Bye bye, retail therapy....

What's retail therapy? Well, basically, it's shopping to make yourself feel happier. Is shopping really something that we innately do to make ourselves feel better, or does our environment persuade us that shopping will make us feel happier? After doing some research and watching a fascinating documentary on Edward Bernays (do you know who he is? Probably not...but he is one of the 20 most influential Americans in the history of our country), I have decided that shopping indeed does NOT make us ultimately happier when we are having a rough day, but overtime does the exact opposite. I'll admit, I have definitely had those less-than-awesome days, at the end of which I usually ended up roaming the aisles of Ross or TJMaxx looking for something that was going to cheer me up a little....and I'd usually walk out with one or two items. However, ultimately it did not contribute to my overall well-being and happiness. I wasn't going to the store because I NEEDED something or it was a holiday gift for me or someone else, I was going to the store when I was at a low emotional point looking for a high...one that cost me money and eventually made me regret the decision. This post is not meant to convince you to never buy anything new for yourself, it's to convince to to decide when and IF you really need something that will truly contribute to your overall well-being and happiness. Buying your 30th pair of shoes because you're "tired" of the one's you've been wearing and are looking for something a little fresher isn't going to do that.

Earlier, I mentioned Edward Bernays. He is really a fascinating person, and he is the man we can give credit to for turning this country's population into more of a consumer-minded people. This article really introduces him really well...please take a moment and go read it!!! Right now! It's not very long...it only took me 2 or 3 minutes to read it. 

One of the paragraphs in the article says, "Today we are well-versed in buying things because they say something about us, or make us feel a certain way, but it was a complete transformation in the 1920s when most selling was done on the basis of information and function. Bernays spent a lifetime helping companies connect with the "irrational emotion" of their customer. Many of Bernays's techniques, such as press releases, product placement and tie-ins are still prevalent today. He pioneered a whole new way of doing business."

Did you catch that? In the 1920's, selling/buying was based on FUNCTION. If your coat was worn out, you would look around for one that advertised the best functioning coat for you, not the one that would make you FEEL and LOOK the prettiest...but Bernays changed that. He used the "irrational emotion" of customers to get them to buy more stuff. All of a sudden, we not only needed a practical, warm winter coat, but now we needed a fancier coat for things like church and parties, a really warm coat for the winter, and lots of various sweaters for roaming the house in and feeling comfy. Do you see where I'm headed with this? ;) 

Let's look at some examples here of modern advertising, heavily influenced by Bernay's discoveries, and I want you to think about how you feel when you look at a certain image. (all images taken from Google Images). 

How do I feel looking at this one? Free, happy, warm, springy....

Natural? I love natural! And look at that curly natural hair...this will definitely make my eyes pop, but not be too overbearing.

I'm definitely a first at a lot of outdoor things....maybe The North Face's innovative products and super high quality will make scaling this insane mountain a lot easier.

SALE! I love sale prices! I've been "needing" some new spring dresses anyway...Mine are a couple years old and starting to look a little out of date...

I had no idea that if men used this cologne it would transport them to a magical island with a super hot girl standing next to them in a bikini looking pretty fresh.......did you?

After doing the research on Bernays and really taking a closer look at these advertisements, I feel a little silly! I'm pretty surprised that I could be so easily manipulated to buy things that I don't need....and maybe not by these particular items necessarily, but I have definitely purchased things that I didn't really need after seeing it on some sort of advertisement, or even after seeing how "happy" someone looked on an advertisement. Buying those dresses "on sale" from Target will definitely make you happy, right? Well, maybe if you desperately need a new dress because you have outgrown all of yours or they each have massive irreparable holes in them, then yes, buying a new dress would make you happier. However, that is not usually the case for most of us. So, I really encourage you to think twice about going to the store on your off days. Don't deprive yourself of things that you need or the VERY occasional self-pampering item, but don't deprive your wallet in lieu of giving yourself a false emotional high. Instead of hopping in your car to head to the mall, take a walk outside, go on a run, exercise, make your menu plan for the week, try a new recipe, or settle down with a blanket to watch a good movie on Netflix, but quit buying into consumerism to "make yourself feel better". It won't work in the long run, and you'll be happier and more financially stable if you don't. :) Learn to be more satisfied with what you have! I myself have enough clothes to probably last me for a month without having to wear the same thing twice, so do I really need MORE clothes? No, I don't. I've had several off-days in the last few months, and instead of going to the store, I've gone for several walks, made a few fancier meals, and watched quite a few movies/documentaries on Netflix, and I can honestly say that I have slowly had less and less off-days, because satisfaction doesn't come from stores, it comes from YOU, and YOU can achieve real happiness on your off-days without going to the store. I believe in you, and I believe in me, too!

