Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Not unlike my thread about cheap vegan snacks from mainstream companies in normal, everyday grocery stores but this time it's for meals.

Rules:
-Has to be from a relatively mainstream company
-Must be available at regular grocery stores (not TJ's, WF's or health food stores)
-Must be cheap (that rules out every Amy's product, ever)
-Must be for lazy people (it doesn't take long to cook, etc)

I'll start!
Healthy Choice frozen meals- Asian Potstickers and Vegetable Teriyaki. You can get them for about $2, maybe $3 and it's in the regular frozen section.
Healthy Choice canned (and microwaveable cup) soup- Country Vegetable and Garden Vegetable.
Progresso Soup- Lentil, 99% Fat Free Lentil, Garden Vegetable, Vegetarian Vegetable with Barley.

There's a bunch of Uncle Ben's microwaveable packets of rice medleys that are vegan as well. I don't have a list of which ones yet, though. Some even have quinoa in them.

Original Pillsbury Crescent rolls!

Is Thai Kitchen mainstream/inexpensive enough? Their Sesame noodle stir-fry is delicious and I've found it in every grocery store around here, although I live in an area with a relatively high Asian population, so your mileage may vary in, say, Kansas.

Lipton Sidekicks Singapore noodles and Asian Curry noodles are good too (side note - is it possible to get more vague than "Asian Curry"?). I'm pretty sure that there are other vegan flavours but I can't remember them offhand right now.

Bowl Noodle spicy kimchee flavour.

Um. What does it say about me that all the ones I'm familiar with instant noodles?

Thai Kitchen is fine! Are these all dry or are any canned/frozen/refrigerated? The kimchee Bowl Noodle is vegan? I thought it had fish in it? Maybe I'm thinking of another brand.

These are all dry. The kimchee Bowl Noodle is definitely vegan - at least the last package I bought was. But I still check the ingredients every time I buy them because there are so many brands that it gets confusing, and you never know when they might change a recipe.

I'm sure there's lots more, but right off the top of my head are Near East mixes for pilaf, tabbouleh, etc. (http://www.neareast.com/#home), and frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets!

Zatarains! The gumbo, dirty rice, red beans and rice, black beans and rice, and Spanish rice are all vegan

Hormel vegetarian chili- love this stuff.

original Bisquick mix!

Heinz canned spaghetti. It seems easy enough to find in the little International sections of most supermarkets. Sometimes it's expensive though--price seems to vary hugely.

It's good with a bunch of nooch added to make it cheesy.

Some of the Liptons quick spanish or Mexican rice mixes are vegan, but I never remember which. That + can of refried beans + tortilla + whatever else I have is a great lazy taco or burrito.

The Amy's burritos are a filling lunch for me. Those are often on sale, or else only 2.59.

Fantastic Foods sloppy joe mix.

My favorite lazy lunch for a couple of days: couscous, can of chick peas, bottled salad dressing of some sort, lettuce, on a tortilla. I mix it up in a big bowl and just scoop out enough for wraps each day.

Fantastic Foods, I think all of their mixes are vegan and they're all great.
Near East, same deal
not exactly mainstream, but every Indian-flavored ramen I've ever seen (usually called things like "spicy masala" flavor)
Vegetarian baked beans, many brands
non-frosted pop tarts, but I haven't seen them around much anymore
Stacy's pita chips (I don't love these), almost all brands of tortilla chips, salsa, and hummus
Oreos, pecan sandies, the new Walgreens store brand fig newtons (brand is called something like True or Good?)
also maybe not mainstream (but it is around here), the vast majority of the kosher food section, including chicken and beef flavored soup mixes and dried noodle soups, and huge quantities of awesome weirdo Israeli snack foods (bamba!)
potato bread

Nissin Top Ramen (Oodles of Noodles) ORIENTAL flavor. The one with the blue package. As far as I know it is the only vegan flavor. So cheap, so bad, but oh so good.

This one gets me all of the time. There's one that's "Oriental" and another that's "Oriental Flavor" or something like that, each in identical packaging, each by the same company, one is vegan and the other is not.

I've never seen the non vegan one. I almost never find the vegan ones either for that matter. They always have the Maruchan brand flavor in oriental, which is not vegan. I went out of state and found the Top Ramen at a random gas station and brought a few back with me. They are gone now though.

How could I have forgotten to mention this? Also: Heinz baked beans and Campbell's tomato soup (both major favorites with my kids).

Same for me. You gotta be careful not to get the maruchan brand. It is a little hard to find the Nissin oriental flavor, but we are lucky to have a few stores nearby that sell them, and usually buy a lot of packs when we see them so I'm kept in a constant supply of the fattening ramen goodness.

Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I mix in some frozen cauliflower.

exactly, the one i always can find has beef extract in it :(

i always throw the seasoning packet away and just eat the noodles. you can eat them raw like crackers.

The Keebler Jumbo Fudge Sticks, but ONLY the Jumbo ones that come in a box. The small ones that come in a plastic sleeve are not vegan, for whatever reason.

Mejier isn't a national chain, but if you're in the midwest and you see one, they have their own store organic brand, off the top of my head the thing from that I buy the most is their variety of flavored refried beans, like lime jalapeno and roasted red jalapeno. Brian and I often use those to make lazy bean and 'cheese' quesadillas.

I found some spanish rice in a can that ended up being vegan - I think it was Old El Paso? It wasn't great, but I wouldn't kick it out of bed for being as easy to make as it is (open can, dump in bowl, heat, slurp).

I haven't seen those Asian Potstickers around here in forever!

One of the cheap ramen brands has a chili lime flavor that is vegan. The albertsons near my house has it.
Also: good to know about the zatarains! Best seasoned rice packets ever.

ahh! I want!

Frozen Amy's entrees are now in Target (mainstream) and they have some vegan entrees for about $3. The new light spaghetti and faux meatballs, the enchiladas and the tamale. Not super cheap, but not $5+ each like I usually see in the supermarkets. It's cheap enough for me, ms. supercheapchicki to grab a couple and keep in the freezer for emergencies.

Also Gaiden is in Target, and their beefless tips and mandarin chicken are always $3.99/bag. Again, not super cheap, but cheaper than a supermarket!

I thought none of the light and lean ones were vegan.