Being vegan doesn’t mean being expensive.
If you read our recent “Trader Joe’s 5 for $20” challenge we did with Power to the Veg last month, you saw us make delicious dinners on a budget of $20. Following a recent Buzzfeed article by Spoon University, we purchased basic, mostly whole food ingredients and we made them stretch over five days. Well, these same fine folks have created another challenge to make a week’s worth of dinners for around $30. Of course, the #p2tv crew was up for it.
Locking ourselves into only buying what we needed for dinner, we stayed with what we already had to make breakfast, lunch and any snacks. Since we’ve been drinking Shakeology for one meal a day, it made things all the easier! Meal planning was a breeze with a shopping list already set!
Another bonus is that just about all of these meals can be made in 15 minutes or less. Very little time to make some pretty delicious food to serve 2! Not bad when you spend 8-12 hours a day at work and trying to fit everything else into your day…like this blog post!
We got pretty close in the range of $30.00 to $31.50, but a couple of things to note:
- Our Trader Joe’s location was out of taco seasoning mix. Apparently, they don’t restock them often, but when they do, they sell out quick
- The corn tortillas were listed at $0.99, but they were $1.49 at our Trader Joe’s
All recipes we make will be modified for the 21 Day Fix eating plan! See, we can still have fun with food!! Let’s kick things off with tonight’s dinner of Black Bean & Butternut Squash Tacos!
These were absolutely delicious! They took no time to make, and were easy to modify without losing flavor. Carlo cooked the butternut squash and black beans in salsa versus oil. There was no added salt. We replaced the taco seasoning with chipotle powder, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder.
We realized that our avocado wasn’t ripe just yet. We went without it, and it wasn’t missed. The chopped tomato, fresh lime juice and cilantro added enough of that refreshing flavor and feeling. Yes, we did add a little hot sauce to the tacos, but that’s how we roll.
Using the corn tortillas was smart. The filling held up nicely and texture went well with everything.
This recipe is really straightforward, really delicious and a welcome addition to our collection!
Give this a try! Let us know how else you’d use butternut squash and black beans, or tell us a tip on how you save on groceries!
Until tomorrow…when we make DIY Sofrita Bowls (or Tacos)