What do your daily vegan meals look like?

[MissSJ]

Hi everyone,
My family has been eating semi-vegitarian for a few years now and we have added a lot of vegan recipes this past year. I am planning on going completely vegan in 2010 and my DH agreed to "try" for 3 months. In those three months we also plan on going gluten and soy free while throwing in some raw food meals.

I was hoping some of you could tell me what your daily meals tend to look like, I am still so new at this that the vegan meals I cook usually come out of cookbooks (predominantly Vegan Planet). They are always delicious but usually take more time and $ than I anticipate. This leaves me wondering if we have been relying on too many "convenience" foods or if there is an easier, less expensive way to have a vegan diet.

Basically what I am looking for is what your daily meals tend to consist of, about how much time do you spend prepping your meals, how do you keep your grocery bills low, do you usually use cookbooks..?

Thanks,
SJ

[AngelBee]

Interested in the info as I would like to incorparate some meals into our current menu.

[caiesmommy]

If your finding it expensive then Iwould tend to think your using to many convience foods..are grocery bill is almost revoltingly LOW...like people think we're lying when we say how low we can get our bills(though sometimes I still wish they we're lower)

We eat VERY little soy...some gluten more lately then normal..and we eat at least one thing raw at each meal. Summer time a lot more.

Breakfast-hemp seed granola/almond milk/sliced bananas on top
-multi grain flax seed pancakes w sliced apples
Lunch-peanut butter sandwich(hemp seeds sprinkled inside),
-leftovers from dinner the night before
-soup
-with a piece of raw fruit or veg and a glass of v8ish juice or almond milk
Dinner-BEANS BEANS AND MORE BEANS!!!
-stirfry with a grain or pasta, veg and beans
-pasta w hemp seeds
-bean burritoes
-All with either a salad or carrot sticks/cuke slices/avocado ect
-black bean stew w corn flour dumplings w raw homemade guac on top is my new fave dinner..YUM

We keep our grocery bill low by:
-buying veg thats on sale/local/in season-so right now we're eating a lot of carrot sticks/coleslaws(with a lemon dressing)/apples/pomegranets(not local but at 3 for 5 they are def a treat!!!!)
-buy our beans dried at the bulk barn
-buy our potatoes local by the 50lb bag(yup 50lb)

And only buy what we need!!! I stick to my list and if I fel myself wandering and wanting to buy other stuff I stick to ONE splurge purchase...so I think ok:
1. Do I have other things at home to help make a meal out of this iteam
2. Does everyone in the fam like this item
3. Is this going to rot in the back of my fridge?
OR I put it back down and then after all my shopping if I'm willing to go back and get it then I buy it

I have a ton of cookbooks and RARELY use them...seriously I keep an eye out on vegan dad's blog, check out what the other mothering moms are doing and then if Im stuck I search google....I very rarely use my books though I love them!

[MountainMamaGC]

I am not a complete vegan as I still use honey and I am not too careful about hidden dairy and eggs, but I try my best to avoid the hidden stuff too. I do not eat eggs, milk or meat though and I cook from whole foods most of the time so I dont have to worry about hidden stuff so much. Anyway I am rambling and my point was to post my food album.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...0&l=0dd015ba04

[zubeldia]

Originally Posted by Lydiah

I am not a complete vegan as I still use honey and I am not too careful about hidden dairy and eggs, but I try my best to avoid the hidden stuff too. I do not eat eggs, milk or meat though and I cook from whole foods most of the time so I dont have to worry about hidden stuff so much. Anyway I am rambling and my point was to post my food album.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...0&l=0dd015ba04

Wow, that food looks so good! Could you share your tofu scramble recipe?

Alex

[MountainMamaGC]

For my tofu scramble I first crumble and fry the medium firm tofu in a tsp of oil. I fry it until water stops coming out of it. I add salt, pepper, turmeric and garlic powder. Then I add whatever veggies I have laying around. I sautee it until the veggies are as done as a like and then drizzle a little hoisin sauce on top. You can use whatever firmness of tofu you like best.

[Ygle]

Usually once a week I make a huge pot of beans (one type... usually kidney, black beans, or garbonzo, but sometimes black eyed peas, pinto, or something else) and I cook up a pot of some grain -rice, wild rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, I parboil some potatoes, and I wash all my veggies and fruit and chop some. So I have all this stuff ready to go in the fridge for the week. I do freeze some of my beans immediately and then if it looks like I have too much that won't get used I freeze that also. Towards the end of the week my starting to wilt veggies get used in a pot of soup and the fruit gets used in smoothies or frozen for future smoothies or 'ice creams'. Before that we generally just lay out the beans, veggies and grains at the table and everyone puts together their own dish from that. I sometimes make a 'hummus' using some spices and the bean of the week maybe blended with some seed or nut to be used with the grain or as a veggie dip and maybe a dressing with some dried fruit, vinegar and seasonings to add to the veggies as a salad. The kids just grab a handful of beans or the already chopped veggies or fruit to snack on whenever they want. For breakfast we usually do steel cut oats with fruit and nuts, or a green salad with fruit and nuts, or I chop up the parboiled potatoes and throw them in a pan with the chopped veggies like a potato stir fry, or occasionally some scrambled tofu, or sometimes I just stir fry up the beans, grains and veggies or even just make a green smoothie. Lunch and dinner usually just look the same with the veggie bean grain bowls and a salad although for dinner I usually add another steamed veggie. Also, we have those soups which are usually just the leftover veggies, beans and potatoes with some spices, water, and canned tomatoes.

We eat really, really simply. Our grocery bill is still insane though.