Week 4 of Eating Vegan on Food Stamps

New week, new meal plan! We're trying a different format this week, but fear not, this is still a continuation of our adventures with food stamps.

This week, I wanted to use up some of the things lingering in my fridge -- including some expired tempeh and tofu. 

Here's the menu I came up with. You'll be happy to know I mostly stuck to it, with the exception of accidentally making potatoes on Tuesday and ziti on Wednesday. Don't worry, I survived.

Now, on to the grocery haul!

 

At Aldi, I got two bags of cranberry almond granola ($2.49 each) and a 12-pack of blackberry seltzer ($3.99) for a total of $8.97.

At Walmart, I got:

Rigatoni - $0.98
Spaghetti Sauce - $1.67 each
Spinach - $1.98
Chickpeas - $0.86 each
Pretzels - $2.34
Potato Chips - $1.98
Hamburger Buns - $1.46
Soy Sauce - $1.58
Taco Sauce - $1.98
Cheddar Cheese - $3.97
French Fries - $2.98
Green Beans - $1.97
Tomatoes - $1.48
Red Bell Pepper - $1.48
Sauerkraut - $2.42

My total at Walmart was $31.39, bringing my weekly total to $40.36.

A word on potatoes: I could have bought my own potatoes and made my own fries, and chips, and baked potatoes, but my roommate was sharing some of my meals with me, so he contributed potatoes (and bought me takeout on Thursday).

After grocery shopping, I made pizza for dinner using a pre-made crust that had been hanging around. I topped it with some frozen bell pepper and onions.

For vegan BLTs, I marinated a batch of tempeh using a recipe I found online ten zillion years ago. I thought it was from PETA, but three seconds of Googling didn't help me find it, so I'll copy it for you here:

Stir together 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/2 tsp smoky paprika, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and salt to taste. Slice the tempeh and marinate until ready to cook. Pan fry until crispy.

My favorite part of this week's meal plan was the tofu-based onion dip that I failed to photograph. But you know what dip looks like. Use your imagination. 

Onion dip is the basis of Lauren Toyota's loaded baked potato recipe in this cookbook. You add onion dip and cheddar cheese to the innards of your baked potatoes, restuff them, and broil them to perfection. I promise, they taste much, much better than mine look. Plus, you end up with half the batch of dip left over for general munching.

I also failed to photograph my baked ziti, but you remember that from last time. 

On Thursday, I had Chipotle. My standard order: Burrito bowl with sofritas, brown rice, black beans, fajita veggies, mild salsa, salsa verde, and chips on the side. 

On Friday, I made the peanut pasta recipe from Vegan Comfort Classics. I make mine with green beans instead of snow peas because they're almost always in my freezer already.

On Saturday, I had sloppy joes with Morning Star crumbles and some Banza pasta with frozen nacho cheese sauce.

Spoiler alert: Next week is going to be a weird one, so be sure to come back soon!