good point herb:)
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good point herb:)
here are some more sheap meal ideas:
-pancakes with lentil/veggie stuffing.
-pastabakes and lasagnas (cause you can put whatever veggies into it, as you please)
-carrot-lasagna! very nice and healthy - just grate some carrots, fry the suckers with some curry, and use this as you would a tomatosauce..
-hommous
-burgers, like rice/lentil burgers, beanburgers and so on.. served with some mashed potato! :)
-chilis
-currys
-ovenroasted roots, like potato, carrot, beets and some onion, with a lot of spices, and some oil
-also stuff like musakka'a, which is made from eggplant, chichpeas, onion and canned tomato
-baba ganoush, which is a spread, made from aubergine
-lentilsalads
-potatosalads
-beansalads
-pastasalads
soups are really cheap too.
try to learn from the places in the world, where people haven't the luxury of our countries - like mexico, marocco, india and the alikes - they usually know how to make, healthy, tasty food, without spending the world.
you can sprout too, too get some realy nice, healthy (and usually exepensive) veggies. it's easy, cheap and tastes fantastic in salad
I'm definitely learning more about this. I got a book called "miserly moms" that advises moms on ways to cut down on the grocery budget. The basic theme seems to be "make in advance, make it yourself." Rather than buying oatmeal in a box or lots of fancy cereals, make a ton of pancakes on day and freeze them to pop int e microwave as you wish. also make your own maple syrup using extract!
I'm excited about the lentil/rice/bean ideas too! Dhals sound so good. Last night I picked up like ten bags of dried beans and lentils for 7 bucks. Not too bad huh? I'm also going to try shopping at the ethnic (Indian or Asian) grocery stores for deals on beans and tofu . . .
I'm limited on soymilk ideas since I live in a place with limited grocery options . . . I'll check it out online . . . maybe you can bulk buy soymilk online for cheap?
You can buy powdered soymilk, which is cheaper. One kind I saw was about $10, and it had lots of servings in the container (maybe 50??).
yeah. i think it's a lot cheaper making it myself, but it does require a big, exepensive soymilkmaker. and the other way of doing it, is not worth the time, if you ask me..
did you think about sewing your own dipers and pads? that's A LOT cheaper, more environmentally friendly and very nice, when you get into it.
my recommendation is to shell out a bit of money to stock your spice rack, and then you will have a variety of flavors to spice cheap foods like beans and rice. it doesn't become as boring that way. also, if there is an Aldi store by you (and I have no idea how ethical the corporation is) they have really cheap produce (far from organic, though).
So here's a thread to post simple recipes (or ask for) recipes that college students can use when really busy, working with limited ingredients, or lacking in cooking skills! :)
Does anyone have a good recipe I can take to a campus club vegan potluck? I was thinking about making a food-processor "salad"/ "salsa". Maybe mixing some baby arugala, tomatoes, baby carrots, zucchini, garlic, and Bragg's in a processor until the pieces are the size of oats (small, but not a paste). Then serve with crackers. This seems so plain! Should I add anything else? More veggies or spices?
vinegar or lemon juice goes well in salsa.
just thought i'd throw my twopenne'th in
salsa sounds good. or u could make a snack mix, or fruit salad, potato salad, pasta salad, egg salad with tofu instead of eggs, tuna salad with chickpeas and kelp powder/lemon juice instead of tuna... I have some recipes if ur interested pm me.
another idea for college student meals- canned soup on microwaved potato. Its really good, hot filling and super easy.
I would also be interested in any recipes anyone has. I have been subsisting on faux chicken salsa soup and faux egg/ham wraps from the local vegan place, hummus pitas and cereal in soy milk for the last two semesters. I'm working with REALLY limited resources in the apt. (no oven, no freezer and a fridge the size of a large hamper) but would totally LOVE a little change of pace. Not only are those few listed vegan meals (while good) getting repetitive, but buying food out daily is rapidly eating away at my miniscule college budget.
HELP VEGANS!
Although I'm not much help, could you try to find a farmer's market near you for veggies? I know of a vege market held from around april through august near my campus. And I think PA is great with farming, maybe you could join a coop and work a couple hours for a vege box each week? I've found one in my area for their next season (fall through spring).
oohhh the snack mix sounds good and really easy. :D
I really wanted to make some chocolate cookies. I'm not sure I have the time really, got like five or so hours of studying to do tonight and the potluck is tomorrow after class. :eek: I'm terrible at planning meals!! What do you think I'd need to make cookies? Chocolate/ carob chips, oats, baking powder (?), what else?
Maybe I can buy some pre-made mixes or get some nuts, seeds, and dried fruit in bulk and mix it? Not too creative..:rolleyes: I was hoping to impress with this one...oh well.
i have a book called Students Go Vegan Cookbook
I haven't had a chance to really look through it, but i skimmed though it and the recipe's look pretty good.
"Over 135 Quick, Easy, Cheap, And Tasty Vegan Recipes."
Ooo that book sounds cool. I'll have to look into it. Thanks PxS.
no problem :D
i have that book, it's ok, but i think the recipes are actually a bit too extravagent to be useful for students! plus i have problems converting the measurements from cups into grams. that said, the recipe for the granola is amazing! (although i leave out the cinnamon because i don't like it)
here's a good (and good for you) lunch that i had the other day while i was still trapped in paper-writing hell:
take a cup of quinoa, and cook as per usual, but in slightly less water because you want them to be a bit undercooked when the water is gone.
when all the water is gone, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of gungo/pigeon peas and maybe a dash more water. simmer for five/ten mins to finish off the quinoa.
i seasoned mine with chilli and fresh grated ginger, but garlic and onion is nice too.
tastes awesome :D
amanda
Ohhh that sounds good!! I just bought some quinoa a couple days ago and haven't been up for cooking, but now I think I'll have to make this! How long do you cook the quinoa and in how much water?
i love cooking quinoa in vegetable stock. mmm. :)
One of the best quick meals is steamed vegetables (I love zucchini) over a quick grain like quinoa or couscous, but I use rice whenever I have time. Quinoa is 2:1 ratio water to grain, and it's usually only 8-10 minutes cooking (sometimes 15) which makes it great for limited time. Couscous is about the same. (The Green Kitchen Handbook is a good book to have on hand for references like this, and learning to cook new natural foods)
Tabouli from a mix can be really good. I think Fantastic or casbah make one, that you just add hot water and tomatoes, and put it in the fridge for an hour. Study or read, then you have a MASSIVE filling snack. Yum.
