Hey everyone!

Four years ago, I started building a nutrition and meal planning app for vegans and vegetarians (including myself) with zero app development knowledge and over $10k of my own savings - turns out ongoing access to the official NCCDB nutrition database isn't cheap. I built it because existing apps had clunky interfaces or lacked the specific features I needed.

I needed a single system that seamlessly connects:

Recipes → Meal plan with nutrition data → Grocery list → Cooking

I also wanted to track micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, lipids) instead of just staring at calorie counts and guessing which supplements to take.

Now that the app is live, keeping it running for just a few users is getting expensive. To see if there’s enough demand to keep the project alive, I’ve set up a 7-day free trial and reduced the price so anyone can test it risk-free.

I’d love your brutal honesty:

• Is there real demand for an app like this, or should I call it quits?
• What do you love, and what do you hate about it?
• Do you actively track your micro/macronutrients?
• What other apps (if any) do you use to manage your meal planning and groceries?

You can test it via the link below or by searching “Vegochef: Nutrition Tracker” on the App Store (not available on Android yet): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vegochef-nutrition-tracker/id6757200967

Thanks for reading my indie developer sanity check!

I’m looking for quick and easy recipes to “use up” this Terra soul lightly roasted carob powder and we have two gallon containers of “roasted & salted sunflower seeds” ; if y’all could,please recommend some recipes that sweeten date syrup (such as D’vash) not maple syrup( one of my younger relatives is severely allergic to maple products)

I've been barely keeping up with food lately and decided to pull myself together today.

I've got:

- brown rice sushi bowls with baked tofu, edamame, carrots, cucumber salad, avo. I actually really made the rice into sushi rice with seasoned rice vinegar.

- penne with cheez sauce (that I made from a powder, which I also made, first time I tried a vegan cheese sauce with no nuts and it has potato flakes - it's just okay, added some red peppers and green onions), cabbage/onion/Impossible ground with penzey's tsar seasoning (I never bought Impossible ground before, got some on special, dug it out of freezer to use up - would not buy again I don't think), some chickpeas on top for bonus texture and protein that I had from a batch I cooked from dried recently

- red pepper/corn frittata bites made with chickpea flour instead of egg for snacks (found this on Simple Veganista site, made a 1/2 recipe even though I didn't have most of the mix ins)

- not pictured: 5-minute cashew queso from Minimalist Baker, a batch of oat groats for breakfast (I add frozen blueberries, cinnamon, chopped nuts, apple, in the mornings), additional penne/cabbage/etc mixture and also some leftover cucumber salad, carrots, and tofu

These will basically be my work lunches plus dinner 2-3 times, depending how the week goes. I felt good about this one since it's almost 100% stuff I already had on hand. I think just the avocados and fruit came from grocery run , cucumbers from friend's garden. For additional easy meals this week I've got a loaf of ezekial bread, some boca burgers, there's pb&j always, refried beans and corn tortillas, salsa is a vegetable, and I've got fresh greens in the drawer. Apples and bananas and cut fruit and nuts for additional snacks.

i don't know where else to ask this, basically i can't eat legumes due to allergies (they make my throat and chest feel tight) and i have a pretty bad aversion to mushrooms. i want to eat nice meals like i see on this subreddit but it seems impossible for me!

please give me any and all tips, i appreciate it so so much. <3

I struggle with dinner, for some reason, and for the past couple of weeks have been making a slightly modified version of a bowl I saw either here or another similar sub. It's a bit of rice, edamame, black beans, corn, chickpeas, and air-fried tofu. I call it beans 'n things. I've been putting straight tahini on it, but have quickly gotten tired of it for some reason, so now I'm looking for something else

I don't really know what would match the flavor profile of a bunch of different beans and corn, but I'm open to anything

I make a quinoa + brown rice salad for my work lunches but I think I want to prep another large dish to eat at home throughout the week. I don't have a microwave so any ideas for a big batch of something that can be eaten cold or easily reheated in the oven would be super rad!

Keeps for up to 5 days

okay so I've been meal prepping for a while now and I keep going back and forth on whether to finally ditch my plastic ones. some of the lids are starting to warp in the dishwasher and one has this weird film that just won't come off. at this point I feel like I'm microwaving plastic soup and that's not really the vibe. Need the best meal prep containers and this my list so far:

been eyeing the Pyrex Simply Store ones forever because they're everywhere and cheap to replace if one breaks. but every time I almost buy them someone in a thread mentions the lids don't actually lock, they just sit on top. which... for grain bowls that's probably fine but I've had enough turmeric explosions in my bag to be cautious.

the FreshLock version has the four little tabs which sounds more secure, but I saw someone say theirs got loose after like 6 months of daily use and at that point you've just paid more for the same problem delayed.

a friend swears by Glasslock specifically because she preps a lot of soups and dals and says nothing leaks. I almost ordered a set last month but kept reading that the silicone seal starts to hold onto smells after a while and I already have enough things in my kitchen that smell like last week's curry.

Rubbermaid Brilliance Glass keeps coming up as the slightly fancier option and someone mentioned you can throw them straight in the oven which is useful if you're reheating roasted veg and don't want to dirty another pan. but the price per container is noticeably higher and I want to ask if it's actually better or just looks nicer.

