The KInd Life Community Forum

I'm a 16 year old girl from New Zealand who is vegetarian but also keen to become a vegan. The rest of my family are non-veg and I dont have my own income to buy myself vegan foods. Does anyone have any idea of some easy to make dinners that dont require too much time or expensive ingredients?

hey im from nz too! i live in welly, im 18 and vegan and have sorta the same problem... i usually make most of my own meals, and make large amounts of stuff and keep it in the fridge for a few days or freeze it. most of the time i do ok but it doesnt help when my parents dont want to get certain ingredients cause they think they're unneccessary or expensive (its mostly the baking stuff i wanna try out like brown rice syrup)try get grains and legumes in bulk cause theyll be cheaper from a health food or organic shop, or other places like moore wilsons if you have it... i found a really good indian supply store near my house where you cn get lentils and that really cheap. things like chickpeas and that are cheaper if you pre soak them and stuff rather than getting cans of beans, although its more time consuming to prepar, leave it to soak overnight.. tofus not too expensive, about 4 dollars from the supermarket. if you have any good markets near your house you could probably get lots of fruits and veggies for a good price there.maybe get your parents to read the book and theyll be more likely to help you out once they see where ur coming from. its tough but not impossible! good luck!

i reserved it at the library lol cause i couldnt find it at bookstores... i hope they do start selling it cause i want my own copy! otherwise id have to order it from the states or something..

good idea about cooking your family dinner every so often, your parents will be glad your helping out. mine are. im leaving to go flatting in dunedin tomorrow so not going to have this problem anymore, cause wont be at home, but my parents have definitely appreciated me the cooking every so often.
keep soymilk, or rice milk in the house, and you can use this on cereal/weetbix/prridge or whatever you have. peanut butter and jam with wholegrain toast is good too(or as a sandwich---pb and j lol) you can get vegetarian sausages from the same section in the supermarket as tofu, as you can get veggie burgers, and you can also get frozen veggie burgers. i like bean or tvp (textured vegetable protein) nachos with cornchips if you can get any decent ones without cheese powder on them. my best advice on veganism is CHECK THE INGREDIENTS. if you dont like it, dont buy it.
if your out in town or something, you can try try getting turkish (falafel kebab or burger) or vegetarian sushi. if your at a restaurant lots of asian places will have some of veggie/ tofu dish that will be vegan.you can ask for dishes as they are except with the feta cheese left out or that kinda thing if theres nothing vegan where you are. all it takes is a little practice, and in a couple of months or so you'll have it completely sorted, no problem. egg replacer is another awesome thing ---- its in the baking section. i use it when i make muffins.

good luck xo melody