Weekly Giveaway: a Lunchsense Lunch Box! v_ganlibrarian is the winner!
If you don't work in an office where a lunchtime feast is served up everyday (please see: http://cafevegnews.blogspot.com), you can still save money at lunch. Instead of heading to Whole Foods for the $50/pound salad bar or going to a restaurant, you can save major dough by packing your lunch. It doesn't fill like deprivation when you stuff your lunchbox with big sandwiches, tasty salads, and giant cookies. Mmm... giant cookies. Another way to add some pizazz to your lunch is by packing it in a snazzy lunchbox by LunchSense (http://www.lunchsense.com/home/lun/page_15/large_lunchbox.html). It's large enough to fit all your lunchtime goodies and look great while doing it. You want this, trust me.
To win a LunchSense box in a gorgeous green color, let me know what your favorite inexpensive meal is!
Giveaway ends on Tuesday, June 8th at midnight, PST! Winner will be chosen at random!
Good luck!
I make a black bean soup with peppers, black bleans, meatless crumbles, salsa, onions, veggie stock. It might not be the cheapest to prepare but it freezes well and I'll have at least 6 more dinners for the months to come, which saves money.
Soup
EASILY my fav. cheap meal is Pesto. We use spinach,walnuts, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and (of course) nutritional yeast. We're dining on that at least twice a week, and I still haven't gotten sick of it.
It's also really great with some fresh mint and avocado.
tofu strips, broccoli w/ garlic sesame oil, served on quinoa and some soy veri teriyaki sauce
I love whipping up a huge batch of soup and freezing some for later use. That's what I'm doing right now, actually!
For those REALLY cheap nights, it's butter beans on brown rice. A splash of soy sauce adds flavor. Open a can or frozen bag of veggies (especially asparagus) and there you have a cheap, tasty, healthy meal.
Lunch - Garbanzo bean salad (i.e. faux tuna salad) sandwich, seasonal (i.e. cheap) veggies and fruit from the farmer's market.
Dinner - Bulgur chili with kidney beans and mushrooms. I make a big pot and have it for dinner throughout the week.
Beans & rice -- I cook a big batch of beans from dry and then package them in small containers and freeze. It's so economical. I can open my freezer and get a meal size portion of whatever kind of beans I want. I also love soups and include whatever veggies I have in my fridge that need to be used up. Less waste and I also package and freeze the leftover soup.
Homemade hummus in a whole grain pita! Can't get much cheaper than chickpeas.
I love to make vegan chili--start with dry beans (saves cash), and add some veggies and tempeh or tofu--delicious!
I make black bean soup and serve it with rice. Also, potato curry. :)
Simple, quick & delicious - saute several cloves of garlic, sea salt, olive oil, stir in fresh parsley; toss with whole grain pasta. My boys love to add vegan "parmesan"!
Veggie soup! With homemade biscuits! That's What's for dinner tonight!
Veggie faijitas and bean burritos. Yum!
A HUGE bowl of steamed broccoli.... :)>>>
beans and rice
Noodles! I make a large batch and use it to prepare stir fry and later add veg broth and soy sauce for a lovely soup.
Soup, soup, soup!! ;)b
Some variation of beans and a grain + veggies. Depending on seasoning, this can be from almost any part of the world you can think of!
I like to make a cheap stirfry from the weekly deals on veggies that I get from the Farmers' market!!! Throw in some raisins and sunflower seeds over wild rice and you can eat a dish fit for a prince with the pocketbook of a pauper!
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