PortlandVegan's Profile

Griffin - I purchase in bulk and keep a lot of my dried goods in jars, in the open and have not had a problem. However, I would recommend only keeping items that you will use up quickly. Their exposure to light does effect their quality. Items that I use up within a month stay out, anything that I use less frequently (flour, sugar, more exotic grain/bean/rice/nut) goes in our cupboards.

In college*
One of these days AT will add an edit button, right?

Ouch guys, why so harsh on Portlandrules? He/she isn't saying they can't find a similar product... it is just silly to do a product roundup with products you can't actually get (and this happens quite a bit on AT).

The glass DOES NOT add a lot of weight. I was using large pyrex glass containers and taking public transportation into work and running home with it in my small backpack, really not a problem. While this article doesn't exactly address it, you can absolutely eat out of the jar. You just shake it up (just like those awful McDonalds McShaker Salads), just use a regular dinner sized fork (not the shorter salad fork). Also by layering these and putting the dressing on the bottom, you don't to carry a separate small dressing container (which would occasionally end up leaking all over my lunch bag). You also only have to wash one container.

I have had my pressure cooker for about 3 months and I am so in love with it! I cook dried beans in it a couple times a week, it is also great for making your own veggie broth and soups, potatoes. Thanks for the idea for artichokes, Lillies and weffie, great idea! And ATN654, boiled peanuts great idea... how long do you boil them for with the pressure cooker?

Has anyone found these for less than $50? That is about the price that I have found them for... is that average or can I get a better deal elsewhere?

The vegan brunch book is pretty great, I second that.
I also like Camm's idea for the soup.
You should try to make many/most of your side dishes vegan. It can often be as simple as googling "vegan ______" to find a vegan recipe of your favorite side. It can be as simple as roasting carrots with olive oil instead of butter. You don't need to go out and buy special vegan cheese/sour cream. Although, soy or almond milk will be helpful for many recipes and whatever is left can be used for coffee creamer. Soup, muffins, biscuits/gravy, fruit salad, veggie salad are all great options. If you have a special traditional recipe that would be difficult to make vegan, just make your standard version and don't worry about it.
For a vegan main dish, a vegan tofu quiche or frittata would be fairly simple and can be served at room temp, so it would be an easy make ahead dish.
Even if you only have a few options I think the vegans at your table will appreciate it!

Portland, OR
Currently paying: $1030 for a 550 sq. ft, 1 bedroom, with in unit washer/dryer, and a dishwasher. This also includes utilities (not phone/internet/cable) and a $25 "pet rent". This is a newer unit with a walk score of 83. Max that we would pay would be $1100 with all utilities included. Minimum we could find in an walkable area that we like would be $900 with all utilities included... this probably wouldn't include in unit washer/dryer.

Soy curls are wayyyy better than TVP and like KristaB said, they are made from dehydrated whole soy beans. They contain no preservatives or additives. Butler Foods is the main (maybe only) company that makes them. You can read more about the soy curls on their website. You can also find locations by Country and State. http://butlerfoods.com/products/soycurls.htm
If you can't find them near you, I HIGHLY recommend you support Food Fight Grocery, they are rad.

If I had a crock pot I would definitely use that to make beans, however, I don't and instead I use the oven method from this old AT post: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-beans-a-faster-foo-102908
Chickpeas seem to take a little longer than black beans, but I like that I can stick them in the oven and continue to go about my business, I always get consistent result whereas when I use the stove top I rarely did (too mushy/too hard, never the same cooking time). I normally cook a batch of black/pinto beans and a batch of chickpeas at the same time once a week. I have tried freezing and have had success when adding the beans to soups, but when adding to hummus it ended up grainy... not sure why.
I am currently saving for a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking time and be able to cook up beans on a whim.