Would you like to save money and make family meals healthier – by substituting just one ingredient once a week? Then maybe you’re keen to try going without meat every Monday?
Meat-free Mondays are designed to help reduce the effects of meat production on the environment, along with introducing some healthy and tasty food options to your kids’ diets and saving you money.
Why go meat-free on Mondays?
The scheme was originally pioneered by singer Paul McCartney, and his daughters Stella and Mary, almost a decade ago to encourage us to go meat-free every Monday to help our health and protect the planet. Research has found that food production is responsible for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, with meat and fisheries production and land use accounting for almost half of these. In addition, the land required to produce 100g of red meat protein is far higher than that required to produce the same amount of protein from grains, peas, or soybeans.
Why is it good for your family?
Cutting down the amount of processed and red meat in your diet may help to reduce your risk of certain types of cancer. It’ll also save your family money: research suggests that a vegetarian diet costs around $2 less per person a day, adding up to almost $1,500 for two adults over the course of a year (subject to price fluctuations).
How to do it at home
If the thought of trying to feed your kids a veggie meal once a week fills you with dread, don’t panic – it just comes down to good planning. Decide on your meat-free meal when planning your weekly shop – so you don’t end up scrabbling in the pantry and serving up cheesy pasta again. And, while trying to get your kids to eat veggies may be difficult, having a regular night at home when you ‘try one new thing’ adds structure to a more adventurous meal-time routine and will make you feel great when it finally pays off.
My kids and I could do the meat free Monday but don’t think my husband would be keen he loves meat and vegetables. But it’s great to think of different options and some of the like vege lasagne and potato bakes are always great in our house. With enough planning this may work.
I find it harder to think of meat free meals so is good to get some additional ideas as well as I would normally make soups or something like jacket potatoes or a spinach, egg, and feta pie.
This sound like a great idea, will save a bit of money too. I think my kids would enjoy a night of a cheesy bake with some hidden vegetables in there. You could make and freeze too for a quick go to meal.
That’s a really good idea. You could do a pasta bake without meat pretty easily. The cheesy potato bake appeal as wel, and is family friendly. My kids are quite fussy so it would work best for us.