English Muffin Pizza and Thoughts and Stats on Protein and Inexpensive Healthy Eating

I'm a believer that your life is as complicated as you make it.  Now maybe that statement is over-simplifying things a little, or a lot, but it's true to a certain point.  I think the same is with cooking for your family.  I find cooking an outlet for my creativity.  But every meal doesn't have to be something new and different if you don't want it to be.  I think the best formula for people trying to lose weight, people on the go, or people living with carnivores while they themselves are attempting to be an omnivore/herbivore can be soup and salad.  It's a simple formula but can be as complex, light or filling, and as interesting as you like.  Grill/skillet/bake a piece of meat for anyone that thinks they need it, and you all have supper together.

There are endless salad and soup recipes/ideas.  Lucky for me my husband likes everything I make us, and doesn't care if there's no meat on the table.  As long as it's filling, tasty and satisfying I don't see how anyone could complain about what they're being fed.  The American notion that meat should be at every meal or every day is deep-rooted in our history and therefore understandable.  Kings ate meat, paupers didn't.  Now everyone can eat like a king thanks to factory farming!  But sadly, eating like the affluent has brought with it the 'diseases of affluence' (heart disease, cancer, etc.)

I'm loving all the new studies proving that it is best to 'eat meat sparingly', to eat foods that are in season, and eat grains of the earth.  Eating meat should be reserved for times of famine or cold. It's a very compact source of energy and calories that definitely has its place.  Most of us though, most of the time, aren't hurting for lack of calories in our day.  As I listened to health leacture by a friend, Dr. Tracy Gibbs, a few years ago, I learned that a big portion of Americans are malnourished.  Not meaning that they lack for calories, but they lack nutrition, vitamins, anti-oxidants, fiber, and water.  I also love all the studies proving that we don't need as much protein as we think we do, that too much protein is harmful, and that vegetables have as much protein per calorie as meat 1.  This site lays out the stats nicely.

Here's a simple dish I threw together for today's lunch.  It's a whole wheat english muffin, topped with some Newman's Own spaghetti sauce, thinly sliced zucchini and tomatoes, put under the broiler for a few minutes.  I guess it's just like my pita pizza non-recipe.

Remember, eating healthy does not need to be complicated.  It can be simple if you want it to be.  And even though real food prices are rising, I still think eating healthier is less expensive than eating junk food and meat and dairy.  A bag of chips is more expensive than a bag of potatoes.  And I could definitely eat a whole bag of chips and still be hungry but not eat a whole bag of potatoes in one sitting.  Since changing to cooking vegan my grocery bill has lowered by about 15-20 percent.  I love this site "Raw on $10 a Day" that proves how inexpensive healthy eating can be.  In the long term we know it's cheaper.  Any middle age/ elderly person will tell you how much their pills cost and I'm sure that some of those pills could be avoided with some dietary changes.