Low Cal Veg meals on a college budget??

I'm in the same situation. Feel free to look at my diary for some inspiration!

Get a large can of tomato soup and add a bag of frozen mixed veggies to it. You'll have about 3 filling meals. It's a bit high in sodium but it's cheap!

I also like to spread hummus on a tostada, add about 1/8 cup of shredded cheese and microwave. Top with shredded lettuce and salsa. A package of tostadas and a carton of hummus makes at least a dozen of these.

agreed! need new easy low cal recipes!

Low carb large tortilla (60 calories)
1/3 cup black beans (74 calories)
1/4 RoTel (or generic grocery store version) (10 calories)
1/4 cup Texturized Vegetable Protein (80 calories) seasoned with 2 tsp Taco seasoning (15 calories)
Shredded Lettuce (5 calories)

244 calories for a very filling burrito.. I had this last night and it was awesome. Canned beans and tomatoes are very inexpensive, and TVP ends up being pretty cheap because you get so many servings out of a package. You can add cheese, take away beans, whatever you want. And hot sauce is low or no calorie if you want it spicy.
Make sure you look online for how to properly prepare TVP if you don't already know.

LENTILS (dried in the bag) Don't need to be soaked, like most other dried beans need to be soaked.

When I was in college I put up a pot of brown rice, add lentils, and veg. (fresh or frozen) Usually, carrots, onions, garlic and something green. Simmer that on the stove for about 20-25 minutes and everything is done.

I also used to get TOFU from the green grocer (till I found out I was allergic) and stir fry up some veg, then add the tofu and some sauce.

In college I lived on Hard boiled EGGS, CARROTS, PEANUTBUTTER, WHOLE WHEAT BREAD and unsweetened ICED TEA
(okay, there were some ramen noodles in there to, but I can hardly call them "clean" never use the packet that came and always added some veg.)

SWEET POTATOES are one of my new favorites. I used to do this with a white potato but it could work with sweet and give you a lot more bang for your buck nutritionally.

One thinly sliced potato, a 10 oz pack of spinach- drained, and some slices of muenster cheese.
Layer it all in an oven-proof dish and bake for about 30 minutes, until potato was cooked thru and the cheese brown and bubbly.

(okay, I was in college before anyone heard of a microwave, but you probably could zap it until the potatoes are cooked, add the last layer of cheese on top and stick in a hot oven for 5 minutes or so to melt and brown it up.)

Potato + Cheese = a complete protein and spinach is your veg

Get you spaghetti squash. Cut in half. Remove seeds. Salt, pepper to taste. Put 1/2 in the microwave with the cut end facing down for 11 minutes on high.
Take out and scratch the insides out with a fork. Top with canned spaghetti sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

Or, just the grated parmesan cheese.

I eat this a couple of times a week. It is easy to take and make at work. I pour the spaghetti sauce in an ice cube tray and put in freezer till frozen. Pop them all into a ziplock bag and store in freezer. Take 3 out and heat in microwave as needed. About 30 calories for all three.

The other half of the squash can be stored in the fridge for about a week.

Hope you give it a try. I think you will like it.

I would recommend this recipe for you. I use it for work lunches - you don't really need the curry paste which adds to the cost.
The spices I buy at a store with a bulk section which is cheaper than the jarred, and I but the red lentils from the bulk bins. It's better if the ginger and garlic are added in with the onions, and throw some frozen green beans or spinach in.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/red-lentil-curry/detail.aspx

I just found this website today, someone else posted it on a different message board. Looks like she's got a lot of vegetarian recipes.

http://www.poorgirleatswell.com

Lentils, beans and frozen veggies! There are so many possibilities! One of my favorites is my chili that I use garlic, onions, jalepeno, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper powder, black beans, kidney beans, chili beans (make sure they are veggie style), canned tomato, low sodium vegetable broth, and frozen corn. I cook the garlic and onions in the smallest amount of olive oil until they have a beautiful color on them, add the jalepeno, then add a whole bunch of chili powder (like a tablespoon or so), cumin (teaspoonish) and cayenne pepper (as much as you'd like) and the canned tomatoes and cook until almost all of the tomato liquid is gone. Add the vegetable broth and scape all that yumminess out of the bottom of the pan. Add the black and kidney beans (rinse first) and chili beans, frozen corn - season more and let cook for a half hour and eat from there (with a small amoutn of low fat cheese and FF sour cream if you eat dairy) or serve over the smallest pile of lentils. Delicious and cheap!