Easter Update: Forget the discount candy!

I hope you all had an amazing day yesterday! Dallin and I enjoy celebrating Easter, and we did it in a new fashion this year. Since we don't have any children yet, the Easter Bunny did not make a stop by our house, and I didn't miss it too much. I did miss watching my little siblings run around the yard and collect colorful eggs, though. Anyhow, our Easter consisted of attending our church service in the morning, and then we came home to make some preparations to have a birthday/Easter dinner with my aunt and uncle who live in town. It was the best Easter I could have asked for! I loved spending time with family and making homemade pizza and carrot cake (we used the recipe from my last post for the pizza! You should try it this week!!). The evening was full of laughter and entertainment....and the best part? Aside from a few minimal ingredient costs, we didn't spend any money to obtain the fun!
My first thought this morning was, "Oh, Easter candy is going to be on sale today!" Then my more newly obtained sensible side jumped in and said, "No, you really don't need any more sugar after eating cake last night, forget the discount candy!" I patted my sensible self on the back and grinned at the thought of not "buying into" something that I don't need and that won't necessarily further my health. Now, I am not saying to entirely stop eating sugar around holidays...I certainly don't do that myself.....but why should we eat even MORE sugar after the holidays? Even though the candy is on sale, you still pay for it, so save yourself some money, be a little healthier, and DON'T BUY IT. If I can resist with my sweet tooth, so can you. I just made a goal to not go to the store at all today so that I remove the temptation entirely.

In another light, after having dinner with some friends on Saturday night, I've decided what my Easter treat tradition is going to be with our family every year (thanks Ashley for introducing me to this!). My friend made this incredible Pavlova recipe--a light, meringue base that is topped with heavenly whipped cream and fresh berries. It was DELICIOUS!!! I've looked around a bit, and this seems to be the recipe that is closest to what I experienced the other night:
http://www.sweetandsavorybyshinee.com/classic-pavlova/

I love the idea of making this because every year because traditions (even if they revolve around something as small as a specific, special food item) are what we really remember about family holidays.....I can't tell you what I received for Christmas even this last year, but I could definitely tell you about some of our traditions. I see so many pictures popping up on facebook of people getting Easter "gifts" (what the heck?!? That didn't happen when I was a kid...) and can't help but think that there are better ways to spend time together...don't let gifts replace real, meaningful family time, traditions, and sweet memories. Being my kind and sharing self, I'm willing to let you use my Pavlova idea for an Easter treat tradition, too, next year. ;) Seriously though, try it, you won't be disappointed by this dessert, and you won't be disappointed by the giggles and snitching of tasty sweet berries that happens in the kitchen with your little ones gathered around helping you to make it. Do you have any special Easter traditions you love? Share them below! :)

Photo Cred: Sweetandsavorybyshinee.com

A tip for success and recipes!

A faithful reader of this blog requested some tried-and-true homemade recipes, and so this post is dedicated to that! These are all healthy recipes that I have tried in the past few weeks and have really enjoyed. They are all extremely easy, too, so like I said, get some practice and start cooking! Try them out and let me know what you think, and please feel free to add any recipes of your own in the comments section below or share them with me using the contact link in the upper right-hand corner of the main homepage. :) I will offer one piece of cooking advice before I let you loose with these delicious recipes...if you don't have all the ingredients or don't want to necessarily buy all of the specialty ingredients (like the dried mustard in the hawaiian chicken recipe below), do some substituting! I personally used a little yellow mustard in place of the dried mustard, and it still turned out perfectly. I also didn't put the Hoisin sauce in the potstickers recipe...it was expensive, and I had no idea how I would use it again, and that recipe turned out perfectly as well. Don't be afraid to leave something out that doesn't seem like a really "key" flavor or ingredient in the recipe...it will probably still be great. I do this with almost every "complicated" recipe I make, and I haven't had an insanely bad failure yet! Anyway...onto the recipes!

