suggestions? - Anti-consumerism Tip Requests
I'm sick of the consumerism that surrounds this time of year. I discussed with my family not giving gifts at all, or donating money to charity, or setting a spending limit, or doing a "secret santa" where everybody only buys a gift for one person, or making gifts...none of it went over too well, especially with my brothers.
Well, I still want to cut down on the amount of money and time I spend as a consumerist this year. My mother is doing weight watchers and is always complaining how difficult it is to eat right with my father around--he is always hungry and always wants to eat something high in fat and calories. She tells me she could be vegan if the rest of the family didn't make eating right so difficult for her and she always loves the food I make. She also does not have much time to cook.
So, I was thinking for Christmas I could make lots of freezable, healthy, weight-watchers friendly vegan dishes (like soups or casseroles or chilis), figure out the nutrition info on them, and give them to her as a gift. Any ideas for recipes that would work well? She is not a picky eater. Thanks for any suggestions.
Elizabeth
I've never had luck freezing anything with cooked potatoes or sauces made with cornstarch. You could make lasagna. Or a Mexican casserole. Both would freeze well & you could cut them into individual servings.
My family is resistant to giving up the gift exchange, too. A couple of years ago the gifts under my sister's tree flowed out into the middle of the room. ::) Finances must be tighter now, cuz last year they all fit nicely under the tree. :-\ Still, the amount of money she spends at the holidays boggles me.
And here's a minor gripe. My mother always starts hounding me for what we want for Christmas. She won't accept "Don't waste your money on me." So I give her a list for the two of us. Since she is on a very limited income I list low cost items. She never gets anything on the list. She spends her little bit of money on stuff we don't like or use. Why would you ask someone what they want & then completely disregard it? It wouldn't bother me so much except it is such a waste of her money, of which she has little. :-\
That is such a sweet, thoughtful, and (I think) a perfect gift for your mother. If I was doing weightwatchers/etc. I would be so grateful!
I've never really frozen foods before, but I'll try to give some ideas. . . .Maybe try doing enchiladas, made with WW tortillas, beans, nutritional yeast, sauce, etc. and freezing it. Or even burritos! Soups are always really good, like veggie soup, bean soups, etc. ...Oh, for dessert, you could try diping strawberries/bananas/fruit/etc. in dark chocolate and freezing that, I don't know if the freezing would work too wel or not though.
Anyways, I think that this is a great idea, and it really shows how much you want to encourage her through her weightwatchers.
Happy Holidays!! :)
What a great & thoughtful idea. Frozen foods is a good start & how about packages of chili's or soups that have all the bean, pasta, spices, whatever, all wrapped up in a pretty bag. All she has to do is add the liquid. I've seen them online & at mall kiosks, or you could make them up yourself. I know I'd love to get them as a gift.
I also have been trying to get the family to cut down on the amount of money spent this time of year....it doesn't mean I'm against giving. I suggested to my brothers & sister that instead of each of us buying our parents a gift, to pool our money & make a donation to one or two of their favourite charities. Their present would basically be a tax receipt. They weren't keen on the idea either but that's what I've done for them the past few years & also my 91 year old grandmother who thinks it's the coolest gift.
That is such a sweet idea! Just in case she does has time some day, you could make up recipe cards for each one with the nutrition info on the back and tape to each different dish. I agree with all of the previous suggestions for meals. Bean-based dishes like chili and burritos hold up very well in the freezer, as does lasagne. I've had good luck with bran muffins in the freezer if they are wrapped well.
I really like that giving to charity idea. I think I may suggest it to my family!
Hopfrog or anyone else that might be interested,
This is what I had in mind about packaged chili's & soups. We tried their Chuckwagon Chili (sans the meat of course) & it is very good & sooo easy....throw it in the slow cooker with a can of tomatoes & some water or tomato juice. They have vegetarian alternatives & all their stuff could easily be made vegetarian. They do ship to the U.S. :D
I liked their chili so much that I ordered a whole bunch of other products & are waiting to try them out.
http://www.beanladies.com/Default.aspx
Thanks everyone for your suggetions--keep them coming!
I hadn't thought of "gift in a jar" that was suggeted--that is a great idea. I'll probably do several of those as well as frozen stuff.
I've gone to http://www.nutritiondata.com/, where you can basically add your recipe, enter how many servings it will make, and you can get a downloadable "nutrition facts" label--I'll attach that to the foods I make.
So far, I'm thinking of making some lentil or split pea soup/dahl for the "gift in a jar" because they cook quickly. Then I'll make my favorite chili, some kind of Mexican casserole/burritos/enchiladas, some bean soups, an all-purpose marinara sauce, a dragonfly's bulk uncheese recipe to put over steamed vegetables (I'm positive she'll love that), maybe a "smoothie mix" of various frozen fruits/soy yogurt (thanks Baypuppy!) for breakfast, and either a muffin mix or the frozen batter idea. I'm going to make extra of all of this at the same time to put in my own freezer!
Baypuppy, WW basically assigns "points" to foods, and you eat your allotted points every day. I think my mom is at 22 points per day. Points are calculated using 3 factors: 1) calories 2) grams of fat 3) grams of fiber. Low in calories and fat + high in fiber=low points. The formula is easy enough, and I'll calculate the number of WW points per serving for her. My mom is happy with the program, sor far she's lost 10 pounds in 2 months.
Thanks again!
Elizabeth
What a fantastic idea! There is a vegan blogger who has followed WW for quite some time now. She has a lot of core recipes posted on her blog. I'm sure if you emailed her privately, she would also be able to give you some additional suggestions. http://judyspages.blogspot.com/index.html
Shoot! I'm so sorry, scratch that last idea. I thought she was a vegan, but she's not. That's the problem reading too many blogs! You start to get them all mixed up. :-[