[dearsilas]

Hi all. This looks like a good resource and I will read more over the weekend.<br><br>
I just went vegan, as of Tuesday I think, and yeah, straight from being a meat eater.<br><br>
Here's how that happened. One of my best friends went vegan a week before me, because of how animals are tortured & all. Then my mom found out she has some heart problems, but won't know what exactly until later this month. So I decided then and there that I'd change my diet (I am getting older, after all. SIGH.) So I just looked up info on adapting a heart-healthy diet and every page I came across was going on about how bad meat is for you and it's meat that'll kill ya! So that was it. And I stopped eating meat. Of course, through the week, instead of craving meat like my friend said she was, I've just gotten more repulsed by it. And I have always been very picky with meat. But the more I've thought about it, the more I just don't want anything to do with it, and feel more and more guilty and disgusted with myself if I did eat meat again.<br><br>
So anyway, I'm here to look for recipies, quick-fix ideas and the frugal tips because I really do not have much room for buying groceries. In fact I go to a few local food banks (which you don't get a choice in what you get), and they usually give you several lbs of pasta and 2 jars of sub-generic peanut butter each. So every 60 days I end up with 6-8lbs of spaghetti, 4lbs of macaroni, and 6 jars of PB. At least it's usable, being vegan. I've already looked it up. Another thing is that I am severely un-domestic and CAN NOT cook. So I'm here to look for SUPER easy recipies and QUICK meal ideas and tips. Seriously. Stuff your 4-year-old could make. I'm really that incompetant in the kitchen.<br><br>
So yeah, that's what I hope to get out of being here. I hope I'm welcome. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/shy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":shy:">

 

[Amy SF]

You certainly ARE welcome here! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/hi.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":hi:"> Congrats on making the switch to a healthier diet! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":up:"><br><br><br><br>
You should start with this thread: <b><a href="http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=50249" target="_blank">The Tip of the Day Thread.</a></b> There's lots of good information there. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/yes.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":yes:">

 

[isowish]

Welcome to VB!

 

[evilvegan]

Hey, good luck on the whole kitchen thing. It's gonna be a rough road, and you really might want to look into cooking...it'll be easier and cheaper. Trust me, this I have learned.

 

[GhostUser]

Welcome to VB! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/hi.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":hi:"><br><br><br><br>
You will definitely find some great recipes here - as a college student with not a lot of time or money, I like cooking quick and easy things, too! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/tongue3.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=""> I found the Recipes section to be really helpful.

 

[dearsilas]

Thanks for all the welcomes! And I'm checking the tip of the day thread now too. And yes, I am trying to cook, but I think my body's rejecting it. Seriously: Pan + Veggies = Fry. I still suck at that!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/sad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=""> Why am I so domestically challenged?? lol I'm committed to it anyway. Because, you know, I'll be 30 before I know it, and I don't want to be like my mom, who's had a ton of health problems in her 40's, (yes, she had me when she was a teenager), and it's just getting worse for her. But at least she has some insurance. I don't have any and don't qualify for anything, so I have to live my life without any medical care, so if I continued eating meat & even unhealthier stuff and something would happen to me, I'd be left to die without the money or insurance to see a doctor or go to the hospital. Plus, ya know, I don't want to just get old, like my mom and grandma did. You know, with them being overweight, just working to death, eating junk, just letting themselves get old and worn down. I already feel worn down, and have for a few years, and I just don't want to do that. I want to be one of those old people that are still kickin' it at 70 or 80 (when I do get there) like I've always wished my grams would've done with herself. I don't want to just be a fat person whose body just expires by 50, like my mom's in danger of, or at least would have if she didn't have a doctor to tell her she has to eat better now. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/bigcry.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="">

 

[Tesseract]

With 6-8 pounds of spaghetti and 6 jars of PB, you can make whole boatloads of noodles with peanut sauce. Yummers! And it's a great recipe for summer and for bad cooks, since the only cooking is boiling the spaghetti.<br><br><br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block"><b>Peanut Sauce</b><br><br>
3 T peanut butter<br><br>
6 T hoisin sauce (you can get huge bottles cheap at Asian groceries)<br><br>
3 T white vinegar<br><br>
1/4 cup no-chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water<br><br>
1 T sugar<br><br>
1-2 t Chinese style hot chili sauce (sub Tabasco if that's what you have)<br><br><br><br>
Stir together the peanut butter and hoisin sauce in a small bowl until smooth. Add the vinegar and chili sauce a little at a time, tasting until you like the flavor. Then thin with broth/water, again adding a little at a time, until you are happy with the consistency. Everyone's peanut sauce is different! Add the sugar (or more hoisin) if you still want it sweeter. If you use water, you may want to add a little soy sauce for saltiness.</div>
</div>
<br>
Peanut sauce = <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/drool.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":drool:"> You can make a pretty good size batch of peanut sauce and keep it in the fridge if you want. Once you have peanut sauce made, just boil spaghetti, rinse and chill, then add peanut sauce and any combination of the following cut-up fresh veggies: carrots, cucumbers, green onions, bean sprouts, bell peppers, sugar snap peas, snow peas, asparagus. You can also dress it up with chopped fresh herbs including basil, mint, chives, or cilantro if you can get your hands on them.<br><br><br><br>
Another really cheap food (in many places, not all) that goes great with PB is bananas. Slap some PB and a quartered banana on a piece of bread and you've got a quick, easy, and delicious breakfast.<br><br><br><br>
PS: I personally think some of the best ways to jumpstart your nutrition are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds. While it's expensive to buy a pound of them, they last a long time in an airtight container in your freezer, and they're loaded with minerals and healthy fats that are vital to your long-term health. The most economical way to buy them is probably in bulk from a natural food store or grocery store. Try roasting them and mixing them into granola or trail mix. Just don't roast flax seeds-- heat destroys the delicate omega-3 fatty acids that make them so healthful.<br><br><br><br>
Try this <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/183205" target="_blank">granola</a> recipe for an incredibly healthy snack. Feel free to skip the more expensive nuts. I personally don't think it needs all those nuts anyway-- they tip it way towards the fatty end of the scale. Frankly, I'd omit all the nuts and coconut and just focus on the seeds. Just add the flax seeds after baking instead of before like it says.

 

[GhostUser]

Welcome.

 

[dearsilas]

I agree!! I LOVE peanut sauce. I buy it, on occasion, in a little teeny jar that barely covers the pack of rice noodles I buy to go with it. Of course, it does work on spaghetti too. Although, I've eaten all the spaghetti in the past couple of weeks, due to not having anything else at all. But I still have macaroni and macaroni shells. Mmmmmm.... peanut sauce. 'Coz really, I could live on noodles & peanut sauce - noooooo problem. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/hungry.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":hungry:">