(upbeat music)
- Hey! I'm Rachel,
and today I'm gonna show you what I make
for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner for a total of $3.
- Hey, y'all! My name is Will Edmond,
and today I'ma show you how
to make three vegan meals
for under
$9.
Let's do this!
- Hey! I'm Mei, and I'm gonna be making
breakfast, lunch, and
dinner for $21 or under.
- [Rachel] For breakfast, I
made some baked banana oatmeal.
First, I added some ripe
bananas to a mixing bowl
and then just mashed them up until
they were in a smooth consistency.
Then, for my dry ingredients,
I added some rolled oats,
salt,
baking powder,
cinnamon,
and a little bit of nutmeg,
and then mixed it up.
I chose to make this recipe
because bananas and oats
are some of the cheapest
ingredients I could think of,
and they're both really
healthy breakfast foods.
Then I added two flax eggs,
some maple syrup,
coconut oil,
and vanilla extract.
Then I added in some non-dairy milk,
and mixed it all together
until it formed this liquidy consistency.
And I didn't have an 8x8 baking dish,
so I just made do with
these two loaf pans I had.
And then I just baked them off
at 350 for about 35 minutes.
Then I decided I wanted to drizzle
some sunflower seed butter on top
but buying that in the store is expensive,
and since sunflower seeds are
really cheap to buy in bulk,
I decided to make my own.
So I just blended up some sunflower seeds
until they turned into a powder
and then I added in a
little bit of maple syrup
for some sweetness,
sunflower seed oil to help smooth it out,
and a pinch of salt.
And then I just kept
blending that for a long time
and eventually it turned into
this smooth and creamy consistency.
I'm not a huge fan of
oatmeal but I love baking it
because it kind of turns into
the texture of granola bars
and it just tastes so much better,
especially with the sunflower
seed butter drizzled on top.
This turned out to be a very inexpensive,
delicious, and filling breakfast.
- [Will] For breakfast, I made
a vegan chickpea scramble.
All right, first, what you're gonna do,
you're gonna add your
cup of chickpea flour,
and then some water,
and then some aquafaba,
that's the liquid reserved
from the chickpeas,
and some nutritional yeast,
turmeric,
then you're gonna add some cumin,
chili powder,
sea salt, mm-hmm,
black pepper, put it in there like that,
and then you're gonna stir it around.
Look at her. Go. Stir it.
Then you're gonna put some
coconut oil in your skillet,
add some red onions. I love red onions.
Some garlic. Then you're
gonna stir it around.
Look at that sizzle. Look at that pop.
Then you're gonna add
some green bell peppers
and you're gonna stir it around.
I love using a wooden spoon.
Some Roma tomatoes.
Add some Roma tomatoes.
Then it's gonna just sizzle.
Then you're gonna add your chickpea flour.
Look at that formation, right there.
And you're gonna wait every
two minutes to stir it around
because you don't want it
to stick to your skillet,
but then, also, you want it to dry out.
Then you're gonna add some parsley,
you can also add any other
type of vegetables you want
or you can add some spicy sriracha sauce.
That's gonna be really good.
- [Mei] So, for breakfast, I'm
having a green smoothie bowl.
I'm using some frozen bananas,
organic blueberries,
about 1/4 of this coconut
yogurt that I got for $10,
some vanilla almond butter,
a nice handful of kale,
and then a tablespoon of maca powder,
spirulina,
and some almond milk.
I've heard so much about
these superfood powders
but I've never gotten them
because they're definitely not cheap,
and they can add up pretty quickly.
But, honestly,
I kinda got to ball out with
my ingredients for this video,
which was really fun.
So I topped that with
some organic blueberries,
hemp seeds,
chia seeds,
gluten-free organic granola,
and some more almond butter.
This bowl was honestly so good,
and even though some of the ingredients
were on the bougier side,
making a bowl like this at home
is still way cheaper than
spending $15 on a smoothie bowl
at a restaurant here in L.A.,
so, I would probably say it's worth it.
- [Rachel] For lunch,
I made some zucchini and lentil fritters
with a vegan sour cream.
So, first, I grated up some zucchini,
and one tip to save money
on buying fresh produce
is to shop at your farmer's market.
And if you go towards the end of the day,
a lot of the time, they'll
reduce the price of produce
because they're just
trying to get rid of it
before they leave for the day,
and I've gotten some really
great deals that way.
