Omnivore no more?

I always kinda knew that the day would come when I would reduce my meat consumption. This might come as a surprise to those who knew me when, as a practical joke, I hung up a shower curtain decorated with T-bones in a vegetarian friend’s apartment.

I can’t say I’m going vegetarian, because, really, I’m simply leaning in the direction of vegetarian. For the time being, I have decided to reduce my weekly meat intake. The catalyst for this decision was the realization that these guitar lessons that I love so much are very costly and I need to trim other parts of my life to compensate. This realization coupled with this article that had been festering in my brain for the past few months made me realize that through bulk purchases and careful planning I could greatly reduce my grocery costs while maintaining an enjoyable healthy diet.

I’m not cutting meat out completely as this isn’t a decision based on principles. At Thanksgiving I’ll enjoy the turkey, if a recipe calls for chicken broth I won’t avoid it, and if I have a huge hankering for meatloaf I’ll indulge, but I probably won’t keep meat as a standard item on my weekly grocery list.

So far this week I’ve eaten really well. Some of the meals have been: vegetable curry with rice, roasted squash and apple soup, tomato pie, and last night I made a black bean and sweet potato chili. It’s been delicious. If any of you have recommendations for affordable vegetarian meals, please feel free to leave a comment.

13 thoughts on “Omnivore no more?

  • 11/5/2009 at 10:33 am
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    What about when you wrote in permanant marker on a vegetarian roomates squash “I wish I were bacon” or the carrot “I taste great with Steak”

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  • 11/5/2009 at 12:10 pm
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    Sir, i’m going to have to ask you to turn in your FAT FACE bracelet.

    And, no, its not a surprise to me being that you didn’t use to buy CHEESE when i first moved into the House of Rock.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 12:39 pm
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    ONCE A MEMBER ALWAYS A MEMBER.

    but yeah, I still avoid cheese unless I have a specific dinner plan that requires it.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 12:58 pm
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    For every animal you don’t eat I will eat 3.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 1:03 pm
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    Interestingly, this is the exact same deal I made with Rick. So you will have to cover both of us… so maybe 5 extra meat servings per meal?

    I think you could do it.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 1:35 pm
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    Make sure you add a nice protein source like legumes. They are full of good healthy stuff and easy to toss into things – even salad!

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  • 11/5/2009 at 1:48 pm
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    Also…a good source of protein is Beef and Pork products.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 5:04 pm
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    I tried going vegetarian at one point in college and did ample bean supplementation to make up for the lost protein, but I still felt lethargic and even passed out at one point. Apparently an Estonian metabolism requires daily red meat intake. I hope you fair better. I’ll continue to eat bratwurst and bacon daily.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 7:28 pm
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    Dude – I hate to break this to you, but you might be the cheapest person on earth. You live in a closet, drive a junky car, make just about everything you need, never eat out, and now you are considering cutting out meat because chicken costs 2$/POUND? But most of that is just my distaste for everything you described in your post that involved way too many vegetables.
    In light of your vigor, here are some serious suggestions:
    1. Stop eating so much! 12 meals a day adds up no matter what’s on your plate.
    2. Rustle up your own meat! Start hunting and fishing. Also, you’d be surpised how many wild, delicious animals will wander in front of your car.
    3. Not all meat is expensive. Find a local butcher, and I bet you can get a solid 20-30 pounds of liver, kidneys and chitlins for like 5$.
    4. Steal food from Kurt! He’s so busy stuffing his face, he probably won’t even notice.

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  • 11/5/2009 at 8:38 pm
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    1. agreed
    2. raccoon and squirrel stew is delicious
    3. butchers are awesome
    4. totally agreed

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  • 11/6/2009 at 9:52 am
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    Well, this takes me back. Pretty decent likeness of my old shower curtain. Welcome to the fold, my friend. Kurt, I think you have to eat about a bison a day to compensate, so get a-rustlin’. Mike, in seriousness, if you’re look for recipes (although it sounds like you might already have a good source) i use 101cookbooks.com pretty regularly. Something to remember: french fries are still vegetarian, but they still aren’t dinner. Don’t make the same mistakes I made.

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  • 11/6/2009 at 2:07 pm
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    I’ll have to troll through the recipes Tom and I have typed up to see what we can find and email to you. I can’t remember do you do the library thing? I always like checking out cookbooks from the library to try them about before we commit to a new cookbook. We love some of Molly Katzen’s and the Moosewood cookbooks, but you do have to be careful with recipe selection, there are awesome recipes in the books but some really awfull ones too. And please promise if you get a Molly Katzen cookbook that you will NEVER make one of her deserts.

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