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cookingwithdana

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
7
Location
Ontario, Canada
Ever since I finished school in April I've been looking for a variety of cheap meals. I work in theatre and because of that I go contract to contract. Which tends to mean that my income changes all the time. My current contract ends on Saturday and I'll be unemployed until the end of March. I'm a vegetarian, I don't eat fish. Does anyone have any ideas how I can make budget friendly vegetarian meals? I'm starting to get annoyed by the amount of cheap recipes that are pretty much just onion, garlic and potato. I try to cook in bulk and freeze but I live in an apartment and I only have a small freezer above the fridge.

Any help would be fantastic.
 
Beans can be cooked a million different ways. Pair it with rice and you have a complete meal. Very inexpensive. Google for bean recipes to see if there is anything that would fit your diet. Hummus is super easy to make at home from dried chickpeas... you don't even need the tahini to make it taste great.

Pasta is another versatile and vegetarian option. You can make your own sauce with an inexpensive can of tomatoes and whatever you have in your pantry, or opt for simply butter or olive oil with some spicing of your choice.

How about making your own bread and have sandwiches?

Do you eat eggs? There are tons of ways to make eggs, as well. A quiche can go a long way, or an omelet with whatever fresh veggies you have on hand. Eggs are probably one of the cheapest proteins around.

HTH
 
Thanks so much, I do eat eggs and I love quiche. I've tried making my own bread before but I haven't in a while. I think I'll make some on the weekend. I love beans, I make homemade refried bean yesterday. I'm trying to make a list of foods that are cost effective so thank you for all your input.
 
Beans! Bean soup, bean & rice burritos or tacos w/ fresh salsa and avocado (or guac obviously). Dry beans are cheapest. I would experiment with some small bags of beans, and find some that you like. Then when you find which beans you like best you get the biggest bag they have. I saw some pretty large bags of beans at Walmart, and there are no doubt bigger ones at Sams Club or other bulk stores. Flour and other staples like rice are usually considerably cheaper at the bulk stores too. Find a good basic bread recipe and have fun!
 
Squash has always amazed me as being a very versatile vegetable, particularly with the multitude of varieties. Many kinds are able to be a substitute for a lot of other things, as well as being very tasty. And generally, they aren't very expensive.

I have also used fresh fruit as a flavor booster to many dishes, such as with rice dishes; diced tomatoes, green onion, pineapple, coconut, peaches or apricots add an exotic flavor and something different. Diced Apples or pears, craisins, dried cherries and raisins go wonderfully with cole slaw or salads.

For beans, in order to avoid any meat/fish product, but to get their flavor, try buying things such as BBQ rubs (seasoned salts and dried herbs with BBQ flavorings), Crab Boil seasoning, one or two drops of liquid smoke, and curry comes in dozens and dozens of varieties, many are inexpensive.

And if you have the time, and are somewhat ambitious, try making vegetable sushi, as a hobby.

Good Luck. :chef:
 
Fresh fruits and veggies are often expensive, but you can usually get cabbage and, often broccoli and cauliflower for pretty cheap. Frozen spinach is cheap and pretty versatile as well. I make black bean and spinach burritos (with a little enchilada sauce)in bulk and freeze them). Carrots are another cheap veggie that can pack a flavor punch. As others have said, beans and rice are great as well.

A good way to add some flavor or variety to the same ole-same ole is through spices. You can buy small amounts of spice in the bulk bins at most supermarkets and they go a long way. Cumin is one of my personal favorites, and it really pares well with cabbage or cauliflower, especially with some fresh ginger. You can add half a teaspoon to a tablespoon of hot oil for cabbage and onions and eat it hot, cold or piled on a sandwich.
 
Fresh fruits and vegetables aren't expensive if you're cooking for one. One apple or pear can go towards a salad AND serve as a desert for less than 80 cents. Canned pineapple is often a regular and popular item on-sale at least once a month. Just watch the grocery ads on whatever day they normally appear in your local newspaper.

Spaghetti squash will serve for two or three meals, making it a real value. Acorn squash is good for two meals, and in-season fruit such as tangerines and plums can be had for 3/$1. They're only expensive when you buy them out of season.
 
