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Health & Fitness

Meet Me in Meats

It's National Meat Week! Read how meat can be healthy and find loads of free recipes.

 

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Good news for the carnivores among us! National meat week begins today. So, of course I’m making a meat dish for dinner tonight.

 

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I like to use organic meats. Even though they tend to be more expensive they earn their designation by being “cleaner” than those without it. The general definition of organic is foods that are produced under conditions without sewage sludge, synthetic chemicals, irradiation, or genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). Where meat is concerned the term refers to meats coming from animals free of GMO or animal by-product feed, antibiotics, and hormones. I’m always up for avoiding health risks, so I pay a little more and get organic.

 

Sometimes organic meats can be a little tougher than those that are modified, especially grass-fed beef that avoids the GMO corn feed. I use lots of different marinades on meats to tenderize them. But since January is National Tea Month, I’ll refer you to my “Meat Up With Tea” article on marinades from my Ten Days of Tea series that posted in January 2013. 

 

I make my dollars go farther by using meats within dishes with other ingredients so I can use a little less of them. Some examples of this are stews, stir fries, and pasta dishes, like the one in my article “Going Nuts in March.” Browse through my blog and you’ll find lots of free recipes in the articles.

 

And I like to buy in bulk at stores like Costco that sell large packages of meats for lower prices than even the “value” sized ones in the supermarket. I often freeze what I don’t cook before the sell-by date and use it later. But a more efficient way to use these value packs of meat is cooking my recipe ensembles. They bundle up several recipes that all work off of a single “baseline” one and are the best way I’ve seen to speed healthy cooking. Check them out! We’re adding new ones all the time.

 

With all of these healthy and cost-effective options meet me in the meat section and make some healthy meals!

 

Photo Courtesy of Easy Weekly Meals  

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