BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian Operation : Eat Great Cheap

A comment was posted in the " Vegetarian Challenge " post [thanks Rosie ] about vegan eating and the expense of it all.

What we're going to explore in this topic is:

1. Is it really that much more expensive to eat "healthy & vegan" or can it be done on the cheap without sacrificing quality and the like.

2. What budgets can deliver the results we're looking for and what happens if we don't even have the amount that seems reasonable. Can we still eat healthy when we may have a fixed income and pennies on the dollar to spare for our health well being and wholeness?

3. What are some of the methods we can use to get around those price crunches at the local farms, health food and farmer's markets?

4. Can we really design a strategy to have our cake and eat it to? I think we can.

So shoot some budgets and scenarios at me, let's roll up our sleeves and make somethings work.

Just to catch everyone up...

I posed a question: What's your biggest challenge as a vegetarian or with becoming one?

and I got a reply that interested me sparking this topic's discussion:



In a previous conversation Rosie wrote:


So we have a scenario to work with here. Let me recap:

Great Veggie Food on the Cheap

• We're going to create a vegan/vegetarian food program that can't go over $150.00 per month
• Requires minimal cooking
• Gives room for a great salad on the plate
• Is packed full of flavor
• Is more creative than just veggie hot dogs and burgers
  and
• Lends itself to leftovers

This is the scenario. Rosie are you there? If so, let me know if I've missed anything. I'll start responding after I hear back from you.

I'm here! Your doing fine and thanks a bunch

okay,

Here we go...

Rachel Ray look out!

We've gotta make it work on $5 a day for Rosie and everyone else out there.

You know Rosie... I forgot to ask you after you compromised in the moderate cooking 'willingness' area... What would you consider to be too much time in the kitchen?

I'm not a believer in nuking foods in the microwave (for the health of it), so I've gotta come up with an alternative to that that you're okay with.

• But we've got beans [we'll discuss my quick soak method for those]
• grains [numerous quick things you can do with those]
• veggies
• fruits
• nuts & seeds
• herbs, spices & condiments

What stores do you usually shop at?

Do they have bulk food sections?

Do you have the any of the following?

• blender
• food processor
• crock pot
• stock pot
• salad spinner
• cutting board
• knives
• kitchen shears
• coffee grinder

I need to get an idea of where our shortcut options lie;
and depending on what you have at your disposal will tell me which direction to take you in to give you the best hassle free, most flavorful, versatile veggie cuisine.

I shop at my local market (Market Basket)
No bulk (that i know about)
I have a blender, and knives, the only things on your list.
Really if its easy to cook I can manage in the kitchen, some recipes can be so complicating.
I know what you mean about nuking foods, I sometime use the toaster oven to reheat foods. I do use the microwave to much! I shouldn't I know.

Hi Rosie,

I am in the midst of creating (with the help of some new found friends in the quest to eat great cheap). Here're the parameters we're working within:

[Wish List]
vegan
gluten free
minimal effort
$150.00 or less for the month
great variety
major flavor
nutritious
lends itself to leftovers

I've gotten a lot of naysayers, but I'm extremely optimistic about this one. As a matter of fact... I'll be creating some cooking segments using this challenge as the backdrop.

I'll get back to you shortly with the results, but I really think you're going to be wowed!

Jason,Thanks for everything your doing for me I truly appreciate it, Its also great because so many others can benefit from it also.

btw...

If you haven't already read the article: Vegetarian in 3 Simple Steps check it out. It will provide you with some strategies to get your system going.

The principles reach well beyond creating a vegetarian lifestyle, however. It touches on some of the key fundamentals of life in many aspects.

Hope you enjoy.

One more thing Rosie...

You've got the people at the natural food markets that I ran this challenge by buzzing. They're trying to figure out how this is possible, and to tell you the truth... I think they may even be getting some bookies involved on this one. I'm sure I feel the buzz of a good store wide pool going and we look as if we are the long shot, but I'm not worried...

I'll tell you a quick story [this is my shameless way of stalling for time as I plug away at the figures on the yellow legal pad where I have all of the prices on produce, grains, etc. I picked out for your program the past few days.]

Well...

When my wife and I got married, we had to really play with the budget in order to get everything we wanted. So we had to seriously put the methods in the article to work, and work they did.

We were able to feed all of our attendees including the wedding staff for just over $100 [not including the cake] and there were 200+ people who attended. All vegetarian, all delicious and I had a few people come up to me just to double check that the meal was in fact vegetarian. They knew we were vegetarian, but the food tasted like meat to them. They weren't vegetarian.

I said all of this to say that I do believe that if we can feed 200+ people on less than the amount of our challenge of $150.00 that I'm confident that we have a great shot at making this program work for your and the others needs out there that may have similar budgetary considerations.

