The only thing worse than being vegan on my campus is being a vegan without a car on my campus. My university is decently big, around 9,000 students, but we have no public transportation, no grocery stores within walking distance, and nothing really for a vegan to eat. Granted, we do have three great restaurants on campus but that aren’t actually part of campus so we have to pay out of pocket instead of with a meal plan.
So when I do get off campus, like I did last week when my roommate took me to pick up a prescription, I stock up. My mom had given me some Ziplock Steambags before I left for school, and I’ve finally got a chance to use them. I also made vegan tacos for my non-vegan roommate and I, which was a success. I used Yves Taco Meat, and it was great (although I LOVE cumin and still added some of my own).
The next day we ate super healthy. I wanted to use the steambags my mother had given me, so I bought a couple of yellow squash and zucchini, threw in some dried onion, and microwaved on high for 4 and a half minutes.
I think I might have stuffed the bag too full, so it took a little longer than it was supposed to for it to cook all the way through, but when it finally did get done, it was so good! I’ve worked at a vegetable stand for the last five summers, which has definitely spoiled me. I love squash, and this supermarket squash had a surprisingly good flavor. We also heated up some garlic bread and used extra-virgin olive oil as our dipping sauce.
Overall, it was a great opportunity to eat something other than rice and couscous. If you’re a student, I highly recommend sharing your vegan meals with your friends. It’s a fantastic way to show everyone that veganism isn’t boring, but can be really, really tasty!
Ahimsa 
September 16, 2008 at 11:45 am
I went vegan while in college too! I remember really struggling to not waste the money on the meal plan. I had way too many meals of limp lettuce and spongy veggies. How wonderful that you are finding some ways around that.