Observations about beef, Random - H
Baby's been a little sick, and so she's been cranky and irritable. She's getting better, and we hope she'll be well before she has to hop on the plane for a six hour ride. She's going to meet my sisters and her cousins for the first time.
So I cooked some conventional, non-grassfed beef the other day b/c I'm all out of the good and natural stuff. While the texture was almost buttery, the smell of the meat while cooking was a bit foul, and this was USDA choice from C0stc0. Those hormones and antibiotics don't cook very well, I suppose, and sickly animals can't possibly produce truly high quality meat. The other thing I realized about using grass-fed beef is that it saves me time in the kitchen. I don't have to spend time trimming the fat, b/c there isn't any, nor do I need to skim the beef scum, say from a stew or soupy dish, b/c there isn't any. I'll pay a few more dollars for that in addition to more nutritious beef.
The next thing on my list is to find fresh organic eggs from properly raised chickens. There are some organic eggs at our local farmer's market that are from chickens that are properly raised, but they are still fed corn. According to 0mniv0re's Dilemma, eggs from chickens that eat what they are supposed to eat, have orange yolks (from all the beta carotene in their diets) that are firm and not as easy to pop. I'd like to have eggs like that.
You know, with all the beef we Americans consume, I wonder if it would help the obesity problem at all if we all ate beef from grass-fed cows. They lack the saturated fat that marbles the muscles of the corn-fed cows. Maybe fast food (or conventional beef in general) would actually add nutritional value to our diets. Who knows?
When I look for recipes, I just peruse cookbooks and choose recipes that I think would be good. These days, I choose recipes from the food channel, and occasionally I find some winners and add them to my personal "cookbook." I'm happy to say I found some winners, and best of all they are easy and require relatively little work. This has actually led me to eat less Korean food lately b/c it takes so much prep to make a full Korean meal. I also don't know where I can get the Korean cuts of meat in the grass-fed variety, and to try to cut, say ribeye steaks, into thin slices of ribeye is just to labor intensive.
I'm just feeling good and content these days. I'm enjoying the crisp, autumn weather and even the rain and clouds. I noticed colorful foliage the other day when I was driving in the hills. It was so pleasant. I felt so grounded and content. My life is in order. Life is good.
So I cooked some conventional, non-grassfed beef the other day b/c I'm all out of the good and natural stuff. While the texture was almost buttery, the smell of the meat while cooking was a bit foul, and this was USDA choice from C0stc0. Those hormones and antibiotics don't cook very well, I suppose, and sickly animals can't possibly produce truly high quality meat. The other thing I realized about using grass-fed beef is that it saves me time in the kitchen. I don't have to spend time trimming the fat, b/c there isn't any, nor do I need to skim the beef scum, say from a stew or soupy dish, b/c there isn't any. I'll pay a few more dollars for that in addition to more nutritious beef.
The next thing on my list is to find fresh organic eggs from properly raised chickens. There are some organic eggs at our local farmer's market that are from chickens that are properly raised, but they are still fed corn. According to 0mniv0re's Dilemma, eggs from chickens that eat what they are supposed to eat, have orange yolks (from all the beta carotene in their diets) that are firm and not as easy to pop. I'd like to have eggs like that.
You know, with all the beef we Americans consume, I wonder if it would help the obesity problem at all if we all ate beef from grass-fed cows. They lack the saturated fat that marbles the muscles of the corn-fed cows. Maybe fast food (or conventional beef in general) would actually add nutritional value to our diets. Who knows?
When I look for recipes, I just peruse cookbooks and choose recipes that I think would be good. These days, I choose recipes from the food channel, and occasionally I find some winners and add them to my personal "cookbook." I'm happy to say I found some winners, and best of all they are easy and require relatively little work. This has actually led me to eat less Korean food lately b/c it takes so much prep to make a full Korean meal. I also don't know where I can get the Korean cuts of meat in the grass-fed variety, and to try to cut, say ribeye steaks, into thin slices of ribeye is just to labor intensive.
I'm just feeling good and content these days. I'm enjoying the crisp, autumn weather and even the rain and clouds. I noticed colorful foliage the other day when I was driving in the hills. It was so pleasant. I felt so grounded and content. My life is in order. Life is good.
posted by haed at 10:05 PM
3 Comments:
I love natural food, especially animals that were raised and killed humanely. But being able to afford grass-fed beef or organic produce is a privilege. A family below poverty line eats whatever they can buy cheaply - canned beans, food from 99cents menu. It would be ideal if the only beef available are grass-fed beef. But that will skyrocket the beef price because supply simply can’t meet the demand. As beef price skyrockets, the rich will remain unaffected, but the poor will be cut off from supply of beef. The catch here is that it is the poor that needs food that are more natural and organic. The rich are already paying for natural and organic food. It’s a dilemma. As much as I hate slaughter houses, I can’t judge them because they provide food for many. Human rights, it seems, always come before animal rights.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I was just making a passing comment about grass-fed beef and obesity, wondering to myself, and you assumed that I am ignorant. You, Anonymous, made a mistake. Don't assume that I'm ignorant. I know quite well the issues you talked about and about the privilege that I have as one who lives in the US comfortably. I see that as quite a heavy responsibility.
There is no other intention of this blog to try to persuade or educate. It's merely a partial record of some of the things I think about and some of the goings on in my life. If I don't know you, this blog really isn't intended for you. You're free to read, and free to judge me I suppose. I, however, take offense.
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