Meatless meals

Meat free day - an interesting concept. However I very rearely hear of a vegetable free day, a fruit free day, a tea / coffee free day. Unless you live on a raw beefsteak diet completely what harm does the meat actually do you ? I mean in realistic quantities ? Why go meat free ?
You have decided to be vegetarian or vegan and fine I can accept [although I admit not really understand] that - each to his/her own, but for a day ?
 
I prepare meatless meals for my family all the time. I usually use cocnut milk in most of the recipes in order to give it more flavor. My family's favorites are usually the vegetables steamed in coconut milk, vege chunks stew and red beans stew with dumplins
 
sidevalve said:
Meat free day - an interesting concept. However I very rearely hear of a vegetable free day, a fruit free day, a tea / coffee free day. Unless you live on a raw beefsteak diet completely what harm does the meat actually do you ? I mean in realistic quantities ? Why go meat free ?
You have decided to be vegetarian or vegan and fine I can accept [although I admit not really understand] that - each to his/her own, but for a day ?
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I think you have missed the point completely of meat free Mondays. The point is not to become vegetarian or vegan, but to help reduce one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas production on the planet. By reducing the amount of meat the western population consume,

http://www.meatfreemondays.com/

Help our beautiful planet
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the livestock sector is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global”. The FAO estimates that livestock production is responsible for 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while other organisations have estimated it could be as much as 51 per cent. World scientists on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agree that we need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 80 per cent by 2050 in order to avoid catastrophic climate change
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As for
sidevalve said:
However I very rearely hear of a vegetable free day, a fruit free day, a tea / coffee free day
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It would seem that there is very little need to actually try for a vegetable or fruit free day, especially amongst our younger generation!
Far from eating the recommended five portions of fruits or vegetables a day, a new survey has revealed that half of all British children between the ages of 7 and 12 eat … none
In the survey, carried out for Newsround, the BBC youth news programme, 1,432 boys and girls across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England were asked about their dietary habits.
52 per cent of those polled said they eat no vegetables on a daily basis, and 44 per cent said they eat no fruit on a daily basis.
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Sadly (?) I have not been able to find a link to that survey though.

http://www.meatfreemondays.com/news/half-7-12-year-olds-eat-fruit-veg-daily-basis/
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
It would seem that there is very little need to actually try for a vegetable or fruit free day, especially amongst our younger generation!

Sadly (?) I have not been able to find a link to that survey though.

http://www.meatfreemondays.com/news/half-7-12-year-olds-eat-fruit-veg-daily-basis/
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Its very strange, I always think, that kids don't like vegetables. After all, if you have ever weaned a baby, you realise that they prefer vegetables and fruit to meat or fish - bit it has to be said that most of all they prefer the sweeter vegetables and fruit. My Dad used to grow loads of veg and as we weren't well off, we had a lot of meat-free days. I loved all vegetables (and still do). I was a vegetarian from the age of 11 to early twenties for ethical reasons but lapsed when travelling on the road with a pop band. Roadside cafes are not very big on vegetarian food...
 
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morning glory said:
Its very strange, I always think, that kids don't like vegetables. After all, if you have ever weaned a baby, you realise that they prefer vegetables and fruit to meat or fish - bit it has to be said that most of all they prefer the sweeter vegetables and fruit. My Dad used to grow loads of veg and as we weren't well off, we had a lot of meat-free days. I loved all vegetables (and still do). I was a vegetarian from the age of 11 to early twenties for ethical reasons but lapsed when travelling on the road with a pop band. Roadside cafes are not very big on vegetarian food...
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I raised my brother and sister and I have to say there were few if any issues with vegetables. Even sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower was fought over at the table. They loved them. My brother has since gone on to be a chef. My sister was vegetarian from the age of 6-7 by her own choice until her mid-twenties. Neither of them ever batted an eye lid over me serving them sprouts or cauliflower (usually grilled with a touch of cheese over them). The only time they ever tried to complain was on one occasion with some homemade tomato soup. I had a rule that they had to have tried it before I told them what was in it. Ironically the green bread (nettle bread) which was served with the tomato soup was not a problem! In the end, they both ate the soup and came back for seconds, but they did try it on for the sake of it that day.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I think you have missed the point completely of meat free Mondays. The point is not to become vegetarian or vegan, but to help reduce one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas production on the planet. By reducing the amount of meat the western population consume,
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Not really - all the greenhouse gas the western world produces is dwarfed by the amount released in one volcanic eruption [of which there are a surprising number] and the amout saved by a meatless day is insignificant. I did not say it was to encourage vegetarianism but simply compared the facts that there were no loudly trumpeted fruit or vegetable free days - coments about the consumption of vegetables by the young are quite irrelevant. On this forum we have heard that fruit is bad for the teeth so why not give that a miss too ?
An excess of any type of food is bad, greenhouse gas or not, even more thousands of acres of monoculture plants [as would be required if we were to cut down significantly on meat intake] would cause considerable problems of their own. We live in a very fortunate position where we can choose what we eat and children can be fed on any diet their parents decide, any shortfall being made up with the massive variation in available food types [for which other areas of the world often suffer] and even supplements.. I can still remember [just] the effects of poor diet - lack of protien, vitamins etc on growing children and the deformities this caused. To ask for a meat free day simply to salve the consience about either global warming [we'll skip that one] or any other reason is just a half hearted attempt IMHO to be 'with it'.
As I said if you choose to be vegetarian or vegan and you have a genuine reason [not the 'oh I couldn't eat a fluffy bunny etc rubbish] then that is your choice and I respect it but one day achieves nothing. The cows / sheep / pigs will still be there for the other six days of the week and the amount of meat actually saved will be infinitesimal.
 
