New and needing help, please!
Posted by teacher_heather on Jul 19, 2009 · Member since Jul 2009 · 5 posts
Hi there! I am new to the forums but a long time lurker. There is always so much good advice. I was vegetarian for about two years and have been vegan for about a year and a half. Since becoming vegan I have found myself relying far too much on convenience foods and junk. I strongly dislike to cook and am in fact not great at it (my first attempt at seitan was a giant fail). I am looking for some very easy, inexpensive meals for a girl whose idea of cooking is a pb&j or warming up a veggie burger.
I am also trying to cut down on soy (the occasional latte or soy in a restaurant) and avoid most processed foods. Kind of a tall order I know....
Thanks in advance for any ideas/help.
:)
If you don't enjoy cooking, you need to plan ahead. Do you have a freezer? If so, you are in like Flynn (and boy did I just date myself). Take one day a month and cook a bunch of stuff, portion it into enough for one meal (for however many people you usually feed, be it just you or your family) and freeze the portions. Then it's just taking out a portion and heating it up.
Of course some things like rice etc don't freeze happily, but many do. So if you made a big old pot of soup and one of chili or another bean-based thing, like say burritos you could wrap up and freeze, and maybe a lasagne...like that. Then on the day it's just adding a fresh salad and fruit, or a stirfry, or whatever.
There are frozen vegetables you can buy ready cut to stirfry: add a little sauce and you're good to go!
BASIC STIRFRY SAUCE:
2 Tablespoons of dry white wine such as sherry
2 Tablespoons soysauce
Pinch powdered ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
Pinch sugar or 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar.
And don't forget canned beans, garbanzos etc. I often make hummus with beans from jar. You might need to rinse them off first, because of the sodium, but it takes literally about a minute to throw it together and blitz it with an immersion blender.
You can make a totally righteous chili just throwing canned beans, corn, tomato juice or sauce and spices together. I add sliced mushrooms intstead of TVP, they give a nice "chew" and are satisfying.
It's not hard to eat non-processed if you just plan ahead a little. Yeah, you have to do that one "cooking day" a month but if you do it on your day off it's easy. I have invited friends over for "cookoff" and we designate one dish to share, the rest gets frozen up.
when i first went vegan and had no idea how to cook i would make stir fry, pour a can of beans and a bag of frozen veggies into a pan. and saute it with oil and some sort of premade spice mix. eat it over pasta. easy peasy. i ate this every night for dinner with different kinds of beans, veggies and pasta until i got more comfortable than branched out from there. and i would eat canned soup for lunch most days.
there needs to be some rating system on here where recipes are rated as easy medium or difficult. i think i'll go suggest that. i feel like A LOT of people come on here not knowing how to cook relying on prepackaged food. its so common. enjoy!! i hope you start to enjoy it. cooking can be so fun!
A lot of the veggie, mexican, and bean recipes are super easy... try the taco lasagna that was good :)
You have lots of options! Buy ready to eat salad mix and cut up your favorite veggies to add. You could even open a can of garbanzo or kidney beans to add to it too. Plus there's all sorts of varities of pasta sauces...that's a very easy meal. Anybody can boil water and set a timer for the pasta. If I'm really pressed for time and don't have pasta sauce I'll even just use a can of tomato sauce with dried herbs added. Homemade mexican pizzas are as easy as getting some pita bread and covering it with refired beans, shredded lettuce, onions, olives, and salsa.
Thank you for all the suggestions and help! I do need to be better about planning ahead and branching out with meals. I do a lot of salads and stir fries because they are easy.
I actually have good luck baking large batches of rice, both brown and wild, and then portioning them up and freezing them. I tried it after finding frozen microwavable rice in the store, and thought, darn, why not! I put several cups of cooked and cooled rice in a freezer bag (or portions suitable for just you) and then just defrost when needed. Its not as perfect as just out of the oven, but way better than turning on the oven when its over 90!
Like others have mentioned, I make huge batches of veggie soup with beans, usually whatever is in the fridge, and freeze in small containers for hubby to take to work when he is tired of sammys.
