ideas for meat free days -Rebecca

Claire asked for some vegetarian recipies in the next newsletter -we'll do that if we can get some 'favourites' from our members.

To my mind the most important change to make when getting ready to eat less meat is to get used to using some new and unfamiliar ingredients or even familiar ingredients in a new way!

Here are some of my tips for fantastic tasting meat free meals

1.Use plenty of seasoning:salt,fresh black peeper,garlic,herbs,lemon juice,wine and tomatoe puree are all essential in vegetarian cooking.

2.Buy the best quality veg stock you can -I use the tubs of swiss boullion you can buy in Waitrose.

3.Use more nuts! Nut like cashews are brilliant in replacing chicken in stirfrys and Paella which I love to make. Walnuts go really well with cheese and can make a good pie filing with leeks too.Add a few tblsps of ground almonds to curry to make a sweeter korma and add protien.

4.Try tofu!Cauldron Tofu is easy to use and a big £2.50 block is enough for 4 people in most dishes.Dip slices in cornflour and fry in a light oil to make a crispy alternative to meat with stir fried veg or rice.Don't forget to add plenty of soy sauce at the end of cooking.Whizzed up in the mixer with nuts,herbs,softened onions etc tofu makes lovely light fritters.No need for eggs as they will hold together without them.

5.Dried funghi are great when soaked to add to rissotto and bean casseroles to give a depth and flavour.Porcini are best.Use the soaking water too.

6.Good thick greek yogourt is brilliant to stir into cooked chick peas and roasted pepper,squash,red onions etc just before you serve up.Add it to a curry too to make a healthy korma.Add only a few mins before you serve or it can curdle.

7.Don't eat too many beans at first as you may not be able to digest them in huge quantities - use lentils(brown or green are more tasty)and softer beans like butter beans rather than red kidney beans.People worry about replacing protien and rely on beans which may not suit everyone-try tofu,nuts and quorn as well.

hope this is helpful?If not I'm sure that you'll let me know!

Ermington Sustainable Saturdays

10am until 12 noon 12 and 26th November Reading Room,Ermington -bring,buy,barter,belong

01548831132

Film and Discussion evening (Rebecca's comments)

What an interesting evening we had last night!It was a pity we had to break it up so early as there seemed to be so much to discuss!Thanks to everyone who came along.

As a speaker for vegetarianism I was a bit nervous debating with meat-eaters as it can seem that you are condeming someone just because they eat meat and naturally that can make people feel hostile towards you.

My own feelings are quite clear cut:I don't believe in any form of farming of animals for whatever pupose.

Dave Pemberton generously agreed to give up his evening to argue the case for being an omnivore on a diet that included meat, but not daily.At the end of the evening the overall conclusion was that most people would like to reduce their meat consumption but not to cut out meat and fish altogether.

Coming back to St Dominic afterwards I thought over some of the comments that arose from our discussions and wished that we'd have had longer to talk about them

Marianne commented that men 'seemed to need meat'.Of course I don't agree but perhaps men feel subconsiously that if they dont eat meat they will lose their virility and strenght!!!comments please!!

Actually the irony is that by eating meat often they are probably consuming vast amounts of female sex hormones which may be having the very oppersit effect on them.

Dave made the claim that it was eating meat that made homo sapiens so successful as a species.My comment was that perhaps had we stayed vegetarian we wouldn't be overpopulating the planet as we are now!

We talked about the potential of the sea to provide us with food but there were concerns about overfishing and fish farming.

Our next film and discussion evening is on 'population matters' and takes place on 22nd November at 7.30pm in the Guildhall.See you there!

meat free cooking

Hello all. Well worth watching on Channel 4 on sunday , 8 pm, is Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall's programme on meat free eating. An ardent meat and fish eater, he has vowed to give up meat and fish for several months- the summer just gone. All the entertaining he does is meat free too for this period, and he really brings to life how exciting this can be! With our discussion on Meat eating versus Vegetarianism tomorrow evening at the Guildhall, this is especially topical! He acknowledges that , for the planet's sake, we should all reduce our meat eating if not give it up, but if you disagree, come along tomorrow and voice your opinion!
Maureen Kemp

Ideal Gift-Essential Oil Room Sprays

Buy a beautifully perfumed room spray to help SEA's funds!! These little glass atomisers will be filled with a solution made with various essential oils- NO NASTY CHEMICALS!
The sprays will be on sale at our next evening event- our discussion/ film evening about how we stand on meat eating- in the guildhall next Tues 25th October at 7 15. They will also be on sale at future events- Christmas is coming and they will make ideal stocking fillers!
Hope to se you next tuesday!

Meeting Protein Needs on a Vegan Diet: The Calorie Connection | The Vegan RD

Interesting discussion last night about our forthcoming Food Evening (25th October).One concern is about a diet low in meat/dairy and would it supply enough protien? If we were eating meat only a few times a week then how can we replace that protien?

I'm very far from being a vegan although most of the foods I enjoy are vegan and the high cost of butter, cream, orgainic milk has certainly led to me reducing the amounts I buy.I'm pretty used now to drinking soya milk in my hot drinks.

Don't know if I could give up Mozzarrella -not what passes for that product here in the UK but the stuff sold in the local market in Italy which is smooth like silk! I think we are jus getting the stuff they reject!!

Anyway a link to a very interesting forum on veganism.

Meeting Protein Needs on a Vegan Diet: The Calorie Connection The Vegan RD

We also talked about switching from beef ,lamb and pork to chicken. My worry about that is the chickens used in most dishes and ready meals including KFC and McDonalds is produced in huge (polluting) factory farms and comes from places in the world where standards on welfare and food safety are pretty dire.So is the answer to switch to eating more chicken.Not to me it isn't.

Sea Turtles-going for ever?

Meat and The Environment our Discussion on 25th October

Did you know that according to The New Scientist Cutting back on beef burgers and bacon could wipe $20 trillion off the cost of fighting climate change? That it takes 20lbs of feed to make 1lb of beef but just 5lbs to make 1lb of chicken?
So if we switched from beef to chicken that would massively help the environment? Or would it? What about the pollution from the factory farms that all these chickens were raised in.And food miles?

Or should we swithch to only grass fed meat and eat less.Would that get us out of this hole?

Then only very wealthy people would be able to eat meat.Is that fair? Does everyone have the right to eat meat no matter how its raised?

If we stopped eating Beef would we have to give up milk too?And what would happen to all of the cows we didnt eat??

These are just some of the questions that we'll be discussing at our Film and Discussion evening on 25th October at 7pm in The Guildhall Saltash.

Do come along!