Easy, Affordable Vegetarian Meals for the Weekend

This past weekend consisted of the husband and I making our way from our small, shore town community to the larger, bustling City of Philadelphia. While this would usually equal some major money being dropped, we opted for an evening visit to my twin sister and her boyfriend's (also named Rick, like my spouse) new apartment. Instead of going out to eat, the twin and I decided to do a mini-potluck. Why mini? Well, she and I were the only ones who contributed, while the boys sat and talked about aliens and the over-abundance of salt, sugar, and fat in foods. Truth.

Now onto the recipes! First up,

Vegan Tofu Dumplings

6 oz Somen Noodles (Japanese noodle) cooked as directed and drained
1 package of extra firm tofu pressed and finely chopped
Scallions sliced thin (to taste)
Ginger powder (to taste)
Garlic minced (to taste)
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 tbsp Low sodium soy sauce
1 package of wonton rounds (from Asian market, because they have about 3 ingredients)

- Mix all ingredients in a bowl, there shouldn't be excess water because the noodles will bind everything well
- Dab a tsp or two in the wonton rounds (this recipe makes a lot, so make as many as you need)

- Wet the edges of the wonton wrappers and fold/pinch
- Heat up a frying pan with some spray oil
- Brown the bottoms of the dumplings, then pour 1/4 cup water over them, cover, and steam for 5 minutes

Voila! Yum!

Vegan Shiitake Cold Noodle Salad

Disclaimer: this is my sister's recipe, and I'm going off of memory here...either way, it's something you can definitely make your own!

2 packages of shiitake noodles (rinse rinse rinse)
1 package of extra firm tofu (super pressed!)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Red Cabbage chopped thin (to taste)
Scallions (to taste)
Cilantro (to taste)
2 apples chopped into bite size pieces
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp of light soy sauce

- Cut tofu into bite size pieces, sautee, and let cool
- Combine all other ingredients
- Once tofu is cool, and it to the other ingredients and shove it in the 'fridge until you're ready for some amazing food-in-mouth fun!

All in all, a super filling dinner with some enjoyable people! Both of these recipes involve ingredients that cost under $2 a piece (save for the soy sauce, oil, and vinegar), plus it makes large portions meaning...lunch the next day!

Until the next mini-potluck!