This one pan spinach-and-artichoke pasta is to die for! When I made this, I added a few tablespoons of pesto as well, and It was delicious. The recipe can be found here:

http://www.playpartyplan.com/2015/10/one-pan-spinach-and-artichoke-pasta-recipe.html

Normally, I am a definite believer that meat should not taste sweet in any way, shape, or form, but this recipe definitely changed my perspective (a little) on that opinion. This Hawaiian Baked Pineapple Chicken was SO good, and we ate several different veggies as sides to go with. Here's this one:

http://diethood.com/hawaiian-baked-chicken-100-target-gift-card-giveaway/

This next recipe is definitely somewhat time-consuming, but it's really not complicated. This was another really big favorite that we made a while back. I love Asian food but can't eat it at restaurants very often because it disagrees with me, so I make it at home! These homemade potstickers are a recipe to be reckoned with...

http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/01/potstickers/

How many of you buy taco seasoning in the little packets from the store? NO MORE will you do this--this INSANELY easy homemade taco seasoning mix is SO much better (tasting and health-wise) and is a lot cheaper! I haven't bought taco seasoning in almost two years since I discovered this. :)

http://thehumbledhomemaker.com/2011/07/homemade-homemaking-taco-seasoning

Another favorite in our house is homemade pizza...there really isn't an excuse not to make it with how easy it is! I also love the fact that we can enjoy something that not only tastes yummier than restaurant pizza, but it's also cheaper(!) than eating out...did you read my last post? You should!! Anyway, here is the dough recipe that I use (original source unknown...I got it from my dad).

This is enough dough to make two 16# pizzas.  Bake pizzas at 550 degrees for about 7 minutes.

4 1/2 cups bread, or all-purpose flour (I do half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour)

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 3/4 cups water, (110°F)

1 Tbps. Italian seasonings 

Stir 1 tablespoon of sugar into the warm water then stir in yeast and let that sit for at least 10 minutes- should get 'foamy.'  Stir the other ingredients into the yeasty water and mix for about six minutes.  The dough should be just sticky enough to not stick to the sides of the mixing bowl and only sticks to the very bottom a little.  If you have time let it rise for 30 mins to an hour; if not, just roll it out and use it- works for me either way.

Our favorite version of homemade pizza uses these as toppings: alfredo sauce, mozzarella cheese, a little parmesan cheese, fresh spinach, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, and occasionally a little bit of diced steamed chicken. Enjoy!!

Finally, this was a super easy dessert that I made for a little family dinner a couple of weeks ago. I have an uncle who can't eat a lot of sugar (and we try to avoid too much sugar, anyway), and so I looked around until I found something healthy and fresh that was still a little fancy. These fresh fruit and ricotta phyllo cups fit the bill perfectly! In contrast to the picture on the recipe website, I put strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries on top of mine. Kiwi and grapes didn't sound appealing, but it's totally up to you, and that's part of the fun! Here's the recipe for this one:

http://notenoughcinnamon.com/2014/05/09/fresh-fruits-ricotta-phyllo-cups/?utm_source=Not+Enough+Cinnamon%27s+Recipes&utm_campaign=c205142da6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_081ed45e4e-c205142da6-98674173&goal=0_081ed45e4e-c205142da6-98674173&mc_cid=c205142da6&mc_eid=ae5123d823

Photo Cred: Google Images

An Investment that is both Delicious and Nutritious

I have to admit, I've been looking forward to this post for a while now. This is one of my favorite ways to save money AND be healthier. What is it you may ask? COOKING AT HOME. According to this article on CNN, in 2010 the average consumer spent about $2,300 eating out in one year! I did the math, and I could budget my ENTIRE year's worth of groceries at my current spending rate for that. A whole years worth of food in comparison to about 82 meals according to the same article. I know that this data is a little older, but the same principle still applies today--eating out is WAY too expensive to justify doing it more than once or twice a month. Then raises the complaint that cooking takes "too much time" or "I'm a terrible cook, I can't make anything decent to save my life". Newsflash--nobody came out of the womb wielding a spatula and whipping up amazing recipes. Being a good cook is not a talent or God-given gift, it's a lot of practice that yields both excellent, decadent successes and smoky, disastrous failures. I'll admit that cooking at home and making things as complicated and tasty as a nice restaurant meal takes some time, but this time should not be something that you feel annoyed or put off by. First of all, the time that you take to stay home and cook a meal (let's say a $28 dine-out dinner bill) can be equated to almost 3 hours of working pay at $10/hr or a little under. I have to admit, I never spend more than an hour or two preparing and making dinner, so I'm already increasing my pay to about $28/hr. Secondly, this time spent cooking at home is not only an investment as far as money goes, but it is an investment in health. I have always been a strong believer that to get restaurant food that is as healthy as what you can make at home, you have to spend WAY more.

