This week’s Meatless Monday feature is Ratatouille. If you’ve been following me long enough you’ll know this is a repost, but it is definitely worth one and deserves a place in my Meatless Monday cache.
I made this recently when we had family visiting for Easter break. Of course, I served it with Bulgur- my favorite way to eat this dish!
Click the links to take you to the recipes.
Enjoy!
It’s Meatless Monday again and I have a great recipe for you! I adapted this recipe from My Recipes: Vegetarian Moussaka, and it is great! The original version yields 4 huge servings at 343 calories each, so you know you’re eating right! I cut the recipe in half and it still was plenty for me and hubby.
1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 tbsp. EVOO, divided
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup uncooked bulgur
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 cup *chicken broth
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 medium tomatoes, pureed**
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. grated Parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten
*Since I’m not actually a vegetarian I didn’t have any problem using chicken broth in this recipe, which worked out perfectly because I had a cup of it leftover from a recipe I made last week and it was just sitting in my refrigerator, waiting to be usefull. You certainly could substitute a vegetable broth, however.
** I happened to have 2 tomatoes on their last legs so used them in place of 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, undrained. It worked just as well, and some of the tomato bits I left chunky.
Preheat broiler. Brush eggplants slices with 1 tbsp. of EVOO, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and place on foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil for 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from broiler and set aside.
Set oven to preheat to 350*.
Heat skillet and add remaining 1 tbsp of EVOO to pan; swirl to coat. Add chopped onion to pan; saute 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic; saute 1 minutes. (I usually throw my onion and garlic into the mini food processor together, which means they cook up together. It’s never a problem.) Add bulgur; cook 3 minutes or until bulgur is lightly toasted, stirring frequently. Add cinnamon. Stir in broth, oregano, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, cook a few minutes. Whisk constantly to blend well. Gradually add milk, whisking. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Stir in cheese and salt. Remove from heat, cool slightly. Add egg, stirring well with a whisk.
In greased baking dish (4×6) arrange half the eggplant slices on the bottom in a single layer. Spread the bulgur mixture evenly over the eggplant. Use the rest of the eggplant slices to create a second layer over the bulgur mixture. Top with the milk mixture. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes and remove from oven. Can increase heat to 475* for an additional baking time of 5 minutes, or broil until top is browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
I’ve been trying to make things slightly easier on myself by planning my menu bi-weekly as much as possible. Sometimes when I can only do about a week at a time, it definitely helps to at least have a few extra days/meals in mind. So, combining that with searching out more and newer recipes that are healthier, I made myself sit down, go through my recipe files and emails, and whatnot, and found a ton of great new things to try.
Here is a basic list of recipes that I have scheduled into my meal calendar for the month of April. Many of these I have never tried so the posts will come later. There will be a few links as I will repeat a few recipes. But you can be sure that most of these will be posted at some point 
Beef & Bean Taquitos (or maybe chicken, or maybe both)
Ratatouille with Bulgur
Pan-seared Scallops with Cheesy Risotto
Eggplant Parmesan Rollatini
Chicken Schnitzel with Spaetzle
Veggie-Italian Skillet Tilapia
Crispy Honey-Mustard Chicken Tenders
Crock Pot – Pot Roast
Asopao de Pollo (One Dish Chicken & Rice with Olives)
BBQ Salmon with Wild Brown Rice
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Tomato Bread Salad
Sweet Potato Custard
Tuscan Polenta Bread
Cream Soup Mix (for the Chicken Tortilla Casserole)
Oatmeal Cake
Overnight French Toast Casserole
Hunter Style Muffins
Whole Wheat Waffles & Pancakes
Yogurt Banana Splits
Sinful Cinnamon Muffins
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crumble Bars
Chocolate and Strawberry Shortcake Whoopie Pies
Strawberry Tiramisu
Anything previously posted will have a link attached to the recipe title. Stay tuned for some great recipes this month!
I’ve completed week 3 of my Pantry Challenge and I realize that I’ve definitely got more than a months worth of food here. I will keep going until I can go no further, but in the meantime I will confess that I still make weekly trips to the grocery store. Although I use coupons when I can, I am only buying necessities and I’ve given myself a much smaller budget. Because my unemployment was extended (thank the Lord) I still have some money to work with, but eventually that will run out for good and I have no expectations of another extension, nor will I ask for one.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to stretch the money twice as far by cutting my weekly food budget in half, aka $60 a week. Can I do it? I’m sure there will be difficult weeks ahead, but last week when I did my shopping for the week, buying milk, olive oil, cat food, apples and bananas, and a few other items needed for meals this week, I spent $60.66. Not bad.
So here’s what we had for dinner last week, including anything I purchased separately from what I already had in inventory on Jan. 5th.
MONDAY, January 16th: Homemade Chicken Chili. I used all the leftover chicken from Sunday’s Roasted Chicken dinner to make a white bean chili. I wasn’t following a recipe. I put in about 2 1/2 cups of navy and pinto beans, chicken stock, garlic, onion, shredded chicken, 1 can navy beans- mashed, about 1/2 cup leftover hummus, cumin, and salt. It was pretty good but a bit brothy for a chili, so I added 1/2 cup brown rice and the rest of the kale I had.
TUESDAY, January 7th: Fish Tacos. I love ordering fish tacos from a good restaurant that does them right. In the past I have tried in vain to make them and this time I think I actually did a pretty good job. Now I did use some of the fresh tuna, which isn’t normally the kind of fish used for this dish, but it really turned out quite well. The trick I’ve learned it to use a lot of seasoning when cooking the fish. I’ ve always gone too light, thinking it was enough because I could smell it. It was a hit- all my boys ate it up!
