Meatless Monday

Have you heard of Meatless Monday?

It is an idea in the foodie/health/nutrition world to have a dinner on Monday night that doesn't contain meat. The idea behind it is that we all could do with a little less meat in our diets and it is a way to promote that idea.

Let me just step aside for a moment and say that I am not a vegetarian, as anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows. Chris and I like to eat meat and I don't apologize for that. I DO however encourage people to know where their meat is coming from, how it is grown, what it is fed, how it is treated and slaughtered. We ARE what we eat and if we eat animals that are treated miserably, fed fattening, genetically modified corn and pumped full of antibiotics guess what? WE are consuming all of that, too.

I suggest buying your meat from local, reputable places, organic when possible and for Pete's sake...stay away from the farm raised Frankenfish Salmon. Blech.

So, I don't apologize for eating meat, but I do agree that meat is expensive, higher in calories and that most people could stand to swap out a night of meat for a more veggie heavy dinner. Meatless Monday is a way to kick the week off with a veggie strong dinner.

When I made my grocery list/meal plan for this week it didn't dawn on me to incorporate a Meatless Monday meal, but it is something I have wanted to do for quite some time. So, I'm changing the meal plan.

That didn't take long. HA!

I said I was okay with swapping meals around to suit our needs and that is true. I looked over the weekly menu and decided to make a switcheroo.

Instead of having spaghetti squash on Wednesday with chicken and tomato sauce I am switching the spaghetti squash to tonight, skipping the chicken, keeping the tomato sauce and having a big green salad on the side.

See: easy peasy to switch out a meat meal for a meatless meal.

One other cool thing: last night when I was making our stuffed acorn squash (delicious by the way!)

I reviewed the menu for the week and decided that since I was roasting squash and had my oven on, I might as well roast the spaghetti squash at the same time. I wasn't thinking of swapping it from Wednesday to Monday yet, but I thought it would make Wednesday's dinner that much easier to prepare if the spaghetti squash was already done. 

Now it is even extra easier!

Meatless Monday dinner is halfway prepared already! 

Need ideas for a Meatless Monday dinner? There are lots of resources including The Daily Food Buzz which posted this link on Twitter this morning. You can also check out myrecipes.com for Meatless Monday ideas, or just Google "meatless monday." 

Do you incorporate meatless meals in your week? What is your favorite vegetable?