Let's take a look at a case study from the dinner that I made last night--some delicious, vegetarian curry. I looked up the menu for our local Thai restaurant, and to order two plates of veggie curry at this place would be $20 ($9.95 each) without any sides. Here's how much mine cost:

Rice: about .50 worth

Coconut milk: $3.95 for the can

Veggies: (one sweet potato, two peppers, 3 large carrots, half an onion, and a handful of snow peas) about $1

Spices and other things: So minimal that I didn't even try to calculate them.

Side of fresh steamed brussels sprouts: about $1

Water to drink: practically free

Adding all of this up, I spent about $6.50 to make my curry recipe and the brussels sprouts. Here's the catch....it's even cheaper than that per serving, because my recipe made a TON of curry. I'm going to be eating curry literally for the next 3 days. Based on how much it made, I will get about 3 meals for 2 people out of this recipe...so six servings. According to that math, I've saved my self the time of cooking two more dinners AND each serving only cost about $1.10 as opposed to $9.95!!! There is no question here---cooking at home is both cheaper and much better for you (in almost every case). I don't know about you, but I want to live until I'm 95, and I want to go down kickin', and eating super healthy is going to help me do that. How am I going to sustain myself financially until I'm 95 though? Oh yeah, I just have to keep eating at home instead of going out and accruing MASSIVE savings because of it (which I will promptly invest in my Roth IRA* to make even more money!). So, stop complaining about the time or that you're a terrible cook. Get in the kitchen, roll up your sleeves, and make some mistakes. They won't be nearly as costly as hopping in your car to drive down to the nearest restaurant. ;) 

*See earlier article Investing: Seriously simpler than you thought

Photo Cred: Google Images

Grocery Shopping like a green, fiscal machine.

In our house, I do all the grocery shopping. With this great power comes great responsibility. ;) Responsibility to NOT come home with junky, unhealthy, pricey stuff that we don't need in our diet. All it takes is a little self-control, right? Wrong. That has never worked for me, so, I've come up with a few ways that help me in the grocery store to keep my food budget to about $40/week. 

1. DO NOT, whatever you do, GO TO THE GROCERY STORE HUNGRY. The last time I went to the grocery store hungry, I came out with orange juice, sugary cereal, poptarts, and Pizza rolls (ew? I didn't know hunger could persuade me on that one). My body was low in the blood sugar category, and so I came out with things that were immediate (but not healthy) fixes to that, and I definitely regretted those purchases later, haha. So, EAT before you go!

2. Make a menu plan before you go! Trying to come up with meal ideas while you're in the grocery store is pretty ineffective and usually ends up in you not buying everything you really need and buying a lot of things you don't need. Along with this, check your fridge while you're making your weekly  menu plan and try to base your meals off of things that you need to use up that are still hanging around in your fridge. I don't know about you, but it takes me FOREVER to use up sour cream when I buy it, so I try to plan two or three meals at least that week that will use sour cream when I do buy it. I hate throwing away food...

3. Don't go to the grocery store without a list, and make sure to check it twice. If you leave a necessary ingredient off and have to go back in an "emergency run" to the grocery store, you're likely to come out with something else you don't need during that extra trip. Having a list also helps you to avoid going down unnecessary isles full of temptation in the middle of the store--this way, you only have to go down the isles that have something you need. :)

 4. Avoid the middle isles at all costs! Almost everything that you really need (fresh veggies, fruits, dairy, meat, etc) is on the OUTSIDE edges of the grocery store. The middle isles are the evil labyrinth of pre-made, processed foods that cost you extra $$ and don't add much to your health. Only travel into the labyrinth when something on your list must be retrieved from there...

