In my quest to prove that one can eat healthfully, low calorie, sans animal protein, and do it all on a budget, I share this idea.
Gather up whatever veggies you may have in your house and yes, you can include potatoes. When I did this earlier this week, thinking my fridge was pretty bare, I pulled out a big onion, celery, garlic, a couple of carrots, a few mushrooms, string beans, the rest of a bag of spinach from over the weekend, zucchini and a bag of frozen broccoli that had been in my freezer for quite a while (I didn’t purchase it by somehow it ended up in my grocery bag one day when I got home from Publix.) I cut everything into different shapes, and diced the zucchini into small slivers. I pulled out my wok, added the smallest amount of oil, and started adding the ingredients, from hardest to softest until everything was cooked through. I added some herbs and spices and what I ended up with was the hugest bowl of veggies, which Mitch and I ate that night and had leftovers for days. Though I didn’t make rice, I easily could have made this the entire meal, if I had. I could have used the leftovers to make veggie burgers or to stuff a baked potato, or to add to some tofu scrambles or whatever the imagination could come up with.
The entire bowl of veggies, with rice and some beans could have fed a family of 4-6 for just a few bucks depending on what veggies are used, once again proving that it doesn’t have to cost much money to eat a healthy, low calorie, non-animal, meal.
Yesterday, I made a batch of the oatmeal and banana cookies. These are the greatest because they are not only vegan, but I get to use bananas that would otherwise end up in the garbage. Oats are so inexpensive, especially since the grocery store often has them priced at Buy One Get One free…I use a combined total of 1/2 cup of a combo or raisins, (and or Craisins) and chocolate chips. I add a dab of peanut butter (and lately a dab of jam in the ones for Mitch) and I was able to make a batch of 16 of them yesterday. I can’t even estimate how inexpensive they turn out to be and they are always a hit. No sugar, no flour, no butter, no milk, no eggs and no animals hurt in the process. They are healthy, relatively low in calories and definitely satisfy the sweet tooth. I know the recipe is on this site more than once, so if you are interested, just put “banana oatmeal cookies” in the search engine at the top of my home page, or ask me and I will post it again.
After mine come out of the oven, I let them sit for about 10 minutes and then I use the back of a spoon to make little “wells,” for the dab of peanut butter and/or jam. I let them sit so the pb melts a bit and then put them in the fridge so the chips get crunch again.
Have a beautiful Vegan (Feast) Thursday and make sure to get in your daily dose of fitness and of course, some peace. Much love……..
YUM 🙂