Vegan Burgers on a Budget

Tofu, cumin, lemon,avocados,and russets

And there went the last of my budget for the week! The cumin really killed me. I was just at Trader Joe's last week, I wish I wold have known I was so low on cumin! Yesterday was a rainy, chilly day and I just did not feel like taking two buses to get to a grocery where they sell spices in bulk. I always buy spices at Trader Joe's, in bulk, or at Grocery Outlet, so I almost forgot the ridiculous prices regular groceries charge for spices. This cumin normally would have been a little over eight dollars(!) which was my whole budget, but I lucked out and it was 50 percent off. And it isn't even organic, or fresh pressed or locally sourced or any other trends. Cumin is $1.99 all day every day at Trader Joe's. When I buy cumin in bulk, four dollars worth would fill that jar at least twice. Anyway, these are the foods I chose for the rest of the week. This is the first time in years I've bought non organic tofu, I actually just thought it was all organic now, but this brand is non GMO so I feel okay about that.
My breakfast yesterday was potato wedges and some tabbouleh salad.

For a snack/lunch I had the leftover lemony potatoes and more tabbouleh. I forgot to snap a picture, I kind of ate it over the sink, so it didn't really feel like a meal! Ha.
For dinner I made what turned out to be some ridiculously delicious veggie burgers! The main base of the burgers were lentils and bulgur wheat, and I added some BBQ sauce, onion, garlic and spices.  I didn't write down what I  added of course, because I was in full mad scientist mode!  I also blended the two leftover carrot hot dogs and added them as moisture and a binder, plus more flavor! I think these were some of the best veggie burgers I've made. I sauteed the patties first to get a little brown going, and then I finished them in the oven with a nice slather of BBQ sauce on top. These were almost like lentil loaf burgers or something.

Fresh out of the oven!

On a bun with  onion, banana pepper and lettuce. With oven fries.

I knew I was making veggie burgers, so I saved a leaf of Romaine to use. I finally used the Just 1000 for something other than as a dip for fries. It's really good as a "special sauce" for lentil burgers too! This was a really, really tasty dinner! Another meal that didn't feel like a budget meal!
I have some more fun lentil dishes coming, I plan on making Mujadara this weekend, and I'm sure lentil soup will appear at some point. One thing I'm really happy about is that doing this challenge has reminded me how much I love lentils. Lentils have fed me through very, very lean times. Lentils have been there for me more than family, so I'm glad that they're going to really shine in this challenge.
Happy Friday!