5. To save even more money, buy fruits and veggies that are in season and that are on sale that week. Luckily we are headed into the summer months (fresh produce heaven!) and there will be many more fresh items at better prices. Take advantage of it! Use tons of fresh veggies and fruits in your recipes, and extend that even further by taking advantage of sales at your grocery store. This week, I was going to use some zucchini in a recipe, but at the store I discovered yellow squash was on sale, so I substituted the yellow squash for the zucchini in my recipe (obviously this doesn't always work for every recipe, but if something on sale works as a good substitute, do it!). 

These are all things that I do every time I go to the grocery store. I don't give myself a budget anymore really, and honestly, I never go more than about $5 over my usual amount. Sometimes it even ends up being less than the usual $40 if I get really creative with what's left over in my fridge and pantry at the end of the week. :) 

What is a real gift, anyway? Giving consumerism the cold shoulder....

Some of you may have read the post similar to this on my personal blog, but I think it is appropriate for a financial and health related lifestyle blog, as well. As you know, I have become super in love with Mr. Money Mustache's blog, and this post is one that was inspired by an early post of his. He talks about how every year for Mother's day, instead of buying his wife bouquets of flowers, trinkets, or chocolate, he and his wife (and their son, I'm guessing) go out and buy flowers and plant them in a specific place in the yard. I love this for two reasons: 1. What an awesome way to spend time together on Mother's Day! 2. What a wonderful way to really remember that holiday and the time spent together for the rest of the year.

I think this is the perfect sort of thing to do as a gift. What could be more wonderful than beautifying your yard and being able to enjoy looking at those flowers all year long. Why do we even buy silly trinkets and junk that ends up in donation bags later down the line.....you are literally throwing money away. We are constantly bombarded with some holiday's latest version of celebratory "gifts" at the stores....I feel like I can't even walk into a store anymore without being reminded of what holiday is 2 months away. So, I challenge you as birthdays, anniversaries, and (conveniently) Mother's Day come up to make your gifts MEANINGFUL and almost FREE! Obviously buying flowers to plant costs some money, but it is money that would probably be spent anyway at some point in the spring. If you want to get really hard core on the savings, buy flower seeds for about 80 cents a packet and plant those in the yard...they take a little longer, but they will get there. The picture above is from my wedding--my mom, fiancée (now husband!) and I planted those at the beginning of the summer and helped them grow beautifully for our backyard wedding reception. It was my favorite part of the decoration! A gift does not have to be a thing....that's what Dallin and I refer to as stuff that we don't really need....things. Because they really are just things, and in the end, things aren't what make you happy. So, as my birthday approaches in a few weeks, the mister and I are going to prep and plant herb seeds and tomato plants in my pots on the porch (still living the apartment life---no garden, yet). I absolutely love gardening, and I can't imagine a better way to spend my birthday. What "gift" ideas do you have? I'd love to hear and gain some new ideas from you!!!

Challenge Update: Success!

How did your almost meat-free week go? I have to admit, mine went fantastically, as opposed to what I was expecting. I have had an incredible amount of energy this week, I've noticed that I slept a little better than usual, and my cravings for fast-food and sugary stuff has diminished even more.

We started out the week with these awesome Quinoa Patties.
The recipe is fantastic! I had a red quinoa that I used instead of the regular white kind, and then I made some oven-roasted red potatoes and fresh green beans to go with it. Super filling, and Dallin even loved them! He told me we would need to make them again. Best bonus? Meat-free!

The next day for lunch (and for several more lunch meals this week), I made this healthy veggie burger sandwich. No recipe followed, I just simply took a slice of whole wheat bread, spread a little mayo and avocado on it along with some lemon pepper, and then put my pan-cooked veggie burger on top of it with a little mozzarella cheese. It was to die for! Like, really. I thought it was going to be nasty, who likes veggie burgers anyway? Well, I do now, and I bought some more at the store this week. Successful meat free meal #2. :)

Meal #3 was a baked potato with chili, sour cream, green onions, cheese, and a really yummy side salad. No pics available of this one. My chili did have some ground beef in it (I made it about two months ago and froze it, so I wanted to use it up), but the meat was minimal compared to the beans and tomatoes, and chili is SO easy to make without meat. That meal was also a total success. 

