There is quite the taboo against meat these days on social media and within the general consumption of it. I fully understand both sides of eating it and not eating it. Up until about two years I had been a vegetarian for 5 years (and played with being a vegan a touch). I wrote about why I started eating meat again here on my blog and this week I wanted to talk about it a little more again.

When I decided to bring meat back into my diet it just felt right. Although it was not an easy decision, it was something I struggled with for a long time because when I decided to go vegetarian I told myself I would never ever eat meat again. But it was something my body started craving and honestly I felt like I needed back in my life. I researched bringing it back in and started sourcing the best kind of meats I could and still do. It was not a light decision and honestly I still struggle with it sometimes now, but in the end I still know for my body and my metabolism it is right.

I was lucky enough to be extremely supported by my loved ones when I decided to eat meat again, actually I think they found it harder when I stopped eating meat the years before then when I started eating it again. But I definitely went through the “I feel like a fraud, I am a horrible person, I said I would never and here I am eating a slice of bacon and enjoying it” but for me life has turned into a quest on how to be my best possible self in all realms; mind, body and spirit. I was stressing myself out over the decision which is far worse than the decision itself and telling your loved ones what you have decided for yourself. My feelings on stress are a whole other blog post in itself, but I do believe it and the food we put into our bodies are the number one and two causes of cancer and death. Strong belief I know but I stand behind it.

I still maintain a mostly plant based diet as I do think to thrive plants are the most important aspect for our bodies. And trust me I do realize and know that protein can come from plenty of other sources but for me personally I do a lot better with some actual meat in my diet. Paul and I recently have been trying more of a paleo approach to the way we eat and have noticed that is actually probably the most beneficial for our body types (we have similar structures and metabolism, also I have a syndrome called PCOS and the paleo diet is highly recommend as a way to control its symptoms with regards to diet). I don’t want to label how we eat because I just hate labels so I mostly try to listen to my body, see how it reacts to certain foods and just give it what it wants, what it will thrive on and what makes it feel the VERY best. At the moment that is a little more meat and a load of fresh organic veggies and berries and low on the carbs (rice, bread, grains, etc).

I am extremely picky on the meat that I do consume, I will only buy local, hormone free, organic, pasture raised, grass-fed meats and eggs and I try my hardest to buy any cheeses and butter from the same type of sources. I think if you do consume meats as well that is the most important aspect, it is just what is right for the animal (or at least as right as it can be) and much better for your body, mind and spirit.

I see and feel that there is a definite conscious shift happening within the food movement right now. People (myself included) are realizing that what we put into our bodies, what we feed our conscious source (body, mind and spirit) is incredibly important. Our diets truly affect every aspect of ourselves and I think that people are noticing how much our diet plays a part in our health. For Paul and myself our goal is to get back to almost ancestral ways of eating. Which means no processed foods (nada, none, we really don't eat any anymore anyway), very little grains and starches (although I will still definitely bake from time to time, it is all about moderation), sticking to local produce as much as we can and only buying meat that has been raised locally and given a happy life.

At the time that I originally went vegetarian it was more for the health reasons (because I wasn’t educated on the other types of meat that I now consume, ie organic, locally raised, etc) of eating meat that I had been researching and then that slowly turned into the lives of the animals and that just broke my heart. The conventional meats from major grocery stores is not only awful for our bodies it is tragic for the animals, devastating. There is a great article here for you to read (there are no graphic images) here on factory farming and just how awful it is for society and farm animals.

I try to tell anyone I know that eats meat to please please please at least educate yourself on all aspects of what you are ingesting into your body. Conventional meat is loaded with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and most of it is rotten, like literally actually rotten meat. Beyond that animals are treated in the most inhumane ways it is terrifying and heartbreaking. They are kept in cages their entire lives, they are sick and dying for the majority of their lives and they are unable to even walk or move. They are not killed fast it is a long, slow, painful death that is completely unnecessary.

