Less Meat!

[dcb]

Originally Posted by NiHaoMike

No matter how you kill it, each deer hunted is one less hazard on the roads.

I'm not sure I follow. I was discussing cruelty. Do you mean to imply that cruelty does not matter as long as the roads are safer by some immeasurable degree if at all?

[bennelson]

To continue my quest of eating a little lower on the food-chain,
my wife and I joined a CSA - community supported agriculture.

In our case, it is a set cost to purchase a "share" of produce grown at a local farm. Essentially, it comes to a stuffed-full grocery bag of produce every week all summer. It will also include potatoes, and apples in the fall.

But a big part of it is that there isn't any meat in the bag. So what do we eat for dinner when we get a bag of Zucchini and Garlic Scapes? (edible stalk/flower of garlic)

Well, make something like this:

Zucchini Bake (Recipe from our friend Krista)

4 eggs (3 if using organic)
1/2 cup Vegi Oil
1C baking mix (Bisquick or similar)
Sliced Zucchini (as much as you like)
1/2 C cheese - Swiss is good

Mix everything together with an ELECTRIC MIXER.

Add anything else you like - peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc.

Seasoning optional: a little sea salt, onion, or garlic powder.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour in 9"x9" pan.


I added a little shredded cheddar cheese on top of the whole thing.



This is sort of a vegetable quickbread. It might also be good to make right in muffin tins and serve as a hot stuffed muffin. Another variation would be to substitute a bit of corn muffin mix for the regular baking mix

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Ben,

Looks and sounds great! All the organic CSA's around here have waiting lists. One that is not organic is available at a little over $500 for the season, and I suppose we should do it, because it is better than long distance and not organic... There is a "farmer's" market every Saturday in the summer and fall here in Maynard, and we go there often.

This is the year of the CSA, I think!

[Wonderboy]

Ah, pretty neat that other people are into this kind of stuff. I work at an organic farm and am a CSA member of another organic farm. Props. Perhaps we could have a CSA loot comparison/jealousy fest. I'll post pictures after this weekend's bounty .

[Christ]

I wish I could find a local CSA, but most of the farmers around here gave up years ago.

I guess it would depend on how far away I'd have to go to get my stuff if it was going to be worth it or not, but there are plenty of farmer's markets around, and they're always priced pretty well, even though sometimes what you get from them doesn't come locally... or even from this state.

PA has a FMNP (PA Farmer's Market Nutrition Program) for women/children who receive WIC benefits... they give you about $20 worth of $5 vouchers, which are non-refundable, etc... and expire November of whatever year they were issued in. $20 isn't much, but it helps the local and statewide farmers who still care to grow food crops instead of giving up like so many locally have.

[alohaspirit]

I always shop on sale or discounted/(almost)expired items


Besides the obvious money saving part my reasoning is lots of resources go into making these products and its better to buy the older almost-but-not-yet-expired items before theyre thrown away (thus making their production from birth to death a complete waste)

[Christ]

I (along with entire teams of "unknown" people) dumpster dive. It's not going to waste, trust me.

[Wonderboy]

Christ, I thought you lived farther away from here than Troy. Did you move? The awesomeness is starting to trickle down into pennsylvania. Not that Binghamton is all that great, but we have a couple of farmers markets, CSAs, and community gardens (which I'm involved with - I actually just finished making their website for anyone interested in giving constructive web design criticism). Scranton has a vegan restaurant now that sells awesome fake meat sandwiches, has some community gardens (I think). There's a tiny little hamlet between Binghamton and Scranton called Montrose that has a local food restaurant, a little healthfood store and a lively farmer's market. I never EVER would've expected a tiny little town like Montrose to have anything like this just a couple years ago. Word is getting out, and I'm sure it will get to where you are in due time. Oh yeah and this sunday, Susquehanna county PA is having a farm tour. I know for a fact there are way more farms than that, because I work at one, and see a few on the way. I'm vegan for the most part, but I have no problem sinking my teeth into some locally produced, humane, environmentally responsible Ardith Mae feta cheese.

Sorry if there are a lot of words - I'm really excited about this kind of stuff, maybe even more so than ecomodding.

[Christ]

Wonderboy -

Apparently, I forgot to tell you that I moved. LOL. I used to live down closer to HBG. We moved up here about 2 months ago, when my wife's mother kicked us out. We now live with her father, in a separate part of his house, so that we can keep my Son away from Cigarette smoke, and we can have some privacy.

I just came back from Owego several hours ago, after picking up (yet another) <$500 car. (2001 Saturn L200, check for a thread on it later).

I'd love to get involved in some form of a CSA, even though I'm not a veggie tarian... I still love veggies, and I don't NEED meat all the time, but I do enjoy a piece of meat once in awhile. After all, I have teeth specifically designed for consuming meat... (although if I have my way, they won't be real teeth here shortly).

If you have some information to share on a local (Binghamton is fine...) CSA, and price-to-join/responsibility information, I'd be interested in at least looking it over!

[robchalmers]

I noticed a few posts bake someone mentioned that people in france eat more meat, drink more and are still heathier than the average American. From my limited knowledge of the Land of the Free and that of the La Tricolore, I think its down to lifestyle alot of the time drive through a french town and you'll rarley see an advert for fast food, red bull is on the fringes of legality and they take huge enjoyment in the natural tastes of food. every meal is a social occasion there and in many European countries, something me as a Brit am envious of. Everything from the cooking to slowly eating and savouring the flavors. Don't get me wrong there are McD's/BK/KFC/Dominos and the Hut but they are less prominent. During my trips Stateside there is an abundance of what i would class as convience food very where you look. Didn't matter if I was in RI,MA,CA,TX there was always something on a bill board or a sign pointing to a store or drive through, tons of commercials on TV - I felt bombarded and this from a guy who likes his triple whopper with Bacon and Cheese!!! (speaking of which whats the deal with EVERYThing having cheese! breadsticks,chicken sanwiches - WTF man ). Just out of Curiousity when you sit down tonight watch a 1 hr long show and count how many ads are food related!! out of those how many are actually heath in the real scheme of things? its insane.All of that mixed in with the peronal freedom of the car and its not gonna help - in europe you see a lot more people walking or cycling for the most part, except maybe in MA,RI and SoCal where it has quite a european feel.

Other thing is portion control. in '07 when I was in CT I got two large meat feast pizzas for $12 and the guy didn't even blink when i collected them on my own and he asked if they were just for me - in fact he threw in a large pot of wedges! I've been out in Houston and got a steak - what arrived could have been back on its legs with the attentions of a good vet! it was HUGE and I only ordered the smallest one on the menu! how you guys who stay 'sustainable' and rural with your food sources do it are amazing - in just seven days in the States I went from 169 lbs (5'9") to 183 lbs and thats after doing a token gesture of 45mins cardio in the hotel gym on the 3 non - travelling nights.

Veg pasta bake:

Fry off half an onion, 2 sliced bell peppers,5 large mushroom, one rough chopped courgette (zuchinni??) in 1.5 table spoons of olive oil until vegs have car

Boil enough wholegrain pasta to 3/4 fill a 9"x4" pyrex dish

stir in a tin of peeled tin tomatoes, a pinch on basil and a crushed half clove of garlic into the frying veg.

mix pasta and veg/tomato mix together and spread out in the pyrex dish, sprinkle some swiss cheese on it and bake of 15 mins @ 410F

Serve with acouple of inch thick slices of granary bread