Now granted, the dynamics here are quite a bit different. Which is what's causing the stretch.

As a matter of fact...

This is the most intense challenge I think I've faced regarding food. If we had different utensils to work with it would make it almost a cakewalk, but since we are working with a blender, some knives, a toaster oven and the thing that defines the challenge as master difficult, the "easy" aspect... this challenge, if carried off the way I see it, will go down in the Foodie Hall of Fame [if there is one ].

So Rosie... Thank you for putting this challenge out there! You're awesome!

P.S. I do hope you have some storage containers, but if you don't let me know and I'll add it into the mix and / or make some suggestions.

That�s right!!!..Look out Rachel Ray!..

Jason you are doing a wonderful job!!!...here!!...Thank you! For all the informative articles and very helpful suggestions

I agree.
I can't wait to see what comes out of this!

I have plenty of storage containers. just waiting to fill them. lol

Hi Everybody!

Just to give you some exciting news

well... I think it's exciting

My wife and I are going deep...

Deep into the trenches of Rosie's world...

That's right! [granted, I haven't talked to her about it... so this may be wishful thinking. ], but, if all goes like it's been playing in my head We're going to tie our hands behind our back and force the creativity to rise to the top, like the cream of fresh churned butter.

We're going to get a toaster oven and go to work on creating good eats that're cheap, convenient, wholesome and all the other things we've been talking about thus far in this conversation-

[hmmmmm... is "that're" even a word...? ... of course it is ... ... and if we all join in and use it enough times between now and the end of the year... webster's dictionary will recognize it as one too!]

Now Rosie-

We want to make this as close to real as possible, so we have to know what toaster-oven-proof containers you have that we can use, as well, to cook these things and what else you have to use in your cooking. [I know you told me what you had that was on the list that I posted, but now I need to know what you have that I may not've considered.]

["not've"?... Maybe I'll just go ahead and create a dictionary! ]

[Me thinks we're about to rewrite the books of modern high-end cuisine... Me thinks.]

I hope you all are getting what you need here and that it's exciting and fun for you too!

I'm having a ball!

Drop me a line & let me know...

Jason I have a stove, not only a toaster oven, Was I asked that, have patience with me
The only thing other than the tray already in the toaster oven is i use foil trays.

Thanks Rosie!

And no I didn't ask you that. So have patience with me.

I'm on it!

I am a vegetarian from birth & glad to know that vegetarianism is playing a great role in this thread.

Rainview welcome to the forum, Hope you enjoy your stay!
"Rosie"

Yes, Welcome Rainview!

Just wanted to give you all a heads up. Things are going well at the drawing board.

I've been working on some strategies and recipes on our quest to eat great cheap. If you all aren't already receiving the [url=BellaOnline ALERT: For anti-spam reasons, we restrict the number of URLs allowed in a given post. You have exceeded our maximum number of URLs.

Jason, your doing a wonderful job, and no food allergies here.
I also subscribed to your news letter.
Keep up the good work.

Awesome Rosie!

Are there any foods that you don't care for? or are you fine with pretty much anything vegetarian/vegan?

I'm not fussy at all. Not much food i don't like.

This is getting easier by the day.

Do you think this can be done: spending $150.00 or less per month on a vegetarian/vegan diet?

Can a Vegan/Vegetarian Diet Be Created for $150.00 per month or Less? single choice
	I don't think so.
	I think so.
Votes accepted starting: 09/04/08 08:16 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

I think so ,and Jason is gonna tell us just how to do that,

Hey Guys,

Just to give you a follow up on where I'm currently at:

• I've narrowed it down to 8 grain types that we'll be working with.
  Quinoa (really not a true grain but the seed of the fruiting body of the Chenopodium quinua plant)
  Millet
  Rice
  Corn
  Teff
  Amaranth (I don't believe this is a true grain either, but will double check)
  Buckwheat (not a true grain)
  Wild Rice (product of a grass)

They are devoid of gluten and all in all packed full of nutrients.

Just dropping you a line on the developments.

Hi guys,

I haven't forgotten about you. I ran into some computer challenges.

I'm still working on the recipes for the $150.00 or less menu along with the parameters I'm working within.

Be patient with me Rosie I want it to be really good and functional for you and all the others.

I hope you all have been doing great though and I'm hoping that the articles have been helpful in building a good foundation for you to work from.

I just launched another couple of articles to start getting us ready for the Holiday season. One of them deals with the fundamentals of it while the other is a universal garlic lover's spread recipe that will keep you versatile for years to come.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for all of your input and for continuing to visit the forum.

