Post by Megan Stulberg
One of the most common things I hear when I tell people I’m vegan is something along the lines of, “I want to go vegan too, but I can’t afford it”. I hate to call people out, but that just doesn’t make any sense! My diet isn’t a luxury, or the sign of a lavish lifestyle. Truth be told (and despite what our Instagram feed looks like) I eat very basic dishes 90% of the time. Meat and cheeses are expensive, tofu and veggies are not. Sure, if you’re buying organic cold-pressed juices and take-out vegan meals every day, then yeah. It’ll be expensive. But it’s not hard to do at all, as long as you do it right. Think of it like skipping a step — instead of feeding cows and pigs what they need to get big enough to be slaughtered and eaten, why not eat what the cows and pigs are eating instead? That way you save energy, water, money, and oh yeah. Lives.
Anyways, what I’m saying is stop making excuses. I went vegan when I was a broke ass university student, and you can too. Here are some staple recipe ideas to get you started that are balanced, cost-efficient and able to be prepared in bulk.
Still have questions? You can always ask us! Here to help. Hit me up at vegangirlfriend@gmail.com.
SIMPLE PASTA BOLOGNESE:
Ingredients Needed:
- Pasta (I use corn-based)
- Jar marinara sauce
- Beyond Meat “beef” crumbles
- Go Veggie vegan parmesan “cheese”
- Dried herbs and spices like basil, thyme, garlic powder, onion, black pepper
Steps:
- Make the pasta.
- Heat the sauce, sauté the “beef” crumbles. Combine.
- Coat pasta evenly, top with parmesan and serve.
Servings: 2-4
SIMPLE CURRY:
Ingredients Needed:
- White rice
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 can coconut milk
- Frozen veggies (optional)
- Curry powder, chill powder, garlic, onion, salt, black pepper — whatever spices you like pretty much, the only one you really need here is the curry powder.
Steps:
- Make the rice. I am not going to write step-by-step instructions out for you. You should know how to make rice. If you don’t, well…*gestures to door*.
- Heat the coconut milk on stovetop. Add the spices.
- Heat the chickpeas, sauté the veggies in olive oil, dump everything together and serve.
Servings: 2-4
SIMPLE SUSHI:
Ingredients Needed:
- Sticky rice
- Seaweed
- Cucumber
- Avocado (optional)
- Gluten-free or regular soy sauce (optional)
Steps:
Follow our existing recipe here and just omit the meat substitute.
Servings: 2 servings, approximately 4 rolls.
SIMPLE MAC & CHEESE:
Ingredients Needed:
- Pasta (I used corn-based)
- Daiya cheddar cheese shreds
- Nutritional yeast
- Almond, soy or coconut milk
- Garlic, onion, thyme, salt, pepper
Steps:
- Cook pasta.
- Heat non-dairy milk on stovetop. Add Daiya shreds and wait for it to start melting, stir until completely combined into pourable sauce. Add nutritional yeast and spices, stir until mixed.
- Combine pasta and sauce. Serve with topping of your choice (ketchup, coconut bacon, veggies)
Servings: 2.
SIMPLE EVERYTHING-BUT-THE-KITCHEN-SINK BOWL:
Ingredients:
- A grain or starch (white rice, brown rice, potatoes, quinoa, pasta, whatever you have)
- A protein (fake meat, lentils, beans, tofu, tempeh)
- A vegetable (lettuce, peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kale)
- A sauce/oil (marinara, pesto, olive oil, lemon juice)
- A seasoning (nutritional yeast, garlic, onion, chill flakes, rosemary, basil, salt)
Steps:
Don’t worry about it! Cook whatever you have, in the way that you think is best. Sometimes it might seem a bit strange, but sometimes you’ll come up with something super amazing that’ll become a staple in your weekly meals. I mean, that’s how I figured out you can make personal pizzas by baking corn tortillas. Keep an open mind and embrace the experimental process.
SNACKS!
- Ants On A Log. But modified, because nobody likes celery. Apple slices, peanut butter (I buy organic, sugar-free jars of this at Whole Foods for $2.50 — seriously, such a kitchen staple) and raisins.
- Smoothies. Seriously! This isn’t a dumb thing to say is a snack! Healthy, filling and cheap. Buy those marked down, bruised bananas on sale in bulk. Chop them up, freeze them, and blend them with frozen spinach, almond milk, and a touch of maple syrup (optional). You can do this to make nana ice cream as well.
- Popcorn. Buy the actual kernels and not the microwavable bags, it’s a much better deal this way. Add coconut oil and salt, maybe a little nutritional yeast, you can even do something crazy like melt chocolate on there.
OTHER TIPS!
- Instead of buying fresh garlic, fresh onion, etc. — opt for the powdered versions. They won’t go bad and will basically last forever.
- Buy frozen produce whenever possible, unless you’re really really really really good at eating everything in your fridge before it goes bad. Which I doubt. Sorry for the lack of trust, but I’m probably right.
- Stock up on “cheap” proteins. Beans, lentils, tofu and peanut butter make the world go round.
- Buy nutritional yeast in bulk. It’s super high in B12 and has a great cheesy taste to it. You’ll start putting it on everything, trust me.
Vegan Girlfriend 