raw eggplant manicotti

I have decided to serve one meal a week...raw. Now if you are an adult, it may sounds intriguing, even adventurous; but, if you are a kid, not so much. Or if you are my husband. Once a year, he says, is more than enough. Unfortunately for my family, the raw meal stays. At least for now. If they start withering away, I'll reevaluate.

Tonight I made a raw eggplant manicotti. 'Cooking' raw is actually quite easy and uncomplicated, as long as a plan is in place. The eggplant needed a few hours to marinate and a few hours to dehydrate. Dinner was actually ready on time.

I totally dug this dish, but my family collectively thought otherwise.

Baby steps.

Cost Breakdown:

eggplant: $2

sun-tom: $2

tomato: $2

nuts: $4

lemon: $.50

spices, herbs and oive oil: $4

Total to feed Mom thrice and Dad once:

$14.50

Raw Eggplant Manicotti Recipe

italian stuffed pita

Kate made today's lunch. And boy did she make a great lunch! She sauteed some onions, peppers, garlic and tomatoes. She added red beans and olives and seasoned it with marjoram and basil. She wanted to add some Daiya, so she put about 3 T of it in the mix as well. It was stuffed into small pita pockets and backed for 15 minutes. She also made some Ranch dressing to dip her carrot sticks in. The pockets were creamy with a delightful crispness afforded by baking the pita.

Cost breakdown:

pita: $.50

beans: $2

Daiya: $.75

onion, tomato, garlic, pepper: $2

olives: $.50

carrots: $1

Total for 5 sandwiches:

$6.75