Top 10 Money Saving Tips for Going Vegan

At the request of my friend Liz and because I hear it so damn often, this will be a post about how to be vegan and save money. So often I hear people telling me, "Oh, I'd go vegan/vegetarian if it didn't cost so much, but it's so expensive I just can't do it." I want to laugh when I hear this. Are you kidding me? Switching to veganism is WAY cheaper than consuming meat, but only if you are a smart and conscious shopper. Sure, you can go to Whole Foods and purchase pre-made seitan, wheat balls, veggie burgers, polenta, etc. And yes, your shopping bill will be high. No doubt about it. But if you follow these few tips, you'll find you'll be saving money in no time!

Christi's Top 10 Tips for Saving $$ on a Vegan Diet:

1. Avoid fancy specialty items. They're packaging is enticing and their easy to use but they will jack your bill up, so be prepared. We do purchase Tofurkey deli slices on a regular basis and we'll often buy Field Roast. But we know they're more expensive and we can afford it right now. These aren't vital items to be a good vegan cook and you can totally make amazingly delicious food WITHOUT them. I promise :) You can also find recipes that tell you how to make them. Homemade seitan is far more cost-effective than pre-made store bought seitan. Homemade veggie burgers are way cheaper and you don't have to worry about egg whites being included.

2. Plan your meals in advance. Every Saturday I sit down with our cookbooks and pick out 4-5 meals for the week. I write out my shopping list based on these meals and I write down the meals, cookbooks, and page numbers and stick it to the fridge for the week. You're thinking, "I see how this would save time, but money?" But it does! By creating a shopping list around the things you plan to eat for the week, you won't be tempted or even need to purchase things that are not on your list (ALWAYS food shop with a list). You'll also find that you're buying the appropriate quantity of food for you and your family and you aren't wasting food by letting it go bad. If you find that food is still going bad, make smaller shopping trips.

3. The bulk aisle is your best friend (most of the time). For the most part, items in the bulk section will cost less than buying that fancy Bob's Red Mill's bag of polenta (we don't buy his products anymore and you shouldn't either!). Your bulk aisle will likely include polenta, flour, sugar, beans, spices, nuts, and many grains. But make sure that the cost is less. Last week, I wanted to buy a good amount of cranberries to use in my baking. I checked out the price per pound in the Whole Foods bulk section. In the same aisle they sell packaged bulk items, and the packaged cranberries cost less per pound. So goo thing I checked!

4. Beans, Beans, Beans. I know it's a pain in the ass to buy dry beans, but MAN do they cost less than canned. Seriously! So here's what you do...you buy your beans on the weekend and on Sunday afternoon, soak a big batch, boil them, drain them, and put them in tupperware and stick them in the freezer. You're set for a while if you do a good amount and a variety. Beans are an awesome source of protein and numerous vitamins - so eat 'em up!

5. Shop Local. Farmers Markets, road stands, local orchards are a fantastic way to save money. Check out some of my earlier posts with shots of all the food I've gotten for $10. It's incredible and it's fresh and local and so much better for you. Think about how far some of our food travels to get to us, how it's banged around, gets dirty....local food at the Farmers Market traveled up to an hour on the back of a truck and the person who grew that tomato is handing it to you. Fantastic! I don't know why you wouldn't shop there :)

6. Use substitutions in fancy recipes. So your mushroom risotto recipe uses morels which are like $5.99 for a small bag. Substitute! You don't have to use morels. The amazing thing about veggies is how versatile they are. You should use recipes as a guide and not feel tied to them. If your recipe calls for expensive mushrooms, substitute with criminis or white mushrooms and you'll save $3. You have a recipe that tells you to deglaze the pan with red wine but you don't have red wine or can't afford it, use veggie stock or water instead.

7. Choose your proteins wisely. Many people, when they first become vegetarian or vegan, feel that they need to buy meat substitutes to replace the protein they were getting from animal foods. Not true! There are many, many, MANY other sources of protein that, at times, have more protein than the meat subs. Here are some examples of protein content from plant food from Vegan for Life:

• 3 ounces of seitan = 22.5 grams 
• 1/3 cup of soy protein powder = 23 grams
• 1/2 cup of soy beans (edamame, if you will) = 14.3 grams
• 1/4 cup of peanuts = 8.6 grams
• 1/2 cup of firm tofu = 20 grams (firm has a higher protein content than soft)
• 1 cup of soy milk = 10 grams
• 1/2 cup of quinoa = 4 grams
• 1/2 cup of frozen spinach = 3.8 grams
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter = 8 grams

You don't need soy meat alternatives if you learn about nutrition and make smart choices throughout your day. If you understand the nutrition behind it, you'll save a great deal of money! I can't stress that enough - you really need to learn nutrition and make sure you're doing vegan right - you'll save money and ensure your health. Don't be a junk food vegan (french fries and Oreos). 

