Breakfast
Pistachio Ice Cream
serves 2 ~ $1.19
1 ripe avocado ($.88)
4 ripe bananas ($.60)
2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ($.20)
pinch salt
1/4 cup pistachios ($.50)
Fruit and nuts. That’s all this is, but it feels like a treat … and I think it makes a perfect breakfast.
In a food processor with the “S” blade, puree the avocado, bananas, agave, vanilla, and salt until very smooth. This will take a few minutes. Process in an ice cream maker until the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Fold in the pistachios and freeze until firm.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, just freeze the puree and stir every half hour or so until it’s firm, adding the pistachios just before firm.
calories: 552
fat: 22 gr
carbs: 92 gr
protein: 8 gr
Lunch
Garden Salad with Sweet Onion Dressing
serves 2 ~ $2.13 per serving
1/2 head romaine ($.95)
1/2 bunch (or bag) spinach ($1.50)
12 radishes ($1.00)
2 medium onions ($.30)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
3 tablespoons agave or agave ($.30)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
There was an onion dressing I remember using a long time ago and I thought maybe I’d try to replicate it to go with this salad of greens, radishes and onions. It was perfect.
For the dressing, puree 1/2 onion, the garlic, agave, olive oil, salt, black pepper and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. It can be hard to make this in such a small batch because the blender just doesn’t work on such small amounts. I get around that by using a pint sized canning jar attached to the blade part of my blender. But, you could easily double or triple the amount and it should store in the fridge for at least a few days.
The salad is just the romaine and spinach tossed with thinly slices radishes and onions and topped with the onion dressing and some more red pepper flakes.
calories: 280
fat: 15 gr
carbs: 38 gr
protein: 5 gr
Jalapeno Poppers
10 poppers ~ $.24 per popper
5 jalapeno peppers ($.49)
1 medium onion, minced ($.15)
1 tablespoon olive oil ($.10)
crushed red pepper flakes
Basic Nut Cheez
1 cup nuts, soaked and dehydrated ($1.60)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup water for blending
My son was trying to entice me the other day with some jalapeno poppers. I admit they did look good, but I knew I could make a raw and dairy free version that would just as yummy. AND I had a whole bag full of jalapenos in the fridge.
I started by making a batch of nut cheez. I used soaked and dehydrated walnuts here, but I imagine that some macadamia nuts would be good as well. In a blender, puree the nuts and all other nut cheez ingredients for a few minutes, until smooth and very creamy. Wrap in cheese cloth and let drain over a colander. Set a plate on top of the cheez and weight it with something. I used a can of coffee. Let drain overnight.
Slice the jalapenos in half, remove the seeds and ribs, and very lightly toss with olive oil. Dehydrate for a few hours until slightly softened (I actually liked them both ways, dehydrated as well as just fresh). Then fill with nut cheez and garnish with minced onion and crushed red pepper flakes. Put in the dehydrator for another few hours to warm, if desired.
Dinner
Vegetable Noodle Stew
serves 2 ~ $1.66 per serving
1 ripe avocado ($.88)
2 tomatoes ($1.00)
4 carrots ($.50)
1 onion, finely diced ($.05)
3 stalks celery, finely diced ($.30)
1 medium zucchini ($.59)
1 1/2 cup water for blending
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes
olive oil for drizzling
This is my new addiction. Maybe it’s the cold, rainy weather we’ve been having, but right now this is almost better than chocolate. Is there anything really better than chocolate?
I still have a freezer half full of frozen tomatoes from my garden last year, and I’ve used them here. In season, we sell our veganic tomatoes two for a dollar straight out of our garden and that’s the price I’ve used here. It’s quite a low price, but it’s such a fulfilling thing to grow food. This time of year, though, tomatoes are quite expensive in the stores. I talk about freezing and preserving produce for raw in my ebook, which is available to the right. I’ve really gotten a lot out of our raw, frozen produce this winter.
In a blender, puree until smooth the avocado, tomatoes, carrots, half the onion, and two stalks of celery. Add as much water as you like to create the desired consistency. I made mine thick and it was very much like a stew. Finely dice the other half of the onion and the remaining celery. Slice the zucchini into noodles using a vegetable slicer or spiral slicer. I slice the zucchini lengthwise and then use a vegetable peeler to shave off fettuccine sized noodles.
Divide the soup between bowls, salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the diced onion and celery and the noodles. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of olive oil and some red pepper flakes, if desired. Extra yumminess can be had by marinating the zucchini noodles for a few hours using equal parts olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and agave as a marinade.
calories: 292
fat: 15 gr
carbs: 38 gr
protein: 8 gr
Dessert
Apple Cinnamon Cookies
makes 12 pieces ~ $.20 each
1 cup walnuts ($1.00)
1/2 cup dehydrated apple slices, about 2 small apples ($.80)
1/2 cup dehydrated banana slices, about 3 medium fresh ($.45)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla ($.15)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
pinch of salt
coconut flakes for rolling
I wanted something fast and easy, but spicy and warm … and something other than chocolate! I’ll never bore of chocolate, but every once in a while it’s nice to change things around.
This is so simple and takes about 5 minutes to make, not including the dehydrating time. Peel and slice the apples and bananas and dehydrate for several hours, or overnight. They should be leathery and pliable, not crisp.
In a food processor with an “S” blade, process the nuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and pinch of salt. Pulse to start, then let process for a few minutes until the mixture starts to stick together. Scoop out using a tablespoon or other rounded scooper and roll into a ball shape. Press into coconut flakes.
calories: 105
fat: 12 gr
carbs: 10 gr
protein: 4 gr
Total cost for the day: $5.38
total calories: 1,334
total fat: 76 gr
total carb: 188 gr
total protein: 29 gr
calories: 280
Just discovered your wonderful blog – what an excellent idea this is, exactly what I was seeking for!! Plus, everything looks so yummy 🙂
Bless you, Sam xxx
icecream for breakfast! why not?! 🙂
Ummmmm you're pretty awesome. Seriously, this is something I have been thinking about for awhile: how to lay it all out so its affordable, creative and good. You have a gift with these awesome recipes and pictures, don't hide that under a bushel basket, seriously! Keep it up girl!
Very good day. Nice short article. It all appears great