How does anyone afford it??? plant-based eating

[mlbuchina]

Another question. Can you still eat carrots if they have started sprouting the little white roots? I know if potato eyes start to sprout, you just cut that part off and keep going, but are carrots the same?

[SewingMom2many]

I think our food must just be more expensive (plus, we do eat meat, eggs, and milk). I do quite a lot of these meals. We do black bean burgers once/week with homemade buns. I usually add to that meal homemade french fries (I cook up 10#of potatoes ($6)), 2# of broccoli ($5), and a salad (romaine, tomatoes, avacado, carrots, and feta cheese with homemade dressings). I have no idea how much a salad costs each night. I pretty much figure dinners cost around $20. Most of the time I make enough that there's plenty for lunch the next day too.

 

I also do ww pasta with sauce (jarred), but I'll add a pound of meat to it (two jars of sauce for three pounds of pasta). The pasta is $1.39/pound. Jarred sauce is $3.49 each. Pound of beef is $4.99. Add to that a side dish of roasted veggies (at least $5) and a salad and it's up there.

 

Ugh. I think maybe my problem is that I have teenaged boys and they are killing me! They go through two pounds of peanut butter/week ($3.99 each), two jars of jelly ($3.49), 7 dozen eggs ($3/dozen), 1 gallon milk ($7), probably $20 worth of frozen fruit/week, at least $40 worth of frozen veggies/week, etc, etc, etc. It all just adds up.

 

We also belong to a food coop where we get all our rice, beans, oats, nuts, seeds, etc in bulk.

 

I do still need to try the honey lentils! Everyone here likes lentils - thank goodness!!! Oh - and split pea soup! Do you do that? I have a REALLY cheap recipe if you'd like (and it's vegan!).

I'd love to have the split pea soup recipe. I inhale the stuff =)

Your prices are definitely higher than ours (and distance wise, we aren't too far). I paid 99 cents per pound for broccoli last week and 10# of potatoes would be $2.50. Pasta is generally 99 cents a pound (little more for WW) and jarred sauce is about $1.20 although sometimes I buy it in the can if I can find a variety I consider healthy enough and the cans are about 89 cents.

 

Here is where I buy my produce but I think they are more of a local place (I only buy produce here, I think the prepared foods are too expensive) http://www.valliproduce.com/do/viewAd?id=2&pageId=1 and Aldi if it's cheaper http://www.aldi.us/us/html/offers/weekly_ads_ENU_HTML.php?WT.z_src=banner&WT.ac=Banner-without-Alt-Tag

 

When all 6 of my kids were home it was more expensive. Plus they complained that "there is nothing to eat" because I keep ingredients in my pantry, not food lol. They just choose not to eat what I fixed and once they had jobs and cars of their own well... that was their choice :)

[mlbuchina]

I'd love to have the split pea soup recipe. I inhale the stuff =)

Your prices are definitely higher than ours (and distance wise, we aren't too far). I paid 99 cents per pound for broccoli last week and 10# of potatoes would be $2.50. Pasta is generally 99 cents a pound (little more for WW) and jarred sauce is about $1.20 although sometimes I buy it in the can if I can find a variety I consider healthy enough and the cans are about 89 cents.

 

Here is where I buy my produce but I think they are more of a local place (I only buy produce here, I think the prepared foods are too expensive) http://www.valliproduce.com/do/viewAd?id=2&pageId=1 and Aldi if it's cheaper http://www.aldi.us/us/html/offers/weekly_ads_ENU_HTML.php?WT.z_src=banner&WT.ac=Banner-without-Alt-Tag

 

When all 6 of my kids were home it was more expensive. Plus they complained that "there is nothing to eat" because I keep ingredients in my pantry, not food lol. They just choose not to eat what I fixed and once they had jobs and cars of their own well... that was their choice :)

 

I love that. I need to start thinking in that manner now. I'd be one of the people complaining about there not being food in the house. lol

 

Yes, please share the soup recipe!

[jeri]

about. I find very inexpensive prices at ethnic food stores. We have giant Asian market here with the best quality veges/fruits and the best prices. I also buy rice and barley there since it's very inexpensive. At an Indian market, I buy bulk lentils.

 

Jeri

[butterflymommy]

And you aren't hungry? I have always had the feeling that salad just doesn't last that long. I'll eat one, but then in an hour I'm hungry again. Does this pass as you begin to get accustomed to eating more plant based?

 

I ate the salad and banana for breakfast-- then a couple hours later some WW bread with hummus. I tend to graze. I think I had 3-4 thick slices WW bread throughout the day. No, not really hungry. If I do get hungry, I eat. All told I had about 1800 calories today (goal is 2000, I'm BFing).

[LibraryLover]

Another question. Can you still eat carrots if they have started sprouting the little white roots? I know if potato eyes start to sprout, you just cut that part off and keep going, but are carrots the same?

 

 

Yes. Not a problem. They might not be as sweet and crisp, but you can cut off the offending parts, eat them raw, or cook them up. No love lost. Cooking helps to bring out their flavor once they are 'past date'.

Edited March 17, 2012 by LibraryLover

[prairiebird]

I'd love to have the split pea soup recipe. I inhale the stuff =)

Your prices are definitely higher than ours (and distance wise, we aren't too far). I paid 99 cents per pound for broccoli last week and 10# of potatoes would be $2.50. Pasta is generally 99 cents a pound (little more for WW) and jarred sauce is about $1.20 although sometimes I buy it in the can if I can find a variety I consider healthy enough and the cans are about 89 cents.

