I eat a lot of beans and rice to save money, even did so before I was vegan, which made the typical baby vegan question of “What will I eat???” a no brainer. If you use spices and vary your beans I don’t find it gets too boring. I love curries of all kinds, especially with hearty veg like onion, potato, eggplant. I make my own seitan cold cuts fairly often, a sandwich with that, a homemade sauce, and homemade pickled veg is so good.

I have a mac and cheese recipe that I came up with myself and improved over time that I make fairly often, it’s great comfort food. Involves making a roux, then adding water, pickle brine (or vinegar), nooch, and spices. The roux is what makes it thick and creamy, the pickle brine gives it that sharp flavor that cheese has, loooots of nooch, and for spices salt obviously but things like paprika and dill are good. For the roux I use canola oil because it’s cheap and healthier, but palm or deodorized coconut or vegan butter would give the best mouthfeel because of the saturated fat. After the sauce thickens and you stir in the cooked pasta you can either serve as is or bake. It’s simple, fast, and cheap.

Going on 4 years, don’t see any reason to stop.