Turning Over A New Leaf

I've always been pretty good about making sure that Dax and I eat healthy foods. I don't usually buy chips, unless Dax makes a special request for tortilla chips. I buy 100% whole wheat bread, wheat bagels, and even use whole wheat flour to meet half the flour requirement in most recipes. We eat lots of fruits and are pretty good about getting our vegetables in. I pride myself on how "healthy" my cart looks when I go to the grocery store (except for weeks when I buy Dax's "must have" frozen pizzas for Sunday dinner). All in all, I haven't felt like a failure when it comes to eating healthy foods.

However, one thing that I've always struggled with is MEAT. When we were first married and I tried cutting the meat in half in most recipes (mainly to save money at first, and then because I didn't want to eat too much meat)Dax freaked out and said that he needed more meat. Over time he has given in to my ways. :) However, every time I read in the scriptures about how meat is to be used sparingly, in times of winter and famine, I get the feeling that we eat too much meat. Not only that, lots of meat increases the risk of several diseases. So I've decided to find recipes that meet our protein requirements while cutting out some meat. I've found that lentils and many types of beans are fiber and protein POWERHOUSES. With that said, I'm only letting Dax and I have meat in meals a couple of times a week from now on. Also, for one week in March I am going to go an entire week without making something with meat in it! I haven't told Dax that yet...wish me luck on that tonight. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE meat. However, I feel good about cutting back on the amounts that Dax and I consume. The benefits of meat (protein, iron, etc) can be found in other good sources like milk, eggs, veggies, beans, etc.

Other changes I've recently made are that I now buy brown rice and whole wheat tortillas. I really enjoy the taste of them. The only downsides are that brown rice takes a little more preparation time (it takes like 40 minutes to cook) and that it is a little more expensive to buy whole wheat over cheap white. However, I figure if it keeps us healthy throughout our lives it will be worth it in the long run.

Wish us luck! Let me know if you have any good recipes that don't include meat.