The creamy spinach and mushroom lasagna was probably my second favorite of the week (right behind the veggie burger. It was SO good. No pics available on this one either...I forgot. ;) My pictures wouldn't hold a candle to the ones on the recipe website, anyway. This yielded lots of leftovers, so we enjoyed this recipe for another day or two after the initial making of it. As a side dish on this one, we steamed an artichoke and enjoyed it with a little mayo/lemon/garlic dipping sauce. 

Finally, one of my other lunch favorites was this greek-style salad that I made and a slice of my homemade bread. I chopped up some artisan lettuce, and then put red onions, tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese on top along with a simple vinaigrette dressing. It was delicious! (Forgive the funny hole in the bread....I must have not quite kneaded out all the air pockets haha). 

All in all, it was a total success! In all reality, I only ate one meat-meal this week, and that was meatballs and pasta with green beans, so it stuck with my "small servings" guidelines. I have REALLY enjoyed doing this and Dallin and I are totally keeping up with it. We have both felt so good this week and incorporating variety and protein was much easier than I thought it would be. Any recipes you tried and loved? I'd love to see some in the comments. 

Investing: Seriously simpler than you thought.

So, now that you are saving money by buying products from Melaleuca and eating less meat (I've taken the challenge very seriously and it's going super well....keep doing it!), what are you going to do with the extra money that you are saving? We always hear horrors about the stock market--big crashes, people losing their wealth, etc, and that is true, that has happened. Twice in my lifetime that I can think of. However, you have to consider the overall trend of the stock market, and that is UP. After reading Mr. Money Mustache's blog and hopping on his financial freedom train, Dallin and I set a goal last September that we would each put away $100 a month from our paychecks for five months and open a Vanguard Roth IRA account by Christmas...due to a few complications and learning curves, we didn't get it done until the second week in February, but close enough. ;) We put $1000 in that account, and in the past 2 1/2 weeks that it has been open, we have already made $50 on it! Since we are so young and have a long time for that money to grow, we have our account set to a very aggressive plan--90% stocks and 10% bonds. That means that when the market is good, we have a REALLY good chance of making a lot of money, and the same goes for when the market is bad, we can lose money. However, the overall trend is up, and we have confidence that this will grow over time. As we get older and closer to retirement, we will slowly transition into having that account shift more towards bonds and less towards stocks--a less aggressive, but safer route to make sure that you don't lose your retirement income.What's the minimum amount to open one of these IRA's? Well, with Vanguard, there is no minimum amount, and there is no minimum per-month payment (according to the helpful guy on the phone that we spoke to). You could literally open an account with $10 and contribute $1 every month to keep it open. But seriously, we all have the saving power and cutting-back power to put away a little more than that. Cut out Starbucks for a week: Savings = $25. DON'T go buy that new shirt or new makeup item you've been wanting: Savings = $10. Take meat out of your diet this week and don't go out to eat at all: Savings = $30. Next semester? Borrow, rent, or buy your textbooks used and save HUNDREDS of dollars. There are so many easy ways to cut back in our lives and save money. Opening an account like this NOW gives you a huge time advantage that can add up to thousands of dollars more by the time you retire and dip into the account. Seriously...do a little research. I'm not a number-cruncher, I just read the number-crunching articles and read lots of them and then I believe and follow them.
So, be BRAVE! Go open an account with Vanguard (we LOVE them)....Put fifty dollars in there, and set your account to high stocks, low bonds, and set up an automatic withdrawal every month to make sure that you keep yourself on the right track to retiring early and happy and not having to work until you are 85. If you want some super awesome stats on this and another article to back me up, check out Mr. Money Mustache's article on investing. It's awesome! For that matter, check out his whole website. I'm devouring his blog posts like these quinoa patties that I made for dinner the other night....healthy, delicious, and meat-free. My body and wallet are loving it...and yours will too. Keep up with your no meat challenge...what is this, day five? I can't even remember...it's been such an easy, awesome change for me, I think I'm going to just keep it up. On the menu tonight? This super yummy, meat-free creamy spinach and mushroom lasagna and a side salad.

