I’m not just cheap, I’m also lazy. Which is probably why I enjoy the work by the youtuber Cheap Lazy Vegan.

You see, most recipes are a turn off. If there are too many steps to a process, too many ingredients, or ingredients that are too specialized, I just won’t attempt it. I’m not really much of a cook and I resent the time spent in the kitchen.

Which is why I considered going raw. You know, cut open a melon, eat with a spoon. Rinse spoon and knife, compost the rind. Easy peasy.

But I live in the frozen North. Even when produce is to be found (and most farmer’s markets are seasonal), it might not keep you warm or satiated. Though I may not like to cook, I DO love me the eating aspect of food.

I like to eat a lot of calories and, as I said before, I’m cheap.

The cheapest way to eat a lot of calories on a vegan diet is to include starches (and also legumes, legumes are dirt cheap). Things like wheat, rice, potatoes, and so on.

So, taking my motivation and my financial constraints into mind, I think I’ve discovered a method for keeping me well fed.

Enter again, Cheap Lazy Vegan. I didn’t just use her name for inspiration, she introduced me to the idea of batch cooking and meal prepping. What a wonderful concept! Cook once, eat three times (or 4 or 5). I can even enjoy more whole food options with less work.

Today, I played a little with this concept. I think cooking batch lunches every 3 days will suit my schedule and tolerance for repetition nicely. Also, I have, like, 2 bento-style tupperware and I’m cheap, so I’m not buying more until I test this theory out.

And I called upon another great resource, Jo Stepaniak’s book Low-FODMAP and Vegan (I’ll explain more about this book in another post, but for now, we’ll just focus on one idea from it).

She, Jo, talks about simple meal planning through “Bliss Bowls”. You combine 4 ingredients from 4 categories and this allows you to create a lot of diverse meals (Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m not just cheap and lazy, I also lack imagination in the kitchen). The four categories are:

Grain or starch. Examples are rice, quinoa, millet, polenta.

Protein. Such as tofu, chickpeas, lentils, seitan, and meat substitutes.

Veggies. Um, you know. Vegetables.

Sauce and/or seasonings. Salt, pepper, vegan mayo, soy sauce, and so on.

Variation on a theme could potentially keep “Bliss Bowls” continuously interesting.

Today’s combination resulted in about 1 cup rice, 1/4 cup chickpeas, 1/4 cup spinach, 1/4 cup sweet potato (really a starch more than a vegetable, but nice and filling), Salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds (yay, protein!) for each meal. Not a gourmet’s concoction, I know, but this should do me fine.

So let me know. How do you solve the I don’t wanta cook issue? Post in the comments below!

Until next time, keep that talk walking!