This was a easy Sunday morning recipe. 

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Adapted from a recipe in Southern Living magazine.

Post Dinner Analysis

This isn’t the healthiest choice but it is very delicious. This is often requested for family gatherings. I’ve listed the “doubled” recipe, which is what I always make. However, you can cut it in half for a smaller dish.

Freezer Friendly

Freeze before or after cooking.

Meat it Up

Add ham or bacon crumbles on top.

Meatless Mondays is a weekly feature which will showcase some of my hits and probably misses with living a meatless life. Many of you know I stopped eating meat about a year ago for personal reasons. While, I haven’t had any desire to go back to eating meat, it has been a struggle to find healthy foods to eat.

Everywhere you go, meat is the main dish. Since I was new to this lifestyle, it led me to eating unhealthy options. I’m on a path now to cook healthier options at home without meat. While going meatless is a personal choice for me, you can still save money by having one meatless meal a week.

Will you join me on this journey by preparing one meatless dish every week?

If you have any questions about the vegetarian lifestyle, you can read more about it at GoVeg.com.

If you look at the back of a packet for taco seasoning, you will see a bunch of words you can’t pronounce. This homemade taco seasoning mix is so simple to make and much healthier for your family. The health consideration is a big benefit but it is much cheaper to make your own taco seasoning from scratch then paying for the seasoning at the store.

When you make your own, you can also control the spiciness of your seasoning. If you like it more spicy, add more chili powder and cayenne pepper. You can even add red pepper flakes if you want to spice it up even more. Double, triple, or quadruple this recipe so you will have plenty in your pantry and save yourself time in the future.

My family loves this mixture and complimented the taste of the tacos I made before I even unveiled to them it was a homemade spice mixture. I also like to make 3-4 pounds of ground beef at one time and freeze one pound portions to make it a easy weeknight dinner.

Buy spices in bulk from Amazon, VitaCost, or your local warehouse store to save even more.

For the most recent vegetarian recipes posted on the blog, go here.

To view all the recipes post on the blog, go here.

Throw this one in your slow cooker in the morning for a delicious ready to eat dinner. Delicious, if you are a meat eater!

I saved on the meat by buying frozen chicken legs from Aldi. This one was a hit!

For the most recent vegetarian recipes posted on the blog, go here.

To view all the recipes post on the blog, go here.

Have some vegetables in your fridge that you need to use ASAP? Throw them in this vegetable lasagna for a yummy, simple dish.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients

You will notice that all of my ingredients are from Aldi. I love to shop at Aldi when I don’t have time to do a coupon shopping trip as I’m still able to save money without sacrificing quality.

• (2) 16 oz Grandessa Spicy Red Pepper Pasta Sauce
• 6-8 Lasagna Noodles
• 16 oz Cottage Cheese or Ricotta Cheese
• Spinach (I used half the package shown)
• 8 oz Mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 Roma Tomatoes, sliced
• 8 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 cup Romano Cheese, shredded

Pour a little bit of the pasta sauce on the bottom of your pan.  Then layer 3-4 noodles topped with half your cottage cheese. Layer spinach, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, mozzarella cheese. Repeat. Top with Romano Cheese.

Cook at 375 degrees until bubbly, which is about 45 minutes.

This makes a 9″ x 12″ pan. Serves 8.

Serve with a side salad and garlic bread. 

Post Dinner Analysis

This was delicious and I ate on it all week. Bryan said it was good but it would be really good with meat.

Freezer Friendly

Freeze completely before baking or after baking.

Meat it Up

Add sausage.

Meatless Mondays is a weekly feature which will showcase some of my hits and probably misses with living a meatless life. Many of you know I stopped eating meat about a year ago for personal reasons. While, I haven’t had any desire to go back to eating meat, it has been a struggle to find healthy foods to eat.

Everywhere you go, meat is the main dish. Since I was new to this lifestyle, it led me to eating unhealthy options. I’m on a path now to cook healthier options at home without meat. While going meatless is a personal choice for me, you can still save money by having one meatless meal a week.

