Free Vegan Apps

There are a lot of apps on the market designed to make going vegan easier. Here is a list of some free ones that are pretty cool. Great for new vegans who need a little help.

1. 21-Day Vegan Kickstart - This app maps out the first 21 days of being vegan with recipes as well as suggestions on what to order at restaurants. It includes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, and Dessert.
2. Animal Free - This is basically a dictionary of all questionable ingredients. They tell you if weird ingredients like “Isinglass” or “Glucose Isomerate” is vegetarian, vegan or neither. It’s a nice little pocket dictionary specifically for shopping vegan.
3. Whole Foods Market Recipes - This app lets you put in what type of meal you want (dinner, soups, breads, etc.)  Then you can actually put in a “budget” option to find you inexpensive meals! After that you put in any dietary restrictions and the app finds recipes for you to choose from. Once you decide on a recipe, the app creates a shopping list for you!
   There is also an option where you type in what you have in your kitchen, and the recipe finder will find a meal to match the ingredients you already have.
4. The Eatery - This isn’t specifically a vegan app but it’s a great way to stick to a vegan diet if you’re worried about falling off the wagon. What you do is you snap photos of your food and people rate them healthy or unhealthy. There is no exact science to this app, but if you get friends to join in it can be helpful.
   First you tell them you’re eating vegan from now on and you agree to use The Eatery. Then you make a point to update every meal. This makes you accountable for what you eat and will make it less likely for you to “cheat”. It’s also fun to read comments and see what scores you get.

Bubble and Squeakless Brunch Recipe

While the British aren’t well known for their culinary contributions, they do know how to make some cheap food, and this one is actually pretty good. In the photo above you can see our brunch from today: bubble and squeak with homemade baked beans and a tomato/onion salsa. (the coke in the background is definitely not mine…)
Typically you fry the cabbage and potato cakes in a pan of oil, this makes bubbling and squeaking sounds (where the name comes from), I chose to bake rather than fry for my version of this recipe hence where the cheap vegan name comes from.
This recipe was also traditionally made using the leftovers from a big roast the night before. Feel free to throw in some left overs you have in the fridge. Bubble and Squeak also commonly has peas, carrots, or brussel sprouts in them.

What you need:
Cabbage - $1 a head
Red Potatoes - $2 for bag of about 10
Tomatoes - $1.50 for 4 tomatoes
Red onions - $2 for a bag of about 8
Vegetable Bouillon - $3 for 8 large cubes (optional, you can use salt)
BBQ Sauce - about $2 depending on brand
(cheap trick, as for BBQ sauce at take away restaurants instead of buying your own)
**these prices are an estimated conversion from Euros
The ingredients used in this meal for 2 people only costs about $2 total!

Bubble and Squeakless
for 2 people
4 Red Potatoes (small/medium sized)
1/2 head of cabbage
1/4 large vegetable bouillon cube
1/4 onion (diced)
Splash of oil

1. Bake potatoes in oven until soft (you can also boil but this leeches nutrients out of the potato)
2. Chop 1/2 head lettuce into thin slices, be sure to wash off all the dirt. Put a small splash of oil in a frying pan and add onion and cabbage.
   (If you’re like me and only have 1 smaller sized pan just cabbage slowly, it will cook down)
3. Check on potatoes, when soft, mash and let cool.
4. When cabbage is a little bit softer and coated with a little oil and water from cooking, add 1/4 of bouillon cube, depending on the brand of bouillon you will either need to add water to melt cube or you can just crumble it on top.
5. Mix cabbage and potatoes together, once cool enough to touch, form in to multiple small cakes or 1 large cake about 1 inch thick and put them on greased baking sheet. Bake until brown.

Baked Beans

This isn’t your typical Bush’s baked beans (though you can just use a can if you prefer)

1. Once you have soaked and cooked your beans, just add a little BBQ sauce, a splash of pureed tomato (about 1/2 tomato), and some thyme if you have it, and bake in the oven. Include a some of the bean water for a nice creamy sauce.

Tomato/onion salsa

1. Dice 2 tomatoes and 1/4 of an onion and add them together. Add salt to taste.

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This is a great warm comforting food to make when you’re stuck in the house all day. It’s also made almost entirely whole food ingredients, making this a healthier choice for a big brunch.