Why you can't afford to not be (almost) Vegetarian

Hello, my few faithful adventurers. I really appreciate everyone who has looked at this blog so far...I'm loving it! Our life-style change today is neither easy to hear nor easy to achieve, but let me attest to how much it is WORTH it!
While perusing Netflix one lazy evening, I came across a movie called "Cowspiracy", and the first thought I had was, "Yeah, here we go again...one of those 'how you're destroying our planet through agriculture' videos that's going to be a big shame and guilt fest." Due to not finding anything else more interesting, I ended up watching it anyway. It was made by a guy all on his own who was out to see why no one was talking about the thing that affects our air quality the most out of ANYTHING....and that is animal agriculture. I highly recommend this video...in fact, I insist that you watch it right after you read this post. If you're already hanging around on Facebook or my blog, you probably have time to watch it. *Note: the first 30 minutes are REALLY slow moving in the movie, but after that it starts to really get interesting.
This article also sums up a lot of what the video talks about if you really don't have time to watch it, but you REALLY should watch it at some point.
Before you all get freaked out and think that I'm trying to convert you to be vegan, I'm NOT. I don't think I could even do it myself. Vegetarian? Yeah, I could probably do that, but probably not vegan. Let's examine some of the reasons why you should eat less meat.

1. You save A LOT of money at the grocery store
2. You improve your health
3. You help the environment

The biggest thing you're probably wondering is how you get your protein or get ENOUGH protein everyday. I wondered the exact same thing when I started out my venture towards a more plant based diet, and it really is so easy. Quinoa is an excellent source of protein and a nice change of grain from the usual rice or wheat. Tofu is also something that can be used in almost everything...I prefer not to eat it plain, but in a sauce or casserole, you practically can't even tell the difference! Nuts are another excellent protein. Beans are also a REALLY great source of protein, and they are extremely affordable and last forever! Did you know that spinach also has protein? SO many foods have protein. The average American, according to this other great article, only needs about 45-57 grams of protein per day, and women don't even need quite that much. Let's do some math and see how easy it is to get your daily dose protein without eating any meat (Note, I do NOT exclude animal products from my diet):

Breakfast: FAGE 2% Plain Greek Yogurt with blueberries and granola. 19 grams of protein!
Lunch: Veggie burger on a piece of toast with avocado, mayo, and a little mozarella cheese. About 12-15 grams depending on your brand of veggie burger.
Snack: 1/2 cup almonds. 15 grams of protein.
Dinner: Homemade cornbread and chili with beans, assuming you eat 1/2 cup of beans. 8 grams of protein.

TOTAL: 55 grams of protein. Any meat in there? Nope. Absolutely none. Daily meatless protein dosage achieved!
*All protein measurements were found using this food calculator.

Now, I'm not asking you to entirely remove meat from your diet. I enjoy the occasional burger or salmon filet, too, and I like to eat eggs in the morning. However, as Americans, we eat WAY too much meat. You can hardly find meatless meals at restaurants! The goal I am striving for myself is to eat red meat once a week (and a small serving at that) and some other form of meat (poultry or fish) twice a week or less. I am not perfect at it yet, and I am still working on collecting meat-free recipes, but let's be honest, there really isn't any excuse not to be able to find meatless recipes with Pinterest and all of the incredible online websites that have gazillions of meatless recipes available a click-or-two away. Another way I have found to drastically reduce my meat consumption is to not ever make it THE main course. Basically, I cut it up really small and put it in stuff...like sauces, casseroles, salads, etc. Even then, there are a lot of other things you can substitute besides meat.

It's obvious how this helps your wallet...meat is expensive! Fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, and dried beans are much cheaper and more sustainable. Your body will also thank you! Eating less meat forces you to eat more veggies and fruits, and whose body doesn't like those?
As far as the environment is concerned, like I said, check out that Cowspiracy video on Netflix and the article that I posted above. Cows are responsible for the MAJORITY of the CO2 and methane in our air....more than all of our means of transportation combined...crazy, right? So, forget the new electric car, and save even MORE money at the grocery store by leaving without that nice porterhouse steak. So, really, you can't afford to not be almost vegetarian--it makes you healthier and saves you bundles of cash.

So, I hope you'll do the challenge with me. One red-meat-meal, one other-meat-meal this week, and the rest meat-free! Meatless Mondays doesn't make enough of a difference, it needs to be Meatless Most Days. I hope you post your experiences (and recipes) in the comments below! Now time to revise that weekly meal plan....Don't freak out. You can do this. Keep Calm and Eat less Meat.

Up next...what do we do with all this money we are saving? And no, the answer is not to keep it stashed away in that sad little checking account.