One Step At a Time...
You Can Go Meatless
For All Three Meals
What’s the healthiest human diet? With so many trending options — vegetarian, pescotarian, semi-vegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, vegan, vegan before six — it’s hard to decide what’s best for our bodies. Recently, though, we were given a little insight. , which looked at a range of different diets, decreasing meat consumption means improving health.
Conducted
at Loma Linda University in California and led by Michael J. Orlich,
MD, the medical
study
analyzed over 70,000 Seventh-day Adventists, who practice
vegetarianism. The study found that vegetarians demonstrated a
reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. With
that, vegetarians were determined twelve percent less likely to die
from all-cause mortality than were meat-eaters.
Because
researchers defined the vegetarian
category
as
having four dietary patterns — including those who eat fish and
those who eat meat
no more than once a week — the results suggest that there is a
growing accessibility to a vegetarian lifestyle, in addition to the
increased benefits of having one.
However,
according to Robert B. Baron, MD, MS, who responded to the research
in the JAMA Internal Medicine, it is important to note the nature of
the study and remember that “like all observational studies, this
one provides associations, not cause-and-effect evidence.” While
the study concluded that vegetarians are less likely to develop
certain diseases, it did not determine whether this pattern is caused
by their specific diet or their overall lifestyle.
The
bottom line is, they’re doing something right, and a few less hamburgers never hurt anyone, anyways.
Many
people are turning to a healthier lifestyle and the vegetarian
recipes you find on this blog will be a delicious addition to your
recipe collection.
If
you think that a diet of vegetarian food will be somewhat difficult
to incorporate into your lifestyle, LQ Wellness thinks you will be
surprised at the variety of easy recipes you will find here.
Vegetarian
cuisine is not only healthy, these recipes show you how delicious a
vegetarian diet can be.
Give
them a try.
Even
if you have no desire to convert from a meat eating diet, you'll see
that it is easy and tasty to incorporate meat free days into your
current diet.Making
your meals meat free one day a week can help you feel good about
yourself, and you’ll be sure to find some tasty new recipes along
the way.
If
you are already a vegetarian, I think you will enjoy the variety of
new recipes you will find here.
Healthy
Meatless Recipe:
Baked
Eggplant Marinara
(Adapted
from Patricia Conte )
Eggplant
is a versatile vegetable that's terrific stuffed, grilled, pureed for
a dip or baked. Give this recipe for baked eggplant marinara a try
for a fabulous Meatless Monday meal.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium-sized eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch round slices
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 cups Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs (maybe more if you run low when breading)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups of marinara sauce (a bit more to use when serving)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red pepper flakes (to season the marinara sauce)
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- After you slice the eggplant into one-quarter-inch rounds, salt them to drain off some of their liquid (this helps to eliminate any bitterness). Place the slices in a colander over the sink and sprinkle them with salt. Allow them to remain in the colander for about 30 minutes, then pat them dry with paper towels.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together and set aside.
- In another shallow bowl add the flour, salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a third shallow bowl, add the breadcrumbs mixed together with one-quarter cup of the Parmesan cheese, and set aside with the others.
- Spread about one-quarter cup of the marinara sauce across the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, or enough to coat the bottom, and set aside.
- Gather your shallow bowls together in the same area as your baking sheets. First dip the eggplant slices in the flour mixture and cover both sides. Next, dredge them in the egg and milk mixture and allow the excess liquid to drip off, and finally coat them on both sides in the breadcrumb/Parmesan mixture.
- Arrange each of the eggplant slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. You'll need two baking sheets.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip them over for another 10 minutes, until they become golden.
- Remove, set aside and lower your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add the eggplant slices to your prepared baking dish. To the top of the first layer, add some of the marinara sauce to lightly cover them. Double layer the slices, overlapping, if you have too many slices for a single layer.
- When all the slices are in the baking pan, top them with about three-quarters cup of marinara sauce and sprinkle with one-quarter cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Bake, covered with aluminum foil for about 15 minutes. Remove the pan, top the slices with the mozzarella cheese, and put them back in the oven, uncovered, for another 10-15 minutes, or until the eggplant slices are cooked, and the cheese is bubbly.
- Serve warm with extra sauce.
Enjoy
and Bon Appetit!
Healthy
Weekly Motivator:
Makeover
Your Meal Experience
Often,
mealtimes are anything but relaxing; the chaos of everyday life
leaves hardly any time to enjoy dinner! However, studies show that a
relaxing dinner experience is beneficial to everyone, whether you’re
eating alone or with your family.
In order to create a positive
dining atmosphere, turn off all technology and eat at a table with
place settings.
This
week, schedule at least one relaxing dinner to enjoy time with your
family and/or friends. The dinner doesn’t have to be perfect,
either. As long as you’re enjoying the meal, there’s no need to
stress about any mistakes that occurred while planning, preparing, or
cooking.
Have
a great week everyone and remember a better tomorrow starts with what
you eat today!
Do
you have a favorite meatless recipe you would like to share with us?
Send it my way!
Wishing
you health and wellness from the inside out,
Lisa
LQ
WELLNESS
Professional
Wellness Coach
973-383-0955
lisaquinnwc@embarqmail.com
Make
sure to follow me on Twitter @lq_wellness
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me on Facebook
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me on Pinterest
“The
way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence
your life by 30 to 50 years.”
~Deepak
Chopra~
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