8. Waste not - make stock. We're getting back into soup season and I cannot stress enough how silly it is to buy veggie stock. Seriously - don't make me come over there to give you a swift kick in the pants. Here's the trick - as you're cooking throughout the week, keep a large tupperware container in your fridge and add any veggie odds and ends - carrot peels, onion ends, avocado skins, kale stems  - you name it, if it's veg, throw it in! Then, at the end of the week, throw all the ends into a big pot with a little olive oil and saute them. Once the veggies are warmed and smelling good, add water, a bay leaf, some fresh ground pepper and 1-2 tsp of soy sauce or Braggs. Cover the pot; bring it up to a boil and then simmer for a few hours. After you turn it off, allow it to cool so you can work with it and strain the liquid into a pitcher or large container you can store in the fridge. Squeeze the veggies to get excess liquid out (it's crazy how much liquid they hold). And now you've got stock for the week to make soups, cook rice and other grains, use in sautés, etc. If you have a composter, throw the veg in. Sadly, we don't have one, but at least we're getting as much food as we can out of the veggies we buy. 

9. Make your own snacks. Snack foods are so tempting to buy. If you're dieting right, you know you need a snack or two throughout your day, but snack foods like granola bars, veg chips, trail mix, etc. can get really pricey. So make your own! Make a nice big batch of granola bars - there are tons of great recipes on VegWeb and there's a great one on The Vegan Stoner. Make your own trail mix by purchasing a some nuts, seeds and raisins or cranberries in the bulk section and then just mix them together. Ta-da! Trail mix. Make your own veg chips - you've got an oven! If you buy kale chips, I will smack you. They are SO much cheaper to make at home and you can do fun things like add a good amount of cayenne pepper and sea salt or coconut...Google kale chip recipes and you'll find tons of combinations. 

10. Set a take-out/dine-out limit. This rule applies to all diets but it's easier when you're vegan because there are less dining options to begin with! Set a rule for your household limiting the number of times you eat out or order take out. Our rule is 2 times per month and we seriously save a good chunk of change. It's hard to stick to this rule when you've got a lot of friends pulling you in all different directions, wanting to dine with you. Don't fret - just suggest small dinner parties at your houses. The setting is more intimate, you can actually hear what people are saying, and there is something so satisfying about cooking for the people you love. In other cities, there are a lot more dining-out options for vegans than in Portland, Maine, but you should still limit your meals out. Think about it, often times the bill for a dinner for 2 is equal to your week's food shopping trip. And you only get one meal out of it. If you don't believe that it will help you save money, start tracking how much you spend, not only on eating out, but record every time you purchase a latte and how much it cost you. It's so easy to drop a few bucks here and there, but then when you track it and look back at your months expenses, you'll be shocked to discover that you've spent maybe $50 on coffee. $50?! That's a food shopping trip providing food for a week! 

So all of these tips are awesome, but maybe they don't answer the question at large - is veganism cheaper than being an omnivore? Well, let's look at the cost of ground beef, pork chops, and chicken.

Average cost of ground beef, per pound, in August 2011 = $3.21
Pork chops, bone in per pound, in August 2011 = $3.65
Chicken, boneless per pound, in August 2011 = $3.25
Tofu, with a price that rarely fluctuates, 14 ounces = $1.69 (365 extra firm tofu)

Ok so, a pound is 16 ounces, so the beef is 20 cents an ounce, the pork is 23 cents, and chicken is 20 cents.  Tofu is 12 cents an ounce. Maybe you don't think that's very much, but it all adds up! And these prices on meat are averages, the region you live in and store you're shopping at can cause major fluctuations. As I noted above, the price of tofu very rarely fluctuates and so we always know how much we're going to spend.

Here's some additional reading if you want more info:

MSN: Go vegetarian to save money
20 Something Finance: Frugality through Vegetarianism - How to Save $2-$3K per Year & the Planet by Moving Away from a Meat - Based Diet
Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson

A Farmers Market Dinner

It's Wednesday which means it's Farmers Market day! Wooo! My goodies, for $10, included a bag of basil, 2 yellow tomatoes, 2 lemon cucumbers, 1 other kind of yellow cucumber I didn't catch the name of, rainbow chard, 1 summer squash and 2 purple bell peppers. Seriously people, you can get a lot of food for just $10 when you shop local - so shop smart!

So we winged dinner and made up our own little stir-fry creation using a bunch of this week and last week's Farmers Market findings and the result was a delicious sweet and spicy Thai-style stir-fry. I just gotta say, since going vegan this past January, I have realized that vegan cooking is SUPER easy. I'm amazed that so many people think it's harder to cook vegan. Our meals generally take less time to cook, are lower in cost, and there's never any fear of getting sick from not cooking something or eating something bad (it's pretty easy to tell when veggies have gone bad!).