Not only all of that but these animals are treated with no kind of respect or love, they don’t know what compassion is and have never experienced anything uplifting in their lives. All of that fear and agony that exists inside of them, slowly rots them. The meat that they are then turned into to be sold is loaded with their fear and agony and then you ingest it. Now we are always told that we are what we eat so then if that is so you are ingesting fear and agony and torture and rot. Imagine how your body is processing all of that? What diseases it is contributing to in your body? What stresses it is triggering in your mind? What harm it is doing to your spirit?

I truly believe that the food we ingest can cause us the most harm. I firmly believe our diets are a leading cause to cancer, stress, prescription drugs, mental disorders and even death. I know that may sound a little hokey pokey but it is my biggest belief. My grandparents farmed and they grew most of their own vegetables and berries and raised their own meats (humanely and organically), they lived extremely healthy lives and both died at the age of 92 and I really think it came down to the fact that they ingested organic, hormone free, pasture raised, pesticide free meats and veggies for the majority of their lives.

People are getting sicker with the food they are eating nowadays than they are getting healthy. Even if they think they are eating healthy (meat and veggies) unless they are grown locally and organically and raised to live a good life, free to roam around and run and frolic they aren’t. To me animals and veggies that are not raised or grown ethically are contributing to the sickness in this world and contributing to the need for more prescription drugs. So I urge you to really think about what you are eating, where you are buying from, source out farmers markets or stands around your house, source out a good local butcher that gets meat from ethically organic farms, where like I said they are actually allowed to roam around large open fields, grazing and lounging in the sun like they should be allowed to do. Not locked in a cage, hooked up to milking tubs, unable to move or walk, with fear and anxiety, and stress pulsating through their veins.

I’m sorry I know this post was a bit harsh and quite out of character for me on here, but it is a subject I am extremely passionate about and one that I think needs to be in the forefront of people’s minds more often.

Well now that I am done with that rant I can take you into this week’s recipe! Its meat, which I am sure you gathered it might be by the above eulogy. These patties are so delicious a mixture of ground pork and beef, laced with an abundance of fresh herbs, a little Parmesan and my secret sweet ingredient fresh peaches. I just love meat and fruits together, I think they blend and meld and come together so well, it’s the perfection of the sweet and savoury components.

You can either grill these patties on the BBQ or brown them on the stove and finish them off in the oven, either way is delicious. You can eat them like a burger but we opted to have them alone sans bun and they were great. Paired with some fresh veggies, corn on the cob or a salad and your meal is complete.

I would love to know your thoughts on eating meat, do you? Don't you? Let me know below xx

honey caramelized peach, pork & beef patties

peach patties

1 1/2 pound of organic beef

1 pound of organic pork

2 peaches

2 shallots

4 cloves of garlic

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

1/2 cup fresh chopped sage

2 tsp of himlayan salt

2 tsp of black pepper

caramelized peaches

3 peaches

3 tbsp of butter

3 tbsp of honey

directions

peach patties

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Chop the herbs and mince the garlic and shallots. Cut two of the peaches into small bite size chunks. In a large bowl combine all of the patty ingredients except for the peaches and mix together with a large spoon or with your hands until the mixture if combined well. Then add in the cut peaches carefully as you don't want to crush them too much.

You can make the patties any size you like, I made them about the size of my palm. Heat a large oven safe pan on medium high heat with about 1 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tbsp butter. Place the patties in the pan and brown on each side (about 3-4 minutes per side). Place the pan in the oven to continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Flip the patties over and cook for another 15 minutes.

caramelized peaches

Cut the peaches into small bite sizes and preheat a pan on medium heat. Add in the honey and butter and let this cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in the peaches and cook the mixture down for about 15 minutes (until the honey and butter start to caramelize and the peaches are tender.

Serve the patties with a spoonful of the caramelized peaches on top, you don't even need a bun!

notes

Instead of baking the patties in the oven the can be done on the BBQ as well.