I am sick unto death of your basic beans and rice, stir fry, and pb&j...I need new recipes but they need to be pretty cheap to because we are so broke right now. All the vegan cookbooks i have ask for vegan cheese or fresh herbs (and i don't grow any), exotic mushrooms...or other things that are jsut hugely expensive.

thanks mamas

I also have had trouble with finding easy to make and delicious recipes while maintaining some kind of budget. I have found a WONDERFUL vegan cookbook..."Vegan Planet" I have yet to eat anything from it that wasn't WONDERFUL!!! and most of the recipes are pretty inexpensive to make...and I tend to use dried herbs even if they call for fresh...just don't use as much dry...LOL

I can give you a few recipes...these are my favorites!

**Backyard BBQ Chili**

1 tbps olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper chopped
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cuper water
1/2 c spicy bottled bbq sauce
2 tbps tomato paste
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp natural sweetner or sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups vegetarian burger crumbles
3 cups cooked or 2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1. Heat the oil in a large put ver medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and juice, water bbq sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, sugar and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

2. Stir in the burger crumbles and beans and cook for 15 minutes to blend the flavors. Add a little water if needed.

**Not so dirty rice**

Even though the ingredients seem like they would make it spicy...my little ones ate this with no problems at all.

1 tbps olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced(or you can use 1 tsp garlic powder)
2 cups vegetarian crumbles
1 tsp tabasco sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne(I bought a SMALL thing of cayenne for a few dollars a year or so ago and it still is full and I use it all the time so that lasts a LONG time)
3 cups cooked rice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, burger crumbles, tabasco, thyme, salt and cayenne. Stir to combine and heat through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook until hot, about 5-7 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings, then serve hot.

This is SUPER yummy and tastes a bit like rice and sausage.

There are a ton of recipes and if you give me an idea of what kind you are looking for, then I can post them:)



This is awesome with coleslaw and corn chips and I like it in the hot weather as it isn't too "hot".

Do you have the cookbook "How It All Vegan"? I love it. All of the recipes I have ever tried from it are great and they use ingredients that you actually usually have around. The authors have a new book out too that I haven't been able to get yet.

A lot of my favorite recipes are just modified to be vegan. There's a wild rice soup that I love and it's super easy to make vegan.

I'd give you recipes right now, but dd is sleeping on my lap and I can't get up. I'll look later and see what I can come up with. :)

**Wild Rice Soup** (I usually make a double batch)

1/4 c. wild rice
2 c. water
2 onions, chopped
1 tbsp vegan margarine
2 sticks celery, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried sage
3 3/4 vegetable stock
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 tbsp soy sauce
6 small potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
soy milk

1. Add wild rice to water, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes until rice has puffed and absorbed most of liquid.

2. Saute onions in margarine until translucent.

3. Add celery, thyme, sage, vegetable broth bouillon cube and soy sauce and cook for 5-10 minutes.

4. Add potatoes and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

5. Blend mixture in foo processor or blender until smooth.

6. Return to pan. Add carrot and wild rice.

7. Add soy milk to thin soup to desired consistency.

8. Reheat gently and serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Perfect Potatoes**

6 medium potatoes
1 large onion
salt and pepper
1 1/4 c. soy milk
1 1/2 tbsp vegan margarine

1. Peel and finely slice potatoes and onion.

2. Layer slices in a shallow ovenproof dish, sprinkling each layer with some salt and pepper.

3. Pour milk over top and dot with margarine.

4. Bake uncoveredin preheated oven @ 350º for 1-1 1/2 hours or until potatoes are soft, golden brown on top.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Vegetable Tofu Scrambler** (doesn't have to be for breakfast)

1/2 medium onion, chopped
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
splash of olive oil
1 pkg. firm tofu, crumbled
1-2 tsp curry powder
pepper to taste
salsa to taste
2 stalks green onions, chopped

In large saucepan, add onions and mushrooms to a splash of olive oil and saute on medium-high heat until onions are translucent. Crumble tofu and add to saucepan. Add curry and pepper. Sautee 10-12 minutes until moisture has evaporated. Add salsa and green onions and scramble on high for 2-4 minutes. Makes 2 or more servings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other things that are really quick are refried bean burritos, pasta and marinara sauce, and vegan sloppy joes (morningstar or boca crumbles and manwich sauce - 5 minutes start to finish). All staples around here (aside from stir fry and rice).

~Becky

oops, i double posted...edited it to include recipes instead. :)

thanks ladies!
I actually have vegan planet and LOVE it! I also have how it all vegan...which has cheaper meals but they aren't always fantabulous...i get so annoyed when htey say oh this excellent and it's only ok...lol...I'll definatly try these out

Check out the awesome products on this site: http://www.healthy-eating.com/index.html How about Fantastic Brand taco mix, or nature burgers for making patties? Miso soup? Do you have a Vita-Mix? You can turn just about anything into a fruit (ice cream).

Jennifer