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.