Over here at Live, Eat, Be Well it is everybody’s favorite day: Taco Tuesday . . . only its Sunday, but still . . . TACOS! Who doesn’t love a good taco? We love ours piled high with goodies like tomatoes and guacamole. But let’s face it avocados are expensive. Not only that but they are also really high in fat content, so you can’t eat 10 of them in one sitting. Or at least, I can’t. At the store this week, the big avocados were 1.20 per avocado. That could sky rocket the cost of meal as well as skyrocket the fat content.

“But, Heather, they are so yummy,” you say. I am totally with you. More than you could ever know. In fact, right behind oranges, I would say the lovely little avocado is my favorite food. So, when we are vegan on the cheap, we have to find an alternative. So what is on the menu for Taco Tuesday (on Sunday)?

Oat taco filling (from Oatrageous Oatmeals cookbook): It has all sorts of yummy stuff like steel cut oats and kidney beans.
Assortment of taco shells (meaning flour or corn)
Topping selection: Tomatoes, lettuce, onion
And FAKEAMOLE aka CHEAPAMOLE aka fake, cheap guacamole.

Fake guacamole? I can hear your skepticism, but trust me, just go with it. It is an avocado free guacamole-ish topping/dip. It tastes wonderful and is cheap and is low in fat. (Well practically fat-free). So it is a totally doable option.

Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyFJKGfxteA&feature=youtu.be

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Recipe: Faka-cheapa-mole
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Ingredients:
2 Garlic Cloves (minced)
1.5 cups frozen peas (thawed)
4 ounces canned diced green chilies (alternative: jalapeno or cayenne pepper)
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp. Cumin
2 TBSP onion (or to taste) (diced)
One small tomato (diced)
1/4 cup of cilantro (optional, to taste)

Instructions:
In a food processor (you can use your blender, but you may need to add some water, so I think the food processor works better), combine garlic, peas, green chilies. Process until smooth. Scrap down the side of the processor, add lime juice cumin. Process again until mixed well and smooth. Finally add in the onions and cilantro. I like to add this into the food processor, but you can optionally just mix them in with a spoon. If adding to the processor, pulse until well mixed in (just a few pulses). Dump out into a bowl and let it cool its heels in the fridge for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, stir in tomatoes, and eat!

Grocery shopping can be stressful. Creating a grocery budget can just about send you into a full blown panic attack. Don’t ever look at the receipt, am I right? No, of course not. You can make grocery shopping fun and cheap with just a little bit of planning.

The first thing you want to do is review the ads for the best sales. What is on sale for cheap? Figure that out and then plan your weekly menu. Find my menu below. I spent $147 for all the groceries for this menu plus a few extras. You can watch  my grocery haul video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGNs7geSOjg&feature=youtu.be

And here is our menu for the whole week. As you can see, you can eat yummy food for cheap.