Plant Based on a Budget (Part 1 of ?)

Being frugal by nature (and a former crazy coupon lady), I tend to purchase what’s on sale or special, and plan meals around that. Switching from the standard American diet to a whole food plant based way of eating has not changed that. What has changed, drastically, is the contents of my shopping cart. When couponing my motto used to be, “If it’s free, it’s for me!” And I used to bring home a lot of free stuff (junk). While I no longer stock up on packaged and processed food items, I do still love the thrill of the hunt and one of my favorite things to do is check out the marked down produce at my local store.

Stir fry w/Thai peanut sauce

Yesterday I got some great deals and have already put most of it to good use. I made stir fry last night for dinner. My omnivore husband and I both enjoyed a serving and I had three leftover portions for the freezer. I also made some mushroom and sweet potato curry. Then I made mushroom stroganoff. We’ll be enjoying both these dishes the next couple days, or freezing them for later. For dessert I had a fruit bowl using some of the mango. Today for lunch I had a big, beautiful chopped salad and have enough for a couple more. I used some of the mango in that and it was awesome!

Mushroom Sweet Potato Curry

When I get these prepackaged salads on sale, I throw away the dressing packets and toppings and use my own WFPBNO options. 

The squash got spiralized and it’s hanging out in my fridge, along with half a jar of Trader Joe’s fat free marina. I think I’ll let them meet up for lunch tomorrow … or maybe dinner since I will probably have another chopped salad for lunch. And this time I'll add some garbanzo beans.

Chopped salad lunch, al fresco

And today when I got home from work I sautéed up some more mushrooms, along with onions, peppers and garlic that I had on hand. I'll use this mix for pizza, or add some beans for tacos, or add some air fried potatoes for hash, etc. I had one more container of mushrooms left and decided, after googling multiple mushroom recipes, to make gravy. Again I sautéed onions, mushrooms and garlic for my base before adding veggie stock, soy sauce and thickening with flour. By this time I had worked up an appetite and the mushroom gravy won out for dinner. I grabbed some pre-cooked potatoes from the fridge, which I always have on hand, and smashed potatoes took just a couple minutes.

Smashed potatoes w/mushroom gravy

The total cost for all my marked down produce was $10.26, but it only cost me $.26 out of pocket as I used a $10 gift card that I received free a week ago with a store promotion. This is what I got: seven 8 oz. packages of organic mushrooms, two 12 oz. packages of stir fry veggies, one 8 oz. package of sugar snap peas,  1 lb. of mexican squash, one 10 oz. package of mango chunks, one can of garbanzo beans, one single serve chopped kale salad mix and one family size chopped kale salad mix.  And this is what it has, or will provide (with a few additional items already on hand): 5 servings of stir fry, 4 servings of mushroom, sweet potato curry, 3-4 servings of mushroom stroganoff, 3 chopped salads, 1 large serving of spiralized mexican squash, plus enough toppings or fillings for multiple pizzas or tacos, not to mention the mushroom gravy that will top lots of smashed potatoes.I'm estimating 20 meals from my haul yesterday. My inner crazy coupon lady is quite satisfied indeed … as is my tummy … and will be for days to come!

In part 2 I’ll share more about my shopping strategies and how I save … so stay tuned! Be sure to click on the follow button to be notified.

A lot of Veggie Stir Fry and Mushroom Stroganoff!

The Mistake That Wasn't

A slather of gooey, stretchy vegan mozzarella and a sprinkle

of everything seasoning and angels began singing!

Did you know you can make toast in the microwave?! Now … I know some of you are opposed to microwaves, and if you are, then just stop right here. But if you aren’t opposed to microwaves and you love really (really) crunchy toast, read on.

I just made toast in my microwave and it was awesome! Well, actually, first of all, it was a mistake. But it turned out to be an awesome, wish I had actually thought of it, I will definitely do this again intentionally,  delicious, crunchy mistake. Now, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t just use the toaster. Am I right?! Well, for the simple reason, I don’t have a toaster … haven’t had one since I moved in February. It just hasn’t been that important for me to replace since I do have a Breville Smart Oven Air that will toast bread when I desire. Which is what I was going to do, but my bread was frozen, ‘cause it lives in the freezer. If it lived on my counter I’d be eating a loaf every week.

So I took my half loaf of Dave’s Killer 21 grain bread out of the freezer, used a knife to pry one slice apart from the rest and placed it in the microwave for 20 seconds to thaw before toasting. Or so I thought. I got busy and two minutes later when I remembered (because the buzzer went off) I was prepared to throw it out and start all over again. But I discovered it wasn’t the burnt mess I was expecting. It was slightly browned in places and quite crisp. I thought, what the heck, I’ll slather some melty, stretchy,gooey vegan mozzarella on it that I had made last night for my pizza, and just see how it is.  The cheese, by the way, was awesome on my pizza. So … I slathered a little. And then a little more. And after I slathered I sprinkled some everything seasoning on it and … mmm … mmm …mmm … toast heaven. I swear, angels were singing. Well, maybe that was my taste buds, but there was definitely a chorus going on in my head.

