Hey Everyone!  Sorry for the lack of updates as of recent.  The lovely fella arrived on Monday night so we’ve been hanging out!

Yesterday we went to La Brea Tar Pits because we’re big nerds he had never been.

Getting out of tar would be hard...

Today we he attempted to fix the treadmill in my parent’s house so I can work on my fitness this month (I much prefer treadmills to running outside).  Then started shopping for supplies for Christmas dinner.  This brings me to the title of this post “Cooking for Non-Vegetarians.”  My brother and I are the only vegetarians in the family.  The rest are meat-eating latinos.  Latinos eat A LOT of meat.

My mom hates cooking so my sister and I usually make large holiday meals.  This year I didn’t really want to make meat but I knew I had to because I don’t want to force my lifestyle on anyone else and I don’t want to ruin anyone’s holiday.

So today as we were shopping for a turkey (one of my sister’s friends who is coming doesn’t eat pork so we need a turkey as well), I decided to get a free range turkey.  Yes, it’s a little pricey at about $1.99/lb.  I called my sister asking her what size turkey to get and mentioned that I was getting a free range turkey and she asked “it doesn’t matter, you’re not going to eat it.”

It does matter, doesn’t it?

I feel better cooking a free range turkey, even if I don’t eat it.  This got me thinking about the term free-range.  What does it actually mean? Was it worth the extra few cents per pound?

My reasons for being vegetarian are environmental and human food security based, not necessarily for animal rights reasons.  However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about the fair treatment of animals. I think overall I’m glad I bought a free range turkey.  I think one of the best ways we can cause a change is by changing demand.

If you’re a vegetarian, do you cook meat for others?  If you’re not vegetarian, what are your thoughts on free-range/cage-free raising?  Should I have bought the cheaper Butterball or Foster Farms Turkey?