Cheap, Easy, Healthy

Jeff Novick, RD at the McDougall forums offers this cheap and easy vegan meal:

1 28 oz Can Whole Tomatoes (no salt added)
1 16 oz Bag Mixed Frozen Vegetables
4 oz Frozen Chopped Collard Greens
1/2 Large Bag Success Instant Brown Rice

This took about 10 minutes to make, only because the rice takes 10 minutes to make. I put the tomatoes and the veggies in a pot and as soon as the rice was done, i added it.

You can read about the nutrients here >>

Convenient Vegan Cookbooks

It can be difficult being vegan. Especially when you're a new vegan and you don't know all the "ins and outs" of vegan shopping and cooking. Sometimes you can feel like being vegan is so hard that you might just think about dropping your new vegan habit.

STOP.

Please don't give up on veganism. Giving up on being vegan is giving up on yourself. You're not giving yourself enough credit. You CAN do this! You can!

Here is a list of some cookbooks that can help. These books make vegan cooking simple, easy, convenient, and cheap:

Specifically about vegan convenience and ease:

• Conveniently Vegan
• Easy Vegan Cooking
• The Everyday Vegan
• Skinny Bitch in the Kitch
• The Vegan Family Cookbook
• The Simple Little Vegan Slow Cooker

Specifically for quick vegan meals:

• Simply Vegan: Quick Vegetarian Meals
• Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures
• Vegan Microwave Cookbook
• Raw In Ten Minutes
• Vegan Express

Specifically for cheap vegan meals:

• Vegan on a Shoe String
• Student's Go Vegan Cookbook

Specifically for single vegans:

• Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People
• Vegan Bites: Recipes for Singles
• Vegan Meals for One or Two
• The Single Vegan

And here are some great beginner books for the newly vegan:

• Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide
• The Vegan Sourcebook
• Vegan Handbook
• Vegan Planet
  
• Being Vegan

The Frugal Essentials

How many times have you heard or thought that being vegan is expensive?

A lot of people have the misconception that special diets require more money than traditional diets. It's not true and one blogger proves it. One Frugal Foodie blogs about a variety of special diets, (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, etc.), all the while showing how to be thrifty. In a recent post, the Frugal Foodie outfits a kitchen with necessary cooking equipment with less than $100. Here are the recommended items:

1. $10 - Spice Grinder
2. $25 - Blender
3. $11 - Rice Cooker
4. $11 - Electric Tea Kettle
5. $15-20 - Hand Mixer
6. $10 - Toaster

It got me thinking: this is a great list of tools for a cabin, dorm, RV, or motel. It's perfect for the traveling or temporary vegan who cooks.

Read the whole article for more details >>