I see nothing wrong with having meat free days. However, this hardly ever happens in my household. Somehow I feel that a meal is not complete without the meat or fish. I think it is because I have grown so accustomed to having meat with my meals, that I think it must always be there. However, with the price of meat and fish being so high in my country, a few meat free days here and there would not be a bad idea. We could substitute more peas to get the protein content in our meal. Doing this once a week is a good idea and something worthwhile considering.

I have often heard that too much red meat is not healthy and contributes to raising one's blood pressure. Eating more white meat like chicken, turkey, pork and fish, would be better, but skipping on any kind of meat for a day or even 2 days during the week,can do no harm, especially if we have been eating it constantly over the years.
 
Caribbean girl said:
We could substitute more peas to get the protein content in our meal.
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You will find that your bodies can handle less protein than normal without issue. It is sustained low protein levels that are an issue. Missing out, or having less for a single meal (and I reading this correctly your have meat for every meal every day?) or day really will not cause a problem. Whilst the human body can not store protein, it can if it needs more break down muscle to obtain the essential amino acids needed to create protein, so you are not going to 'run out' of protein in your body by missing meat from a single meal/day.
 
My husband and I have been doing meat free Mondays for a little while now. It's both helpful for the budget and our health.

He's a pretty big meat eater - especially red meat which isn't so fab for his health...so introducing this has been good for us. He's actually enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, too.

We've made a lot of delicious veggie based curries, ratatouille, stir fries, vegetarian lasagna and vegetarian based pastas (grilled veggies and tomato based sauce - delish!), soups, the list goes on.

I don't actually think it's all that restrictive, honestly!
 
It is absolutely necessary that we have protein in our diet and some of the best ways to replace meats is by using beans. One of my favorite vegetarian meals (although I am not a vegetarian) is a chili dish. Chili can especially be good for you if you include a lot of veggies and season them with garlic and parsley instead of salt. The chipotle sauce allows for a hot kick.
 
I have a meat-free day every day and have done for the past 35 years, so I'm getting the hang of it. There are parts of the world where meat is not eaten on certain days. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, for example, there are two days of the week where people eat "fasting food," whereby no meat is eaten on those days.
 
Duck59 said:
I have a meat-free day every day and have done for the past 35 years, so I'm getting the hang of it. There are parts of the world where meat is not eaten on certain days. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, for example, there are two days of the week where people eat "fasting food," whereby no meat is eaten on those days.
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What do you mean meat-free day everyday? You do not eat meat and has not eaten meat for 35 years? I have heard of fasting food because we have here the Lenten season that is a time for fasting and abstinence. During that period, Catholics like me do not eat meat and just persevere with fish dishes and vegetable dishes. That is one week in a year of fasting. Our fasting food is usually broiled fish or sauced fish in tomato sauce or soy sauce.
 
Corzhens said:
What do you mean meat-free day everyday? You do not eat meat and has not eaten meat for 35 years? I have heard of fasting food because we have here the Lenten season that is a time for fasting and abstinence. During that period, Catholics like me do not eat meat and just persevere with fish dishes and vegetable dishes. That is one week in a year of fasting. Our fasting food is usually broiled fish or sauced fish in tomato sauce or soy sauce.
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@Duck59 is a vegetarian! I wouldn't have a problem with fasting by feasting on fish! Sounds like my kind of abstinence...
 
We are not vegetarians but regualrly have meat free days- not even on purpose! Many of the meals we eat are vegetarian, just because we like them. My children would find a vegetable free day much harder as they all love fruit and vegetables. Having the odd meat free day does no harm whatsover. There are plenty of other sources of protein.
 
To each his own works for me most or all of the time and it works here as well. As for meatless a meatless day, I actually like to go for a meatless week, month or even year. I sill feel like it's the healthier choice, I just can get myself to pull it off. My husband baked some pork late last night. If I can make it through the day without picking at it I would be so proud of myself.
 
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