Alternatives to pizza

[lazytiger]

Hello everybody,

I am new to this forum. I am an Indian, currently pursuing higher studies in the United States. I was raised as a vegetarian, which is not uncommon in India. But Indian vegetarians use a lot of dairy products. After coming to the United States, I decided to become a vegan. First, I wanted to cut down the dairy products, because this is the real litmus test for a typical Indian vegetarian. I was able to give up milk, curd (yogurt) and butter milk with surprising ease because Soy milk is readily available in the US. (I am not sure if soy milk is so readily available in India, which makes me wonder what I will do if I go back to India). I completely avoided dairy products for 6 months in 2006. But I succumbed to temptations after that.

The culprit was not milk or curd - things which I used to have a lot in India. It was pizza. (Ironically, I hardly ate pizza when I was in India). Temptation for pizza is one thing. But I have another major problem. Because of my work load (and laziness) I usually buy frozen stuff which can be easily cooked in a few minutes in a microwave or a regular oven. So I end up buying pizzas and cooking them in the oven. I also buy vegetables, but the problem is that vegetables don't have much calories by themselves. And they are expensive. As a student I have to keep my expenditure in check. For example, I bought some nice frozen vegetables. They were tasty, but for a price of around $ 2, I got only 150 calories.

I am looking for an alternative to pizza, that can give me a good number of calories and can be cooked easily in an oven or microwave. I am thin. I don't think I need more than 1400-1700 calories per day. The cost of the alternative should be around the same as pizza. By the way, I am not talking about papa johns or pizza hut when I mention pizza. I am talking about frozen pizza in the supermarkets. And there are always deals on frozen pizzas. I usually spend around 2 $ for 1000 calories.

If there is any American (or non-American) vegan here who can help me find an alternative vegan food choice (given the constraints that I am facing), I would be very grateful to him/her. Any vegan food which can give me 1000 calories for a price of 2$ is excellent. I am willing to make it 2.5 $. After all, I pay more for soy milk. The food must be easily available in a typical American supermarket, and cooking should be as easy as cooking a frozen pizza. (I apologize for my laziness). Please help me if you can. Thanks in advance.

PS: In one of my future posts, I will discuss my problems with honey and other snacks. That is another long story.

[horselesspaul]

Amy's do a cheeseless vegan pizza if I recall correctly.
There are a number of threads that will address your needs on this board I expect. Try some imaginative search arguments..
More people will no doubt be along to offer more useful advice.

Good luck.

[cedarblue]

welcome lazytiger!

as horselesspaul says, check out the food threads on here for lots of ideas and great photos of vegan food.

[Campbell]

Being pretty lazy about food myself, i tend to live on very simple things: oatmeal and an apple for brekky, pita bread with avocado for lunch. Processed vegan food, like tofu and vegesausages are expensive and if you want something cooked you might need to learn to do it yourself. A basic risotto is the easiest thing in the world: rice, olive oil and anything else you have lying around. I recommend olives in everything! You're right, fruit and vegies alone are hardly substantial enough, especially if keeping up a healthy weight is an issue. Try to be open-minded and try new foods you might have never heard of before - like tahini, maybe. A couple of spoons each day and you won't stay skinny for long.

good luck!

[Mystic]

Hands up over here for another lazy vegan!!!


I also eat oatmeal for breakfast - sometimes toast and jam.
Lunch is usually a sandwich with avocado or soup or something
Dinner is rice and vegies, pasta with lentil bolognaise, burritos or nachos or vegie burgers.

You can eat cheaply if you have lots of legumes and grain. You can cook brown rice in the microwave easily, and it is cheap and healthy. Legumes are cheap even if they are canned and you can add spices to them - You can make chickpea curry or dhal or anything. Choose vegies in season - or frozen vegies to add to them because they are usually cheaper.

Oatmeal is so cheap for breakfast. Add dried fruit and some nuts and that will keep you going for ages.

[harpy]

Hello - if you really like pizza I would think you could assemble your own vegan version in next to no time

base: French bread, halved, or ready-made bases if you can get those
sauce: tomato/marinara sauce out of a jar
topping: vegetables (ready chopped frozen ones if you must )
topping on the topping: not necessary, but you could use fake cheese or a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

This oughtn't to take more than a couple of mins to assemble and then you can bung it in the oven or microwave, same as the bought ones.

[missbettie]

Amy's does make a frozen vegan pizza, its the one that is cheeseless, you should be able to find it in any well stocked grocery store in the frozen pizza alse. Its one of my favorite foods, it as a nice sweet taste and has artichoke hearts and different peppers on it. The only problem though is its about 7-9 dollars, kinda pricey but well worth it.

[harpy]

My home-assembled one would be nice and cheap, I think

[cedarblue]

cheap tomato/marinara sauce;

1 can cheap/budget chopped or plum tomatoes (15p?)
2 cloves garlic (5p?)
oil (10p?)

heat oil and gently cook sliced garlic till it starts to colour.
add tomatoes, cook gently till reduced a bit and thickened - 15 mins?
done.

[Haniska]

Peanut butter
If you have trouble keeping your calories up in general (not just protein and fat) I say buy some cheap off brand apple juice. Calories galore. That is what I use when I want to gain weight.

[lazytiger]

Well, thanks to everybody for their suggestions. Let me take time to absorb your posts and then I will try to implement what you people suggested. Right now, I have two more pizzas in my refrigerator. Hopefully, the next time I visit the local supermarket, I will not buy a pizza.

[Fungus]

' I say buy some cheap off brand apple juice.' .. which can contain shellac coated fruit ( it says so on the packet too so..)

[treehugga]

Cheap pizza.

Buy a pack of pita (flat breads) from the supermarket and keep them in your freezer.

when you want pizza take one out and top it with pasta or pesto sauce out of a jar and cheap veg such as mushrooms, zuchini, onion, capsicum etc.

I like a sprinke of vegan parmasen on top!

place onder grill (broil) or microwave several mins.