I know many of you reading this blog are not vegan, and hey, that's totally ok! But I hope that you'll at the very least try out some of my recipes and the recipes that I try and start thinking about how the cooking part of going vegan is not the difficult part at all (at first it's really just the cheese cravings, but they go away, I promise. Especially after you take the time to learn more about the dairy industry).

Ok - so here's the recipe and dude, you should try it because it's delish and had us saying mmmmm every other bite. So do it. Go cook this up NOW!

Farmers Market Fresh Stir-Fry

1 block of tofu, drained and pressed to remove excess water, then cubed
olive oil or sesame oil
1 yellow onion, sliced into thin strips
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 bell peppers, we used purple
1/2 summer squash, sliced
1/2 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow tomato, sliced, seeds removed
1 red tomato, sliced, seeds removed
A handful of basil leaves
About 2 Tbsp shredded kohlrabi
salt & pepper to taste

Sauce:
2-3 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
3-4 Tbsp Braggs
1 tsp Peanut Oil
1 tsp Brown Sugar
2 drops Liquid Smoke



In a non-stick skillet, dry-fry the tofu (just lay the tofu in the pan without any oil and let it simmer the water out, pressing on the tofu every once in a while to squeeze out more water). Continue to cook until all the sides are browned.

In a wok, saute onion in some oil until they are translucent. Then add veggies in the order listed in the ingredient list, sauteing each one as its added until it's fully cooked.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Then add the cooked tofu and let it sit until you're finished adding veggies to the wok. Once the veggies are cooked and the flavors have melded, dump in the tofu and sauce and mix. Saute for another minute and then remove from heat and serve! You could serve it over rice if you want, but we had fresh corn on the cob and homemade kale chips so we found it wasn't needed.

Vacation Re-Cap

This past week I went on a vacation hiatus ...

Saturday, July 23rd = lots of laziness

Sunday, July 24th = lots of laziness + some errands including a trip to Borders (did you hear? they're closing down) for some discount wins: Moosewood Cookbook, Veganomicon, and Vegan for Life.

Monday, July 25th = Dentist appointment. Tested out my latest cupcake recipe, Salty Pete's Favorite Treat, a chocolate cupcake topped with homemade caramel, sea salt and vanilla no-butter cream - yum! Saw Captain American - kickass!

Tuesday, July 26th = Drove to Brunswick to visit some of my former coworkers - brought cupcakes for taste-testing and there were large grins and "mmmmm's" all around. Dinner at Justin's mom's house for his birthday where we taught her how to make vegan pizza and to her amazement, she really liked it - vegan win! She also took one bite of the cupcake and exclaimed, "These are NOT vegan!" Also taught her that most pestos are not vegan (many contain Parmesan) and that the "Lactose Free" Veggie Shreds cheese at Hannaford actually contains dairy products - yes, read the ingredients. The second one is dried skim milk protein. Ew. She was shocked but now understands the importance of reading the ingredient list and not trusting labels - hooray!

Wednesday, July 27th = Tested out Blueberry Corn Pancake recipe from Veganomicon - FAIL. They came out thin and gloppy, so much for a nice birthday breakfast at home! Walked over to Hot Suppa in town for breakfast, then walked to the Farmers Market. Goodies included 2 lbs of potatoes, a head of kale, a head of rainbow chard, and kohlrabi. Took Justin out for drinks at David's then surprised him with dinner at the Green Elephant...pretty much the only vegetarian/vegan place in town. Then surprised him with drinks and friends at our favorite bar, Local 188. Then went to the Bar of Chocolate for martinis and absinthe with more friends.  Awesome night :)

Farmers Market Goodies

Justin enjoying his birthday dinner

We splurged and got appetizers - mmm!

Thursday, July 28th = Visited Boothbay Harbor where my mom's ashes were scattered 4 years ago. Had a nice lunch on a pretty dock right on the water.

Friday, July 29th = Looked at 2 apartments, fell in LOVE with one and have applied. Currently waiting to see if the landlady picks us (pick us! pick us!). Made Blackberry Whoopie Pies for Justin's birthday.

A baker's fridge is a dangerous place...

Saturday, July 30th = Went tubing on the Saco River with 5 awesome people. Laughed, got wet, relaxed, burned like a lobster, laughed some more.

Sunday, July 31st = Thought a lot about my mom....dreaded the mountain of work waiting for me on Monday.


