By Brigette Dumais, VRG Volunteer Coordinator

I feel like I am the luckiest person in the world because my partner does all the cooking for us. When he went away for six days I had to feed myself for the first time in a while, and to my surprise I didn’t starve! Here is my advice for vegans who aren’t very talented with cooking, or are like me and aren’t always patient enough to prepare a good meal.

–         Stock up on frozen foods. Yes, I know, this is definitely not the healthiest option, but for someone like myself with “heat and eat” cooking capabilities, this is a good route. I bought Daiya Frozen Pizza, a ton of Amy’s Samosa Burritos, and vegan sausages.

–         Get some simple snacks. I ate a lot of bananas with peanut butter, hummus with crackers, coconut yogurt (mixed with nutritional yeast), vegan protein bars, chips, and cereal.

–         Ask your partner to make you frozen meals. A friend of mine has the same cooking abilities that I do, and she is also fortunate enough that her fiancé does all the cooking. Before he leaves town, he cooks her a giant lasagna and leaves it in the freezer.

–         Eat out or order in. If you can afford it, let some professional chefs do the cooking and support your local vegan restaurants.

–         Actually learn how to cook for yourself so your partner doesn’t have to do it all the time!!! I sautéed some mushrooms with garlic and rosemary and it wasn’t terrible! I overcooked the mushrooms a little bit, but I’ll do better next time.

–         Make a nice, hearty soup. All you need to do is sauté your choice of vegetables, throw them in some water or veggie broth, and let it cook on the stove top for an hour or so. The great thing about soup is you can make a lot of it at once, which will feed you for days. I recommend making a soup that contains lentils or beans. I particularly enjoy butternut squash and black bean chili. My personal favorite (and one of the only things I’m actually good at cooking) is spicy pumpkin soup. Bake a pumpkin in the oven until it is mushy (usually ~45 minutes). Peel the skin off and put it in a food processor. Put the blended pumpkin in a pot on the stove, and begin to heat it up. Mix in your choice of dairy free milk to thin the pumpkin. Add spicy peppers, ginger, and salt to taste. Let it cook for about an hour. Add rosemary and crushed black pepper as a garnish once you’ve served yourself. (Don’t cook the rosemary or black pepper in to the soup.)

–         Beans and Rice. It’s very simple to make beans and rice. Make a lot of it so you have some for a few days. Add a different vegetable on top of the beans and rice for each meal to make sure you’re getting enough food variety.

–         Tofu Scramble. Sauté onions, peppers, potatoes, garlic, and any other veggie you may want. When everything is about half way done sautéing, add crumbled tofu and turmeric. When the tofu is warmed up, it’s ready to eat.

Here are some sandwich ideas:

http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2016issue2/2016_issue2_cooking_tips.php
and quick and easy menus:

http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2003issue1/2003_issue1_quick.php

You might want to check out these recipes in our ‘One Week Vegan Menu’ also: ttp://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2005issue4/2005_issue4_lowsodium.php

Join The Vegetarian Resource Group and receive Simply Vegan, with quick and easy vegan recipes. Go to: http://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php