A Killer Salad
During Shavasana tonight I decided that I have to start eating better. I don't eat poorly by any stretch of the standard American diet but I'm not eating as well as I should. I've also been eating meat. We even just bought a BBQ so we could grill fish. I have to admit that I feel stronger eating meat... physically. At a soul level, however, I feel horrendous. Right now it seems the physical need for it is outweighing the conflict I have internally over eating it. So, during my thoughts I decided that I should be eating the majority of my main meals during lunch not dinner. So I've decided that at least 3x a week I will be making super lunches instead of dinners and that they will involve some sort of vegetarian protein (beans, legumes) and some vegetables (salad or cut up veggies). On the days when I make dinner for the family we'll have either fish with vegetables and salad or maybe one or two meals a week that are "horrendous" like pasta or other fast food conveniences of our household (read prepackaged foods).
Tonight when I got home from yoga I was so excited that I decided to make a bean salad for dinner... OMG it was awesome...try it:
I used half a very small red onion, thinly sliced. A tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and grilled them until they were soft, very soft, then I added some black beans into the pan and mixed them in well... letting them heat through. While they were cooking, I cut up two large celery stalks and arranged lettuce on a plate. I made a dressing I found in a cookbook... 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 tblspn olive oil, 1tblspn sugar and 1/4 tspn cumin... mix those ingredients together until well blended. Arrange the bean mixture overtop the lettuce, sprinkle with the celery then poor the desired amount of dressing over top... YUM YUM YUM.
Comments
I'm having the same problems with meat - with the pregnancy especially, I'm finding that I feel a little better physically if I eat some meat, but I too feel absolutely horrible psychologically and spiritually. I haven't decided yet what to do about it, but I'm trying harder to be more creative with non-animal sources of protein.
Posted by: mudra | June 25, 2002 5:38 PM
Me too. I know when I make a delicious meal with tofu, I feel better about myself and my place in the world, but that when I eat meat (fish and chicken - no beef or pork), I DO feel stronger, but also feel guilty. I feel sad that I can no longer call myself a "vegetarian" without qualification. Plus, as I further explore a Buddhist path, I find eating meat to be at odds with my evolving philosophy.
My naturopath has said that soy is fine, but my other usual sources of protein (beans, nuts) are essentially starches and fats respectively, and will not aid me much in my quest for total health. And it's total health that I'm seeking (as well as my eternal quest for svelteness).
It's an interesting dilemma: Eating meat has helped my body and therefore my health, and has even alleviated some signs of depression, but on the other hand has had a negative effect on my spiritual health.
Posted by: Tanya | June 26, 2002 8:29 AM
See, I can't really eat too much soy as I start to notice immediately it's affect on my thyroid. I have been eating a ton of soy and when I stopped, I immediately noticed a difference. I still eat some but using it for the majority of my protein intake is not a good idea. I am in the same exact position Tanya, the more I walk on the Buddhist path, the more my soul aches at eating meat... but when I eat meat I feel better physically. I read some material once about this and I should do some more research into it. I'm hoping that switching to beans and legumes daily and adding in some dairy (something I *NEVER* thought I would do) will help me feel better without eating meat except fish.
Posted by: Julie | June 26, 2002 2:19 PM
ok, someone torture me here. ever since i started the SCD, I've been very very happily eating meat (but only humanely raised and butchered meat). what is my head in the sand about? killing one animal by another animal just because the bigger animal can? because we don't "need" meat?
Posted by: kathy | June 26, 2002 10:53 PM
That sounds like a great plan, Julie -- I should adopt it esp. since Jack doesn't like most bean/vegetarian stuff -- so I can make the yummy, healthy stuff for just me instead of eating junk for lunch. In fact, today I made a yummy bean/corn salad that I got from aimai at TP.
Posted by: Lucia | June 27, 2002 7:03 PM
Kathy, I think, for me, it is a spiritual thing. As a Buddhist, it is difficult to integrate eating meat into my life from a purely spiritual standpoint. I wish I could find a good local place to get humanely raised and butchered meats.
Posted by: Julie | June 28, 2002 7:53 PM