SAD no more!

Like the majority of Americans, my family "survived" on the SAD (Standard American Diet....funny how that works out huh?) diet. We loved all things gooey with cheese, and we drank our milk everyday! But, then things changed. It isn't always easy...it has it's challenges, but for better or worse, my hubby and my kiddos and of course me, the mommy and cook, are on this trip and we are traveling at the speed of taste! So come along with us as we laugh, eat, share, eat, learn, and did I mention eat?? MMMMM


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Mommy, I Thought we Didn't Eat Meat Anymore?

Yummy! My family's favorite "These Aren't Really Meatball" Sandwiches! These are really easy to make and even the carnivore lovin' folks gobble 'em up. This is one of the very first recipes I made when we were transitioning into our plant based diet. And truly, my funny 5 year old son made just that comment to me as he was chowing down. I had to convince him it wasn't really meat.



Recipe (serves 4):


1 package of Gimme Lean Ground Beef style grounds
2 cloves chopped garlic
Basil to taste
1-2 tsp oil of your choice (I always cook with coconut oil, but any variety will work)
4 hoagie rolls
1 26 ounce jar organic pasta sauce (we love tomato basil)
3 large mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bag vegan mozzarella style shreds

Prep:


~ Place entire jar of sauce into a medium sauce pan. Add the mushrooms and onion and simmer on medium low heat with a cover.
~ Place entire contents of the package of Gimme lean into a medium mixing bowl. Add chopped garlic and basil and mix.
~ Roll mixture into 16 small "meat" balls
~ Pre-heat a medium sized frying pan and add oil. Brown the "meat" balls on all sides.
~ Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees (this is optional. I toast the hoagie rolls before I build the sandwiches)
~ When the mushrooms and onions have cooked and are at your desired consistency, add the "meat" balls to the sauce and gently stir until they are covered in the sauce. I like to cook the "meat" balls and sauce together for about 10 minutes.
~ Split open your hoagie rolls and toast in the reheated oven. About 4-5 minutes.
~ Spoon 4 "meat" balls onto each hoagie roll. Top with a handful of the vegan cheese shreds and voila`!

I usually serve this with a nice big salad, but you can use any side of your choice. They don't last long, and I have often doubled the recipe so that there will be leftovers the next day.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for visiting my site and leaving a comment. Glad I could make you laugh. I love your new blog. I've actually just started eating WAY LESS meat over the past few weeks and I must say, I don't miss it. I don't even want meat anymore. So I'm really excited to follow your blog and get some good recipes.

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  2. Thanks so much!
    It's funny how when we start to extract things from our diets, we really don't miss them, especially if we find really delicious ways of substituting!

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  3. We finally tried this to mixed results, Nikki. :) We used Smart Ground and I couldn't get it to stay in ball shapes, I'll have to do some research on a binder. Ours ended up being more like Sloppy Joes. I'm the only one who also had the veggies (onions, garlic, mushroom), so I had a different experience than the rest of the fam. The kids thought it was good (surprise!) until they found out it was not meat (um, surprise again). SD8 ate about half of hers; SS13 ate 2 but suggested next time we do veg crumbles with ground beef to give it flavor. Dan didn't like it at all. They are a tough tough crowd to please. I would have loved it even more without the Smart Ground.

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