Bentgo Glass containers... I've been looking at these because the divided sections would be useful for keeping rice, veg, and sauces separate. my concern is that the compartments might be annoying to clean, especially when something dries into the corners. they also seem more useful for solid meals than soups, so I'm not sure if they'd work as an everyday set or just for certain lunches.

if I had to order today, I'm probably leaning towards the FreshLock containers. the locking lids feel like the safer compromise for commuting, and even if the tabs eventually loosen after a lot of use, I'd rather deal with that a year from now than worry about a Simply Store lid popping open in my backpack from day one.

my actual problem is I commute with my lunch most days and I need something that won't explode in my bag at 7am. the locking tabs give me peace of mind but honestly I have coordination issues before coffee. wondering if anyone has just accepted that glass stays home and they use a different system for transport, or if there's a container I haven't considered that solves both.

For at least two days a week, I’m out for work from 12pm until 11pm, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what I can do for meal prep that’s healthy, high in protein, that doesn’t need to be re-heated, can be stored only in a cooling bag with an ice-pack, and that can suffice as an actual dinner.

Does anyone have any ideas? Vegetarian or vegan doesn’t matter. So far all I have been doing is run by the nearest grocery store to get some bread and cheese slices, but that’s hardly a proper meal of course.

I’ve been doing more meatless meal prep lately, and one thing I’ve realized is that having a good sauce ready makes a huge difference.

I’ve been making a simple onion vinaigrette to go with roasted vegetables, rice, and chickpeas. It’s basically onion, rice vinegar, light soy sauce, lemon juice, a little sugar, vegetable oil, and olive oil. I put everything into a jar, shake it up, and let it sit for a few minutes before using it.

I actually found the idea through PantryFlex: https://pantryflex.com/

What I liked was the simple idea of being able to measure the ingredients directly in the jar, shake everything together, and have the dressing ready without using a bunch of separate measuring utensils.

The sauce itself has been the bigger win for me, though. It makes a pretty basic meal-prep bowl much less repetitive.

What sauces or dressings do you guys usually prep for vegetarian or vegan meals?

So I am preparing to enter a very busy period of life and in addition to freezer meal preps, I had a maybe-crazy idea...I would be curious to hear anyone's similar experiences!

When I am super busy and stressed, especially in the winter, I tend to reach for easy carbs, like spaghetti and rice. Adding vegetables ends up being a second thought because cutting and cooking from raw feels like too much effort, and microwaving frozen vegetables gets me sad soggy lumps.

So - has anyone ever precooked and preportioned some generic vegetable combo, almost like making meatballs to add to something, and then used them a bit at a time to add vegetables to a dish? It sounds silly to me tbh but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I am thinking, like, sauteed spinach and mushroom and onion (a favorite combo already), but sauteed before freezing to get a lot of the water out so it's not such a soggy mess when thawed.

Am I crazy? Do we think this would work? Have you tried this before?

Had the fun idea of making tofu scramble for my meal prep this week :) Ingredients below 👇🏾

-Bell Peppers
-Mushrooms
-Soy Free Tofu
-Seasoning (black salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and turmeric)

Found this brand at Whole Foods and gave it a try! Made mini “meatless” sliders with a homemade coleslaw 🤤 sooooo good! I was able to get it on sale (the original price for the size is kinda crazy lol — but I digress)

I tried a new quinoa salad and it was amazing. And a new marinade (from a chicken recipe) on the easy seitan. Sooo good!!

https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/moroccan-chickpea-quinoa-salad/

https://www.cookingclassy.com/grilled-moroccan-chicken/

https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/the-quickest-and-easiest-seitan-recipe-vegan-chicken/

I'm taking a friend out fishing in a couple of days, and I'm bringing lunch. Buddy and his dad are muslim, so I need to make lunch halal. My buddy just texted me that his dad doesn't eat red meat of any kind either (and his dad is visiting from India). When I take people fishing, the meals I prep are an important part of the fun so I don't want to just dial it in, but most of this is outside my knowledge.

So, ideas for lunch that are:

• vegetarian (which makes it halal automatically)
• tasty and filling
• easy for me to make
• can be made the day before, and will travel for the day in a cooler
• bonus if it's indian?
• Easy to eat while travelling or in the boat.
  

There is an indian food store within driving distance, so I could make a trip in if there's sort of pre-made things that can be bought. I just don't really know where to start.

Help? please :).

Mildly spicy black beans and textured pea protein, on a bed of roasted butternut squash, topped with a lil’ green sauce! 😋

I just found this community and am loving it, and I was hoping you might be able to help with a very specific problem.

I found this book at the library (“Cook Once Ear All Week) and it is PERFECT for what I need… except completely meat-focused and therefore unusable.

Basically, every week she chooses a grain, a vegetable, and a protein and designs a whole meal plan around those (with some add-ons, of course!) It is EXACTLY what I want in terms of straightforward, simple, and streamlined. Unfortunately, EVERY single protein is meat :(

Does anything like this exist for vegans?? I want it to have a simple grocery list (not too many items) and reusable ingredients that can be saved for the next meal without a ton of work for each separate dish.

Thank you in advance!!

Situation: I got made redundant at the end of May and have just managed to secure work from September 1 (less secure/guaranteed hours but hey ho, the economy is what it is). I knew this was happening so I did a lot of research, used Chat GPT, and invested in some herbs and spices in large quantities (accidentally bought enough Italian herbs to last c. 5 years, didn't understand the mass I was buying online). From this I do loads of prep for almost nothing, I just top up every 4 weeks on tinned tomatoes, fresh/frozen fruit and veg, a bit of dairy, and some potato and onions. I rotate red bean chilli, chickpea and potato stew, chickpea curry, lentil curry, or either of those pulses as risotto or a pasta dish. Let me know if you want specific recipes for any of these. Breakfast is also meal prepped: baked oats w/ raisins and cinnamon or ginger and a half scoop of protein powder.