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 - Baked Pasta

I was really excited to have lasagna. I bought all the ingredients I wanted to put into my lasagna, except for the lasagna noodles because I thought we had some. We didn't, so I used penne instead.

I figured the shape of the pasta wasn't a big deal. It still tasted the same as my lasagna normally does.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of firm tofu
• 3 Teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small sized onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped mushroom
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach
• 1 package of penne
• Salt and pepper. Feel free to add any herbs and spices you like.

Directions:

1. Cook the penne according to the directions on the package. Once it's cooked set it aside. 
2. Heat the oil in a large pan for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and onions, cook until soft for another five minutes. Then add the chopped mushrooms, cook for another five minutes. Pour the can of tomato sauce in the pan, and set aside.
3. Thaw out your spinach. Then mash the tofu and spinach together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Pour the tomato sauce mixture in the bottom of your baking pan, spreading it evenly. Top it with the penne noodles, followed by the tofu mixture. Then add another layer of sauce, penne, and tofu. Top it off with the last layer of tomato sauce and bake for 30 minutes.

Again, this was a very simple meal to make, and very inexpensive!

Pasta = $2.00

Tofu = $1.00

Tomato Sauce = $1.00

Spinach (used about 1/6 of the package which was $3.00) = $0.50

Mushrooms (was $2 for package, used half) = $1.00

Onions and garlic = probably less than $0.20

Total = $5.70 to feed a family of five!

I'm in the process of trying to eat better, and do my part for the planet. I know that eating a vegan diet is healthier and more eco-friendly, but I've always had a difficult time switching to a complete vegan diet. The reasons for that are, 1. I hate cooking, and 2. I don't like beans. Lame excuses, I know, but I figure once I start eating more and more vegan foods, I'll just one day stop eating animals and animal by-products. 

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,