If you want to stay up to date on new articles that are coming out and get some other updates and content that you don't get in the articles, join my Vegetarian Resource Newsletter and let me know what you think and what you want me to address.

Glad to be back!

I would really love to know how to do veggie for $150 a month!! That would be such a relief!! Hey - my food will cost less than gas.......LOL

won't that be great!?

I'm hoping everyone is or has been following along with the 'Shortcuts Series'. All of these things are going to apply to the convenience aspect of the 'Eating Healthy On the Cheap' program.

All of these tidbits are some of the building blocks we'll use to design our program. So if you haven't already checked the articles out start getting familiarized with them because we'll be referencing them throughout.

Here's one of the recipes I'm developing. Just thought I'd give you guys a taste of what is to come.
Let me know what you think.

Hey Guys,

Here's the latest article on storage. It is a key item you want to incorporate into your planning process.

It will save tons of time and money.

When planning your 'Eat Great Cheap' program there are a few things you want to take into consideration:

health
price
variety

Here are some of the things I've been able to forage in the bazaar of groceries, farmer's markets, health food stores and last & most our home garden:

mung bean threads = appr. .20c per [they some 8 - 10 to a package]
red lentils [org]= 1.99 p/lb [caught a good sale]
pinto beans [org]= 1.29 p/lb
tomato paste = .89 p/3oz. can
millet [org]= .89 p/lb
brown basmati rice [org]= 1.29 p/lb


stop back frequently. I'll be adding to this list!

Jason whats Millet?

Hey Rosie!

Millet is a grain. A lot of times you'll see it in bird feeders, but it's quite nice for human consumption. We eat it all the time in my house.

You can make it sweet [like in a porridge] or savory [like rice].

It's inexpensive and has a smooth nutty flavor.

It can also be used as a great thickener in soups, stews and sauces. You'd have to grind it up first.

For the past month we've had family and friends pop through our place and a need to feed and feed big.

We employed our eat great cheap techniques and not only fed everyone for pennies on the dollar, but also had leftovers for later.

We used:
Tofu
Beans
Brown Basmati Rice
Quinoa
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Greens
Peppers
Pasta
Coconut Milk
Cassava/Yucca
Taro
Mushrooms
Apples
Oranges
Raisins
Soymilk
Nutmilk
Nuts & Seeds
etc.

Each days meals stayed within our budget of $5 or below per person. [Most of the times it came out to between $2 & $3 per person]

So start filling your pantry with items like these.

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Here's another quick tip:

Focus on your serving sizes. If we stick to having the right serving amounts of our meal portions it makes not over-eating easy while still satisfying our appetites and staying within budget.

Ex: Say for dinner you were having a baked potato, stuffed with lentil chili and a mixed green salad on the side finishing it all off with a nice cup of herbal tea.

• you may end up eating a couple of stuffed baked potatoes $.20
• filled with lentil chili $.50
• topped with some shredded soy cheese or a cream sauce made from nuts or seeds $.10 - $.60
• mixed green or herb salad $.50
• home made dressing $.50
• herbal tea $.30
• now you still have a bunch of either leftovers or uncooked ingredients and your meal was between $2.60 and $3.50.

That's not a bad break and it puts everything into perspective. The primary thing you want to start with is the nutrient density, then you can fill in the caloric blanks with less expensive [still great quality] food items. It can stretch a good meal and make it great one. It's also a good way to stay within your $150 a month budget.

[side note: $150 is workable in a pinch, but here's a quick suggestion, if this is possible for you...
first start cutting and discounting the other less essential areas of your spending before you cut your nutrition budget. I speak from personal experience here. Whenever we had to make a choice between quality food & nourishment and the non-essentials [clothing, entertainment, etc.], we made our first priority our health and well being while cutting costs in others. You only have 1 body, 1 life and your health. If all of your efforts are centered outward and not focused inward, you may have a great house, beautiful car and all the bells and whistles life could offer, but without your health... what's it all worth?

There are many people spending all they have to regain their health. It may not have been valued enough before it was gone. If you can avoid this scenario, please turn your focus on investing in your health and determine to spend what's necessary to build it. Shave the other areas, not your good foods!]

Dear Jason stretching it 4 pages for what? loong

These are fantastic tips, Jason! So inspiring! You make me recommit myself to better health. You're so right about spending money to regain health vs. investing in maintaining your good health now.

I am going to do this.

Made the baked potatoes stuffed with lentil chili. Delicious! Even my Texas husband liked the chili. Thanks so much!

I'm glad you liked them Lori! This was a fun series to tackle. I am forever thankful to Rosie and the rest of you who made this process so enjoyable for me.

You're so welcome! That lentil chili is no joke. Great flavor, great fiber, and a wonderful presentation!