Cooking for Sunday Funday at Our Little House

Sunday afternoons around Our Little House are all about the food, baby. When we lived in the city, you could usually find us on Sunday evening gorging at our favorite local Mexican diner.

Since moving to Our Little House, we use Sunday as a day of R&R. We don’t like to go anywhere because Dale has to drive every other day of the week and driving into town even gets exhausting for him.

So, in the winter, we cook up some comfort food.

In the summer, after a typical Sunday morning of boating, it’s all about the grill.

It’s been two years now (I do not know where the time goes) since I went on a mainly plant based (vegan) diet.

My reasons for this lifestyle change were mostly for my health, but as an animal lover, I had long been bothered with the idea of eating meat and dairy (calves are ripped from their mothers, which is how we get our milk and cheese).

I had cut out all meat except for fish about once a week, but after consulting with my doctor, who is also a vegan, he suggested that I add in a little more protein.

This made Dale a pretty happy man, although he immediately saw the benefits of the vegan lifestyle in his own health and weight, he went back to eating meat when he’s not at home.

I decided since Sunday is our big meal day, we would add some sort of meat dish back in, which really makes grilling easier.

I still eat only a small portion, because we, as Americans, consume way too much meat anyway. It’s all about portions and balance for a healthy lifestyle. Milk was not a problem for me to give up, I use a coconut milk creamer in my coffee and almond milk for everything else. I also eat very little cheese.

Before I stopped eating meat, we had long been buying grass fed, free range products, not only because they were more humane, but because I felt they had to be healthier for us.

This month, a report in Mother Earth News confirmed my suspicions. The April/May issue published a lengthy article on the benefits of eating grass fed meat vs. feedlot raised.

This make me feel better about the health reasons for eating grass fed, free range, but meat is still not my favorite food.

Give me a nice mixture of colorful veggies (I even crave them now, like the avocado cucumber salad we made to go with Dale’s Dutch Oven quesadilla casserole (the recipes can be found in the links).

For dessert? The cherry version of the Dutch Oven Dump Cake we make last fall, also referred to as Lazy Cobbler.

Sundays couldn’t be any tastier at Our Little House, when we’re Living Large!

Do you have a family meal night that you enjoy? Does everyone help cook? Click on the comment link above the photo to join in the conversation!