Monday, October 1, 2012

VeganMoFo VI: Top Shelf Ramen


Welcome to MoFo day one!  The first six days of this blog are going to be dedicated to eating on a budget.  I am swimming in receipts right now from shopping over the weekend, but the goal is to keep my food tab under $12.  I'll have little cost break downs and all that goodness.

There are only two rules for this: I can use whatever I have in my pantry already AND I have to up the cheap game.

So, I decided to start out with the brokest of broke ass meals...ramen.  This, especially, hits home for me because I used to live off of these things.  All I'm doing is adding a little love to it, in order to make a 20 cent soup into something my mom would be proud of.

The basics: As far as I know, Nissin Oriental flavor is the only accidentally vegan ramen if we're talking crusty grocery store packs.  I never use those flavor packets, though, because they have a ridic amount of sodium.  Instead I make my own broth.  It's a combo of sesame oil, garlic, ginger, crushed pepper, soy sauce, and vegetable base.

Ginger, garlic, pepper time!
The rest of the ramen comes together with stuff in my kitchen.  Here's a breakdown of what I used for my meal.

What I Had:
vegetable broth base
soy sauce
garlic
crushed red pepper
sesame oil
frozen mixed veggies

What I Bought (price based on amount used):
Tofu-$0.25
Ginger-$0.02
Cilantro-$0.10
Ramen-$0.20
Lime-$0.08

TOTAL MEAL COST: $0.65

This ain't yo mama's ramen
I said hot damn!  Veganism is soooo expensive, y'all!  Those suckas have no idea, do they?

15 comments:

GiGi said...

My brokeass digs this .65 cent meal. Hey welcome back. I read your past post, and I am so sorry for all the stuff you have been through. Depression and loss of a beloved doggie sucks. Sending you gentle hugs, and .67 cents for your next meal...um that's my two cents.

Kelly said...

That totally doesn't look like a 65 cent meal. Ramen forevah!

Jes said...

I kinda miss Ramen and hear ya about being broke as a joke :( But your Ramen looks so dang good!!! I might have to swipe some of my hubs' Ramen and make this!

Joey said...

Poshing up a packet ramen is such a good idea. Any time someone tells me vegan meals need loads of complicated, expensive ingredients, I'm sending them your way!

Rachel Hallows said...

I actually kinda love what you've done with this! It looks so fresh and tasty!

When I was young, we used to make what my neighbour called "Po' Man's Meal" - a box of white cheddar mac & cheese with a packet of ramen. It fed everyone at the D&D game. It was amazing. I almost wish I could make a vegan version.

T said...

That looks so good! I love the idea of souped-up storebought. Pure comfort food.

River said...

That's quite a challenge, and you totally rocked that ramen! Happy MoFo! :)

panda with cookie said...

That looks like some good ramen. Tofu! Fancy.

Jenny said...

Great idea!

x said...

Mmm, we have something similar called 2 minute noodles but I haven't eaten since I was a kid. Your version looks 100x better, Mo!

Fanny said...

Hi Mo! First of all, I love your blog and are happy that you're back, even though you've for sure have had some rough time recently. I'm sorry for that and can just hope that you will be OK and even great soon.

Also, this dish looks great!

Anonymous said...

Love it! We add our own broth and veg to ramen noodles already, but this particular combo sounds so good.

Anonymous said...

That looks so good. Ramen noodles are so fun, I like making my own spices too.

Andrea said...

I need to make things like that!
Cheap and tasty.

Anonymous said...

Fancying up the basics is the best. And anyone who says they don't like ramen is almost definitely lying to cover up some sort of insecurity. Whatcha got against cheap, instant, curly noodles?