Hello everyone! Any Vegan OldStylers?

Chef_Ash

Hi,
I've just signed up after server all years away from the forums. I didn't have to worry about money much the last couple of years but at the start if this year I quit the pathway I was on to open a restaurant. I love it and being a head chef is my dream job but as we're still finding our feet I am on an extremely low income. My wife is also in her final year of university and only gets student finance. We're vegan and I was wondering if anyone had any good vegan meal plans that are really cheap (like really really cheap!) or anything like that?

WantToBeSE

Hi Ash.

I am a Vegan and Old Style too There is a Vegan Oldstyle thread here somewhere, let me dig it out...

Here, https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1451243

and i have linked to a few more helpful ones too:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3571159

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/257885 (vegetarian, but very vegan froendly recipes, can adapt too)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/907357 (again, vegetarian, but can be used for vegans and recipes adapted).

shandyclover

Hello Ash,

I am not vegan myself, but we have 2 vegans and mainly vegetarians in the family.

We normally cook vegetarian and when everyone is home from uni etc. all vegan.

We have 3 full time students and 2 fledgling businesses in the family so know all about the pressing need to be frugal vegans!

We are lucky to live close by to a Aldi, Tesco, and chinese/asian ethnic store. Our menu is mostly built on Aldi' 'super 6' - whatever veg is on offer for those 2 weeks is what we are eating, we also buy our soya milk from there. We try to shop for 'whoopsied' veg at Tesco, but that is getting a bit hairy scarey these days - (some very aggressive customers in our area). From ethnic shops we buy spices, TVP, beans, lentils, rice, tofu (90p a block!) and fresh herbs. I have successfully learnt how to make soya yogurt, tofu cheese and cream and just bought a kenwood ice cream maker from the car boot. All motivated mainly because vegan substitute products can be so expensive!

Some sites and links I found useful follow, the sites are not exclusively vegan recipes, but have vegan sections and are frugal...

http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/vegan-recipes/

http://cheap-family-recipes.org/index.html

The following 2 books are worth investing in/borrowing from the library/getting someone to buy you for Christmas...

http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cheap-Robin-Robertson/dp/0470472243/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0GM57GVE53YBNXZ8PN1Z

Amazing book I sent my daughter off to uni with. She 'does not cook' but managed to feed herself and even had carnivores showing up asking what she was making for dinner!

http://www.amazon.com/Hearty-Vegan-Meals-Monster-Appetites/dp/1592334555/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440612185&sr=1-1&keywords=vegan+hearty+appetites

Not as budget friendly but some great tips in here, I learnt how to make homemade vegan mozzarella and pepperoni from here.

A lot of US recipes call for obscure and expensive ingredients like nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke etc. When I first started to cook vegan I bought these things but now just substitute marmite, smokey BBQ sauce etc. as a chef I'm sure you know far more than I!

For variety try different types of beans and lentils and then look up the ethnic recipes associated with that pulse - once you start researching you will find a lot of Indian, Chinese, Moroccan, Lebanese, peasant Italian, Greek, Turkish, Caribbean and Latin dishes are vegan or easily made so.

All the best.:T

zippychick

you want this link !!!