Operation Meat vs. Veggie: Spaghetti and Beanball Brilliance

Okay, so it's no surprise but he knows that this is an experimental week. He keeps saying things like, "do I need to take meat out of the fridge?" and apparently "I have it covered" is no longer sly enough.
He's promised not to read my blog though, so I am having fun being a dork and making it out to be some big surprise each time I begin cooking.

We had our friends and neighbours over tonight, and it was Spaghetti and Beanballs for dinner. Luckily, they eat a lot more meals sans meat, so this was hardly a stretch for them.

So the recipe that I got was from Veganomicon, which I borrowed from a friend. (Pg 189 if you are interested and have a copy...)

So what did it cost?

Kidney Beans: 28oz can/$2.83
Spices:  ~$1.00
Red Onion: 1/2 onion/$0.54
Pasta Noodles: 1/2 pkg/$1.48
Tomato Sauce: 2 cans/$3.89

Garlic Bread (friends brought)
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To feed 5 people, it came out to $9.74, or $1.95 per serving!

What it would have cost, had I made it with meat instead of kidney beans... around $11.71 or $2.34 per serving...making a difference of $0.39 a serving.

How did the cooking go?

Trying new recipes is always hit and miss...next time I will add more bread crumbs and pan fry on lower heat for longer (because kidney beanballs burn quickly if not attended too-thankfully easily saved). Also, I found they break apart fairly easily, so I would make the sauce separately and pour over once the ingredients have had time to cook, stirring is not really an option. If you don't have the book you can follow the recipe more or less from here. I did do the lemon zest because-yum! I also added onion.

What was the verdict?

Jay was thrilled and chowed it down like no ones business! Which really, in itself is reason enough to make again.

Our neighbours liked it-woohoo.

I really enjoyed it.
Hubby...?

I'm not sure what this says about what my normal spaghetti tastes like but apparently "it's the best spaghetti (I've) ever made!"

So I am doing a bit of a happy dance, and at the same time thinking..."crap-what's wrong with my regular spaghetti?"

Not sure which recipe I'm trying tomorrow, stay tuned will ya!

Operation Meat vs. Veggie-Night Off

The stove is preheating.

However there will be no 'experimental' veggie dinner tonight.

Pregnancy hit me like a ton of bricks today and I feel as tired and as nausea's as I did the first trimester. (Which means I saw the bottom of bathroom throne more than I care to in one day.)

So it's frozen pizza night, and it's frozen canadian pizza dinner-which means it's definitely going to have meat on it. We'll be back on for tomorrow night, I'll keep ya posted.

Operation Meat vs. Veggie: Enchilada Evening

I have never made enchilada's before...so I guess I get props for that right?

I know how it was supposed to look...and it certainly didn't turn out that way-it was sloppy-but it tasted really good. I guess that is what matters. I think that had I not been the one to make it, I probably would have been turned off by it's throw-up look.

Luckily, my hubby was not at all bothered by the way it looked because he called it "awesome" WOOHOO!

Thank goodness, I was a little nervous since, as I slid it into the oven, he said "another meatless dish hey?" I think he knows something is up...
Okay, so cost breakdown, here it goes...

Tortilla's: 1/2 pkg/$1.50
Cheese: 1/5 of the block/$2.40
Beans (kidney): $2.83
Beans (pinto): $2.99
Onion: $0.51
Sour Cream 1/5 of the tub/$0.58
Spices: est. $1.00
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Total for 4 people: $11.81 Which works out to $2.95 a person!

So if I would have included a layer of meat, it would have added about $5.00 to the meal, which would then work out to about $4.20 a person. Okay so not a huge difference, but worth noting.

Where did I get my recipe?  Well, I found this recipe from EatingWell and followed it more less...I did add some kidney beans to the mix and I switched out 2 tbsps of yogurt for sourcream since I would have totally forgot about the yogurt in the fridge afterwards. Little tip, bake with the lid off, I think that would have helped the enchilada stick together more.

Will definitely be trying this recipe again.

Oh yeah...and Jay? you ask. Well she's still napping and hasn't yet tried it, but I am not holding my breath.

Later that evening...

You aren't going to believe this...in fact, I can hardly believe it myself. She ate it. She liked it. She wanted MORE!
I am so excited, she could care less how it looks, I think the very fact that it came in the form that it did was why she ate it!
My daughter, picky eater, texture concious girl, she ate it-and liked it. This officially just because the best recipe that I have tried in the last few months!

Operation Meat vs. Veggie: First Night-Four Stars

Okay...so tonight I made the Brussel Sprout & Mushroom Alfredo Fettuccine...

Just as I finished cooking it up, and started serving my hubby commented, "So it's a veggie dish then hey?"

I cracked up laughing...okay, so this dish is not going to pull the wool over his eyes. Fair enough.

So despite the fact that it was meatless, he said during the meal " the combo of brussel sprouts and mushroom is actually quite good". YES! That's right-he liked the brussel sprouts. Okay, in all fairness it's not that he hates them to begin with, he just doesn't love them the way I do, and wouldn't choose them.

Then, with a few mouth fulls to go, and a few extra servings sitting in the pan, he sat back and said "wow-I'm actually really full, I'll just finish up the veggies here".

A full man is a happy man.

Final verdict on this new recipe, he says "I'd like to see you make this again."

Cost breakdown...

Mushrooms: .385kg/$2.95
Brussel Sprouts: .255kg/$1.12
Fettuccine Noodles: $2.89
Alfredo Sauce: $4.49

Total for aprox. 3 people--> $11.45  That's just $3.82 a person!

Whoooaaa, okay I am actually shocked at that.

What I could have done better...I actually bought the sauce instead of making it, hard to believe that meal could be cheaper, but it definitely could have had I done that.

What it would have cost with meat--> ~$16.45 or $5.48 a person.

So not a huge savings, but considering everything--I think we'll definitely being doing it again.

The only bummer, Jayna didn't like it, at all...not even pureed. Go figure.

So overall, I'd call that a 4 star dinner!

My recipe (and to be fair-I do a lot of eyeballing, so you'll have to give it your best shot) or find a recipe online-remember, I didn't make the sauce from scratch, but after checking recipes later-it's super easy to do.

Cook up the pasta, while that is going you can start to cut the brussel sprouts into thin slices, add to a hot pan with about a cup of water and let cook up for about 3-5minutes. Then drain water and add about 2 tbsps of butter and sliced mushrooms. Season as necessary. Because I chose a garlic alfredo I just added salt and pepper. When the mushrooms are brown and brussels cooked add in the sauce and turn the temperature down to low, let simmer while the pasta finishes. If you have some fresh herbs-some fresh parsley would be a fabulous touch!