Then I just transferred the
zucchini to a dish towel
and I squeezed out all of the excess water
because I don't want that
extra moisture in the fritters.
Then, to that same bowl, I
added back in the zucchini,
some red lentils,
diced red onion,
some all-purpose flour,
salt,
garlic powder,
smoked paprika,
and cayenne.
The reason I chose to make these fritters
is because red lentils
and all-purpose flour
are both some of the cheapest ingredients
that I can think of,
and they really fill you
up for not a lot of money.
Then I just formed the batter
into these cute little patties,
and I fried them in a little
bit of sunflower seed oil
for about 4-5 minutes on each side
until they were nice and crispy.
For the vegan sour cream,
I added some soft tofu,
lemon juice,
a little bit of a neutral oil,
and some salt,
and then I just blended it up
until it was smooth and creamy.
I normally would use cashews
to make vegan sour cream
but those were too
expensive for my budget,
so I went with tofu instead.
And for under $1 per serving,
these fritters were so
flavorful and delicious,
and I would definitely make them again.
- [Will] For lunch, I made a BLT
using Benevolent Bacon.
But I added arugula instead of lettuce,
so that makes it a BAT.
So, what you're gonna do,
you're gonna get your cast iron skillet
and put a little coconut oil in there,
and add about 4-6 pieces
of the vegan bacon.
And you're gonna get it
crispy and brown on each side,
just like that.
Look at that. You see how crispy it is?
And then I get some wheat bread
and I add me some vegan mayo
to each side of the bread
because I like vegan mayo.
Then add some fresh tomatoes.
See, I actually got
these out of my garden.
You gonna put about three
pieces of bacon on each side,
and that adds up to about $1.50,
so this was a really good, tasty lunch.
And also, just think about it,
if you go to a restaurant,
this will cost you about $12
and who wants to spend $12? Uh, not me!
When you can make you a BAT at home!
How 'bout that?
- [Mei] For lunch, I'm making
a vegan omelet using Just Egg.
First, I'm sauteing some
fresh broccoli and peppers
with a couple of Field Roast sausages.
I wanted to make sure that these were
cooked all the way through when
I put them into the omelet.
Then I coated my pan with some avocado oil
and added about 1/3 of
the container of Just Egg.
I've never used Just Egg before
so there was a bit of
a learning curve here
but we made it work.
Then I'm adding in my veggies and sausage,
and topping that with
Miyoko's vegan cheddar.
I used to love eggs before I became vegan
and it's honestly been pretty hard to find
a good substitute.
I've heard great things about Just Egg
but it always seemed a
little pricey for me,
so getting to try it for this
video was super exciting,
'cause, don't get me wrong,
I love a good tofu scramble,
but it's not the same.
But, oh my god, Just Egg blew me away.
I would have sworn I was eating real eggs
if I hadn't had made this myself.
I paired this with some avocado toast
and had by far the best
lunch I've had in a while.
- [Rachel] For dinner, I
made some hearty vegan chili.
I decided to use dried beans in this chili
because they were the cheapest option.
Where I live, I can usually
find a can of beans for about $1
but I realized I can make
the same amount of beans
when I use dried for about half the price.
I just let those cook for about an hour
and then they were ready to go.
Then to a big pot, I
added a little bit of oil
and one diced yellow onion.
And I just stirred that up
until it was translucent.
Then I added some minced garlic
and I let that cook
for a few more minutes.
Then my spices, which were chili powder,
cumin powder,
paprika,
salt,
and a little bit of cayenne for some heat.
Then I sauteed this again to
activate the spices in the oil.
Then I added in my beans from earlier
and some fire-roasted diced tomatoes.
Then I added some frozen yellow corn,
because I love corn and it's cheap,
and some vegetable broth
using some veggie bouillon.
If you wanna make this even cheaper,
you can make your own vegetable broth
by saving up your vegetable peelings
and then boiling and straining them.
Then I brought this all to a boil,
reduced it to a simmer,
and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
Now, normally, I would add some
baked and seasoned tofu
crumbles to this chili,
but I was trying to keep
it to about $1 per serving
so I decided to go with some TVP instead.
TVP is just soy flour
that's had the fat removed.
And when you rehydrate it in a liquid,
it has a great meaty texture.