 

Here is where I buy my produce but I think they are more of a local place (I only buy produce here, I think the prepared foods are too expensive) http://www.valliproduce.com/do/viewAd?id=2&pageId=1 and Aldi if it's cheaper http://www.aldi.us/us/html/offers/weekly_ads_ENU_HTML.php?WT.z_src=banner&WT.ac=Banner-without-Alt-Tag

 

When all 6 of my kids were home it was more expensive. Plus they complained that "there is nothing to eat" because I keep ingredients in my pantry, not food lol. They just choose not to eat what I fixed and once they had jobs and cars of their own well... that was their choice :)

 

I would love your prices! Veggies up here seem to be way more expensive than when I lived further south in the state. And the farmer's markets are crazy expensive. It's more like a luxury item than just someone selling their tomatoes. I could buy a head of broccoli for a buck at the farmer's market and sometimes the store when I lived 3 hours south. Where I'm at now, broccoli would be something like $2.99/lbs or a head might be $2-$3 at the farmer's market because it's "Fresh from the farm!" and therefore more expensive.

 

Huge thing I've noticed- near the city, veggies and grains and anything at a Farmer's Market seem to be considered quaint and trendy and boutiqe-like, so they charge more. I actually found cheaper prices on organic asparagus last week at Whole Foods than I have at some of the local stores. When Whole Foods is considered the cheaper option, that's scary!

[Rosie_0801]

I still don't think you need a supplement. I've known raw vegans who don't supplement and have never been low on B12. One thing to know is that there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to being low in B12. In a normal, healthy person, B12 deficiencies are rare because your body stores it for years and years and uses it as needed. It also recycles it. So as long as you have a healthy gut/flora you should be fine. There's really so much more to B12 and it would take me all day to write about it, but bottom line is, just because you're vegan it doesn't automatically mean you need to supplement with B12 (or anything for that matter).

 

I'd like a reading list, if you have one.

[Rosie_0801]

And you aren't hungry? I have always had the feeling that salad just doesn't last that long. I'll eat one, but then in an hour I'm hungry again. Does this pass as you begin to get accustomed to eating more plant based?

 

Not all salads are created equal! If all you put in are veggies that contain mostly water, then you'll be hungry very quickly. If you put in lots of avocado and seeds, you won't be hungry so quickly.

 

Another question. Can you still eat carrots if they have started sprouting the little white roots? I know if potato eyes start to sprout, you just cut that part off and keep going, but are carrots the same?

 

You can pretend the white roots aren't there and do what you usually do, or peel them if they annoy you. :)

 

Rosie

[Crimson Wife]

Some things just are expensive- flaxseeds, quinoa, nuts, xanthan gum (which most folks probably wouldn't use unless they do gluten-free baking), etc. I only buy expensive stuff if they are very nutrient-dense.

 

Frozen veggies are actually more nutritious than fresh unless the fresh produce is consumed very shortly after it was harvested. There is less of a chance of wasting them as well. I buy my salad stuff fresh, but everything else is frozen.

 

FWIW, when I buy meat, fish, or poultry other than a whole chicken (I'm a "flexitarian"), I always get "sticker shock" over the cost of those.

[Jenny in Florida]

I do agree that food prices vary widely around the country. I was so surprised when we moved to Florida from New Jersey to find that everything here was so much cheaper . . . except food.

 

I also do ww pasta with sauce (jarred), but I'll add a pound of meat to it (two jars of sauce for three pounds of pasta). The pasta is $1.39/pound. Jarred sauce is $3.49 each. Pound of beef is $4.99. Add to that a side dish of roasted veggies (at least $5) and a salad and it's up there.

 

But the vegan thing means no beef (subtract $5). I also make my own sauce most of the time ($3 worth of canned tomatoes, onion, garlic and spices, which gives us dinner and a couple of lunch servings for my son), but when I buy, it's usually the stuff on sale for $1. I buy pasta when it's buy one-get one, which makes it about .80 per box. I make my own bread (maybe .50) and serve with a simple salad ($2?). I usually add some pureed red lentils to the sauce for a bit of protein (maybe another .50).

 

So, $8-ish gives us a full meal plus left-overs for lunch.

 

Ugh. I think maybe my problem is that I have teenaged boys and they are killing me! They go through two pounds of peanut butter/week ($3.99 each), two jars of jelly ($3.49), 7 dozen eggs ($3/dozen), 1 gallon milk ($7), probably $20 worth of frozen fruit/week, at least $40 worth of frozen veggies/week, etc, etc, etc. It all just adds up.

 

The teenage boy thing does contribute, too. My son just turned 14, and it seems like he spends most of his time every day either eating or thinking about what he'll eat next. He's the big pasta person in our house, happily eating it for at least one meal each day. His regular routine is to eat breakfast (protein-spiked smoothie, hash brown patties, toast, oatmeal) at about 8:00, lunch (large plate of pasta with lentils-added sauce, bread, big glass of chocolate soymilk) at 12:00-ish, snack (HUGE bowl of popcorn and/or vegan ice cream and/or whatever baked goods we have in the house along with a piece of fruit) at 3:00, dinner with the family at 6:00. He has rehearsals or dance classes most evenings and then drives my husband insane by coming home at 10:30 and making himself another meal. Sometimes, he still gets up in the middle of the night and downs another glass of chocolate soymilk, because he's so hungry he can's sleep.

 

Did I mention this is the kid who weighs 112 pounds dripping wet?

Edited March 17, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[HappyLady]

I'd like a reading list, if you have one.

 

That was all from memory, but here are a couple links that came up after I Googled it.

 

 

 

http://jinjeetalifero.com/?p=707

 

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/b12issue.html

[Rosie_0801]

That was all from memory, but here are a couple links that came up after I Googled it.

 

 

 

http://jinjeetalifero.com/?p=707

 

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/b12issue.html

 

Cheers. :)