Meat Free Mondays

A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to this movement and I thought it was a great idea. I honestly have no intention of becoming a vegetarian, but I am well aware that eating less meat is a good thing both for our bodies and for the world around us. Even just last week I had a few "meatless" days - not on purpose - it just happened.

So, I hadn't really planned any meals, but I needed to figure something out! For lunch, I had egg salad. I had to think about eating eggs -- was it really like eating meat? I decided no. That it wasn't. I know others may disagree - that they aren't vegetarian etc... but I looked at it this way. Eggs are a product of a hen. The hen is going to lay an egg regardless - they aren't fertilized eggs - so they aren't animals. She just churns out those eggs every 24 - 36 hours (I had to look up chicken eggs one day because I wanted to know the hows & whys. I do stuff like this I am odd.) So, I ate my egg salad. Very simple. Eggs, mayo (real mayo, none of this Miracle Whip stuff), a little fresh ground pepper, a little kosher salt. Voila! Served open face on wheat toast. I had some strawberries on the side too. What a yummy lunch.

Dinner, I turned to my old favorite. Risotto. But, since I was making this THE meal, it needed a little extra. I decided on roasted veggies. I didn't want steamed - I wanted roasted. I think roasting veggies brings out the sweetness. It allows the natural sugars to carmelize and get all delicious. I threw in some carrots, broccoli, zucchini and red peppers and let them cook up. I did start the carrots about 30 mins earlier since I knew they would take longer. Meanwhile, I made my traditional garlic parm risotto - I could seriously eat this stuff every day! After the risotto was done, I served it with the roasted veggies over it. I decided to cook the vegetables separately because I didn't want soft over cooked vegetables. The result was fantastic!

I had a great meat free Monday!