Today, we are featuring a guest post from Melinda’s hubby, K Michael prince. He is not only good looking, but he is a great cook too. Hope you enjoy his take on food today. You can read more from him at kmichaelprince.com

I’m from Texas! No I didn’t live there for a few months and so I now root for the Dallas Cowboys and carry a gun. I was straight up born in Texas. I’m proud of that. So proud, in fact, that even though I’ve lived in the state of Missouri for over half my life (longer than I ever lived in Texas) I still proudly proclaim that I was born in Texas. If they gave out cards I’d even be a card carrying Texan. That said, I must confess that I have some concerns that the following post will jeopardize my status as a lone star state citizen. It’s confession time y’all! I no longer require meat with every meal.

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OK, I’ve given any Texans reading this adequate time to get off the floor and complete their rant. It’s true that growing up meat and potatoes were the staples of every meal. When we’d ask what was for dinner there was no list it was simply one of three simple answers, chicken, pork, or beef. There would always be potatoes and every third or fourth meal there’d be a green of some kind. (Usually boiled all to you know where.) I had no problem with this. I still don’t really. I enjoy a meal with meat and potatoes. In fact, when I cook, that’s often what we have. I have learned, however, that the way I have been trained to eat is completely backwards to the way our bodies were designed to take in nutrients. I’m by no means an expert, anything I know I’ve learned from reading online, being preached at by my wife (Melinda) and watching documentaries on Netflix. (I’ll list those at the end of this post.) Even though I’m not a health food expert, I am someone who has been converted to a new way of life. Let me tell you why.

First of all, meat is expensive. It’s especially expensive for me. I have an allergy to the crap they put in most of our food. I can’t eat chicken that’s been pumped full of hormones, antibiotics, or what the heck ever else they put inside those poor things. I can’t eat veggies that have been sprayed with every insecticide known to man. I have to eat organic. Eating organic is expensive. Especially if you require a huge hunk of meat with every meal. I have learned that saving a few bucks by making meat a side instead of the feature of your meal is really helpful when I want to go play a round of golf or buy a new iPad app.

I’ve also learned some truth about the way our bodies digest food and obtain nutrients. I’ve learned that protein is one of the most readily available nutrients in most foods and that meat is often the least efficient way to take in protein. The astonishing thing is that eating too much protein is not healthy and, in fact, can even cause degenerative diseases. So contrary to what those who sell us our meat would have us think, we don’t need as much meat as we’ve been sold.

Lastly I have realized the joy of enjoying something because it’s a treat instead of not realizing the privileged it is because of how often you get it. I don’t eat a so so steak anymore. No way man, when I get a stake, it’s a special occasion. I buy the nicest looking piece of meat I can find, I season it with the best ingredients and cook it to a medium rare perfection. It’s a work of art. It’s no longer what’s for dinner. It’s a freakin’ experience man. When I fry some chicken to make chicken strips, the kid’s are so excited and awed that the angels sing. It’s like I won the super bowl. Chicken strip day makes Daddy the man. Quality has replaced quantity in our home and the benefits are astounding.

No. I’m not a vegetarian. I am not an animal activist. I promise I haven’t joined a cult or a fad and I’m most definitely on some kind of weird diet. I’m becoming educated and letting what I’ve learned change the way I behave. It’s a novel concept not valued highly in our society. I hope that can change. I’ve already said I’m no expert but I sure have heard and read a bunch of them. They are out there. While I don’t expect what I’ve written here to inspire you to change everything immediately. I do hope that you’ll look in to what some of these experts are saying. Do some research. Educate yourself and then act on what you’ll find. It’ll lead to better health financially and physically and a better life. If this meat and potatoes Texan can do it. You can do it.

Now those Netflix documentaries I promised you…

TEDTalks: Chew on This – An entire series of TED Talks centered around food. Some are mostly environmental and not so good in my opinion but a few really made me think. Try “Why I’m a Weekday Vegetarian.”

Food Matters – All about the food we eat and what it does to our health.

Ingredients – This is a great documentary about what goes into the food we eat and how eating locally can change the world.

Food Inc. – A crazy romp (that’s what they say in movie previews so…) through the food industry and how our food is treated on the way to our supermarkets.

Also, check out my post today over at KMichaelPrince.com.