Mmmmmm....Meaty! (Beware this one features a rambling personal story!)

I recently had a friend ask for recipe ideas that fit the following criteria:

• fast
• easy
• common ingredients
• relatively cheap ingredients
• minimal ingredients

She also requested something with spinach and without onions, or a minimal amount. Her request also implied that she was also looking for recipes for complete meals that involve meat (preferably chicken, beef or turkey.)

Her request brought something to my attention. All of my recipes I've posted here so far have been vegetarian. But I did this with good reason:

1. You can always add meat to any of my recipes
2. To expose my readers to new ideas/ingredients/cooking methods
3. Because vegetarian meals are typically cheaper
   
4. To educate my readers on different ways to cook/prepare vegetables and healthy items that might otherwise be missing from their diet simply due to a lack of kitchen knowledge.
   
5. And finally, because I myself am a vegetarian. I like to post about what I make/have made to give my faithful readers a more hands-on explanation of what works and what doesn't rather than just spouting off recipes that may not even be good. Since 90% of what I make these days is vegetarian....

HOWEVER, contrary to what some might think, I know how to cook meat also, and actually enjoy doing so now and then. Despite my personal preferences, upon which I will soon elaborate, I am a registered dietitian. One aspect of our training is food science and food service. I have actually had labs on how to tenderize meat, for example. So even if I don't cook it on my own anymore, I do have the know how and a few recipes up my sleeve.

But back to me and my preferences. Because this is a blog afterall, I will now take a few liberties and share a bit more about me...not just to be vain, but so you, my readers, will get a better understanding of who I am and how my past/experiences affect my views on food and nutrition.

I wasn't always a vegetarian, ya know. But it has been an interesting culinary journey for me that began when I was about five....(insert the sounds Wayne and Garth make when going back in time)....

When I was very young I had a few experiences that had a lasting effect on my diet.

The first occurred while visiting my family in MI. I was sitting at the table with my grandfather and we were sharing some summer sausage. It was soooo good! After we'd been snacking for a few minutes, he smiled and said "you know you're eating Bambi, right?!?"

The second experience was at daycare. The place I went served soup and sandwich every day for lunch. Every day I had "oodles of noodles" aka ramen and a grilled cheese. But one day they were out of ramen and I had to eat beanie weanies. Even at that age, something about meat, especially processed meat, seemed odd to me. So I ate all the beans and picked out the weenies. But one weenie stuck to my spoon and made it to my mouth. When I wasn't expecting it the chewiness totally grossed me out. Plus it made all of the other kids at my table laugh at me....soooo embarrassing! ;)

Finally, a few years after these encounters, I had a wonderful dinner with my dad and my new stepmom. Can you sense the sarcasm? When they first married, my stepmom didn't really know how to cook. (She once made boiled okra that had the consistency of boogers.) So one night she made meatloaf. I didn't like meatloaf anyway, and I had not been eating much meat in general. But my dad pulled the dad card and made me at least try it. I ate a bite and within minutes had a violent reaction of projectile vomit. I don't know if it was the cooking (or lack of) or the taste of squashy meat, but it gave me a free pass to pass on the meat at the dinner table.

In high school I finally became an official "vegetarian." I use the quotation marks because at the time I really didn't eat like a true vegetarian. I didn't eat salad (later I realized this was because I didn't like dressing with mayo and didn't know there were other options), or any veggies other than canned items like green beans and corn. I ate lots of cereal, bread, pasta and potatoes.

I was a vegetarian for nearly 5 years. But it all ended in undergrad. One day I really wanted a chik-fil-a sandwich. So I ate one. After that, I had broken the seal and since it was soooo much easier to eat at the school cafeteria when I wasn't limited to vegetarian options, I didn't look back. Even before I went back to school for my degree in nutrition, I learned how to prepare steak, roast, and a myriad of meat-laden dishes, largely due to the help of foodie friends.

But at the same time, I started to try new vegetables and ethnic foods. I really expanded my horizons in a short period of time. And within only a few years, I completely changed the way I eat from the way I ate during the first 18 years of my life.

Then, once again, it all changed. During my graduate program I learned even more about how the food industry works. I learned about food processing. (I learned about issues I'll discuss later like organics and GMOs and food politics.) I tried to stay realistic about things. I tried to turn off the part of myself that was starting to regret eating meat that had been produced on factory farms. But then a professor showed us part of the movie Fast Food Nation. At the end they show in graphic detail the entire process of slaughtering a cow and making meat (as it occurs in our food industry.) I got sick and even cried a little. I realized that, for me personally, I just couldn't do it anymore. I didn't want to become a vehement vegetarian who scorned all who didn't share my views. And I didn't want to become difficult or limit myself to the point of being ridiculous. But I knew that from then on, unless with good reason, I could no longer eat meat.

It was, and remains, a personal choice.

I do intend to share my views on this blog, because part of my purpose is to share my knowledge and opinions on all matters of food and nutrition. And, frankly, most people don't have a darned clue what they are eating or what it took to get food to their plate. Nor do they realize that there are easily accessible alternatives out there, often that end up being more appealing for various reasons. I don't want to preach (although it may come to that sometimes). Instead, I want to raise awareness and provide an avenue for exploring options.

All of this being said, if there is one thing I know about nutrition and eating, it's that it's all a matter of personal preference and picking our battles. So to best serve my audience, I will happily share any of my knowledge, if it will help you in the grocery store, in the kitchen, or if it will help you with your waistline.

So please do not hesitate to ask me a question or make a request, even if you think it doesn't fit my usual scope of post topics.

Since this post is SOOOOOOOOOO long, I will wait until the next post to include a recipe that fits the criteria that started this whole shpeal.