It was a fabulous week and although I return to work this week, it's a short week because my bestest friend in the world is going to visit me on Friday. I haven't seen her in TWO years. Way too long. But she lives in Japan, so I'll forgive it. I plan to make her a fabulous vegan brunch and show her around town. Can't wait :)

Cold Dinners For Hot Nights

Lately we haven't been making many heated dishes. We live in an un-air conditioned apartment and when we're feeling over-heated and tired from work, the last thing we want is a warm plate full of heavy foods. So on Saturday, I peered into the fridge and realized we still had two large containers of veggie stock and a bunch of containers collecting more veggie remnants to make yet more stock - what to do when you're over stocked! It's hot out; Yoga Soup is out of the question.

I remembered when I was growing up my mom used to make us vichyssoise (vee-she-swa) in the summer. Many of you are saying, "Vee-she-what-now?!" It's okay - I'll walk you through this one. Vichyssoise, as defined by Wikepedia is "a thick soup made of pureed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock" and is usually served cold. Apparently there's a debate over its origins - French or American - but Julia Childs calls it an "American invention" and at the very least, this vegan version is! 

I followed the VegWeb Hot Pepper Vichyssoise recipe posted by queen-o-hearts. After roasting the potatoes, leeks, pablano, jalapeno, garlic, and spices, I could have just eaten a bowl of the veggies. They were deliciously spiced and honestly, who doesn't love roasted veggies?! They'd taste great chilled and served over greens.

Roasted veggies

The soup was easy to make and tasted delicious warm and cold. Despite the heaviness of some of the ingredients - potatoes...soy milk - it was actually light and refreshing and had a slight after-kick. As I was making the soup, our furbaby Bob was trying very hard to distract me....

A cat's life is rough, man.

To accompany the soup, I made Spicy Tempeh with Asparagus, Ginger, and Chile from a new blog discovery, A Profound Hatred of Meat. I'm so glad I stumbled across this blog because blogger Carly Sitner has got some fabulous recipes - check it out! I modified the recipe a little using Lalibela Farm's Black Bean Tempeh, ground ginger (sad face, we were out of fresh), and chili flakes because we didn't have any fresh chiles. It came out pretty good, but Justin thinks we should use less rice wine vinegar when marinating the tempeh because it seemed to really take on the vinegary taste. I'll either cut that in half or eliminate it next time I try the recipe. 

Hot Pepper Vichyssoise, Tempeh & Asparagus, and Quinoa/Flax Seed Bread from Whole Foods

All in all it was a great dinner that was not too hot and heavy - perfect for a mid-summer's night! These two recipes are keepers, folks.

14,800 animals saved...but Paula Deen goes on kicking

200 animals a year. We save an average of 200 animal lives per year by going vegan. So, if I live a long and healthy life and make it to 100 years of age, I will have saved 14,800 animals. This fact is beautifully satisfying.

I thought about this statistic last night as Justin and I watched a DVR'd episode of Next Food Network Star. Three things really irked me about this week's episode - well, three major things, I'm sure I was disgruntled by other things too: 1) Paula Dean 2) Tofu bashing 3) Standard vegetarian meals.

Let's go backwards -

The contestants were asked to prepare meals for cast, crew, writers, etc. of the show Cougar Town starring Courtney Cox. They were put into pairs and asked to cook a certain style of food depending on the group they were cooking for. One group was assigned the stylists/hairdressers/make-up artists, etc and they were told that normally these people are vegetarian. First of all, anyone can be vegetarian and by restricting this dietary assignment to this group, the show was perpetuating a stupid stereotype (I'm not saying I don't think they should cook vegetarian meals; I'm just offended that it was assumed that only the stylists would require this type of meal). So the two contestants, of course, felt a bit lost. The male in the team says, "I'm going to think outside the box and make them something really good because they're always getting jipped." What does he make? PASTA with veggies and cheese. Yes, a pat on the back, very creative. The female contestant makes a salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and other various accouterments. Nice, but pretty boring.

Next, this team of two men is asked to prepare food for the writers. It needs to be classy and organized, because apparently this is what writers want....I'll leave that one alone. One of the contestants can't find ground chicken or beef at the store, so he buys tofu. And then he proceeds to BITCH the entire time about how hard tofu is to cook, how no one likes it, how he's crazy for using it. Paula Deen, a guest judge, and Bobby Flay approached his table as he was cooking and both turned their noses up at the dish (lettuce leaves stuffed with a tofu mixture), saying that he made a bad choice by choosing to tofu as a main ingredient. Here comes a rant - brace yourselves - tofu is one of the easiest ingredients to cook. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It takes on the flavor of anything you pair it with; you can serve it with multiple textures and consistencies, and it's incredibly healthy for you (lower in cholesterol and fat than meat products). This guy is supposed to be a good chef, yet he had no clue how to work with tofu. And I feel like this is standard. Justin and I make some amazing tofu dishes and we are not professionals. I was originally rooting for this contestant - now he's at the bottom of my list.

