Broke Vegan in Need of Variety

Hey Guys! I am so tired of eating the same thing over and over... and It seems like the only way to give myself variety is by ordering out or going to whole foods ... which costs me so much more money! I have to try and live on $60 for two weeks... which has been impossible so far.  And one of my standbys, vegan-friendly pizza from Trader Joe's, has been discontinued! What do you guys eat when your on a budget? What are some easy ingredients that can be thrown together to make something? And food that LASTS... my lettuce and banana's go bad so quickly!

Soup.  You can toss almost anything into soup, it's nutritious, cal friendly, and most freeze well so if you make a huge pot you can freeze 1/2 of it and eat it latter so you don't get tired of the same soup for lunch every day.

If you need to get rid of your lettuce make black bean nachos or salad wraps and toss the over ripe bananas into some whole wheat muffins. 

Original Post by amber_poole:

Soup.  You can toss almost anything into soup, it's nutritious, cal friendly, and most freeze well so if you make a huge pot you can freeze 1/2 of it and eat it latter so you don't get tired of the same soup for lunch every day.

If you need to get rid of your lettuce make black bean nachos or salad wraps and toss the over ripe bananas into some whole wheat muffins. 

I have a crock pot I never use... that could be used for soup right? And can I just throw anything in there? Beans, corn, potatoes... things I find in store bought soups?

Thanks so much for your ideas! I completely forgot about making my own nachoes! I used to do that all the time. And I haven't made any kind of muffin before... I suppose I could make any kind of "bread" product with the overly ripe banana's, right?

You can freeze bananas and use them for all sorts of things, including 'ice cream' by blending them in the blender; they come out the consistency of soft serve; add a little cocoa powder and it's just like chocolate ice cream.

And uh, this is going to sound weird, but have you ever heard of dumpster diving? My good friend is a Freegan vegan (meaning she doesn't spend a CENT on groceries) and lives entirely off of 'reclaimed food'.

I have gone with her, and number 1, it's amazing how much food grocery stores throw away that is still in great condition. number 2, most of this food is thrown out BEFORE the sell by date (NOT the use by date!!!), is in it's original packaging, and is separated from everything else in the dumpster with plastic bags. I'm squeamish, and I found the food well protected enough that I had no problem eating it. I also have a US Sanitation Certificate for food, so I know what dangers exist with this, and I still think it's relatively safe, as long as you use your own judgement.

Trader Joes is the worst around here; when we dumpster dove, we found a big plastic bag full of tons and tons of untouched Ezekial Bread, and they had all been thrown out on their sell by date, which means that had I come to Trader Joes just a couple of hours earlier that day, I could have bought that same bread in the store.

Look up Dumpster Diving online; I know it's weird, but it saves money and helps our world to live off of the excesses we produce.

Original Post by edamame3:

You can freeze bananas and use them for all sorts of things, including 'ice cream' by blending them in the blender; they come out the consistency of soft serve; add a little cocoa powder and it's just like chocolate ice cream.

And uh, this is going to sound weird, but have you ever heard of dumpster diving? My good friend is a Freegan vegan (meaning she doesn't spend a CENT on groceries) and lives entirely off of 'reclaimed food'.

I have gone with her, and number 1, it's amazing how much food grocery stores throw away that is still in great condition. number 2, most of this food is thrown out BEFORE the sell by date (NOT the use by date!!!), is in it's original packaging, and is separated from everything else in the dumpster with plastic bags. I'm squeamish, and I found the food well protected enough that I had no problem eating it. I also have a US Sanitation Certificate for food, so I know what dangers exist with this, and I still think it's relatively safe, as long as you use your own judgement.

Trader Joes is the worst around here; when we dumpster dove, we found a big plastic bag full of tons and tons of untouched Ezekial Bread, and they had all been thrown out on their sell by date, which means that had I come to Trader Joes just a couple of hours earlier that day, I could have bought that same bread in the store.

Look up Dumpster Diving online; I know it's weird, but it saves money and helps our world to live off of the excesses we produce.

I would check it out.... but my husband would disown me if I did that :\

You've got to move away from ready-made over-priced stuff and make your own food if you're serious about wanting to save money.  A lot of people have got very rich by exploiting the fact that some people are too lazy to cook!  Get hold of plenty of herbs and spices so that you can add lots of flavour... and then go to work on simple, cheap ingredients like lentils, chickpeas and so forth.  Variety is then what you make it.

I love this Cauliflower and Potato Curry, both caulis and spuds being dirt cheap this time of year.   Similar vein.... this Bean Casserole with Oat & Seed Topping... very tasty.  Pity you can't eat eggs because they're relatively cheap and very versatile.  Still..... Stuffed Mushrooms with Avocado is very nice and this Fruity Rice Salad is put together with relatively cheap ingredients.  If you like pizza then it's ridiculously easy to make a pizza base with flour, dried yeast a little oil and some water.... and then you can add your own toppings.

I spend about £50 ($70) per week which covers all meals for two people... packed lunches included.  We eat really well without resorting to dumpsters.

Aw, it sucks the world is like that, not open to new things that can help save the planet :-( Luckily, my husband just rolls his eyes and looks the other way...and he'll eat dumpstered items if I bring them home with no problem. Then again, he's a bit of a walking garbage disposal...lol

Anyway, I know of a couple of vegans who did a political project called 'the dollar a day diet'...basically, they tried to live off of just 1 dollar per day for 30 days, to make a statement on poverty. They had the news following them and really did well; I think they're publishing a book. In any case, they posted their recipes; they happen to be vegan so it's nice to see some really cheap, really vegan recipes.