So I just let this cook for
about another 15 minutes
to let the crumbles fully rehydrate,
and then I served it with
some of that tofu sour cream from earlier.
And it's a great example
that vegan cooking
does not have to cost you a lot of money.
- [Will] For dinner,
I made my famous Nashville
hot not-chicken sammich.
First, you're gonna start
off with some almond milk
and you're gonna add some lemon juice;
that's how we gonna make
our vegan buttermilk.
Then you're gonna whisk it around,
then you're gonna add some
pickle brine for flavor,
and then a little bit
of Louisiana hot sauce,
and then aquafaba. Mm-hmm.
And then you're gonna
stir it around real good.
This gonna be a marinade.
And then you're gonna put some mushrooms
in another fresh, clean bowl,
you're gonna situate them around here,
then you're gonna put that marinade over,
and then you're gonna sit
it away in the refrigerator
for about 2-4 hours.
And then, next, you're
gonna get another bowl
and you're gonna mix some flour,
and then you're gonna
add some pink sea salt,
and then you're gonna add
a little garlic powder,
and then you're gonna add a little pepper,
then you're gonna mix it around.
Then you're gonna coat your
mushrooms in your flour,
then you're gonna coat your
mushrooms in your marinade.
You're gonna do that two times.
And then, if you have a wire rack,
you're gonna let these sit out and dry
for about 10-15 minutes.
And then, next, in your cast iron skillet,
you're gonna mix a little
butter and coconut oil,
and then you're gonna
mix some cayenne pepper,
and garlic powder,
pink sea salt,
and some black pepper,
and some brown sugar.
And then you gonna cook it on medium heat
until the butter and
the coconut oil melts.
And then you're gonna add
your mushrooms to your skillet
and you gonna fry 'em up real
good until they're crispy.
And then you gonna allow
'em to cool on a nice plate.
And then you're gonna
brush 'em with the sauce.
That's gonna give it that nice,
natural, hot, spicy taste.
And then I like to drizzle
me some agave on it.
And look how good that looks,
I mean, I've made this for so many people
and people love it because of
the crispy... the texture...
because it reminds them of
even something really tasty
but also healthy
and flavorful.
Mm.
You gotta add your little
sweet butter pickles on the top
and then remember to add your
little Louisiana hot sauce
for some more flavor, some added heat.
And you'll be good!
Hope y'all enjoy!
- [Mei] For dinner, I'm making a chili mac
using Beyond beef.
First, I'm making a spice
mixture of cornstarch,
chili powder, oregano,
paprika, and salt and pepper.
Then I'm salting some water,
bringing that to a boil,
and adding in two cups
of Banza chickpea pasta.
I went with this brand
because it's a great source of protein
that you don't normally
get with regular pasta.
I'm cooking this for a little less time
than the package says
because it's gonna
finish cooking later on.
About a minute before the pasta's ready,
I'm adding in some broccoli to blanch that
before putting the rest
of the dish together.
Pour those into a strainer
and rinse with cold water to
stop them from overcooking.
Next, I'm adding some oil into a big pot
and then adding half of a white onion
and three cloves of minced garlic.
Once those have had a chance to soften,
I'm adding in one pound
of Beyond ground beef.
I've had Beyond burgers
at restaurants before
and I love them but I've
never gotten it for myself
because it's honestly pretty expensive.
Cooking this stuff was crazy though;
it cooks just like the real thing.
It was kinda scary how legit it looked.
Once it looked well-cooked,
I added in the cornstarch
and spice mixture,
and one cup of both vegetable
broth and almond milk.
Then I added in the pasta and broccoli,
a little more cornstarch to thicken it up,
and about a cup a half
of Miyoko's cheddar.
I've tried a lot of vegan cheeses
but I've found that
Miyoko's, in particular,
melts super well compared to other brands
and it was perfect for this recipe.
I used to love things like
this before I was vegan
and especially being a
relatively new vegan,
having these meat and cheese alternatives
that are so close to the real thing
makes the transition a lot easier.
This dish turned out so well.
I shared it with my roommates,
who aren't even vegan,
and they said they
would have never guessed
that it wasn't real meat and
cheese if I didn't tell them,
so, I would say this was a success.
Even though some of these
ingredients were pretty expensive,
buying and cooking with
these products is still
way cheaper than going out to eat.
So, maybe splurging every now and then
isn't such a bad thing.
(upbeat music)