And finally, Paula Deen. Is there anyone in the world more anti-veg than she? As she paraded around the various food tables she made comments about vegetable dishes saying, "You need to throw a stick of butter on there" and scoffing at the tofu, "If I made tofu for my husband, he would say get the tofu-outta-here." The comical part is that, when she tasted the tofu dish, she acutally liked it! Go figure...apparently tofu can taste good. In summary, that woman is an abomination.

Okay. I'm done.

On a lighter note, before becoming absolutely disgusted by the show, I made a delicious dinner for Justin and I and surprised him by having it all set up in our back yard when he got home. It was composed of Farmers Market goodies and some awesome finds at the Portland Public Market House. Sometimes we're so cute it hurts.

Kale, strawberries, black bean tempeh, portebello cap, tomatoes, avocado, and our favorite CabSav, Pine & Post

Dinner waiting for Justin in our backyard: Pasta with portebello, tomato, kale, garlic, and herbs and an herb salad with cucumber, carrot and strawberries. And of course, some Pine & Post. And yes, I made the easy vegan pasta dish - but in my defense, we don't make pasta often and our cubbards are going bare so there weren't many other choices!

Making do with an emptying fridge

Last night, after finishing my last baking order for the week, I peered into the fridge for dinner ideas. A lone cucumber, bag of carrots, and emptying jar of salsa stared back at me, daring me to make my move. As I uttered comments of discontent, Justin yelled in and said, "Let's just order out." I thought about it, but then I thought, No way! We need to save money because we may be moving in a month or two and we've eaten out too much lately (our original goal of one eat out pass per month has fallen by the wayside recently). I mustered up courage, flung the fridge back open, and rolled up my sleeves.

Our pantry is always well stocked with grains, so I pulled out the rice cooker and started a batch of brown rice. Then I heated a skillet with some olive oil and added the rest of an onion - less than a 1/4 cup, but hey, at least it didn't get wasted. After the onion was cooked, chopped up 3 carrots and threw those in. I followed with beans and some spices, and ended up with a really nice Mexican rice and beans dish. Ta-da! My man even went back for seconds. Here's my recipe:

Odds & Ends Mexican Rice & Beans
2 cups brown rice
olive oil
onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 tomato, diced
1/2ish veggie stock
1 can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1/3-1/2 cup TVP
Mild - hot salsa
salt & pepper
chili flakes
chili powder
cayenne pepper

Heat the onion in olive oil over medium heat. Once onions are translucent, add carrots and cook until they are tender. Add veggie stock, beans, and TVP and cover. Let the mixture simmer covered for a while, allowing the beans to soften, stirring occasionally. You may need to add more veggie stock or water as it gets soaked up pretty fast by the TVP and beans. After 10 mins or so, add in the tomato (I did it here because I didn't want them soggy, but you could add them earlier) and salsa and mix. Add spices - I didn't measure, so just be mindful of how spicy you want it to be.

Serve the mixture hot over the brown rice, or mix it all together and then serve.
Makes 4-5 servings.

And of course after dinner, there were cookies left over from the 3 orders I had this week, so dessert was a cinch :)

Vegan Linzer Tarts

Photo by Justin Lewis, filmaperture Photography

So I took some leftovers for lunch, and also brought some cucumber salad. Cucumber salad is SO easy to make and so refreshing when it's hot outside. Pick up some fresh dill and cukes at your local farmers market and just chop them up, throw them in a container with some white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and let it sit in the fridge for a day or so. Yum!

Lunch: Mexican beans without the rice, cucumber salad, grapes, and a small salad with radish and hummus.

Today's lesson: Even when you think there's nothing in your kitchen, try to make it work and you might surprise yourself with a new recipe. You just need to think outside the box and let the ingredients you have on-hand inspire you!

Lemon and Ginger Tofu with Beautiful Sauce

On Thursday night we tried a VegWeb recipe posted by "carltelefunk" from the UK - Lemon and Ginger Tofu with Beautiful Sauce. The results - fantastico! But we made a few changes.

First - I don't know about you, but I don't have time to think about marinating my tofu for several hours before I cook. It's just not happening with my busy schedule. So first, I started by cutting my tofu block into 8 rectangles and towel drying them (wrap them in paper towels and press). Then I cut each rectangle in half, and then in half again, but at an angle so that I had triangles. Next, I heated up a non-stick skillet (MUST be non-stick!!) and threw in the tofu pieces, allowing them to sizzle. I took a spatula and pressed on the pieces, which allows more water to release and sizzle in the pan. Then I flipped the pieces and let them brown on the other side.

