Fancy Up Them Hash Browns

Breakfast is a very important meal! We’ve been hearing this for years, with solid proof to back it up. But like so many other people I often skip breakfast. I don’t know why, but I have never been a big fan of it. Obviously this is not very good for someone who’s trying to get healthier and lose weight, such as myself. Cereal and toast really don’t excite me though.

In case you might now have noticed, I have been leaning towards a more vegetarian diet.

So, goodbye bacon and eggs. You’re no longer welcome on my breakfast plate. Instead I choose to eat scrambled tofu, vegan sausage and of course my beloved hash browns.

I can’t explain my love for fries, or even my like for hash browns except that they are very much like fries. They’re just awesome.

But why eat plain old hash browns with nothing but salt, pepper and ketchup when you spruce them up?

What you’ll need:

• 1 medium sized onions
• 2 medium sized peppers
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed
• A bag of frozen hash browns OR
• 3 cups of diced potatoes
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Here’s what to do:

1. Dice up onions and orange or yellow peppers.
2. Grab a bag of frozen hash browns, or if you’ve got the time (or preference), dice up some potatoes and cook them in a frying pan with olive oil until almost done.
3. Now you can throw your onions and peppers in. I do this after my hash browns are almost done because hash browns (whether frozen or fresh from potatoes) often take longer to cook than the veggies.
4. Rinse out a can of black beans and throw them in just before the rest is almost done so that they warm up.
5. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper to taste.

A perfect meal all on it’s own, or go all out and serve with your scramble and “sausage”! Tastes awesome with a bit of ketchup. And if you haven’t noticed, this should feed well over 4 people.

Thanks,
Cole

Meatless Monday - Chili

My Vegetarian Chili

I have a confession - I did not make this chili. I could have, but instead my hubby did. Woo hoo!

Ingedients:

3 Tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 small chopped onions
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2 cups of water
1/2 can of kidney beans
1 package of veggie ground

To be honest, I usually add diced carrots and celery but this week we didn't have any. We're too poor... Actually I just didn't buy any because I thought we already had some.

Directions:

1. Cook macaroni according to the directions on the package.

2. Heat the olive oil in a pot for about 5 minutes on low-medium heat.

3. Add your onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes and then add your mushrooms and cook for another five minutes.

4. Now you can add all of your spices, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Cook on low-medium heat for 15 minutes.

5. Put your veggie ground and kidney beans in and mix it all up! Simmer for 30 minutes.

6. Serve and eat!

This photo is with white pasta, not whole wheat.

Super simple, super delicious and you don't even need hamburger! I'm serious! My family, including meat eating dad, loves veggie ground!

Pasta - $1
Onions - probably less than $0.15
Canned Diced Tomatoes - $1.25
Tomato Paste - $0.75
Kidney Beans - $0.77
Mushrooms - $1.00
Veggie Ground - $3.99

Do I really need to factor in the spices and olive oil?

Total cost = $8.91 to feed a family of 5

And just so you know, we always have leftovers. My camera battery died while trying to photograph the process of cooking this meal. It wasn't charged until all of the whole wheat pasta was gone, so my picture above is with white pasta. Unfortunately whole wheat pasta doesn't appeal to everyone in the family.

Thanks,

Meatless Monday - Cheap and Easy Stir-fry

Meatless Monday

Simple Stir-fry

My hubby is a vegetarian. He does not eat meat, dairy, or eggs, but he doesn't consider himself a vegan. I've been eating vegetarian foods for a few years now but I'm not a vegetarian myself. 

The thing is, I'm a lazy cook. I hate cooking. Everything about it! The prep work, the actual cooking part and cleaning up afterwards. It's no fun. For some reason though, cooking vegan meals is fun sometimes. I have a large collection of vegan cookbooks and enjoy flipping through them once in a while to plan out a meal. Not always though because I can't imagine cooking every meal from scratch.

So I decided to start doing Meatless Mondays. It's a good way to eat healthier, help reduce my ecological footprint and discover new foods! 

My first Monday isn't anything to brag about though. Seriously, I made this meal in about 30 minutes, with no prep involved!  Other than mincing fresh garlic.

Step 1: Make some rice according to the directions. I like basmati rice from the local Indian grocery store.

Step 2: Heat olive oil in a pan at low-medium heat and throw your minced garlic in (I used 2 cloves) for about 5 minutes.

Step 3: Dice your veggies and throw them in. Or if you're like me you can buy them already cut up (I got these two bags from the local farmer's market for $1 each). Or get a bag of frozen vegetables.

Step 4: Cook your vegetables until soft, stirring occasionally.

Step 5: Open a can of chickpeas, rinse them off well and stir them in.

Step 6: Now you can pour your favourite stir-fry sauce over top of your veggies and chickpeas. I used Teriyaki sauce because I'm just that cool. Once you have your sauce all mixed in you can eat it served over rice!

Seriously, this is the cheapest and easiest vegetarian meal ever. We eat it often when nobody wants to cook.

2 bags of already diced vegetables = $2

1 can of chickpeas = $0.77

Basmati rice ($10 for the entire bag) so I'm going to guess = $.75 (but probably less)

Teriyaki sauce ($2.50 for the bottle, used about 1/3) = $0.83

Total cost of dinner = $4.35 to feed a family of 5.

There you go!

Thanks,