Visiting home....
Hey guys! I am leaving tomorrow to go back home for a couple weeks to visit family, since I won't be able to make it in for the major holidays. My family is not vegan in any sense, not even vegetarian. I can veganize most of my moms meals for dinner, because they are huge grillers, dinner usually consists of a grilled meat, with a side salad, and a veggie dish, and when I visit if they cook indoors my mom makes meals ala carte, cooking meat separate from the main dish so I don't feel alienated.
I haven't bought prepackaged processed foods in quite sometime now, and was curious if you guys had any favorites. Frozen, or shelf items, things I can make myself for lunch, or even a quick dinner if my mom makes something I cannot veganize. Remember the key here is CHEAP haha. Money is very tight right now, and I almost exhausted my savings just to get my plane ticket, and I don't want to spend what I have left just on groceries.
P.S. My parents live in a very small town 38,000 being the max pop. there are no natural food stores or whole foods etc. Kroger, wal-mart, and albertson's being the 3 stores in my town, so some exotic food stuffs I probably wont be able to find. Thanks in advance!!!
Here are some suggestions:
1)taco's with beans, salsa and fixings
2)soup with salad (salad can be a pasta salad or veggies with cranberries, nuts,or throw some chick peas in, etc)
3)My fav. lots of veggies (any can grill zucchini, peppers, eggplant, asparagus) in a tortilla- I make this almost everyday (I use both raw and cooked- I like the contrast with lots of cooked onions, garlic and dulse (seaweed-salty) I don't even use dressing! Takes 10 minutes to make
4)Since you have a grill you can make a veggie sandwich with fixin's or mashed chickpeas.
5)Mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries (with a little olive oil and sea salt)
6)brown rice mixed with different fruit (bananas, grapes, granola soymilk)
7)I don't use canned stuff or frozen too much- Amy's organics IS expensive yummy but might not be sold where your parents are
8)good old pasta with lots of veggies (carrots, broccoli, peas, etc)
9)peanut butter and jelly sandwich or banana sandwich ;D
10)grains with beans and some veggies (cheap, quick)
Hope I helped. I was thinking of items that are sold in all supermarkets that are easy to find. This is stuff I eat almost everyday. I love making a salad with veggies and throwing some beans, pasta or nuts...easy quick cheap and healthy.
Have a Good time at your parents 8)
hi CD. I really like the Cabbage and Beans from this site. Easy to find veggies, cheap to make, easy to make (one pot dish) and it tastes even better the second day as left-overs, too, so can make in advance and reheat in microwave when want.
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10960.0
good luck! :)
Great suggestions!
Don't forget simple chili-- this one is so good.
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=4908.0
If you want something quick and just a teensier bit fancier, but still with minimal dish use and cost, try a taco salad. I just spice up some beans with onions, garlic, and whatever fresh veggies I have around that look "tex-mex-able", and pile them on top of chopped cabbage with a handful of chips forming a middle layer. A few shreds of vegan cheeze or a spoonful of guac makes it look festive, but you don't need 'em. This is a hit with omni family, too, although they seem to prefer lettuce to the cabbage.
not sure when the last time you were at Kroger, but that used to be the only place in my old town that I could find anything "exotic" (re:tofu, veg cheese, etc...)
you may be surprised
thru grad school (in a small town) I was shocked at how long I could survive on bananas, cold cereal, and beer...
bake a winter squash and stuff it with rice and what ever your parents have prepped up for their meal (sans the animal, of course)
and I bet they have canned beans in the pantry
maybe you could offer to cook a few meals or two? Perhaps Mom could foot the grocery bill if you cooked and cleaned up and promised that all non-veg's would love it??
HAHA. I have no problem cooking or cleaning, but everyone in my fam is a non veg, and my dad is strictly a meat and potato, cheese kinda guy, my lil bro might try it but my parents are 100% out, the thought of tofu makes my mom gag, and the first time I cooked a veggie burger in the house my mom asked me, "Well honey, what do you think you did wrong?" lol. they are 100% supportive of me, as long as I don't try to make them eat it. My mom KEEPS a fully stocked pantry of canned veggies, beans, tomatoes and sauces, etc. I have no doubt I will be able to come up with stuff to eat, I have no fear of starving. I guess I should have mentioned that I will be taking care of my nephew (20 months) from 7am-7pm everyday I am visiting while my parents work( he lives with them). So I was tryna think of quick fix frozen, or canned items I can throw together or pop in the microwave inbetween chasing him around :P.
BTW thank you guys for all of the suggestions those will come in VERY handy when I have the time to make something that requires more time than 4 mins in the microwave.
And nutdragon Kroger is where I do the majority of my shopping, here where I live and back home where my parents still are. I can find lots of stuff at the one here cuz I am in a HUGE city now, but back home they have a freezer section of Amy's and other brands of whole and organic foods and they do carry tofu and such items, but that is about it, not much of a selection of dry and canned items.