The Green Samaritan

Struggling with yet another week of menu planning?  Make it easy and consider going meatless one day per week.  This is not only a health benefit for you and your family but for our world as well.

Meatless Monday, a project of John Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, was initiated with the goal in mind to reduce overall meat consumption by 15% to improve both our personal and environmental health.  Visit the website to learn more facts and take the pledge to go meatless once per week.  Included are great tips, articles and recipes to help you along with your effort.

Did you know that by reducing  your meat intake just once per week can offer big benefits:

Health Benefits:

• Reduce risk of chronic disease and improve overall diet – Reducing your intake of saturated fats can help keep your cholesterol low and reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Maintain healthy weight -A plant-based diet is a great source of fiber. Foods rich in fiber make you feel full with fewer calories, resulting in lower calorie intake and less overeating.

Environmental Benefits:

• Reduce your carbon footprint – It is estimated that 1/5th of man-made greenhouse gas emissions result from the meat industry.
• Reduce water usage – An estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef.
• Reduce fossil fuel dependence – About 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of feed lot beef in the U.S. Compare this to the 2.2 calories of fossil fuel energy needed to produce one calorie of plant-based protein.

Like many of you, we are not vegetarian or anything close to it.  In fact, my husband has proclaimed Sunday night as “Steak Night <insert Tim the Toolman noise here>”, so a big, fat steak goes on the grill every week.  We used to grill two but with leftovers and wanting to improve our diet, we now just split one and that’s plenty. It’s actually a relief to plan a meatless Monday each week and forgo yet another way to prepare chicken, not to mention giving my arteries a break from the previous night.  Small steps for us, but steps nonetheless and if anything for our own personal health and our budget.

So consider a meatless Monday.  Check out a few recipes and give it a try.  One of my favorites is a quick and easy, authentic recipe for Minestrone soup from The Best of Italy by Evie Righter.   Or you can try our version of Eggplant Parmesan.  Another easy fix and freezes great!

TGS Eggplant Parmesan

2 large eggplants

2 eggs

Italian style bread crumbs

1 8 oz box of spaghetti – cooked

1 jar of marina sauce – any brand will do.  Homemade is best if you have the time.

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish with olive oil.  Layer with cooked spaghetti.  Slice eggplant into 18 slices – 1/4 inch in thickness.  In bowl scramble two eggs.  In another bowl, fill with bread crumbs.  Coat the eggplant slices with the egg and then breadcrumbs.  Place on baking sheet(s) and broil for a few minutes on each side until a slightly brown.   Layer nine of the eggplant slices, 3 x 3 or so, on top of the spaghetti.  Spoon and cover with pasta sauce.  Layer with shredded mozzarella.  Repeat with remaining eggplant, sauce and top with cheese.  We like lots of cheese!  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.  Can also freeze and then bake later for a busy night.

To our personal and environmental health!  Enjoy!

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