Vegan Jab Chae.

There is a new fad going around. Some are doing it secretly and some are doing it openly but everyone is doing it. And that is comparing prices and bargan hunting! We all want to know the price of everything don't we? Especially now in this recession we want to get the most out of our buck. I like to keep track of how much my meals are each day. If I were to read a cooking/gardening blog like "Frugal Lee" I would like to know; how many people will that meal feed and how much will it cost?

Thus I've decided that at the end of each recipe. I'll break down the costs of the meal and how many people it will feed. Now keep in mind that I like bargains and most of my meals are dependent on 2 main factors...1. what's on sale this week or at the discount rack?
2. What's ready to get harvest from the garden?

Alright, today we are going to make Jab chea... which is a Korean noodle dish. You can add grilled meat if you have to eat meat with every meal, but today we'll be making the Vegan version. Eating a vegetarian meal once or twice a week will save you money, good for you, and the enviroment too.

Green onions (3)
Onion Chives
Large Carrot
Garlics
Mushrooms
Spinach
Sweet Potato starch noodle
Bean Sprouts (1/2 bag)
3 TBS Sesame oil
Some Olive oil
4 TBS Soy sauce
1 TBS Sugar
Sesame seeds for garnishing

Boil the Spinach and rinse with cold water, then sqeeze as much water out. This makes about 1 cup cooked Spinach, then slice it to make small pieces.

It does takes a while to cook the noodles, so while it's boiling I'd suggest you spend that time doing the prep work on the vegetables. After the noodles are cooked, 15 mins. or so, drain and put in a LARGE mixing bowl. With a kitchen shear cut into them, this is to make mixing and eating the noodles more managable.

First add the spianch.

On a hot skillet with a dab of olive oil stir-fry the carrots. The trick is to Cook on High heat and fast.

When the carrots are done pile it ontop of the noodles.

On the same skillet, still on high heat, grill the green onions and garlic chives. Do Not add oil. When they starts to burn transfer them to the noodle bowl.

After you transfered the onions and chives. Add a little olive oil to the skillet and cook the mushrooms. When the mushrooms had shrunken by half pour it into the noodle bowl.

Now turn the heat to medium and add the bean sprouts and garlics. Cook only until the bean sprouts wilts...2 min.? Add to the noodle bowl. Lastly add Soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Blend them all together.

Before serving sprinkle it with some roasted sesame seeds.

Servings: 4 Adults, 2 Children
Cooking time: 35 Minutes
Costs: $4.81

Breakdown of costs:
Carrots ($1/bag of 3 large carrots) I used one : $0.33
Green Onions one bunch : $0.45
Spinach from garden : $0
Mushroom on sale: $1.49
Garlic Chives $1 a bunch I used 1/3: $0.50
Garlic : $0.05
Sugar : $0.05
Soy sauce 1TBS= 0.5 oz...1 bottle of soysauce is 33 oz. @$4 : $0.24
Sesame Oil 16 oz. @ $5 : $0.93
Olive Oil : $0.10
Noodles pkg. of 3 @$2.00 on sale : $0.67
TOTAL: $4.81

Before we moved from California, during the winters there, I would make a weekly trip to our local farmers market and haggle with the farmers. They are a bunch of VERY pleasant people and soo much fun to haggle with. Each week I'd only spend maybe $20 for my fruits and Veggies, for our family of four. In the spring and summer the cost was less because we had a garden....be it a very small garden...8'X3', it gave us 6 tomato plants, 10 sweet pea plants which grew up along the fence, 4 squash plants, 3 cucumber plants, various herbs, and spicy pepper plants. This is our first spring in Oregon and I've started a medium sized garden. I've gotten some harvest from it already, which had saved us a lot of money, especially the herbs.

I am frugal but not cheap (there is a difference :-P), when we have parties at our house I'd go out, spend a little more, and if need to...I'll buy non-sale stuff... ;-)