After I had the tofu ready, I removed it from the pan and put the marinade from the recipe into the same pan. I allowed the sauce to come up to a simmer and then stirred in the 6 Tbsp of coconut milk. Then, rather than using composing the plate and pouring the sauce on top as the recipe suggests, I tossed in the tofu and allowed it to simmer for a while. I added in veggies - baby bok choy from the Portland Farmer's Market, yellow bell pepper, and broccoli - and allowed it to cook a while longer so that the flavors combined. Then I served the mix on top of jasmine rice.

It was really really yummy and if I make it again, I'm definitely doing it this way instead of the way the recipe instructs. The only big change I'd make to the sauce is to swap out lemon juice for lime juice. Although it was really good, I feel like lime juice tends to be a little less harsh and will blend in more.

I took leftovers for lunch the other day, in addition to a salad with some local Ariel's hummus and some cantaloupe.

And by the way, friends, you'll notice something new beneath my blog posts - a reaction section. Please take a sec to give me some feedback about my posts! As always, thanks for reading!

Are you out there??

As a blogger, you get kind of bummed when you don't see the "Followers" count increasing steadily over time. You start to think - is anyone out there actually reading this? To quench my blogger-loneliness, I added a nifty little widget "Feedjit" to my page. Over time, I've been noticing that folks from California, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Canada, Boston, New York, and several other countries have been visiting my pages. And although they aren't clicking the little "Follow" button to let me know they're right there with me, I'm confident that they are. Don't be shy friends - feel free to click that button and to leave some comments on my posts! I love answering questions, responding to ideas, and getting advice from readers, so step right up!

As the weather is becoming increasingly more beautiful and the plants around us begin to delight our senses, I've been doing more summer vegan cooking. What exactly does this mean? Well, I've put away my stews, heavy dishes, warm soups and roasted veggies for now, and have started preparing a lot of crisp raw dishes, celebrating the array of summer veggies just starting to show up at the Farmers Market and food stores.

This week Justin and I put together a Korean-style cabbage salad using a head of shredded purple cabbage, some shredded carrots and edamame. Justin made a sweet-spicy sauce that complimented the flavors of the veggies really well.

Korean Cabbage Salad

We also made Vegan Yum Yum's Smokey Miso Tofu and used it to make sandwiches with caramelized onions and mushrooms, tomato, and cucumber. The tofu was delicious and we'll definitely be making it again, though next time I won't use her drying method. When I tried using her method (placing a cast iron pot on top of the tofu to squeeze excess water out) the tofu ended up crumbling a lot and we didn't get as many slices out of it as we wanted. I'll also slice them a little thicker next time. The marinade in the recipe has a surprisingly salty, smokey, sweet flavor. We had some extra and used it on the sandwich as well.

Smokey Miso Tofu

Dinner! Smokey Miso Tofu with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, Cucumber & Tomato, Korean Cabbage Salad, and, of course, a pickle

Since this is one of the few times Justin and I have two days off in a row together (he works on Saturdays and has off on Fridays; I have off on Saturdays & Sundays) we decided to do a little exploring. My dad recently gave me the family picnic basket which I'll pack with some left over cabbage salad, hummus veggie wraps, and juice, and we'll head up to Bradbury Mountain State Park for a picnic and a hike. 

What are you doing for Memorial Day? Family picnic? Hiking? Hanging out at home? What are kind of menu are you planning? Let us know! 

Vegan Lunch Time!

Spicy Bean Burger, Sauteed Fiddleheads from the Portland Farmers Market, Mom's Mango Chutney, and Kosher Dill Spears



Lunchtime WIN!

Granola bars, Quinoa Salad, and Edamame Pesto!

It's only Tuesday and already we've tried out four different AWESOME recipes. Here we go:

1. On Sunday I made up Vegan Stoner's Granola Bars. First off, these babies are SO easy to whip up (as are all of VS' recipes). They're sweet and crunchy and nutty - mmmm! We used trail mix from Whole Foods bulk aisle so that we only had to pay for a cup of it and we could pick from a bunch of different types. We went with a locally made trail mix that boasted a high level of antioxidants and didn't include candy pieces like many of the other options. I will make these again, but my one critique is that they are very crumbly. Next time I think I'll add a little more peanut butter or agave to help them stick together more and I'll bake them a bit longer. I still recommend trying them out though! So far this week, they've helped quench my afternoon cravings and I have not made any mid-afternoon CBD trips! Victory!

2. Monday night my fiance made veggie chili burgers using left over chili and some frozen veggie burgers and I made up Vegan Stoner's Mango Quinoa Salad. This salad is AWESOME! The next time we go on a picnic, I am totally bringing this salad. It's crisp and refreshing with sweet mangoes paired with tart strawberries and crunchy celery and red onion. Make it!

