Nothing like waiting till the last minute to get my Friday/looking more like a Saturday post of the Wheat Germ Weekly up on the blog. Ugh.
But today I'd like to talk about meat .
Meat is important in our family. Dinner is not dinner without some sort of meat/pork/chicken representation, according to my husband.
Me - I can get by on cottage cheese and peaches in a pinch.
But my husband can not. In fact, I'm not sure if he even knows what cottage cheese is.
My favorite "go-to" dinner when we just need something quick and easy - or when J is going to be late from work - is the ever delightful breakfast for dinner. The kids love raisin toast and scrambled eggs....and it's quick, easy and pretty nutritious.
But if I fail to include the BACON, my husband rules it void and inadmissable.
Incidentally, BACON is the meat that makes everything better. Making a quiche? Add a healthy slab of bacon. Grilling a hamburger? Throw some bacon on top. Needing a potato fix? Crumble in the bacon. Green beans? Flavor 'em with bacon.
And don't even ask about the option of turkey bacon, because around here, turkey bacon is sacrilege.
So I say all this to establish the fact that we partake of a healthy amount of meat, pork, and chicken. We love fish, but since we live in the northern Panhandle, fresh fish is hardly an option, and I'm not quite certain that I would trust the current stock fish products available at our local grocery store. Sam's club in Amarillo is my best bet for fresh or frozen fish, and I grab it when I can.
When I can, people.
But in our modern, mass-marketed, get-it-to-ya-quick world today, a lot of hormones are added to all the meat in general, and we all know that our hams, bacons, and sausages are filled with those pesky nitrite chemicals, which ain't good for us one bit, not at all.
Since a Whole Foods grocery store is nowhere to be found up here in the Panhandle, organic meat like steaks and ground beef are a rare option. I think every now and then it's available at our grocery - but whoa, it's expensive. And while you can't put a price on eating good healthy hormone-free food, with our budget and location it's not always possible to buy 100% organic in every food group.
Ok - I just told my husband that I was writing about meat and the absence of healthier options in our area, and he proceeded to tell me that if I was buying in to all the propaganda out there about hormone-fed beef, then we have some serious marital issues to discuss. He believes it is all hogwash....pardon the pun.
I have married myself an honest-to-goodness red-blooded southern American male.
He did give me permission to write about deli meat, which was where I was going with this post anyway.
So. I know I can do something about our deli meat - otherwise known as our lunchtime sandwich entree, or sometimes our mid-afternoon rolled up ham and cheese snack.
Because deli meat? Y'all....it's one of the worst. Seriously, have you ever really smelled it? I don't think I ever noticed the smell of regular deli meat until I purchased this product below.....and found out there was a difference:
Ok - the pic is kind of small. It's Hormel Natural Choice Meats. No preservatives. No nitrites. No MSG.
Awesome.
And it smells right.
Plus, it comes in bacon! Pepperoni! Carved chicken breast! Crusted loin filets!
And it's not over the top expensive! But it's not cheap either!
ONCE, I stumbled upon this particular natural brand in the packaged meat section at our local grocery store and promptly grabbed two packages. The next time I went back, it was gone. I tracked down our butcher, and prayerfully asked if they had a new shipment arriving soon.... but long story short, our grocery powers-that-be did not think we had enough of a market up here in SMALL TOWN AMERICA to warrant stocking the natural sandwich meat.
I am presently trying to make it my mission to tell everyone I know in the area to go ask our grocery people to please Bring Back the Natural Meat!!
By golly.
So. Now I'm grabbing the Hormel Natural Choice meat when I can while in Amarillo.
When I can.
In the meantime, I asked the professionals at the Amarillo health food store what they thought of regular deli meat.
They try not to think about regular smelly deli meat.
Instead, they suggested that when I didn't have access to the natural stuff, I should go buy a whole chicken or roast or something....cook it....slice it.....freeze it.... and use it for my sandwich meat. It doesn't have to be organic. But, it is a much better option than buying the regular nitrite-filled deli meat shaved especially for you by the "friendly" teenager behind the glass case.
However, this whole kit-and-kaboodle option takes extra planning and time, and since I'm a last minute sorta gal, it has yet to work for me.
But it is my goal.
However, I'm doing the best I can to stock up on the Hormel Natural meats, friends....
When I can.






