Does anyone have any cheap vegetarian meals?!
I'm really looking for some cheap recipe's that won't take a lot of preperation beforehand (up to an hour and a half prep and cooking is fine.)
I'm trying to cut our shopping bill down so we can save some money to go home in the middle of the year.
Answers: I eat a vegetarian diet (usually with spinach, lentils, chickpeas or tofu replacing protein and iron)
I'm really looking for some cheap recipe's that won't take a lot of preperation beforehand (up to an hour and a half prep and cooking is fine.)
I'm trying to cut our shopping bill down so we can save some money to go home in the middle of the year.
A really good idea is to start shopping at markets. Buy your fruit and vegies in season, they'll be cheaper.
Go to a place that sells beans + lentils + all that yummy stuff by the kilo from huge bags, and you just scoop out how much you want. Soooo much cheaper and you help save the enviroment from all that plastic by excluding pre-packaged foods.
I get my TVP dry from the markets for $3.50 (australian) a kilo (and TVP is ultra light dry!) 1kg would be a reeeeally really massive! And I soak it myself at home. :) You `can get real cheap tofu blocks at the market, too!
Rice and Beans
2 16 oz cans Black Beans
2 cups uncooked long grain rice
2 cups water
1 large onion thinly chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teasp oregano
1/2 teasp cummin
1 Bay leave
salt to taste
Directions:
Drain black beans and combine liquid with water to make a total of 2 1/2 cups, set aside. Sautee onions in olive oil, add garlic, oregano and cummin and continue sauteeing for about 1 minute. In a 2 quart pot, combine rice, liquid and sauteed onions, and beans add bay leave and salt to taste. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Serve with your favorite green salad and vegan french bread. Buen apetito!
Serves: 4 to 6
Preparation time: 20 min.
Angle Hair pasta and Black bean sauce
Ingredients:
16 oz. can of black beans, drained
1 small can of tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. of olive oil
1 Tbsp. cumin
8 oz. angel hair pasta
picante sauce
fresh cilantro
sour cream (optional)
Directions:
Boil the pasta according to the package directions.
In the meantime, saute the garlic in the olive oil until
tender. Do not brown. Add the black beans, salsa verde, and
cumin. Allow to cook for about 3-5 minutes or until heated
through and the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat.
Drain the pasta and make 'nests' on the dinner plates out
of it. Spoon the bean mixture into the nests and then add
picante sauce, a dollop of sour cream and a few sprigs of
cilantro for garnish.
This serves 2 people with healthy appetites but is enough
for 3 regular portions.
Get stuff on sale!
Grocery stores usually have frozen meals on sale.
I don't buy any imitation meats, they're usually pretty expensive and don't taste as good as veggies.
I like to get what ever veggies are on special. I grill em all with some fresh tomato, onion, a little salt and cracked pepper. With a mixed lettuce salad on the side. Its cheap and you can make all sorts of combinations, you'll never get bored. My fave is grilled eggplant, mushrooms, tomato and onions. YUM
Buying in bulk is good if you know your gonna use it before the used by date, you don't want to be throwing away any food either.
good luck with the savings =)
buy beans in bulk, and soak them and slow cooker them. way more healthy, cheap and great protein.
plan your meals, so you not eat crap or food at fast foods places. Make your own dinner and make extra for the next days lunch.
eat bananas, and other cheap fruits, versus cake and candy and icecream
the other ideas are already stated above.
Google cheap vegan, and you will find a number of websites to help you.
I buy several containers of tofu at once (the Whole Foods has their store brand for about 99 cents a container at my local store), drain the water, and freeze. I store tofu in the freezer, and each pound makes about three meals when I cook it. Buy non-perishables in bulk and other foods on sale. Snip coupons.
If there's a Trader Joe's in your area, they have pretty good prices, even for bags of frozen veggies. I get organic apples fairly inexpensively there.
1.Red Beans and rice
2.whole grain pasta with garlic oil and broccoli OR a homemade red sauce
3. Veggie stir fry (buy store brand frozen veggies)
Lemon Rice
*2 pinches of mustard seeds
*2 pinches of cumin seeds
*2 pinches turmeric
*2 lemons cut in half
*rice (tilda basmati is my favorite)
*olive oil
*(optional) cilantro
*(optional) dry fruits such as cashews
Cook a pot of rice (1 cup rice to two cups water). Set aside.
In a skillet, add some olive oil over medium heat. Fry the mustard seeds and cumin seeds together until they start to pop (takes a minute or so if you have a gas stove... longer if using electric!!). Add a pinch of turmeric to the mixture and turn off the heat. It is important to turn the heat off before adding the lemon juice. Wait a couple of minutes and then squeeze the juice of two lemons into the mixture. Make sure to pick out the lemon seeds!!
You can add a handful of chopped cilantro (aka coriander) if you desire. Add the pot of cooked rice and stir the lemon/coriander/olive oil mixture in WELL with the rice. The turmeric will turn the rice a nice yellow color. You can also add cashews. Tastes wonderful.
***You can make Coconut Rice using the same exact recipe, except you fry finely chopped raw coconut (use a food processor) with the mustard & cumin seeds, then adding rice to the mix (Skip the turmeric and lemon juice!!!)***
**You can get big bags of mustard seeds & cumin seeds for REALLY cheap at an Indian grocery store, if you have access to one in your area.
I'm a college student so I can't spend a lot of groceries either. Since I've become a vegetarian I have been buying a lot of Goya-Black Bean Soup it's less than a dollar per can, and is REALLY good for you. For breakfast I usually eat Thomas whole wheat english muffins w/ peanut butter for the protein and whole grain. I also like to make spanish rice, or well my version of it.
Cook some rice (brown or white) as much as you think you'll eat.
once the rice is done add dark red kidney beans and black beans. (1/4 to 1/2 can each)
Add your favorite kind of salsa, you'll need quite a bit, to saturate the rice.
Add some hot sauce to taste (Frank's is my favorite)
I also like to add a few tbsp. of Balsamic Vinegar
Add your favorite cheese (if you eat cheese)
keep the stove on very low/warm just to heat the beans and melt the cheese.
I also buy Morning Star Crumbles (it's like imitation ground beef). You can make a lot of things that people would usually include meat in.
Pretty healthy and inexpensive to make.