This Week's Food Waste
I had lettuce that got limp and slimy before I got to it this week. I looked at it for a couple of days and thought that I should make a salad because the lettuce might be getting old. And guess what? While I was watching it, some of it did get old. So out it went.
This Week's True Food Confessions
We had take out pizza again this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Otherwise, we cooked at home as I tried to use up ingredients we had on hand. We had soups, casseroles, and some baked chicken and sweet potatoes. Even though we've been doing this for a while, Ward continues to be amazed when we don't ask him to pick up something on his way home from work. Mostly, everyone is happy with the new way of doing things, but they do wish that we ate out more often.
The new recipe this week was inspired by Lili at Creative Savv. She posted a recipe for "meat" balls made from beans. She then used her "meat" balls in a meat ball sandwich. That seemed like a good idea to me. However, when I say a new recipe this week, what I really mean is a new inspiration because I didn't follow her recipe at all. I decided that we weren't ready to have no meat in our meat balls, so I mixed a can of mashed black beans with a pound of extra lean ground beef. I also added some spinach to sneak in a vegetable along with the standards of bread crumbs and eggs. I seasoned with a little of this and that that needed to be used up from the fridge. We then made meatball subs from them with pasta sauce and cheese.
The results? Everyone definitely enjoyed their meatball sub. However, the meatballs by themselves took a little getting used to. Even though there was an equal amount of meat to the beans, the texture caused problems for a couple of us. I think it may take a couple of more times making them for us to get used to the beany meatballs.
What's in store for next week? I have no idea, but it's time to start thinking about it.
Until next time...
I have some spinach in the fridge that is starting to look like your lettuce - hopefully I can use it all up for breakfast tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of sneaking spinach into meatballs, I've been a bit slack about getting green veggies in my diet lately. And those brownies look yum :)
I put chopped spinach into a lot of things like meat loaf, chili, and casseroles. Sometimes you can't even tell it's there like these meatballs. Since I live with a family of carnivores, I put it in where I can.
DeleteI've said it before and I'll say it again. Salad gets me everytime!
ReplyDeleteI was really proud because I went for a few weeks without losing any greens. But they always get you sooner or later.
DeleteThe meatballs look great, worth persevering with I should imagine.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping that eventually we can have more beans than meat, but we'll see.
DeleteThe meatball hoagie looks yummy...oh, wait, do I see brownies, too??!!
ReplyDeleteYes, and there was no contest. The brownies were the tastiest thing we had last week.
DeleteI add spinach to ground beef for cheeseburgers. To the beef, I mix in thawed frozen spinach, chopped onions, a bit of ketchup for flavor, then grill as usual, topping with cheddar to melt. For many years, this is how my son thought cheeseburgers were made!
ReplyDeleteThe bean-based meat balls do take a shift in expectations. We see them as another way to enjoy beans, and not so much a meat substitute. If you're looking for a chewier food to mix in with beef, to get a similar texture to meat, there's wheat gluten. I used to make "wheat meat" and mix half and half with bulk pork sausage. It lowered the fat significantly, and the texture was much like the original pork.
I'm going to try them again with beans. I think it will just take a little adjusting. I also think if I season them a little differently it will help. As far as ground meat goes, what I use is pretty lean. It's 93% lean. I get it from the local farmer. Theo suggested that we try them ground turkey. Thanks for the idea. It's a good one.
DeleteI need to try some meatless meatballs. We'll see if the boys will eat them :) Thank you for the link!
ReplyDeleteIf you cover them with sauce and cheese, they probably will.
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