I've never had trouble with frozen rice either. It is actually the one thing I do plan ahead on. :)
you sound JUST like me. my mom is my personal cook now, but i'm always using micorwaves or having cereal when she's not home. i'll be in college in a year so i have no idea what i'm going to do.
Lol...I don't even have mom to rely on, so it's veggie burgers and peanut butter sandwhiches. I need a chef.
Breakfast: plain quick cooking oats
Over the winter Target carried my favorite hot water maker, the Hot Shot. It makes a single cup of hot water at a time. Heat water and dispense it onto a bowl of quick cooking oats (not instant). Don't bother cooking it. Just let it sit for a few minutes and the water will absorb.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EHHBF9KVL._AA400_.jpg
Lunch: a can of beans.
This can be either a beans, rinsed, of your choice on their own or you can haved bagged salad and put beans on top or you can make a big batch of spelt or other grain and freeze them in portions and have the beans over grains dry or add extra water and make soup, or put the beans in a tortilla shell. Salsa, if you have it, is good on any of that.
Snacks can be whole fruit. Get the kind that you can eat without cutting or pealing, like cherries, satern peaches, blueberries, etc.
I have a "hot water maker." It's called an electric teakettle. You can make one cup, or 2 litres, or anything in between.
Or failing that, a saucepan..... :P 8-)
you should try simple recipes like the 'chickpea salad sandwich', which was surprisingly deliscious. i typically live off of mexican foods. i make a lot of nachos (combine chili, refried beans, black beans, heat, and top it off w/ salsa and sour supreme w/ chips). you could use that same thing with a few veggies and make burritos. if you live off of stir-fry and rice (i did the same thing) try branching out but using the same basic tools. for example (sp?) jambalya, or the 'indian bean and potato thing' (its great). just make sure you add protien to your diet. if you eat out a lot or buy just chips to eat, try just making sandwiches and take them to work or eat at veggie friendly places. i'm not sure where you are located but Jimmy John's has vegan sandwiches and i'm not sure about Subway breads but i'm sure they'll make veggie sandwiches. if i eat out, i tend to get those ginormous burritos (pancheros, chipotle, quedoba) or veggie sushi, or salad and a side of fries. i would recommend looking at recipes people have reviewed/commented on that sound good to you and seem easy. there is a lot here. vegweb is a GREAT resource! welcome to the wonderful art of cooking for yourself! just make sure you are treating yourself right. Good luck! if i lived near a bunch of vegans who loved home-cooked food, i would totally have a cooking party!
:P I LOVE my hot water maker. It's like a cute, little minature electric tea kettle. I showed a student worker in my office how to use it and then she brought in a full sized electric teakettle that rests next to my cute mini. Not as fun, I say! It's like not liking kittehs.
you should try simple recipes like the 'chickpea salad sandwich', which was surprisingly deliscious. i typically live off of mexican foods. i make a lot of nachos (combine chili, refried beans, black beans, heat, and top it off w/ salsa and sour supreme w/ chips). you could use that same thing with a few veggies and make burritos. if you live off of stir-fry and rice (i did the same thing) try branching out but using the same basic tools. for example (sp?) jambalya, or the 'indian bean and potato thing' (its great). just make sure you add protien to your diet. if you eat out a lot or buy just chips to eat, try just making sandwiches and take them to work or eat at veggie friendly places. i'm not sure where you are located but Jimmy John's has vegan sandwiches and i'm not sure about Subway breads but i'm sure they'll make veggie sandwiches. if i eat out, i tend to get those ginormous burritos (pancheros, chipotle, quedoba) or veggie sushi, or salad and a side of fries. i would recommend looking at recipes people have reviewed/commented on that sound good to you and seem easy. there is a lot here. vegweb is a GREAT resource! welcome to the wonderful art of cooking for yourself! just make sure you are treating yourself right. Good luck! if i lived near a bunch of vegans who loved home-cooked food, i would totally have a cooking party!
At Subway only the italian bread is vegan... FYI
Thanks all! I am making a shopping list right now. I need beans, various veggies and fruit, rice, oatmeal....mmmmm.....
I appreciate all the advice/support. I live in a small town. I know one other vegetarian and no other vegans. It can be a challenge!