Menu Plan: Week of February 9th

This is my kind of menu planning. Anthony's out of town until Thursday so that means I'm going to raid the pantry and refrigerator for the first few days.

Mon: Something boring and totally not nutritious
Tues: Whatever the fuck I want
Weds: Anything not made with gluten, which probably means an apple
Thurs: (Anthony's back for dinner tonight, so I gotta get serious now) Whole roasted chicken with mushrooms in a cream Vermouth sauce
Fri: Kings Ranch Casserole
Sat: WTFE (what-the-fuck-ever)
Sun: Roast Beef with Root Veggies and Mushrooms

A new farmers' market is opening up about 10 minutes from my house. It's got a real building with real doors and it advertises farm fresh produce AND meats. That's the part I'm most excited about. I'm a guilty meat eater (like a lot of us, I think). I love eating meat and think it's the way our bodies were built to be (omnivorous), but I abhor the treatment of our animals prior to and during slaughter. I always feel guilty for eating meats that I can't confirm were treated ethically during its life and I keep them to a minimum.

For example, did you know that Neiman Ranch bacon is now available at Super Targets? I haven't seen any of their other products there, yet, but the bacon is incredibly good, and only $4.99 a package. I'll save you the effort of clicking on the Neiman Ranch link and just tell you that it's a co-op of farmers for beef, pork, and lamb, with humane standards set out in protocols (you can read the protocols for each animal on their website) whereby the animals are treated as such: animals. Not a crop. You'll often see in menus at better restaurants listings such as "Neiman Ranch Rib Eye" and the such. So now you know that that restaurant is supporting sustainable ranching and the ethical treatment of animals.

But I digress. My whole point is now I have more options at hand with yet another local meat market opening up. Johnny G's is just down the street from us, too, and I love going there.

Oh, and this magazine, Edible Austin, given away at my farmers' market, is a great resource for your own local markets and options. There are dozens of Edible magazines across the nation, so you can subscribe or find your own.

Anyhoo, that's all I got to say about that.

Peace out.