3. On Tuesday I decided to try out Post Punk Kitchen's Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto. We didn't have any spinach linguine (sadly), so I made it with regular. The only complaint I had with it, and it had NOTHING to do with the recipe itself, was the fact that we had to make the pesto in a blender instead of a food processor. The next kitchen upgrade on my list is a food processor - no more lumpy pestos! The recipe was awesome though and it's included in her list of low-fat recipes, so yay to sticking to the diet!

4. For dessert on Tuesday, I decided to try my hand at Vegan Stoner's Strawberry Soup. This was my first time using vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti's) and I actually enjoyed the taste of it and foresee using it in some of my baking endeavors and Mexican dishes. The soup was...different. My fiance liked it better than I, and finished his whole bowl. But we both agreed that there was a strange aftertaste - possibly attributed to the strawberry seeds. We saved my portion and incorporated it into our breakfast shake and I thought it tasted wonderful. I'm not sure that we'll be trying that one out again any time soon though.

Today I picked up fiddleheads at the Portland Maine Farmers Market an I'm wicked excited to figure out how to prepare them. I can't wait for the Farmers Market to expand as more and more produce becomes available. It's a bit sparse right now, but I was able to find the fiddleheads and pick up a bunch of scallions. I also found, maybe, the largest carrot I have every seen in person!

Left-over Veggie Syndrome

I looked into the fridge this afternoon and noticed that we've got all these odds and ends and a shit-ton of veggie stock. I also noted that we have 4 containers of veggie ends waiting to be made into stock for next week. Eep! Stock overload!

I figured the easiest way to use up a quart or two of stock would be to just make some soup, but like I said, most of what was lurking in the fridge was sort of random. And so, voila, Random Soup was born! Honestly, 9 times out of 10 you do not need to hit up the food store when your pantry's getting low, you just need to switch on some creativity!

I wanted to serve a salad with my Random Soup so I started by roughly chopping up an onion, 3 carrots, 2 russet potatoes, some left over eggplant, garlic, and some Portland Winter Farmers Market goodies - a turnip, golden turnip, and rutabaga. I tossed them all into a roasting pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme and let them roast for about 1.5 hours, stirring every once in a while.

 Portland Farmers Market goodies: Olivia's Garden Greens, Turnip, Golden Turnip, Rutabaga, & some kind of potato that looks like a large version of fingerlings

After the soup was completed, I served it with the cooled root vegetables on top of Olivia's Garden greens, also from the Farmers Market. You could use some dressing if you want, but I think the flavors of the roasted veggies against the crisp salad greens are glorious and that a dressing would just cloud the flavors. 

Here's the soup recipe, but I didn't measure things so the measurements are just guestimates. I recommend you try making soup from the random odds and ends in your fridge too - it's pretty fun :o) 

Random Soup

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 eggplant, cubed

1 can black beans

1 can white beans

1-2 cups of kale, chopped

salt & pepper

cumin

turmeric

cayenne 

3/4 cup wild rice

Lots of veggie stock 

In a large pot, saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add carrot and cook until softened. Then add beans and eggplant - cook 1-2 minutes. Add kale last and cook until it turns dark green and has softened a little. Add spices to the saute mix and saute for a while until the flavors combine. Then add veggie stock followed by rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30-60 minutes until rice has softened and flavors are combined. Add spices if needed. 

Satisfaction!

I just spent the morning playing with our Wii Fit -- yes, it does make exercising fun for those of us who hate, hate, hate it. I'll admit I haven't been using it every day as I had planned, but I am using it at least 2-3 times a week, which justifies the purchase :) I am happy to report that when I stepped on the board today, I discovered that I've lost 8.5 pounds since starting to use it on the 3rd, the day we switched to vegan eating. I haven't been doing a lot of exercise because I have a herniated disk that has decided to be unruly again, but I have shoveled a few times and again I've been using the Wii Fit on and off....I think though, I need to credit the loss with being vegan! My goal is to lose 20 pounds within 6 months- which I've done before in much less time- but the goal is to not think of it like a diet, but as a way of life.

It feels so gratifying to know what's going into my food; to know that the ingredients I'm cooking with are fresh and the majority of them unprocessed. I'm feeling healthier, more alert, more active- and it feels good! I'm still at the point where I'm craving cheese and desserts, but I think if I just continue to avoid cheese for a few months it will become a thing of the past and as for desserts, I'm learning not to deprive myself, but to concoct healthier alternatives like fruit salad or a mug of hot chocolate.

Last night I was starting having only eaten a muffin I grabbed on the go (which was not vegan, but I was in a rush and unfortunately most places don't have vegan options) and an apple all day. My boyfriend suggested we us our second "out to dinner" pass (we get 2 a month- a decision made to save money and to make eating out a special thing rather than a habit). He passed out on the couch and I wandered into the kitchen to search through the cabinets for inspirations.