Chop up the tuna (if using tilapia or a lighter fish chopping isn’t necessary) and place in pan heated with olive oil. Sprinkle on seasonings liberally and toss. I used a lime pepper mix with some added fresh lime juice, cumin, and dried cilantro. I served this with warm corn tortillas, diced tomatoes, shredded cabbage and shredded lettuce (for the non-cabbage-loving kids), shredded cheese, salsa, and black beans. Sour cream, guacamole, and black olives would all have been a great addition.
This was the most expensive meal this week, as most of the ingredients were purchased this week. I had a coupon for .50 cent off 2 pkgs of Kraft shredded cheese, plus they were on sale so I got them at $2.25 each, which was a better price than store brand. We only used 1/2 of one package, allowing for potentially 3 more meals. That’s about .28 cents per serving. I also purchased Roma tomatoes at $1.40, used one for a cost of .28 cents, as well as a bottle of taco sauce for $1.69. I would guesstimate we used about a third of the sauce, costing .56 cents for the meal. 2 limes at .25 each- used only one. Total cost for a family of 4 to eat their fill on fish tacos = $2.23!
WEDNESDAY, January 18th: Jumbo Meatball Cups and Butternut Squash Bake.
THURSDAY, January 19th: Grilled Tuna Steaks. This was the easiest meal prepared in our house this week. Cory grilled the tuna with olive oil, salt & pepper, and I warmed up all the leftovers in the fridge 
We’ve only gotten through half of our tuna in the deep freeze, but at least we are finding great ways to make it.
FRIDAY, January 2oth: Cory’s 40th Birthday! I made his favorite cake ~ Butter cake with homemade Maple frosting. We had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant and saw a movie.
SATURDAY, January 21st: Beef Stroganoff. I love this dish. It’s a bit fattening, I know, but I love the tangy creaminess with the mushrooms. I substitute ground turkey or ground chicken and whole wheat noodles. Alas, this picture is not mine as my stroganoff was NOT picture worthy. My standby recipe is Betty Crocker’s Beef Stroganoff.
Image borrowed from Photobucket: AKBerryPrincess
SUNDAY, January 22nd: Dijon Dill Chicken with bulgur and green beans. This chicken dish is another standby. Everyone in my house loves it. I noticed as I got closer to the end of the week I was running out of steam for cooking much. It’s my fault for not finishing the menu for the week, but most times I’m just glad to make through the week nights! I can’t believe I haven’t shared this recipe with you yet. I was pretty sure I had but looking back through my archives I couldn’t locate it- so that must mean I didn’t tag it properly. Anyway, here it is again. Definitely worth a repost. My mom gave me this recipe. She found it printed in a Chicago newspaper years ago.
4 boneless chicken breast halves, patted dry with paper towels
3 T. butter, divided
1.2 cup chicken stock (broth works as well though I’d usually add a roux to thicken the sauce)
1 T. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp fresh minced dill weed (or 1 to 2 Tbsp dried)
In large skillet heat 2 T. butter over medium heat until foam subsides. Saute chicken halves for 3 or 4 minutes on each side until golden. Remove chicken and cover to keep warm. Pour off excess butter and discard.
Deglaze pan with chicken stock (pour in and cook until reduced and browned bits are loosened from bottom of pan). Whisk in rest of ingredients. Add chicken back to pan, cover and cook over low heat until chicken is cooked through- about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.
Look for post #2 today: Yellow Butter Cake with Homemade Maple Frosting
Hubby and Number One went off-shore fishing last week and caught several ahi tuna and yellow fin tuna. They brought back 4 huge freezer bags each with at least 6 big tenderloins. We eat lots of fresh fish around here. My favorite is salmon (I am originally from Seattle after all), but since you can’t get that here we eat a lot of tuna, blue, and spanish mackerel. There are way more species around here, like tile, shark, flounder, etc. All white fish. All very tasty. If you’re a fish eater this is heaven. If you’re not, well, this may not be the post for you. Sorry.
I have A LOT of fish in my freezer. It will keep for a while so I’m not in any hurry to cook it all up. But yesterday I did defrost a bag, which yielded 6 or 7 huge pieces. I cooked 3 for me and the boys when 2 would have been plenty. But it never hurts to have extra cooked and ready to go in the fridge for a healthy meal.
I put three of the pieces on a baking sheet, drizzled olive oil, salt, and lime pepper seasoning. Then I popped them into the oven at 350* for about 20 minutes. A good rule of thumb is 10 to 15 minutes per inch. I flipped the pieces over and gave them a few extra minutes. This cooked the fish all the way through, which is how my boys eat it. If you like it a little pink then it would only cook for 15 minutes, or less, depending on how raw you like it. But at that point it would be best to just roll it in sesame, sear it and serve with soy. That’s how I like it.
Out of the oven, squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on it. Serve over bulgur with a salad or a green veggie. Very healthy and super yummy.
Now what to do with the remaining pieces in my fridge? Waste not, want not. In my effort to also watch my budget, I would be a fool to not utilize every bit of this super healthy and free protein. And I have the perfect recipe – I’ll give you a hint
Oh yeah
There are many ways to make bulgur, but I prefer it this way. This recipe also works with quinoa.
Pre-baked with butter pats to make it super yummy!
I can’t seem to get the link insert to work, so I’ll have to do it the old fashioned way http://thehomeheart.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/comfort-food/
