Posts Tagged ‘beef’

We Bought a Cow

I can hardly believe Friday has already arrived. Weeks seem to fly by lately. We are already ten days in to December. Christmas Eve is two weeks from today. 2011 is only 22 days away. Baby B could join us in just a month’s short time. Which reminds me. I have some baby laundry to do and a hospital bag to start getting in order. You know. Just in case.

So, last night after my shopping extravaganza, I wrapped up all the gifts and then settled in for a nice evening. Peter grilled up some steaks for us from our cow.

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You heard me correctly. Our cow. Now, those of you who are vegan/vegetarian may be kind of put off by this, but Peter & I went in together with another couple to purchase the meat from a cow. We don’t mind red meat in this house. In fact, we have it one, maybe two, times each week with many of our other meals vegetarian based and an occasional dinner using chicken. That’s right. We mostly eat beef or vegetarian style.

We like our beef, but we don’t like the standard run of the mill stuff from the market. We would make a point to purchase the highest quality possible, which could get expensive when its at least $7/lb for ground. When we heard about having the option to purchase extremely local, grass-fed, hormone free, etc quality beef and have the chance to support a local family business, we went for it. It also helped our wallets. We received a large variety of steaks, cuts, and ground for less than $3/lb.

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It’s kind of disturbing to have that much meat in an extra deep freezer, but I don’t mind if it means better quality. Plus, that extra freezer we had to buy means more room to put frozen and ready to eat meals for after baby B. Or my Trader Joe shopping spree finds. Or holiday cookies. Or…dang, we should have bought a bigger storage freezer.

For the record, that meat was yummy. And for the record, I’m going to miss Glee while it has reruns. I finally watched the Christmas special last night and loved it. Although didn’t really care for the rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. That’s my favorite Christmas song (along with Silent Night). I don’t mind the two guy thing – c’mon, I have a gay brother (pretty sure you knew that) – but it just sounded off. I love the one from Elf. Wow. That was a tangent. Getting to my point - I had fun watching Glee…eating a delicious steak and broccoli dinner…and now listening to the Glee version on Youtube on repeat because M wants to hear it over and over. Happy Friday!

  • What types of things are you picky about with the quality of your food? I’m most particular about where meat comes from. I also prefer to purchase things like spinach and apples from the “dirty dozen” list organically.
  • A random thought you are having right now. I know I’m not the only one who has a mind prone to tangents and randomness.

Posted by on December 10th, 2010 59 Comments

made me think

First off, I loved all of your “if only” comments! There were so many good ones that I can certainly relate to. To live a carefree life like that…sigh. Unfortunately, life isn’t always rainbows and sunshine but it still is good and the little things certainly count.

Like the little rounds of joy that adorned my dinner plate last night. We had feta meatballs with baked potato and green beans. Exactly the type of balanced meal I enjoy.

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Feta Meatballs (recipe originally from my friend Mandy)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb package of 96% lean ground beef or turkey
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1/3 c bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 package crumbled feta cheese

Play by Play

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine the meat, onion, breadcrumbs, and egg in a bowl.

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2. Get dirty like Christina Aguilera and mix everything with your hands.

3. Roll the meat into 8 (for larger) – 16 (for smaller) even sized meatballs and then flatten out the center. Place a sprinkling of feta into the center of each.

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4. Roll back into a meatball and bake in the 350 oven for 25 minutes until done. Easy peasy!

Some adjustments

  • Use another form of cheese instead of feta. I love these with blue cheese and was so sad we were out!
  • Add some extra diced veggies. My store greatly disappointed me this week by not having mushrooms. I was planning on using diced baby bellas in there. Grrr!
  • Sprinkle some of your favorite seasonings for extra flavor.

Nothing fancy, but they are a staple recipe in our house and typically make an appearance once a month.  If you’re a meat eater, give ‘em a try!

Warning! This recipe may cause the sudden onset of contemplation, pondering, and thoughts which are the last things you want to be worried about when attempting to get lost in the mind numbing world of Ali Fedotowsky and the hearts she is about to break. By the way…thank you Google search for enlightening me with the useless information of Ali’s last name.

Moving on. I suddenly started to consider how often we hear talk about calories. You know I’m not big on tallying up those pesky numbers, but there is still much to understand about the “C” word. Are all calories created equal?

Well, yes. A calorie IS a calorie. Whether it comes from spinach or a Luther Burger (GA’s fattiest food based on Health.com’s fatty foods of the states article) it’s all the same. For weight loss, maintenance, or gain it really does boil down to calories in versus calories out. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, do NOT think I’m saying that it doesn’t matter if we eat our daily calorie needs in the likes of fresh fruits or Runts fruits.

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Because it does. And that, my friends, is why calories mean crapola in my book. There are so many more important things to consider over calories. Any of you out there stuck in the calorie game, if you instead choose to focus on nutrition I promise good things to come. A few -

  • Feel more satisfied. Choose wholesome foods and you will reap the benefits of feeling fuller longer. Things like protein, fiber, healthy fats, and water volume all increase satiety and are common in foods like produce, dairy, nuts, whole grains, etc.
  • Have more energy. Drink a green monster instead of a diet coke and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
  • Don’t feel guilty for eating something higher calorie. When you don’t worry about the calories and choose to concentrate on a healthy balance, it is easier to recognize one piece of cake won’t deter your goals or ruin your health.
  • Be more in tune with your body. When your eating habits aren’t determined by what is listed on a label you can pay attention more closely to hunger cues and what sounds appealing.

So while all calories are equal, not all foods are equal. Big difference in my book.

Now you tell me…do you count calories? What are benefits of doing so or why do you choose not to?

Posted by on July 13th, 2010 27 Comments

 

 
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