Creation Care Mom

Lenten Update

Lent is almost at an end, and I would be lying to not say that I am looking forward to eating meat again. However, we have been thoroughly surprised with how things have gone so far. I figured we would be completely tired of eating beans, or end up not satisfied by our meatless meals, but neither has been true. One of the biggest surprises has been how much spinach we have eaten. As a high iron vegetable, it has been included in many of our recipes, either cooked or raw. Though I know we could substitute other greens, spinach is the easiest to get at the grocery store. I’d like to share other recipes we have utilized since my last update.

• Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower
• Black Bean n Corn quesadillas
• Mediterranean Bulger Bowl
• Creamy Pear Pasta
• Vegetable Lentil Stew
• Green Lemon Spaghetti
• Tomato Garlic Lentil Bowl
• Spinach Quesadillas
• Sweet Chili
• Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Black Bean Fajitas

As you can see, we have had a lot of variety. In general, I don’t think meals have been boring or repetitive. I expect the lasting impact of this fast from meat to be more meatless meals in our general meal usage. I usually cook three-four meals a week. I anticipate we will always have at least one meatless dinner, maybe two, occasionally three.

In the new Today.

The EPA released its new regulations for automobile tailpipe emissions. You can read about it in the NY Times article here. It works like this. It sets an average emission limit across the manufactures entire lineup. Some vehicles will be more polluting than others. It pushes manufacturers to produce more hybrids and EVs in order to continue to sell gas-powered vehicles. It may even lead to new innovations by the manufacturer to reduce emissions from gas-powered vehicles. It is not a ban, and it does not force you as the consumer to buy an EV. (Although, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want at least a hybrid.)

There is a similar process with meeting the fuel efficiency (MPG) average. Obviously, trucks and vans tend towards lower gas mileage while compact sedans, especially hybrids, have high gas mileage. Taken altogether, they must meet an average. The way they meet the average is up to them.

This is a huge win no matter where you stand on climate and no matter what Trump says. When charging at home, miles by electricity are significantly cheaper the miles by gas. EVs have lower maintenance costs for the owner, no oil changes, fuel pumps, etc. Transportation pollution is a public health nuisance, crisis? Reducing vehicle emissions will, according to the EPA, provide “$13 billion of annual health benefits thanks to improved air quality” (NYT). Read that again. That is a lot of savings in healthcare.

Also in the news this week, the NY Times published an article on developing ways to store renewable energy. Link Here. It is well known that, as we clean up our electric grid with solar and wind power, we will need to have more storage capabilities. Solar and wind are intermittent sources and often generate the bulk of their power when demand is lower. Cheap, reliable, efficient storage is necessary to pivot more completely to renewable energy sources. Check out the article. There is so much innovation happening in this area and it is fascinating to see what ideas are being tried.