Beans of all types (dried will be the cheapest) but even canned beans are a steal.

I usually buy the largest bag of black beans I can find. Cook them add salsa and cumin to flavor and then freeze in small batches (the gladware works perfectly for this). Then when I need a meal that can use a fiesta black bean touch I just thaw and heat. (bean burritos) (stir-fries).

Another economical item is TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein). You can buy it in health food stores and dollar per pound it's cheaper than any meat you can buy. It's great protein and an awesome addition to add to stews/soups to make them more filling and last longer. It never goes bad as long as its stored in an air tight container. Buy it in bulk and use as needed.

Pasta as others have said is something that can be bought in bulk and used on the cheap. I prefer whole wheat since the nutritional content is way higher.

Finally a cost effective way to save money is to do the following:

What you need:
5 x 7 cards with holes punched
5 x 7 card binder
a pen
a calculator
conversion table if needed - ie. oz to lb, etc.

Put the cards in the binder
Bring it to the store
When you buy something put the name of the item on the top of one card
Then underneath, put the:
date, store, price, units, price/unit (ie. this is where you may need the calculator)

Then keep doing it. You use index cards in a 3 ring binder because then you can shuffle them to alphabetical order before you hit the stores the next time.

To get you rolling, the first trips to the store, go thru the cards you have items for and write down the prices/units of all the items you have cards for already, especially if you are at a different store. You may also want to write down a few items the first time that you know for a fact you are going to buy later...
toilet paper
paper towels
bananas
peanut butter
etc.

not too many so you feel overwhelmed, but just a few, and price them on your next visit.

After you have done this for a while, you'll find some surprising things... I found that Tide laundry detergent (something I really like, and don't bend on), is cheaper at Ralphs grocery store, than Walmart, Costco, etc.

Saline solution for contacts is 70% cheaper at Costco.

Or at least these were true last I used the book, I need to get back on it.

If you do it diligently enough, you'll even be able to correlate times of the month or holiday weeks when certain things are cheapest.

It all goes to price/unit.

After a while, it'll be ingrained in your head which store to pick up what without looking, or actually if something is on sale, the numbers will be burned into your head whether it's a good deal and you can stock up. Once you start buying some of these things in bulk during good deals, you'll start seeing in your budget spreadsheet that your expenditures will drop... during the bulk building stage though, some numbers will increase of course.
 
Thanks so much. When I see something on sale that I use a lot I try to buy an extra one or two. But I didn't really think of keeping a list of what stores have the better deal(s). That is pretty smart. I tend to buy beans dried instead of canned. I don't like the added salt. Also I'm trying to cut down on waste.
 
A good one I like is just orzo, black beans, basil, parsley, salt pepper and some chipotle spice if you like that or have it on hand. Eat by itself or put in a tortilla if you want. It's good, cheap and I froze it for a couple days and it did fine. :)
 
Beans! Bean soup, bean & rice burritos or tacos w/ fresh salsa and avocado (or guac obviously). Dry beans are cheapest. I would experiment with some small bags of beans, and find some that you like. Then when you find which beans you like best you get the biggest bag they have. I saw some pretty large bags of beans at Walmart, and there are no doubt bigger ones at Sams Club or other bulk stores. Flour and other staples like rice are usually considerably cheaper at the bulk stores too. Find a good basic bread recipe and have fun!
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I agree with this idea...Mexican food are really 'cheap' meals and with the Mexican Vegetarian movement there are many recipes to choose from
Vegetarian Mexican Food Recipes - Vegetarian Mexican Food - Vegan Mexican Food - Tofu Tacos - Vegetarian Burritos
Vegetarian Mexican Recipes - Vegetarian Tex-Mex Recipes - The Veggie Table - Vegetarian Recipes and Info
 
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I agree with this idea...Mexican food are really 'cheap' meals and with the Mexican Vegetarian movement there are many recipes to choose from

Yes! I made corn tortillas not long ago. Not too hard, but then I saw a pack of 30 at Walmart for 94 cents! I bet the pack of 100 is even cheaper/unit. Anyway, I made beans and rice early in the week and have been making lunch (and breakfast one day) with these 3 ingredients since. Just add whatever leftover you have in with the beans and rice on a tortilla. I suppose you could bake the shells, but I've been frying them in a but of veg oil.
 
