Eating Well

 

Research shows that vegetarians have lower BMIs, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduced risk for diabetes and certain cancers.  I personally don't want to go all the way to vegetarianism, because I do like to eat chicken, fish, and occasionally red meat.  Also, my children aren't big fans of legumes and we have nut allergies in the family, so it's important to me to feed animal based proteins to my kids.  However, I do think it's a great idea, for my own family and for my clients, to make an effort to work in some meatless meals a few times a week. 

 

Are you familiar with the Meatless Monday movement?  The goal of the initiative is "to help you reduce your meat consumption by 15% in order to improve your personal health and the health of the planet."  See http://www.meatlessmonday.com for more information and some great recipes to get you started.  Not ready to start with a whole day without meat?  Try one lunch or dinner.  I still recommend including lean protein, such as beans, nuts, lowfat dairy, or soy in each meal, so that your meatless meal isn't all carb. 

 

Here are a couple recipes that I love.  Aim for a meatless meal or two this week! 

 

You know I love Weelicious!  Here is one of my favorite easy recipes from Catherine McCord, and there are a lot more on http://www.weelicious.com:

Sun Dried Tomato Basil Hummus - I recommend spreading this hummus on a whole wheat tortilla, fill with kale or spinach and a little feta cheese and wrap it up.  Yum! 

 

A well-known, local dietitian and really great person in general, Dawn Jackson Blatner has written a book called The Flexitarian Diet.  The whole point of the book is being a "flexible vegetarian" by mostly eating plant-based foods, but allowing for meat/fish/poultry as well.  It's got some great recipes too, and this is one I love for lunch.  I actually toss in a few walnuts for some extra crunch (keep in mind that the nutritionals don't include this).  I double the recipe to make a couple meals.