This morning I woke to two news articles about tainted meat on my Google home page, and once again praised my good luck that I prefer to be vegetarian. But I know most people aren’t, and thought about a blog I visited yesterday through a lucky click on my Stumble Upon toolbar.

First, the meat articles. They are Chemical in tainted pet food turns up on hog farms, and E. coli’s trail ends in Merced California … Not very appetizing, is it?

So here’s the solution: great vegetarian meals. The kind that make you feel like you’re not missing anything. That’s what I found during my visit to Vegetarian Meal Plans, a blog by Cassie Young that’s been serving up great vegetarian meal plan ideas and recipes, along with a serving of practical advice, since last December. The recipes with their colorful close-up photographs of her culinary creations are simple enough to be do-able, but complex enough to impress me. The author tells us this is what she’s been eating at her home so I’m sure we can do it at ours.

I work in a pizza restaurant that serves up meat-laden pizzas all day long. Very few come in asking for our veggie combo, and I wonder why, with all the publicity about tainted meat, so many people have a problem with making the break to more healthy, natural foods.

For me, it was a decision I made early-on in my life; I decided as a teenager that pillaging animals for their flesh was not for me. But most people eat meat as if their life depends on it. I wonder if it is caused by government propaganda that tells us meat is one of the four food groups.

Meat is not necessary for human survival. Living without it is a blessing, and is the best way to avoid tainted meat that is becoming more common in the 21st century.

Vegetarian Meal Plans deserves a link in my blogroll on the right-hand side of this blog.

Organic Cinnamon

I don’t know if it works, yet… but I found this cinnamon and honey idea on a news site from India along with a list of other healthy cinnamon and honey ideas. It is from Ayurvedic and Yunani medicine.

The article says that to lose weight, we should make a tea of honey and cinnamon. The author suggested that we boil honey and cinnamon in the water, but I am more inclined to add them to boiled water rather than boil them. Then drink one cup in the morning, about half an hour before breakfast on an empty stomach… and drink one more cup of this tea at night. I’ve tried it a few times and the tea tastes great. I would drink it more often!

Anyhow, the article goes on to claim that if consumed regularly this honey and cinnamon tea will reduce weight by not allowing fat to accumulate in the body even if a person eats a high calorie diet. I hope this is true, and will try it for the next month. I’ll let you know if I lose any weight this way.

I’ll be posting more about honey and cinnamon cures in the future. I like easy and quick home remedies that can be found in my country kitchen pantry.

My favorite recipe site is allrecipes.com - I’ve been going there for help with finding recipes for years. I like how people can contribute their own recipes, rate recipes, and find almost anything. You can print out your recipes in several sizes. Sometimes there’s almost too many choices!

I put in the search term, ‘blueberry muffins’ and it came up with ‘Lemon Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Health Nut Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Blueberry Muffins 1′, ‘Diabetic Friendly Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Banana Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Blueberry Muffins 2′, ‘Alienated Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Applesauce Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Applesauce Wheat Blueberry Muffins’, ‘To Die For Blueberry Muffins - Lighter Version’, ‘Best Lactose Free Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins’, ‘Black and Blueberry Muffins’, and lots more.

You get the idea. This reader-contributed recipe listing service is hosting tons of recipes and if you can’t find what you’re looking for there, I’d be surprised.

I found a great idea on Dr. Mercola’s website today - it is a recipe for Healthy Green Tea Soda - complete with a video about how to make it.

Speaking of olives, I came across this recipe for a nutritious sandwich spread that I’d like to share with you:

1 cup chopped ripe olives
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped fine
1/4 cup almonds, chopped fine
1/4 cup sesame or sunflower seeds, ground
1/4 cup celery, chopped fine (optional)

Mix together with enough mayonnaise to make it the consistency desired for sandwiches or chips.

My favorite raw food supplier, Sunfood Nutrition, has these Raw Power Olives for sale. They say, “These delicious PITTED brownish/red, kalamata-style olives are packed in pure water, fresh garlic, fresh oregano, whole ripe cayenne pepper, and a dash of celtic sea salt. These are the olives promoted in the book Raw Power!“