Beef vs. Buffalo vs. Turkey

It's been a slow process weaning my husband and mother off beef. There are plenty of reasons not to eat beef. It's consistently linked with early mortality and heart disease. Unless you buy "natural", grass-fed beef, the cow has been fed antibiotics, hormones and an unnatural amount of corn. Beef has a very high carbon footprint and the cows make methane gas, a greenhouse gas. Eating beef is a habit, though, that many people cannot imagine breaking.

When I tested allergic to beef, I switched us to buffalo. Buffalo is by law grass-fed and natural. The beef producers had this law passed to make sure buffalo was not marbled with fat and more competitive with beef. We quickly got to where we preferred the flavor and texture of the buffalo. We typically bought ground buffalo, which is generally available, and used it for spaghetti, tacos, meatloaf, chili, and burgers.

Then, I started buying ground turkey to replace the ground buffalo. Slowly, but surely, we've started to prefer turkey to buffalo. The main objection to turkey is that turkey raising practices are cruel. But, turkey has a small fraction of the environmental impact of beef and no significant early mortality issues. The latest buffalo recipe to switch to turkey is hamburgers. We made turkey burgers this week and everyone was surprised they were more tasty, juicy and tender.

So, at this point, I almost have my husband and mother ready to switch to near 100% poultry and fish as protein sources. I am sure they will still order beef at restaurants. But, once you quit eating it regularly, the habit is broken.

I skipped a day on food reporting, I think. It was an 892 calorie day and probably worth discussing. We used to make CR pizzas from tortillas. Since we moved here, I have been buying HEB extra thin cheese pizzas. They cost $3 or $4, depending on the whim of the grocery store management for the week, so they are really cheap. They are especially low in fat and calories compared to other brands. We use these as a base for putting on our own toppings. We saute a large amount of onions, peppers, and mushrooms to put on at the last (we like them cooked a bit). We add extra tomato paste, a little goat gouda, turkey pepperoni, and more spices and garlic. I dash a bit of extra olive oil on the top. The result is a fairly healthy pizza - one third of the pizza (my share) is 400 calories and fairly nutritious because of the low fat meat, tomato paste and loads of veggies. If you serve it with a nice green salad, it is reasonably CR for a dinner meal. That is what I had on Wednesday for dinner. I had made some homemade hummus and my snack in the afternoon was a carrot dipped in hummus. My husband messed up my plan, just a little, by making guacamole from a small avocado, which I shared with him, using a few tortilla chips. He made a wine cooler for dinner for me, too - 4 oz of Cabernet, some blueberry tea and a splash of diet lemon/lime drink. So, that why I went over 800 calories - 200 calories worth of husband treats. Good I saved a few calories to spare just for this possibility. Lunch included a small bowl of leftover homemade chicken noodle soup and a 2.8 oz packet of tuna.