I Love Meat! A note from a reformed vegan.

These days you would never (thank goodness) know that I was once a card-carrying strict vegetarian or vegan. I mean, "What about the animals?"... Don't get me wrong, I love the little, tasty furry animals and appreciate every little bit of nutrition they provide me. I try my hardest to buy responsibly, to make sure my protein comes from happy cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, bison, etc. that are free to roam and be healthy. It's not only that I want to buy grass fed beef because the omega-6 to -3 ratio is drastically better than grain fed, feed-lot cows, but I also truly want my protein choice to reflect my ethics. So basically, I want happy, healthy animals served up on my plate so I can grow stronger, build muscle, not be vitamin and mineral deficient, have healthy digestion, and enjoy a stable mental state. Seems simple...

Enough of that hippie love for animals... The other night after dinner as I was cleaning dishes and it dawned on me how freakin hilarious and strange it must be to those who have known me for more than a few years that I eat meat, let alone the amount of meat I eat. My dad is simple ecstatic at this fact. I mean I wasn't completely militant vegan in the sense that I was a "Vegan Nazi", but I was definitely strict and let you know my opinions about it if given the opportunity.

The evening meal I'm referring to above consisted of two sausages, one mild Italian turkey and one mild Italian pork. I'm generally a fan of the leaner meats, so I tend to ask for advice when looking to try something new or in the mood for fattier cut. Staring at the meat case at Whole Foods being indecisive as usual, I decided to venture out of my norm and buy some fresh sausage. The gentlemen behind the counter said the spices were the same between the different styles and it was merely a difference in meat. I had my eye on the Italian style because it seems to be the one that never has nightshades or has a small amount. I was informed that the turkey was a bit dry and the pork was awesome. What's a girl to do? Well, get one of each of course! I told the guy that I wanted to do a side by side comparison and he seemed to get a chuckle out of it. While I was eating dinner I was also baking meatloaf to take to work for the week. By the time I got to dishes it was cooling on the stove and I was still craving protein. So I snacked on some meatloaf while I did the dishes. It was a meat fest for sure and it was fantastic. Thinking of all the legume-based "healthy" meals of my vegan passed, I chuckled to myself as I became satiated from my delicious meat protein.

Survive or thrive???

Vegans are wrong... I know because I used to be one.