Visit: http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/

Wow, edamame3...there are a lot of great suggestions, thank you!

Also, beans! Cans of beans tend to run pretty cheap, and bags of dried beans, even more so. I use them to make all sorts of different things...You can make chili with black and kidney beans...Burritos - just add rice, lettuce, tomato and sauteed peppers and onions, maybe some guacamole and salsa...Hummus - awesome in wraps or used as a dip with vegetable sticks...You can mash any kind of beans together with spices and things such as leftover rice or breadcrumbs to make burger patties...You can mix beans with corn and salsa and avocado to make a good southwestern salad...There are lots of uses for them, and varieties which make it relatively easy to keep yourself from getting bored.

Soups, as mentioned above, the perfect fall/winter staple. So easy to make...I just saute some onions, celery, leeks, etc and add some vegetable stock in a pot and then add veggies like carrots, potatoes, corn, peas, whatever's around and on sale at the grocery store...and add spices to taste. You can puree it for a creamy soup...add a little margarine or ricemilk to make it creamier...or leave it chunky and hearty with some crusty bread. I also love butternut squash soup, we just roast it in the oven with a little vegan margarine on top and some cinnamon/nutmeg and then blend it together with a little vegetable stock until it's the right consistency and spice to taste.

Hey guys! SO I gave it a shot... and I managed to spend about $80 for 2 weeks... lets see if it lasts!

The first thing I would recommend is that you do your shopping once a week. No fresh food is going to last for 2 weeks (other than whole winter squash). And if anything looks like you may not use it in 1 week, then you should blanche and freeze to use for another time. If you make a menu for the week and only buy the ingredients required for those meals, you won't buy food that goes to waste or too much food you won't get to eat. I spend $25 a week for food to feed 2 people but it really does come down to cooking all of your meals and not buying pre-made foods. It takes organization and planning ahead of time. I rarely eat the same thing week to week. Get Veganomicon and cook your way through that book. Amazing recipes, most ingredients are commonly found, and it's cheaper than buying premade food loaded with junk and preservatives.

You can grow your own sprouts, it is very easy to do and very low cost.  You can sprout just about anything, broccoli, spinach, beans, chives, garlic.  You can even grow your own lettuces.

I make my own breads, pizza dough and pitas.  I want a press to make tortillas because I don't seem to roll then out thin enough.

I only buy enough fruit to last three days.  Otherwise I end up throwing them put to the squirrels.

1) Rice.  Don't use minute rice.  Regular rice (long grain, parboiled, brown, etc) are all cheap.  So they take 20 min to cook instead of 5, they're also less than half the cost of Minute Rice, and it's not like boiling rice is hard.  Also try cooking rice in liquids other than water.  Veg stock, stewed tomatoes with some basil thrown in, one of my favorites is rice cooked in orange juice with some ginger added.  Or add curry powder, a bit of sugar, raisins and top with slivered almonds.  Look at boxes of Rice-A-Roni and try to re-create it at home.  Rice is incredibly versatile.

3) Frozen veggies.  Once again they're way cheaper then tinned or fresh.  In many cases they even have more intact vitamins than the same veggies fresh (basically because they're frozen with a couple of days of being picked, while those "fresh" veggies may have spent a couple of weeks or more being shipped to your grocery store)!

4) Root crops, gourds and Brassica's are all cheap, especially this time of the year.  Potato, carrot, turnip, cabbage, squash, sweet potato/yam.  You'd be amazed at how many different varieties of squash there are, and they're all cheap.

5) Pasta.  I can make a spaghetti meal for 6 for less than 2 dollars.  I used to make the sauce from scratch, but tinned/bottled pasta sauce is much less expensive.  It makes me kind of angry to see how much restaurants charge for pasta, compared to how much it costs to make.  You can make your own pasta noodles from scratch, but it's not very easy, and won't save you any money.  Opt for the convenience of dried pasta, but if you're vegan make sure to read the ingredients list for egg.

6) Soups, stews, chili are all cheap (and low cal).  You can refrigerate, freeze, or bottle your leftovers.  If you're bottling be sure to boil the empty bottles and lids (or put in the oven at 120 Celsius) then add the food and boil/bake them for a little longer (with the cover off).  This is a good way to store beans as well, as they’ll keep almost indefinitely, and what else are you going to do with those empty pasta sauce bottles?

7) Grow your own.  Lettuce can grow in any pot with some dirt and a few seeds.  Rip off a few leaves when you need them and the plant will continue to grow new ones.  You have an almost inexhaustible supply of lettuce leaves.  Kale is the same, but this doesn’t work for spinach or most other greens.  I have a hanging pot with a tomato plant in it, and another with everbearing strawberries.  Looks nice, smells nice and as many berries/tomatoes as I can eat.

8) Breads and pastries.  I bake my own bread, but it can be difficult and intimidating.  Plus you don’t save all that much money.  A pie shell, on the other hand, is easy (roll it between 2 sheets of wax paper sprinkled with flour to make it even easier).  Cakes, muffins and desserts can be made from packages.  It’s way cheaper then buying them pre-made.  Although making them from scratch is cheaper still, packages are a lot less trouble.  Plus you can use egg substitute and soy milk to keep them vegan.

Try Bamboo!  Ithink it vegan, an i like it alsoalot.