Vegetarian on a budget: Baked veggie eggrolls

I like the idea of eggrolls. Delicious food wrapped in delicious dough - it's like a tiny bean-less cheese-less rice-less burrito. What I don't like about eggrolls is that they are often tasteless, filled with vegetables I don't like, dripping with grease and too crunchy (or not crunchy enough?).

The solution, of course, is to make my own eggrolls. These are a little time-consuming, but easy and healthy. 

The most difficult part is finding eggroll wrappers. If you have Chinatown or an Asian foods store nearby, look for SpringHome brand (on the right). If you don't have access to these, almost every supermarket carries the Nasoya brand(on the left). These are usually located in a refrigerated aisle next to veggie hot dogs, fancy salad dressings, and tofu. 

The filling can be anything you want it to be, but if you want to go the traditional route, here are the basics for your shopping list:

Vegetarian on a budget: Stuffed bell peppers

Sometimes you want to cook something delicious and filling, but don't want to go grocery shopping and get specialty ingredients that are too expensive or won't get used up before their expiration date (I still have a mostly full half-gallon of milk left over from Russian pancakes I made over a week ago). 

Here is the answer to all of your financial and gustatory problems - stuffed peppers. This dish is incredibly versatile, as you can stuff said peppers with virtually anything you have around the house. Here is the basic recipe - feel free to experiment with it to make it your own. 

Ingredients (essential)

Bell peppers of any color (green are usually the cheapest)
Rice, or any other grain of your choice
A can of diced tomatoes (regular tomatoes or even tomato paste will do in a pinch)

Ingredients (non-essential)

Fake meat
Mushrooms
Eggplant
Beans
Any vegetable or protein you have lying around the house
Cheese (for topping)

Vegetarian on a budget: Fast food edition

Both vegetarian blogs and eating on a budget blogs never fail to mention cooking rice and beans within the first paragraph. I’d like to address the basics later on, but start off with  something different. One issue that vegetarians (and especially newly converted vegetarians) continually run into is the lack of options in fast food, which can make life more complicated. When you are tired and in no mood to cook after work, the temptations of fast food can easily sway you. Here’s a list of vegetarian-friendly fast food places where you can eat animal-free and guilt-free.

Taco Bell – my personal favorite. Many vegetarian and vegan options all over the menu. Though the only thing with actual vegetables you can get comes from the Cantina menu and costs just under $6, several options exist for $1-$2.

• ·         Loaded potato griller (make sure to ask for no bacon)
• ·         Bean burrito
• ·         Crispy potato soft taco
• ·         Cheesy potato burrito

Depending on your location and promotions at the time, other items may be available with potato or beans instead of meat as the primary filling.

Burger King – though off the menu most of the time, Burger King has been offering a Morningstar-brand veggie burger for a few years now for the same  price as their other burgers.

Subway – you can get two vegetarian sandwiches at Subway – eggplant parmesan, and veggie patty. The patties are not particularly flavorful, but you can load up on vegetables and add a little zing either with jalapenos or with Sriracha sauce (may be promotional and dependent on location).