Back in my theatre days we used to make a lot of stir frys and rice and lots of chili (rice in chili..YUM) and there were always potatoes in the house.
 
mexican ingredients

Yes! I made corn tortillas not long ago. Not too hard, but then I saw a pack of 30 at Walmart for 94 cents! I bet the pack of 100 is even cheaper/unit. Anyway, I made beans and rice early in the week and have been making lunch (and breakfast one day) with these 3 ingredients since. Just add whatever leftover you have in with the beans and rice on a tortilla. I suppose you could bake the shells, but I've been frying them in a but of veg oil.

Im happy you made great progress in just 3 ingredients, rice, beans and tortilla can really stretch and diversify meals..i also use these ingredients if not everyday but every week...:LOL:
 
One of my favorite dishes, which happens to be Chinese (from my mom) and conveniently vegetarian, is a sauted mix of mostly dried ingredients you can get in any Chinatown and sold in packs. Ingredients such as dried soy bean curd skin, dried lily blossoms, dried wood ear, dried shitake. These just need to be soaked and rehydrated overnight. Because of rehydration, just a little of the dried ingredients increase in volume and therefore goes a long way. Throw these into a hot wok with fried ginger slices and fried fresh firm tofu. Season with soy sauce, add water, simmer for tastes to combine. Et ... voila! A very hearty vegetarian meal that costs almost nothing, stocks very well in the pantry, and is very hearty. Serve with rice.
 
I made a really tasty bean soup yesterday. I love the Goya package of 16 different dried beans. Soak them overnight and the next day, saute up some onions, celery, carrots, peppers, garlic and then put in your beans. Add about 16 cups of water (filtered is better) and season with about 2 teaspoons dried herbes de Provence, a couple of pinches of crushed red pepper flakes, and a few grinds of each white and black peppercorns, and a couple of dried bay leaves. Don't salt until the beans are almost cooked, then taste before you do.

The package of beans costs about $1.25 here in New York, and the veggies aren't expensive. You can eat for quite a few days on the 3 quarts of soup you should get from that.
 
I just (re)discovered falafel in a magazine I was reading the other day. We didn't have all the ingredients in the house, but even with what I had they turned out so tasty! It's basically cooked chickpeas (pureed), garlic, parsley, salt, cumin, a little oil of whatever variety, a little bit of flour and then you just make patties out of them and cook them in a little oil in a pan or you can deep fry them... cut open a tortilla, fill with lettuce and tomato if you like, and drizzle on some plain greek yogurt. It is tasty and cheap, too!
 
Fresh fruits and vegetables aren't expensive if you're cooking for one. One apple or pear can go towards a salad AND serve as a desert for less than 80 cents. Canned pineapple is often a regular and popular item on-sale at least once a month. Just watch the grocery ads on whatever day they normally appear in your local newspaper.

Spaghetti squash will serve for two or three meals, making it a real value. Acorn squash is good for two meals, and in-season fruit such as tangerines and plums can be had for 3/$1. They're only expensive when you buy them out of season.
You took the words right out of my mouth. That is my favorite squash!! I prefer that over regular spaghetti pasta.
 
My answer is soup ! soup! and more soup! It has been shown scientifically that soup stays in your stomach longer-so causing you to feel satisfied longer. Use chickpeas / garbanzos to make a Spanish garbanzo soup. Traditional Leek and Potato is one of the easiest to make, or try a spicy Tomato and Lentil. The choices are endless. Add some homemade bread or even easier-cornbread....and you have a satisfying and cheap meal. Cook up batches of two different kinds on the weekends...and there is your food for the week.
Bored with soup, or want a change mid-week??...Baked potatoes.....fill with cheese,beans or veggies and you are sorted.

;)
 
Take Advantage of Sales and Coupons

I stock up on caned and frozen fruits, vegetables, soups and the like when they are on sale. I call it my Depression Pantry. I always have canned tuna and canned salmon and can often make a meal with those, pantry and frozen items, and with left overs from the fridge.

I also use as many coupons as I can as well. But my niece, who is in college, really has coupons down to a science. She once had a store owing her a few pennies. I don't know how she did that.
 
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