Friendly Veg (2026)

23/03/2026

DAN DAN NOODLES | comment FORMULA for the link to my ebook which will teach you how to build your own system of meal formulas !

Let’s make a dish inspired by dan dan noodles, using what’s in my pantry:

Spaghetti as the noodle, lettuce as the veg, tofu as the “meat.”

And yes, I know it’s an abomination 😅 but truly, lettuce stir fries are delicious, and using spaghetti is really not too bad. It’s tasty, cheap, and low waste!

Ingredients:

Spaghetti (1 fist)
1 pack soft tofu
1 red pepper
4 cups lettuce
Chili oil
Ginger onion soy sauce (or sub regular soy sauce + garlic)
1 tsp vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce

Method:

1. Cook spaghetti on medium-high heat, add oil to pan
2. Stir fry red pepper and tofu until tofu is lightly browned
3. Add chili oil
4. Add lettuce, stir fry until wilted
5. Add oyster sauce and soy sauce
6. Toss in spaghetti and mix
7. More chili oil to taste

As a cost estimate I’d price this at more than $1 per seving (using average prices in Toronto - but it is SO location dependent, and dependent on where you shop) but please forgive me for the hook 😫

06/03/2026

ASMR: CHILI CRISP BOK CHOY TOFU RICE 🌶️🥬🍚

If you’re spending $20 on grain bowls a few times a week, replace them with this. You’ll save $200/month!*

This rice cooker meal costs as little as $1 per serving (depending on how thrifty you are with your groceries) and takes 10 min of effort.

The general formula for this kind of rice cooker meal is:

1. 1 1/2 cups of rice (mix of brown and white)
2. 1 1/2 cups of liquid (water)
3. 1 - 2 cups of mix ins (bok choy and tofu)
4. 4 - 6 tbsp of sauce (chili crisp, brown sugar, soya sauce)

Add the rice and water to your rice cooker, then everything else on top. Cook!

Swapping the mix ins or sauce yields an entirely different meal. Once you internalize this formula, you’ll always know what to make.

Today’s version:

1 1/2 cups rice (brown + white mix)
1 3/4 cups water (more water because we used brown rice)
1 block tofu, cubed (about 300-400g)
2 bok choy
2 tbsp chili crisp
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce

Add the rice + water, then tofu + bok choy, then drizzle sauce on top. Press cook (used the mixed setting if your rice cooker has one). Done!

Follow for more lazy & cheap meal formulas!

*amounts referenced correspond closest to CAD/USD

01/03/2026

SWEET CORN AND LENTIL PASTA 🌽🍝 follow for more cheap meals that’ll make you rich haha, or at least will save you time and money!

Don’t judge it before you try it… it’s good!!

This costs $1 per serving (makes about 8 - 10 servings). Contrast this with a $20 pasta from takeout or a restaurant, and that’s $19 saved each meal! If you choose to cook yourself 3 times a week and invest the savings in an index fund, then in 10 years you’ll have ~37K in your investment account (assuming a 7% return). Financial freedom starts in the kitchen, as you eat 3 times a day. It’s your most frequent financial decision, and a perfect opportunity to build your mindful spending and investing habit!

In addition to being affordable, this recipe today is part of a system of meal formulas. The formula is: aromatics + protein + veggies + pasta. Change the ingredients to the formula, and it’s a new meal.

aromatics = onion
protein = red lentils

veggies = corn and tomato

and pasta.

Written in recipe format:

- 3 cups red lentils
- 3 cups corn (frozen)
- 3 cups tomatoes (canned or fresh)
- 2 onions (any kind)
- 450g spiral pasta
- 6 cups water
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
- 1 tsp salt

Sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add tomatoes and corn, stir. Add lentils and 6 cups water, bring to a boil. Add pasta, boil for 15 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, oyster sauce, and salt. Done!

Swap lentils for chickpeas, corn for peas, spaghetti for penne. Same formula, different meal.

And follow for more cheap meals that will make you rich!

(Let’s be real. Eating cheap alone won’t make you riiiich rich but building the habit of saving money where you can and investing the rest will set you off on a path towards financial security and safety you may never have thought otherwise possible!)

18/02/2026

Someone asked where I’m finding consistent 7% returns. The answer: index funds!

I don’t invest in single stocks (not anymore) because I don’t believe that as an indvidual I can beat professional investors.

Plus, I don’t want to spend the time required to research individual stocks or rebalance a portfolio. You know I’m lazy!!

So instead, I invest in index funds that track the performance of the entire market.

An example of an index fund would be one that tracks the performance of the S&P500 in the US. The S&P 500 has on average gone up 7% per year over the last 100 years (adjusted for inflation).

Of course, nothing is guaranteed to ALWAYS go up on a micro or day to day basis - some years the S&P is up, some years it’s down.

But! In the long run, the stock market does go up.

There’s a saying in investing: there’s no free lunch. Everything comes with tradeoffs. But index funds that you buy and hold for the long term is the closest you can get to a free lunch.

So I like to buy index funds and hold them for the long term. Buy, and walk away!

That’s what I do with every dollar I save from cooking at home instead ordering out.

Spending $2 (or $5, or even $10) per meal instead of $20 for takeout adds up over time, and it compounds into real wealth when you invest the difference!

I truly wish more people knew this!

Want to learn my full system for saving money through meal formulas AND how to invest those savings? Comment INVEST and I’ll send you the guide.

(And it includes the meal formula that will teach you how to make this this bok choy tofu rice!)

Financial freedom starts in the kitchen! 💰

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