Veganing on a Budget

[beforewisdom]

Redbeard, has any of this inspired you to stay vegan, get cooking and save money?

[Redbeard the Scruffy]

Well, I love cooking.

Just...my wife doesn't love my cooking. I'm a rather good cook, but, well, she's excellent, and won't eat anything that she couldn't cook just as good herself, lol (one reason there are several restaurants we can't go back to). So only a few of my recipes will she grub down on.

But yeah, it definitely gave us a lot of ideas for when we next hit the grocery store.

[xrodolfox]

I just cooked for 15 people on $35, and got to take home 2 quarts of soup, 3lbs of unprepared seitan, 1pint of pan fried seitan, 1pint of salad greens, 1quart of fruit salad, and 1cup of gravy. All it took was time. (since it was a community dinner, I get paid back too).

[Redbeard the Scruffy]

I just cooked for 15 people on $35, and got to take home 2 quarts of soup, 3lbs of unprepared seitan, 1pint of pan fried seitan, 1pint of salad greens, 1quart of fruit salad, and 1cup of gravy. All it took was time. (since it was a community dinner, I get paid back too).

I've heard of seitan, but never had any. Looking up the definition just says wheat gluten, but it can't be just that...I bought some of that a few weeks ago to add some consistency to homemade bean burgers off a friend's suggestion, and that stuff is nothing but powder!

What kind of gravy can you make that's vegan? Closest thing I've found was cream of mushroom soup, but that's got dairy in it.

[xrodolfox]

this is my favorite seitan recipe:

This is from this site: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes ... cipeID=112

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1 cup very cold water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated on a microplane grater
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest


Simmering Broth
10 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy sauce

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together Vital Wheat Gluten Flour and nutritional yeast flakes.

In a seperate bowl, mix together reamining ingredients: water or veg broth, soy sauce. tomato paste, garlic, lemon zest.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine with a firm spatula, knead dough for about 3 minutes until a spongy, elastic dough is formed. Let dough rest for a couple of minutes and prepare your broth, but don't start boiling it.

Now roll your dough into a log shape about 8 inches long and cut into 3 equal sized pieces. Place the pieces in the broth. It is important that the water/broth be very cold when you add the dough, it helps with the texture and ensures that it doesn't fall apart. Partially cover the pot (leave a little space for steam to escape) and bring to a boil.

When the water has come to a boil set the heat to low and gently simmer for an hour, turning the peices every now and again.

Now you've got gluten. Let it cool in the simmering broth for at least a half an hour. It is best if it cools completely.

What you do next depends on the recipe you are using. If it calls for gluten use it as is. If you want to store some of it for later use put it in a sealable container covered in the simmering broth.

If your recipe calls for seitan cut your peices up as desired. I prefer to use a cast iron skillet for the frying because it produces the best flavor and texture. Use as little oil as possible to coat the bottom of the skillet, 1 teaspoon may suffice. Heat the skillet over medium high and add your gluten. Cook for about 20 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally. And there you have it. Yummy seitan.

So yes, seitan is really nothing more than powered wheat gluten, water, and flavors, kneeded, let set, and boiled. What I did after it was prepared was to pan fry it in olive oil after letting it sit in cumin, black pepper, and garlic salt seasonings. I let it fry up until it was toasted brown on all sides.

Just google vegan gravy recipe, and a dozen different recipes show up. Basically it is water, flavor, and some thickener, like corn starch. It is pretty easy.

[beforewisdom]

Well, I love cooking.

Just...my wife doesn't love my cooking. I'm a rather good cook, but, well, she's excellent, and won't eat anything that she couldn't cook just as good herself, lol (one reason there are several restaurants we can't go back to). So only a few of my recipes will she grub down on.

But yeah, it definitely gave us a lot of ideas for when we next hit the grocery store.

In that situation, I am glad to offer my services as a dishwasher and shopper in exchange for the other person becoming the dedicated cook .

[Enhydra Lutris]

What kind of gravy can you make that's vegan? Closest thing I've found was cream of mushroom soup, but that's got dairy in it.

Unless you want to make it from scratch, have a look at the different (instant) gravy powders in your local shops/supermarkets. Most that I've come across are vegan, but that might just be in the UK.

[Redbeard the Scruffy]

What kind of gravy can you make that's vegan? Closest thing I've found was cream of mushroom soup, but that's got dairy in it.

Unless you want to make it from scratch, have a look at the different (instant) gravy powders in your local shops/supermarkets. Most that I've come across are vegan, but that might just be in the UK.

Doubtful. America is very animal-intense in their food, unless you live on the west coast or something like that. But I'll look around, it would definitely be nice.

[mabli]

I make gravy by using the potato water and adding a splodge of tomato puree, a teaspoon of peanut butter and a spoonful of marmite or yeast extract. Sometimes I add onions. Its very tasty and very quick, much better for you than instant stuff

[xrodolfox]

What kind of gravy can you make that's vegan? Closest thing I've found was cream of mushroom soup, but that's got dairy in it.

Unless you want to make it from scratch, have a look at the different (instant) gravy powders in your local shops/supermarkets. Most that I've come across are vegan, but that might just be in the UK.

Doubtful. America is very animal-intense in their food, unless you live on the west coast or something like that. But I'll look around, it would definitely be nice.

Very true. No major grocer has vegan gravy. I have only gotten it from health food stores for a premium. Unless I make it myself.

[flightlessbirds]

Bisto gravy, which you can find many places, is vegan. And some of the packaged stuff. At least in Canada and we tend to have a lot of the same products as in the States.

I will add that frozen veggies are a good option as you only do your shopping once every two weeks. Frozen veggies can sometimes be better than the "fresh" ones that have travelled long distances as they have had lest time to start breaking down. If you're just throwing them in a stir fry or curry then they work great and are pretty cheap.

Other good things to look for at the asian grocer: brown rice noodles and soba noodles. These are super pricey at health food stores as they are paraded as "gluten free blah blah healthy blah".
Other things I find are often cheaper there: spices, nuts, beans/lentils, coconut milk, soy sauce, produce, dumplings, frozen and shelled edamame beans.

If they have the edamame beans for cheap then make this dip: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html
so good! You can probably sub the miso paste (super expensive) out and maybe just add a splash of soy sauce instead.

[KaliBaby]

America is very animal-intense in their food, unless you live on the west coast or something like that...

Disagree. it was really easy being vegan in NJ.

can't stress lentils enough!