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May, 2006 Issue:
Page 1
Newsletter
Future Fun Stuff
Cool Links
Gabrielle's Grab Bag
Page 2
Book Review
Poetry Corner
Math Challenge
*Page 3*
Science: Why Go Veggie?
Recipes
p.3
Non-meat foods are very good for you. Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes (beans and peas), and nuts supply most of the vitamins and minerals you need every day. With the addition of milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs or soy products, you can get everything you need, including protein! Scientific research has shown that, unlike meat, vegetarian foods don't have the extra fat or cholesteral that contribute to being overweight, heart disease, cancer or other illnesses. Fast foods are particularly bad for your health. According to the book Chew On This by Eric Schlosser, each fast food burger has meat from thousands of cows! Hamburgers and other foods at fast food restaurants are loaded with fats and cholesterol. Staying healthy can also help save money on health care costs. A study in 1995, published in Preventive Medicine, looked at the health care costs of eating meat. The study found that the total direct medical costs in the U.S. attributable to meat consumption was approximately $30 - 60 billion a year! This was almost the same as the health care costs attributable to smoking, which was about $60 - 65 billion per year!
Along with the cost to your health, the production of meat is costly for the environment. Everyone knows that our fresh water supply is limited, so we have to be careful about how we use it. Livestock production in the United States uses more than half of all the water used anywhere, for any reason in the U.S. in one year! Did you know that it takes 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of water for every pound of beef that is produced? It takes only 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat! That means that with the water used to produce one pound of beef, you could produce 120 to 200 pounds of wheat! One pound of beef can be used in one meal for a family of four, but 120 pounds of wheat could make enough pasta to give a family of four 120 meals!!
Here are some other water requirements according to Soil and Water Specialists, University of California Agricultural Extension, working with livestock farm advisors.
1 pound of tomatoes
1 pound of potatoes
1 pound of wheat
1 pound of carrots
1 pound of apples
1 pound of chicken
1 pound of pork
1 pound of beef
23 gallons
24 gallons
25 gallons
33 gallons
49 gallons
815 gallons
1,630 gallons
5,214 gallons
Using up precious water isn't the only way the meat production hurts the environment. Meat manufacturing also adds to the pollutants that contribute to global warming. For every one pound of beef that is processed, the company produces the same amount of carbon dioxide that a car would produce if you drove it non-stop for three weeks! That's over 500 hours of driving!
The production of meat is also partly responsible for the destruction of some of the earth's improtant habitats and ecosystems. Tropical rain forsts occupy just 6 - 7% of hte planet's surface, but they have more than half of the species of plants and animals on earth! Scientists estimate that in the 1990's, tropical rain forests were being destroyed at a rate of 70 acres a minute! That's 35 million acres a year - about the size of the state of Wisconsin! Besides logging, the raising of cattle for meat accounted for much of the rain forest destruction. In 1993 and 1994, over 400 million pounds of beef were imported from Central American countries where they cleared rainforests just to make pastures to raise beef. Much of this beef goes into the Fast food industry or into processed meat products.
Finally, there are still many people in this world who are malnourished or undernourished. Right now, 70% of all the grain grown in the U.S. is fed to livestock. It's even higher for some grains: 80% of all the corn and 95% of all the oats grown in the U.S. are fed to livestock. Of all the grain we grow and export, 2/3 of what we export is sold to feed livestock rather than hungry people. When land in developing countries is used to produce livestock, less land is available for small farmers and peasant farmers. That means less food is available to the poor in those countries because they cannot afford the meat being grown right in their own country.
All these facts support the idea that eating vegetarian is healthier for you and our planet. So, what can you do? Do you have to give up meat all together? You can see that even by starting small and eliminating some meat from your weekly diet, you can begin to make yourself and the planet healthier. Try to start out adding just one vegetarian meal to your week. You don't have to try anything really fancy or exotic. You may like it so much that you add more vegetarian meals to your schedule.
Here are some easy, delicious vegetarian recipes to help get you started. Each one is enough to serve a family of four, but they can easily be doubled to make more. Give one a try!
Believe it or not, this is one of Gabrielle and my favorite foods! It's quick and simple to make.
Ingredients:
2Tbs. olive oil
1 med. onion - chopped
1 lb. fresh spinach, washed and chopped; or 1-10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable broth (You can buy it in a can or in a bouillion cube)
1/4 c. shredded parmesian cheese
Put the oil in a medium saucepan and heat on medium. Then add the onion and saute until soft - don't let the onion turn brown. Add the spinach, milk and broth and cook until the spinach is soft. This only takes about 5 minutes. Then put all of this in a blender or food processor and blend until it is smooth. Place it back in the sauce pot, add the parmesian cheese and stir and warm the sauce until the cheese melts.
This makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta. It is easy to double the recipe if you make more pasta. We usually use rotelle/rotini or small shell pasta because it holds the sauce well. We have it with french bread and a tomato or carrot salad. It is really good!
Here's another easy recipe that can be made in a hurry and is very tasty!
Ingredients:
1tbs. olive oil
1 green or red pepper, chopped(optional)
1/2 onion, chopped (optional)
1/4 tsp. chili powder (optional)
1 can vegetarian or fat free refried beans
1 can black beans, drained
1/4 c. of your favorite salsa
1/2 c. corn kernels (frozen, canned or fresh)
1/2 lb. grated cheddar cheese
Heat the oil in a large sauce pot on medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and chili powder, if you are using them. Saute until soft (only about 5 minutes.) Add the refried beans and black beans and stir well. Add the 1/4 c. salsa and the corn. You might need to turn the heat down lower and keep stirring often. You can add the grated cheese at the end and mix it in to help it melt or you can serve it on the side for everyone to add as they like.
Serve this bean mixture on soft tortillas, soft tacos or hard taco shells. You can use any of the following to add into the burrito or taco:
Add ins:
chopped/shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
sliced avocado
cooked white or brown rice
sour cream
more salsa or hot sauce
This soup takes about 30 - 40 minutes to cook, but it is very easy to get ready. Just dump all the ingredients into the soup pot and you get a very well balanced meal.
Ingredients:
1tbs. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
chopped vegetables: (we usually use this combination, but you can add more of your favorite or eliminate vegetables you don't like, just so you get about 2 cups chopped vegetables total)
2 celery
2 carrots
1 green pepper
1 small onion
1 zucchini
7 cups vegetable broth (You can use the cans or the vegetable bouillion and water. If you use the bouillion and water, you don't even have to make it ahead. Just use 7 cups of water and the right amount of bouillion and add it all to the pot. It will mix in there!)
2 cups canned diced tomatoes - with the juice!
1 cup dried lentils - you can use brown or red lentils, whatever you can find at the store
4 oz of spaghetti, broken into 2 - 3 inch pieces
1 - 10oz box frozen spinach - let it thaw while you are making everything
2 - 3 Tbs. Grated parmesan cheese
In a soup pot, warm the oil on medium heat and add the garlic and the 2 cups of chopped fresh vegetables you choose. Stir often for about 4 or 5 minutes until they begin to get a little soft. Then add the vegetable broth(or water & boullion) and the tomatoes. Bring the whole thing to a boil.
When it begins to boil, turn the heat to low and add the lentils. Let this all simmer on low for about 20 - 25 minutes. You can partially cover the soup pot. After 25 minutes, add the thawed spinach and the spaghetti noodles. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes or until the spaghetti has cooked. You can sprinkle parmesan cheese on the top of your bowl of soup. Serve some nice bread with this. This is a very thick, tasty soup that is full of vitamins!
Don't let the name fool you. This is not a "hot" spicy dish - it just means that the chickpeas have some good spices added to make this very flavorful. If you really don't like curry, you can eliminate it, but it is not very strong and you just might like it!
Ingredients:
Couscous - Make enough for 4 - 6 servings, following the directions on the package.
For the spicy chickpeas:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped small
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper powder
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. curry powder
1 - 15 oz. (or 15.5oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) (We use 2 cans for our family)
1 - 8oz. can of tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
Optional: You can also add either 2 small potatoes cubed (or a can of new potatoes, cut into chunks) or 1-10oz. box of frozen spinach, thawed, to the spicy chick peas.
You can make the couscous first and just let it sit in its pot, or you can make it at the end, if you want it to be very warm.
To make the chickpeas:
In a large fry pan or wok, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion and saute for a minute or two, then add the garlic and all the spices. Stir frequently. If you are using the potatoes, you should also add them at this time. You might need to add a little more olive oil, and you will have to stir more to keep the potatoes from sticking to the pan. After about 7 minutes, add the chickpeas and the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir well and lower the heat to low. If you are using spinach, add the thawed spinach now as well. Cook until everything is warmed, softened and mixed well. Serve on top of the couscous. If you serve this with a nice salad, it makes a great meal.
Books we have at our house:
New Vegetarian Cuisine by Linda Rosensweig, Rodale Press - This has some great and easy veggie meals.
Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals: Veggie Meals by Rachel Ray, Lake Isle Press.
The New Not-Strictly Vegetarian Cookbook, by Lois Dribin & Susan Ivankovich, Penguin Books.
Links to recipes:
Easy Veggie Chili
Meatless Pasta Dishes
There's a lot on the internet, just search for "Easy vegetarian recipes"