Did you know that meat consumption has been linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain types of cancer?"

Well yes, yes I did, and I'll be over to your website for more meatless menu ideas. Meatless meals are indeed faster to prepare (Black Bean Burritos, for example).

And last but not least meatless meals are CHEAPER to prepare. Since I've been eating at least 4 meatless suppers per week my grocery bill has been substantially reduced. So if I'm counting correctly that's a WIN WIN WIN WIN situation! Hey, I'm down with that! (or up?)