We had a butternut squash left over from the Portland Winter Farmer's Market and a recipe in Vegan on the Cheap for Linguine with Lentils and Roasted Butternut Squash. I bit my lip and wondered if I should risk making it. My boyfriend is NOT a fan of lentils, though I prepared a lentil soup for him last winter that he loved and said was the first time he'd had them and liked them. Looking around our empty fridge and cupboard, it looked like this was my only option.

I'm glad I took the risk! He loved it and so did I. It's a great recipe though it does take quite a while to prepare which isn't optimal when you're as hungry as I was! Nevertheless, here's the recipe with a few modifications (the writer of this book LOVES garlic, and I'm Italian too but I don't need to ward of vampires for a month!). Enjoy!

Linguine with Lentils and Roasted Butternut Squash adapted from Vegan on the Cheap


1/2 cup green lentils
1 med. butternut squash, peeled, halved, and seeded (this takes forever and I'd suggest just buying on that's already dismantled at the food store)
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
1/2 cup minced yellow onion
1 garlic clove, minced (she uses 4...I used 1, try what you'd like!)
2 tsp crumbled dried sage (I'm going to try using fresh next time as I think the flavor will be...well fresher!)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup veggie stock (make it yourself!)
12 oz linguine

Bring a pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add lentils, return to boil and then reduce to low. Cover & cook until tender, about 45 mins. Drain & set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 & lightly oil a 9x13in baking pan. Cut the squash into 1/2-in dice and spread in the pan in a single layer. Drizzle with some more oil and season with salt & pepper. Roast until tender, turning once halfway through, about 30 mins. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat some oil. Add onion, cover and cook about 5 mins. Add garlic and cook about 30 secs. Stir in the sage, tomatoes, and cooked lentils. Stir in the stock and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer to blend the flavors, about 5 minutes. Stir in the squash and keep warm over low heat, adding more stock if needed for a saucelike texture.

In a large pot, boil salted water and cook the linguine over med-high, stirring, until al dente about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the lentil-squash mixture and toss gently to combine. Serve hot.

I know where my cabbage came from, what about you?

I am a huge advocate of the Portland Winter Farmer's Market. If you have access to local produce- USE IT! I took a little trip over last Saturday and, although it's mostly root veggies (and unfortunately a whole lotta animal products), I was still able to snag a few goodies. I ended up coming home with a delicious package of Lilibela Farm's black bean tempeh (which I used on Sunday in my Tropic of Tempeh dish), Hollis Honey, a GORGEOUS head of purple cabbage, butternut squash, 2 yellow carrots, & 2 purple carrots. The timing of the market is perfect because I create our weekly menus on Sundays, so of course I was able to incorporate almost everything I got into our menus so NOTHING goes to waste!

Last night my boyfriend and I made Korean Cabbage Salad with Tofu, a recipe from Vegan on the Cheap (yes, you're picking up on a theme, and yes, you should purchase Vegan on the Cheap!). We used the gorgeously vibrant purple cabbage which had an beautiful maze like pattern when cut in half and I marvelled over how something from nature can look so beautiful- like a piece of modern art. We also used the 2 yellow carrots and after shredding both the cabbage and carrots into a large bowl, the colors were just incredible, I had to stand back and admire it! I've actually learned to take the time to admire the beauty of food, which makes you really appreciate what you're consuming and the effort it took to not only prepare it, but for the farmers to grow it.

Needless to say, the meal was a winner and we will definitely be making it again. I hope you'll try this one out! It's crisp and tangy and very refreshing. Try it and let me know what you think!

Korean Cabbage Salad with Tofu from Vegan on the Cheap, with my modifications included
Makes 4 serves (or more depending on how you're using it)

1 lb. extra-firm tofu, drained & patted dry
1/2 cup soy sauce (I'd use a little less in the sauce next time)
5 cups shredded cabbage (she doesn't specify type- but purple looked beautiful and tasted great so I'd recommend using that. We just used the whole head and didn't measure)
2 medium carrots, shredded (We used 2 yellow carrots and one orange)
3 green onions, minced (I still can't find these at WF so I used 1/4 of a yellow onion, diced)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 1 and it was potent enough!)
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp Asian chili paste
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 Tbsp water

Preheat oven to 375 & lightly oil a baking sheet. Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch slabs and press to remove excess water (this is really important b/c it will crumble and just fall apart if you don't). Cut the slabs into 1/2 inch cubes and toss with 1/4 of the soy sauce. Arrange the tofu on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 mins. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, and onions. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine garlic, ginger, sugar, chili paste, remaining soy sauce (I'd use a little less than a 1/4 cup), vinegar, oil, and water.

Pour dressing over the cabbage mix and toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Let the salad sit for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to develop. Serve topped with tofu.