Meatless Mondays

Not a restaurant review but important none the less.

What a great concept, to make one day meatless. But to people who are just venturing into this new way of eating the mistakes and pifalls are profuse.

When I gave up eating beef, poultry and pork ... anything that had a lung that is ... I dove headfirst into FRIED MOZZARELLA, Doritos and salad dressings laden with fat, (and I must say CALORIES!!!).

I had no idea about how to cook with Seitan, Tempeh, or Tofu. (I firmly insisted that I wasn't going to be eating rabbit food. No plates of steamed veggies for me!)

Just giving up meat doesn't immediately turn your diet into one of bountiful healthy goodness.

While it's true that a veggie burger has no meat, if you slather it with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, and onions and throw a few slabs of American Cheese on it with a side of onion rings and a Coke or two ... are you really moving in a better dietary direction or are you just being given the tools to fool yourself. "Hey, I didn't eat MEAT today," is an excuse to let out all the stops, for some, and go (forgive the pun), hog wild in the gluttony department.

Perhaps the need is to have a Vegan meal. Good, delicious, but vegan. Cut out the cholesterol and most of the fat. Look at the menus from Chicago Diner, Gobo, Zen Palete. The options become limitless and healthy.

Meatless Monday is a great place to start but perhaps we can look at a campaign like: Have you had your vegan meal today? or Is today your Vegan Day?

Every bit helps. Let's keep up the good work.

Marty