Will you join me on this journey by preparing one meatless dish every week?

If you have any questions about the vegetarian lifestyle, you can read more about it at GoVeg.com.

Sesame Ginger Tofu 

Ingredients

• 14 ounces Tofu, firm or extra firm
• 1/3 cup Blue Agave or Honey
• 3 tablespoons Tamari
• 3 tablespoons Ginger, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons Sesame Oil (use the variety that is not toasted)
• 2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 1 tablespoon Canola Oil
• 1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, lightly toasted
• 6 Green Onions, chopped

This recipe is very similar to the Whole Foods Sesame Ginger Deli Tofu.  This is a very tasty sauce that I would recommend doubling as you will want more. The first time I made it, I made it per the recipe above. The second time, I doubled it and it was the perfect quantity. If you have a meat eater, the sauce works well with chicken as well.

While, you do not have to have a official Tofu Press, I love the one I purchased from Tofu Xpress via Amazon last month. You can try a method like this one to press your tofu if you only eat tofu occasionally. Pressing your tofu rids it of the excess water and allows it to absorb a sauce or marinade much easier, giving your tofu great flavor. If you are going to purchase one, I would highly recommend the Tofu Xpress as it is very easy to use and doesn’t take much time or effort.

While your tofu is pressing, combine the blue agave (or honey), tamari, ginger, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a sauce and bring to a simmer.

Cube the tofu after you have drained the water. Dip the tofu in the flour lightly.

Next you can either fry your tofu or bake it. It obviously tastes better fried but baking is much healthier and it is still quite tasty baked.

To Fry:  Fry the tofu in canola oil until golden brown.

To Bake: I marinated the tofu for about 30 minutes before baking. Then I baked the tofu.

Toss the tofu with about 2/3 of the sauce.  Save the remaining sauce for your vegetables or as additional dipping sauce.  Top with your toasted sesame seeds and green onion.

On a side note, I had no clue how to toast the sesame seeds. Luckily, my friend Donna was over and before I had to google, she gave helped with out. It was quite easy but basically I just toasted in a pan on the stove. Yes, I know that is probably pretty basic but I do often google things like that!

Serves 4.

Yum, yum, yum.

We paired with steamed broccoli (topped with a little sauce) and quinoa, which is great for protein, fiber, and iron!

Drool….

Post Dinner Analysis

This was a hit. We had some friends stop by as I was cooking and all three of them – including a 11 year old boy thought it was delicious! My husband loved the sauce and even like the tofu version. Again, one batch is just not enough so I’ve made a note to always double this recipe.

Freezer Friendly

I’ve read that you can freeze tofu. I think this is a recipe that could be frozen but is probably better freshly made.

Meat it Up

Substitute chicken for tofu using the exact same steps. I really hate cooking meat but as a labor of love for my husband, I made the chicken variety on the second batch! Either version, he says I can make it again. :)

Meatless Mondays is a weekly feature which will showcase some of my hits and probably misses with living a meatless life. Many of you know I stopped eating meat about a year ago for personal reasons. While, I haven’t had any desire to go back to eating meat, it has been a struggle to find healthy foods to eat.

Everywhere you go, meat is the main dish. Since I was new to this lifestyle, it led me to eating unhealthy options. I’m on a path now to cook healthier options at home without meat. While going meatless is a personal choice for me, you can still save money by having one meatless meal a week.

Will you join me on this journey by preparing one meatless dish every week?

If you have any questions about the vegetarian lifestyle, you can read more about it at GoVeg.com.

These were fun to eat and easy to make. 3 out of 4 kids liked it. 2/2 adults liked it. The one who didn’t like it hates meat sauce for some strange reason. He will eat pizza with meat and tomato sauce but does not like spaghetti sauce with meat. I tried telling him they were “Pizza Muffins” but he didn’t buy that. He put two and two together and figured out it was the leftover sauce from the night before. He ate it but wasn’t happy about it.

View the Recipe Index for a complete list of recipes. For the most recent vegetarian recipes posted on the blog, go here. To view all the recipes post on the blog, go here.