I decided recently that I was going to eat less meat. Not only with the prices of meat skyrocketing lately, I also think that at my age, I really don't need as much protein as I use to. I'm 63. So, I decided that I would embark on a journey of eating limited fruit, lots of veggies and for protein, I would eat eggs, fish, nuts and beans. That's all. But I still had about a half pound of good quality lean Angus ground beef in the freezer. I also had one small package of angel hair pasta and I had decided not to include any grains in my diet, so I needed to get rid of that too.
Throw these items away? Never! I just needed to make one last dish with them to get rid of them and then when I'm shopping, I won't purchase any of the items that I have resolved to remove from my diet. Problem solved. So, I needed to come up with a recipe that would use all of these food items but would also be amazingly delicious...one last time before I remove them from my kitchen. Oh and I also had about 6 ounces of cream cheese and of course cheese or any dairy is not on my keeping list either. Now I don't consider butter a dairy item. To me, its a fat, so I use real butter mixed with olive oil. Land O Lakes makes this variety.
So, putting these all together, don't these ingredients sound like some sort of pasta Bolognese? Well, I thought so. Now, just about every time I cook, I find a reason to chop onion and all the colors of bell peppers. I think they add wonderful flavor to any dish. And not to brag, but I think that I have gotten pretty advanced when it comes to chef style chopping. And I still have all my fingers. Yay! Don't these veggies look pretty? I am a sucker for multi-colored things. I still remember those packages of fruit striped gum that my mom would occasionally let us have as kids. I loved those. And if I find a blouse or top that flatters me, I am the kind of person to buy one in several colors.
Anyway, so for this recipe, I used the ground beef and chopped veggies shown above first. As they were sizzling in the skillet, I added freshly ground pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground pepper, about a teaspoon of garlic powder and chopped oregano. When all the meat was browned and the veggies were soft and almost transparent, I added about a half cup of spring water, 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, (this makes this dish a little bit healthier and adds to the cheesy flavor) and then the 6 ounces of cream cheese, letting that melt and mix thoroughly.
I also had some leftover homemade guacamole, which consisted of one small ripe avocado chopped and about a half cup of mild Rotel, along with salt, pepper, garlic, and a teaspoon of lime juice. So, I decided to add that into my dish creation today because of think that true Bolognese sauce does have a little bit of tomato in it and the avocado has such a mild flavor if any at all, I really think it wouldn't hurt the flavor of this dish. After letting all of this simmer for just a little bit and then adding a little bit of unflavored, unsweetened almond milk to add some creamy moisture to the sauce, I tossed in my well done cooked angel hair pasta.
I was kind of nervous anticipating how this dish would be, but I have to say that this was SO good! I had seconds. All those veggies made the dish very colorful and the sauce was incredibly scrumptious! Not to brag or anything...
