Saturday, 03 September 2011 03:57
Video: Easy, Cheap, Healthy Vegan Meals That Take Less Than $2 and 15 minutes to Prepare
I get a lot of questions about and requests for me to do videos on cheap and fast vegan meals - so here it is! I was pretty shocked myself when I compared prices at Kroger, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods and found that you can make many meals for $2 or less and spend 15 minutes max preparing it. And that's in San Francisco, which is likely more expensive than most areas of the country/world. Prices depend on whether the ingredients are local, in season or are organic, but you'd be surprised how cheap food can be even if all of the above.
Check out the video for 13 meal ideas under $2 that take less than 15 minutes to make. I give options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then mention some cheap foods you can have for dessert and snacks. Most of them are gluten and soy-free and are low in oil, salt, and sugar, or can easily be adapted to fit any dietary preference.
Here's what I mention in the video (prices are based on average serving sizes per person and reflect averages from Kroger, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods - ingredients may not be entirely organic)
Breakfast
- Cereal: $.50-$1 + 1 minute
- Oatmeal (sugar free): $.85 + 2-15 minutes
- Smoothie: $1.50 + 2 minutes
- Tofu Scramble: $.85 + 10 minutes
Lunch
- Hummus Wrap: $1.50 + 5 minutes
- Quesadilla (with Daiya): $1.15 + 5 minutes
- Chickpea "Tuna" Salad Sandwich: $1.50 + 5 minutes
- Peanut Butter and Jelly: $.65 + 2 minutes
Dinner
- Quinoa Bowl: $2 + 15 minutes
- Pasta Marinara: $1.50 + 10-15 minutes
- Mac & Cheese: $2 + 10-15 minutes
- Burrito Bowl: $2 + 5 minutes (once rice is cooked)
- Veggie Burger: $2 + 8 minutes
Dessert
- Fresh fruit: $.50 + 5 minutes (to cut up)
- Non-dairy ice cream: $1.5 max
- Vegan cookies: $.25 - 2 (depending on size and whether you make or buy them)
Snacks
- Potato chips: $.30
- Popcorn with olive oil and nutritional yeast: $.50 + 5 minutes
- Hummus with veggies: $1
- Nachos (with Daiya): $1 + 5-10 minutes
- Trail mix: $.50
- Handful of nuts: $.30
- Banana & peanut butter (not mentioned in video): $.35 ($.75 if you use almond butter)
I highly recommend the book The 30 Minute Vegan as well as the websites MeloMeals (vegan on $3.33 a day!) and Vegan on $10 a Day (or Less)
What are your favorite low cost foods with short prep times? Would love to see you making them in a video response, or just comment below. : )