Waffles for breakfast

Today, instead of complaining that I can't go to Whole Foods with only $12, because it would cost more in gas than I have to spend there and it would take an extra three hours out of my day and blah blah blah, I'm going to see what interesting creations I can come up with with the food I have here (which, to be fair, is considerable--it's just not all neatly packaged in convenient, ready-to-eat portions. I have to cook it.)

Some options:
black bean and sweet potato tortilla casserole. I have no enchilada sauce, so I could just use nutritional yeast "cheese" sauce and a little Sriracha and be done with it, or I could figure something out with the can of diced tomatoes that has been sitting in my pantry for some time.

homemade gnocchi: There's a recipe around here somewhere for gnocchi that you can make with potato flakes. They're not bad.

brown rice: Steve Pavlina has some good cooking instructions on his website. He reminds us that we can just mix in some sesame seeds and tamari. Oh, yeah :)

baked tofu: very easy. Just mix up some tamari, balsamic vinegar, garlic, ginger, and a bit of olive oil. baste slices and bake for 45 minutes at...I forget what temperature. Probably doesn't matter. But it's good alone or in a salad. Or with the aforementioned brown rice.

white bean alfredo sauce and pasta: never made this before.

seitan: Should probably make this while I have enough tamari to do so. But which kind: oven baked, boiled, crock potted, or Veggieroni???

noodle salad: really and truly should have green onions for this. Should I bother without them?

pizza: I have a whole can of sauce. I have yeast. I could make a real pizza crust, or just cheat and use the English muffins from the freezer.

Okay, so there will be cooking today. Before I can do that, though, there must be dishes washed so I can find the kitchen. And the dish fairy has the day off. So I guess that's up to me now. Bugger.

another $12.96

2 noodle bowls: $5.96
1-60 pc thing of gum: $2.99
1/2 gal. plain Silk: $3.59
so up to $137.92

$12.08 left until 6/23. Hmm...and I was going to go to Whole Foods tomorrow. I was apparently delusional.

This is the point in the month where this game is no longer fun. I don't want to cook anymore, but I have 9 more days to go without really buying any more convenience foods.

I do, however, have plenty of food in the house. Por ejemplo:

--1 bag frozen edamame
--1 19 oz. pkg. firm tofu
--1 pkg udon noodles
--a half dozen onions
--the aforementioned soymilk
--rice papers
--rice noodles
--peanut butter
--tahini
--tamari soy sauce
--oatmeal
--raisins
--plenty of couscous
--lemon juice
--spaghetti sauce
--pasta in various shapes
--nutritional yeast
--spelt flour
--canned refried beans, white beans, black beans
--spaghetti squash
--garlic
--fresh rosemary outside
--frozen corn tortillas
--sweet potato
--Sriracha hot sauce
--frozen bananas
--Edy's frozen strawberry popsicles
--coconut milk

...Yeah; I need to suck it up and get cooking :)

Up to $85.16

So I'm at the halfway mark about a week and a half into it. Probably should not go to Whole Foods this weekend. I'd want to buy more stuff than my current budget will allow. Moving on...

rounded up to $48...

frozen Pad Thai

Nate's Italian Style Meatless Meatballs

So Delicious Neapolitan frozen dessert--1 qt.

Back to Nature chocolate mint sandwich cookies

Smart Dogs

Ezekiel English muffins

Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar

Lundberg Rice Chips

Amy's Samosa Wrap



$4.06

Zen something (with the panda) vanilla/chocolate pudding



(Yes, I was in a not-interested-in-cooking state last night)

Day something: more food purchasing

There was some lunch desperation involved in today's purchases.
Purchased:
3 Luna Bars: $3.06
Sun Chips (Hanover brand): $3.69
organic raisins: $2.79
organic banana: $0.33
Polaner All Fruit spread, strawberry: $2.59

Total, including tax (I'm not adding things, just going by memory): $12.62
total so far this month: not sure. I'll add them later.

Day 2: Some clarifications

This $150 for food for the month thing...I mean, I already have a good bit of food at the house, so it's not just going to be stuff I'm purchasing now. Last night, for instance, I made this fabulous noodle recipe for dinner (which was also today's breakfast and will probably be lunch)http://veganventures.blogspot.com/2006/08/peanut-noodles.html, and I already had all of the ingredients.

The point of it for me, I guess, is to actually *use* the food that I have around (meaning, I will actually need to combine ingredients and cook things) instead of just running off for veggie burgers or whatever the next time I'm feeling lazy.

Day 1: Hi.

I've been inspired by melomeals.blogspot.com's $3.33/day for vegan food, but am fairly certain I am not quite that intrepid. So for the next 30 days, I'm going to see if I can get by on $150. At this point, I have no idea how much I normally spend in a month, so this is a super-big deal for me.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, the name "Rice Wine Vinegar" means absolutely nothing. It was the first thing I thought of that wasn't already taken. There's a bottle of it sitting in front of me as we speak. Or...type. Or whatever.)



Day 1: $13.83 was spent on:

2 loaves whole wheat bread (with *no* high fructose corn syrup, thank you very much)
2-26 oz. cans spaghetti sauce
1-16 oz. box angel hair (angel hair sounds so non-vegan, eh? I mean, are angels considered beings that can be exploited?)
2-6 oz. boxes SweeTarts (terrible for health, vital for smiling)
3 baking potatoes