Stirfries from frozen or fresh veggies take no time at all. This is what we always make when we both had class, and worked until 9. If you use oil to fry, use grape seed oil as it's the healthiest to heat up, produces few harmful fumes because it has such a high burning temperature. However, it you don't want to use heated oil as all, just use some Bragg aminos (or soy sauce) and/or your favorite vinegar for it to cook in, then spice anyway you want. 10minutes max, and delicious. (I never get sick of stirfries, I can always make it mediteranian with extra vinegar, asian with extra soy sauce, or spicy with cayenne, hot sauce, and barbeque sauce!)
Another lovely forum member taught me how to cook veggies in the rice cooker. When you're cooking your rice in the cooker, add a layer of thin sliced veggies on the top of the rice. It steams them really nicely and makes for a healthy meal :)
Sandwiches, wraps, toast and all things bread seem to be my staple. I'll make the occasional curry, bake or pasta sauce, but with a kitchen that looks like an a bomb epicenter it's hard to prepare or make anything grand. I love it when i return to my parents house on holidays and have a big clean kitchen to run around in, and extravagant recipes to try. :(
Oh jeez. I'm glad this thread was made. I've been living the Poor College Student life for a while now since I quit my job, and so I've been eating ramen daily. There's only so many things you can put on noodles before you want to scream.
How's this site? :
http://www.simpleveganrecipes.co.uk/
Suggested by JC the other day, in a different thread.
Oh, some great suggestions!
So far I've tried making quinoa a few times in (low sodium) veggie stock w/ garlic and mixed veggies. I've also made a crapload of stirfries w/ lots of veggies and edamame. Salads are getting better with my Bragg's sesame ginger dressing as well! Oh and I found some Amy's black bean burritos and have to say they're bangin with some salsa on top.
I think tonight I'll try some mac and "cheese". I have some whole grain pasta that I need to use and I bought a bit of nutritional yeast the other day to test it out. I think if I add a bit of water to the nut. yeast, I can just drizzle it over the pasta. :)
One of my basic low-cook meals is couscous with some stock powder, with a tin of ratatouille thrown on top - warmed in microwave or on stove top if I can be bothered. Some nutch on top and it's ready to eat. All you really need by way of resources is a source of boiling water for the couscous.
I'm bumping this thread up to add my chili. Sorry for the UK-ers, it's in US measurements, but its not too important, I just chuck everything in as I feel like it.
1c dry beans (soaked) I use kidney beans and lentils
2c-3c water or veggie stock
3 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp dried chilis
2 stalks of celery
2 tomatoes
Cook forever... like 2 hours on medium heat. I just let it sit there and go about studying or whatever until its done. I'm guessing it'd be much faster with canned beans.
I'm making lentil carrot soup:
1c soaked lentils
2c water
1/2c chopped carrots
1/2 mini white onion
2 tsp garlic powder
dash of sea salt
dash of pepper
Cook on medium for an hour. Really simple! Any ideas on how to spice it up a bit? It seems kinda plain.
Some vegetable stock, chilipepper, ginger, cumin or some fresh herbs... coriander?
I'm not sure if anyne has recommended this yet but if now, get this book:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg
It's vegetarian, but we all know how to work around a few milk ingredients and such. I've found this to be the best cookbook I have, cheap and cheerful, and not at all pretentious.
Awesome, Noogle. Thanks for the book info. Would you say the cookbook recipes are quick? Or just simple with the ingredients? :)
I do have some red wine! I'll give it a try!
I tried it with some cumin last night, turned out okay.
I flicked through "Student's go vegan cookbook" last night and couldn't really find any funky ingredients to students O_O Am I that spoilt?
I have that cookbook and found the recipes pretty easy and ingredients easy to find. I used it a lot when I first became vegan, but don't use it all that much anymore. The basic baked tofu and lemon rosemary tofu I still make often. They are nothing special, but for some reason I like both of them a lot.
The one-pot pasta with baked tofu is very quick and good. I used to make the herbed tofu lasagna often (this does take a little time though) but have now abandoned that recipe for the one in v-con because its better.
There is also some pasta dish with tempeh and black olive marinera which is pretty good, but not something to get too excited about. I have made it a couple of times. The shepards pie I have the same opinion on. I have made it once, and may make it again, but think I might look around for a better recipe as this seems to be prevelent in lots of vegan cookbooks(suggestions??).
I didn't really like their scrambled tofu recipe, I much prefer the VWAV one. Although I don't really follow a recipe for that anymore now that I have a feel for what I like.
Also, the crunchy blueberry pancakes were not all that amazing imo, but I also didn't have much pancake making experience at the time.
Anyway, its not a bad book. Some of the recipes are really quick, but most are average in cooking time.
I think I'd like to try to bake some muffins and brownies. Does anyone have simple recipes? I have absolutely no idea how to bake w/o those pre-made mixes (which are obviouly not vegan).
What kind of muffins are you looking for, Ella? Plain vanilla, or something a bit fancier? I'm sure I can oblige on the brownie front...