No meat day

Our diet is pretty basic, but I aim for at least two meals a week without meat, though one of those is likely to be fish.
In the winter, we have our three day stew, which is all veg and the ‘meat’ flavour comes from two chicken stock cubes.
I also do our two day chili, which is 200g of minced beef (5% fat), a tin of tomatoes, tin of red kidney beans, a large onion and garlic.
I use garlic a lot in our meals as it’s good for the blood pressure and heart.

Hubby is becoming bored with food, especially that which triggers his reflux issues.
This could be a problem with the no meat days because if we don’t have something like poached eggs on toast, he doesn’t like tomato pasta of whatever colour, and usually has a McCheese.
This week, he didn’t fancy that, so I had to think again, and knowing how much he enjoyed the vegetarian lasagna last time we had a meal out, I thought I’d have a go at making one.

Luckily for me my lasagna sheets are a nice fit in the small oblong dishes I have, so no trimming required and I used two.
I cut up 2 small new potatoes, a small carrot, half an onion, then took some broccoli out of the freezer and par-cooked those in a little water in the microwave. I added a stock cube, sprinkle of italian seasoning, a handful of chopped mushrooms and some crushed garlic then left them all to stand whilst I made my cheese sauce.
This was just with three teaspoons of cornflour, milk and cheese.
I couldn’t tell you how much cheese I used for this, but it was a fair amount and as it turned out, too much flavour for the portion size, so I will know for next time.

Then came the layering:
On the bottom I put enough of my veg mix to cover, then a lasagna sheet, some cheese sauce and the rest of the veg mix. Then another lasagna sheet, the remainder of my cheese sauce and I covered the top with grated cheese. I cooked it in the oven with my pasta dish for half an hour on 180º C. **

Anyway, the proof was in the eating, and Hubby enjoyed it, other than too much cheese (there’s a theme here)

Photos: tucking in!

I shall definitely make it again, but this time add more veg, less sauce and less cheese.

** Here’s a nifty little conversion chart for heat settings when cooking.

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