2023 Vegan Storecupboard Challenge

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - I cook a mixture of grains (Rye berries, oat groats, barley groats and buckwheat) in vegan stock (1-2 ratio grains to stock) in the instant pot high pressure for 30 mins then leave it to naturally release. I do dark speckled lentils at the same ratio with stock using the same method. If you don't have a instant pot/pressure cooker you can just cook them on the hob but you'll need to stir frequently and possibly top up the stock due to the evaporation.  

I have a mountain of herbs in my garden so I just grab several handfuls (today will be basil, coriander, dill and flat leaf parsley) chop them finely and add to some lemon oil and apple cider vinegar- mix well and drizzle over the grains and salad 😁

@jokono - I haven't seen that one so I'll give it a look! There are lots of good documentaries on Netflix about food production but I can't watch most of them as I find them too upsetting 😢 years ago when I first went vegan I watched all sorts of stuff and I'm still haunted by it now! 🤢

leftatthetrafficlights

I've made some 'meatballs' for tonight using up leftover grains and lentils- riced some red cabbage, onions, garlic, celery in the food processor,  softened in a pan with some herbs and spices. Ground some oats and walnuts along with some nutritional yeast, added the leftover lentils, grains and some chopped kale to the frying pan, mixed together then put into a bowl and mixed well with the oat and walnut mixture. It's currently cooling and firming up in the fridge. 

I got out a courgette, jackfruit and tomato sauce from the freezer which I will blitz later - I'll shape and cook the 'meatballs' later in the airfryer, heat the sauce and serve with millet and salad. Any leftover ball mix will be shaped into either balls or burgers then frozen for another day 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

'Meatballs' were lovely,  loads of mix left over though so decided to add some wheat gluten to it and make burgers/loaves from it....suffice to say that I didn't add enough wheat gluten so once it was all cooked, it was pretty much mince!! 🤦‍♀️😂 Not a problem though, it's been made into bolognese, chilli and 'shepherd's pie' filling and frozen - also left a couple of portions as they are and frozen them so that I have my options open moving forward (I'm kinda thinking 'kofta' type kebabs at some point 😉 ) although it has not turned out as I originally planned, I think it's been a very profitable mistake!! 😂😂😂

Brie

Was at a conference on Friday and lunch was served.  One side of the buffet was a variety of food and the other side was the "specialist" food - so vegan, allergy alert stuff etc.  It's always of interest to see what allergy alerts there can be.  But what attracted me was the vegan falafels - which were lovely.  But then I thought - aren't falafels always vegan?  Or are they normally merely vegetarian??

jokono

Ha, as long as you don't use a yogurt based sauce in the wrap they should be vegan.

We had a school reunion recently, it was organised as a big event with 3 course meal. I requested a vegan version (fearing the worst, hoping for the best) and everyone was surprised of how good my meals looked, and they were actually delicious. The restaurant did an amazing job.

KajiKita

I’ve just seen an advert on ‘book of face’ about a machine that makes plant milk in 3 minutes. It looks excellent but at £290 it’s waaaaaaay too expensive! 😳
Does anyone else make their own plant milks on a regular basis with a machine and if so are they any cheaper than this?

KK

MissRikkiC

Great Qn @KajiKita  

Or vegan (not soy) yogurt as I have an instant pot and am keen to make some! 

Pauper1

I've just read through this whole thread and screenshotted a few recipes, as they all sound delicious! I've put myself on a pretty strict grocery shopping budget for a few months and I'm struggling for dinner ideas.

I usually do a smoothie, toast or porridge for breakfast so that's all fairly cheap and easy. Lunch can be a sandwich, soup, salad, leftovers, beans on toast etc. But I proper struggle with dinner ideas, what are your go tos? We have spag bol quite a bit but I do like the fake mince rather than lentils which makes it cost a lot more, I guess I need to start doing a half and half version. I always used to do jacket potatoes as they're cheap but with the cost of actually cooking them nowadays I'm not so sure! 

Brie

Pauper1 said:

I always used to do jacket potatoes as they're cheap but with the cost of actually cooking them nowadays I'm not so sure! 

I tend to have the frozen jacket potatoes as they are handy.  5 minutes in the microwave or something like that (I always have to check).  I admit that micking them means the skin is soft so might put them in the oven for 10 minutes or something to crisp up.  I know lots of people bulk bake them and then freeze so all they need is to be warmed through which will save energy. 

I really like them with spinach or rocket on top as having them with baked beans seems weird to me...

MissRikkiC

Do you know if they’re reheated from frozen @Brie as I often batch cook 4 or 6 using my pessure cooker and freeze but I’ve been leaving them to defrost and then reheat and they’re just a watery mess.