Have you looked at the prices of organic food in grocery stores lately? From milk to beef to vegetables, organic foods produced without pesticides and hormones are usually the highest-priced items in their categories. Let’s us talk about how you can get organic food, specifically meat, that costs next to nothing, while exercising that may help you lose weight and improve your cardiovascular system.
When you partake of what I call the wild harvest, you’re acquiring and eating the most-natural food possible. Free-range chickens and turkeys, prime items at grocery stores, command high prices. However, when you hunt and take wild turkeys, grouse, quail, doves, ducks and pheasants, you’re harvesting the ultimate, very-lean organic meats, free from steroids and pesticides that never have lived in crowded conditions and have variations in taste. Have you noticed when anyone tries to describe the taste of the meat that has little or no flavor, they’ll generally say, “That tastes like chicken.” Those of us who hunt for and eat the meats we take enjoy the most-natural, delicious organic meats available on the planet.
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If you hunt big-game animals like deer, elk, moose and/or caribou, just one of these animals will produce enough organic meat to feed a family of four for many weeks with meat that’s low in cholesterol, high in protein, lower in calories and delicious to the tastebuds. All these big-game animals are free-grazing and eat the best foods nature has to offer. For instance, domestic hogs are kept in pens and fed who knows what, probably including growth hormones to help them grow bigger, quicker. Wild hogs eat native plants, which produce very-lean meat that’s much healthier for human consumption when properly prepared. The same is true when you compare cattle raised in lots to deer and elk that roam free. To have the best organic meat possible, go out into the woods as a hunter, and then take and eat the game you harvest. If you’re not a hunter but have friends who do hunt, ask your hunting friends to bring you some of the organic meats they take on their hunting trips.
Here’s one of my favorite wild pig recipes.
Wild Pig Parmesan
Ingredients:
1/2-cup Italian bread crumbs
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3/4-teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2-teaspoon paprika
3 egg whites
4 pork chops (about 4-ounces each)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray the foil with vegetable cooking spray. On waxed paper, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, rosemary and paprika. Mix well. In a shallow bowl, lightly beat egg whites. Dip each pork chop into the egg whites, draining off excess. Dredge in bread-crumb/spice mixture, turning to coat. Place pork chops on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn pork chops, and bake until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. While the pork chops are baking, prepare the following sauce:
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
1 can (14-ounces) low-sodium tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4-cup chopped fresh parsley
Preparation:
In a small saucepan, cook tomato juice, garlic and basil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in parsley. Place some sauce on serving plates, and top with pork chops. Drizzle the chops with the remaining sauce.
To learn more about how to butcher, cut and prepare wild game for the table, go to www.protoolindustries.net, and click on cutting and preparing wild meat.
