I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger..once a week?
It appears that I have gotten myself into a bit of a spot. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled when something I write reverberates with a reader. It’s just that this time, some of my readers have taken a suggestion I made a little too seriously.
Make that one reader in particular: my husband.
Seems he’s gone whole hog (pun intended) on this concept of dragging our family onto the meat-free bandwagon. Damn. Talk about your selective reading. What happened? Did he miss the part about the climate change chocolate bars? Ten years of marriage and he still can’t sort through my pretty-sounding rhetoric to get at the solid (dark, chocolate) core of my argument?
Perhaps he’s forgotten about the youngest in our household? Our little bacon-loving fiend will not take lightly to his proposed plan. Which, by the way, I think he’s calling Let Them Eat Tofu.
Ironically, I’m pondering his plan as I type away here at the kitchen table, draped in the aroma of Asian BBQ ribs that is wafting out from our crock-pot. I don’t care what you say — no matter how long I steep the broccoli, it will never smell this good.
But I know, it’s bigger than that. It’s one thing to have a quiet little tug-o-war with my conscience over doing right by my body. But when it’s out here in the open, and the balance of our planet is at stake? Well, that makes it a little harder to garner support for the id side of my rope. (That’s the side that’s whining over the prospect of missing a tasty burger, not to mention the overwhelming challenge of coming up with week after week of meat-free dinners when I’m already maxed-out over what to feed my group every single day.)
That’s it, actually. I despise the never-ending ritual of figuring out what to eat for dinner. Taking the meat out of the meals makes that task all the more daunting. It’s intimidating….intimidating, yes, but wait a minute. Surely this is not impossible for a multi-tasking, masters-degree wielding mama like myself. What if I were to just tackle that bull broccoli by the horns right here, right now? It only follows that my food-figuring fears will be put to rest.
Here it is then. A sample week in the life of the Let Them Eat Tofu meal plan:
- Day One: Spinach Lasagna. So far so good. I love spinach lasagna. This is going to be a snap.
- Day Two: Eggplant Parmesan. Tastes like chicken, right?
- Day Three: Pancakes. Meat-free recipe. No additional trip to the store. Everyone’s a winner.
- Day Four: Um. Hmm… Cake! Cake for dinner. Cake contains exactly no meat.
- Day Five: Let them eat cake! Again! This is not bad at all. What was I worried about?
- Day Six: Pass the syrup, pancake night is here again.
- Day Seven: On the seventh day, I rest. Someone please order take-out.
Truth be told I didn’t review this menu with Dave before I posted it. Just in case he finds fault with my weekly plan, maybe I can get him on board with meat as an occasional treat, presuming we go for the good stuff, locally raised, grass fed meat. It is a bit more pricey, but since we’ll only be eating it during the harvest moon and on alternative leap years, it’s well worth the splurge. Locally raised means a smaller carbon hoof-print for the earth, and grass fed beef is loads healthier for us people too. It’s lower in fat and higher in omega 3, among other benefits. Let’s see what Mr. No-need-for-chocolate-if-we-skip-the-meat has to say about that.
Speaking of chocolate, I’m still waiting for my climate change bars to come in. Which means I’m back to figuring out what on earth to make for dinner tonight.
I think you know where I stand. Let them eat cake.
10 Replies to “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger..once a week?”
Comments are closed.
Ok eating meatless is not that hard, I promise. You can even hide beans or tofu in sauce and put it over pasta if the girls object to eating it in plain sight. Just think soups with beans, veggie burgers with sliced avacado, pasta with edamami. Evan often has a side of nuts with his veggies at dinner. Can you tell yet that I am a fan of the meatless meals? We still have brisket at the holidays or on a cold day but it is always organic. We eat organic chicken about once a week. It works for us. Are eggs ok?
Where you making the Asian Short Ribs from the Real Simple recipe? I made them a couple of weeks ago and they were amazing. Both of my kids loved them too, much to my pleasant surprise. As for the going meatless thing, we’re obviously nowhere near that point yet (see, Asian Short Ribs, above) but I have been slowly adding more and more meatless meals each month, and I think it is getting easier. Once your garden starts cranking out the fresh veggies this summer you’ll be on a roll.
Grass-fed is the way to go 🙂 We only do meat once a week, but we usually buy it from a local farm or at the farmers market. I bet you’d have an easier time in CO finding local, grass-fed meat. It’s actually not even that much more expensive: usually about $.20 more per pound.
I usually don’t eat meat more than once or twice a day, at least, not meat from the same (exact) animal. But if I understand you correctly, that is okay as long as I balance it out with chocolate, which I do, once or twice a day. I never eat meat between breakfast and lunch either, so that helps. I also eat pancakes to balance it all out. Thanks Daph!
How about a locally raised goat slaughtered by my Iranian neighbors, only after we heard his innocent bleating for a number of days whilst they fattened him up? Seems minimally impactful and fairly healthy doesn’t it?
We do a lot of meatless eating at our house. Eggs are always a favorite. What about lentils? Squashes? Big ol’ salads? Tuna? Can’t wait to hear more about the chocolate bars though. 🙂
I don’t eat a ton of meat but I would have a very hard time giving it up.
Did you see the Planet Green special on the methane gas put into the atmosphere by the farting cows raised for meat across the globe? They said even cutting one day a week and going meatless that day would make a huge dent in our carbon footprint!
I have biology class residual issues with pork, and think fish smells bad, so that only leaves chicken and turkey and occasionally red meat for us. We’re meatless or boca meat about half the week as a result. That doesn’t even stem from the environmental issues… just picky eaters!
How ’bout something so simple you don’t even need a recipe? Black bean enchiladas. Saute a can of black beans with zucchini and corn with some salt, cumin and chili powder. Roll in tortillas with cheese (Jack, cheddar, or some combinaion). Cover with enchilada sauce. Bake til bubbly!
Or, our family favorite – Tofu Tacos! (no explanation needed)
I bet, between all your legions of fans, you could put together a month’s worth of meatless meals in a snap!
Tofu is good but so are hamburgers. I gave up meat for 12 years but not so sure about doing that now. Great post!