If you try it, just be aware that your microwave time may vary from mine due to the wattage thing and whether you are starting with frozen bread or not. I'd try it in 30 second intervals. But it's totally worth the try … if you like crunchy toast. (Did I mention that it was super crunchy?!) Toast from the microwave. Yes siree … this is definitely going to be a thing for me from now on.

If you liked this post, please consider leaving a comment and/or clicking the “Follow” button on the upper right. I also have a Facebook group that I have started and would love to have you join in and interact in regard to a whole food plant based way of eating. You can check it out here. 

The Thrill of Victory ...

I went out to lunch today. It was a planned outing and I was prepared. This, alone, went a long way in ensuring a successful outcome.

I knew we were going Chinese and I knew the restaurant had two dishes, out of the 29 they offer at lunch time (yes ... I counted every single one on the menu), that I could choose from: Snow peas, Mushrooms and Bamboo shoots, or Mixed Vegetables Deluxe. I also knew (knowledge IS power!) I could order either veggie plate steamed, rather than stir fried, with no oil or sauces, and that each dish would come with steamed rice, an egg roll and a cup of hot and sour soup.

This is how I prepared before I left the house: I toasted one tablespoon of sesame seeds and packed it in a small plastic container. I also packed some toasted dehydrated onions that I had on hand. I had toasted them the other day to top a salad. I got the idea when I thought about those fatty, fried onions you can buy in a can and was thinking they would go great on top a salad. Well, I didn’t have any, nor did I actually want any. I just wanted the crunchy, oniony taste. I then realized I had some dehydrated onions … had had them for ages and not used them. I toasted them up in a pan and they were awesome! Anyway, since I had them on hand I thought they would also be good on top of some steamed veggies.

So, along with my toasted twosome, I packed my 3 oz. plastic bottles of Sweet Heat and Teriyaki Balsamic vinegars from California Balsamic. I am finding these are a great take along size. This very easy preparation turned some rather bland, simple steamed veggies and rice into an excellent, epicurean experience. The food, thanks to me, was great and the company and conversation, thanks to my awesome sister, was a delight!

Did I encounter temptation? I did mention that the lunch specials come with an egg roll, right? So … yeah … there was a little temptation. China City has the best egg rolls around, but I had already prepared myself that I was going to bring it home for hubby, along with the hot and sour soup, and that’s exactly what I did. Both are now, safely, in the fridge. And even better than the feeling of being satisfied by whole, plant based, no oil, food is this feeling of victory I am enjoying right now ... Now that’s some good stuff!

Left: Steamed, (naked) veggies. Right: Veggies ala Jenny!

Beans and Greens and Rice, Oh My!

Not a chopped salad!

I know today’s lunch doesn’t look like my usual (as of late) chopped salad. It is, in fact, not. It was going to be a chopped salad, but it became this. Worse things have happened ...

I had about half of a (large Costco-sized) bag of power greens (kale, spinach, chard) that needed to be used today, and I knew that would make more of a salad than I would want to eat for lunch. I also knew I would not want to have salad for both lunch and dinner. And I didn’t want them to go to waste. So, I decided the only way I could get that volume of greens inside my body today would be to cook them down. I mean, you can cook a pound of spinach down to a couple tablespoons … right?! Well … maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But that’s what I started to do. As they were in the pan, I began considering how I could, perhaps, “liven” them up. Nothing against greens on their own … perhaps I should say “starchen” them up. I knew it would take more than greens to satisfy me through the afternoon.

Only 4 ingredients! I actually used fresh corn, but didn't 

take a picture first. Canned or frozen can be subbed.

I had a can of "savory sides" beans in the pantry, so I added that to the pan. I also had some leftover steamed ears of corn, so I cut the kernels off one and threw that in. It was looking good … real good. I had started off with some water in the pan when I thought I was just going to be steaming greens. And now, with the additional liquid from the beans, I had, at this point, a bit of a soupy dish. I didn’t want to drain the beans because they were seasoned. I thought I could make some quinoa, but didn’t want to take the 12-15 minutes. I was, after all, home on my lunch break and would need to get back to work soon.

Back to the pantry for some pre-cooked and

pre-portioned plain white rice bowls, courtesy of my recent Costco shopping trip. I microwaved one according to the package directions and threw it in the pan as well. A couple stirs and a minute or so to simmer and, voila … Super Easy Black Beans and Greens with Rice was born! It didn’t need any more seasoning, but I did top it with a dollop of smokey oat cheese and some diced onion. If I had had some plant based sour cream, I would have had a duo of dollops on top.

I enjoyed it with a home made sprouted wheat tortilla that I made last night. I had made them for the first time thinking I would use them tonight for pizza crust. My omnivore husband had pizza last night (not plant based, full o' fatty cheese and pepperoni) and that started my hankering. I knew I didn’t have any yeast, however, so I googled “oil free tortillas” and came across this recipe from Plant Smart Living. I used sprouted wheat flour. Super easy.  

So, a super simple (so much so, you don’t need a recipe, right?!), yummy dish and two leftover portions to enjoy again … and again.  Since the greens were cooked in the dish, I don’t have to worry now that their best by date was today. I think I’ll enjoy this again tomorrow for lunch. And maybe put one in the freezer for some time next week.