Meatless Money

My absolute favourite blog belongs to Gail Vaz Oxlade.  www.gailvazoxlade.com/blog

Today, the blog was on extreme savings, so I thought I'd re-post one of my favourite blogs from our vegan experiment in 2009.  [Thank goodness my "biological imbalance" has passed, mostly due to spinach and chard smoothies blended with orange juice!]

The original post is from November, 2009.

52.8% on Meat, Dairy and Eggs??

Premise #1. Our family does not eat a lot of meat when we are at home. At least 3 meals a week at our place were already vegetarian before I began this vegan experiment.

Premise #2. On days when we did include meat, we would only consume a 4 oz portion of meat eggs or dairy per person as a part of our regular routine. It would consume no more than 1/4 of the plate.

Premise #3. The majority of my food purchases were not packaged ingredients, and rather healthy building blocks for home-cooked meals.

Premise #4. 18 months ago, I really eliminated any family reliance on packaged foods (from pre-made lasagna, to premade pizza, to any style of pre-packaged dinner). This reduced my grocery bill from approx $300 per week in half, to about $150.

Premise #5. In spite of the price reduction in premise 4, I was already paying premium prices for meat and dairy and eggs. I would rely on thigh meat (cheaper than breasts), whole chickens (making stock and stretching it for several days) and buying the smallest cuts of meat in the case. Ie: if there were packages costing $15.37, $12.49 and $11.12, I would buy the cheapest one possible knowing that I probably wouldn't even know the difference once I got it home.

Why am I telling you this??

Because, in light of all of this carefullness, I am shocked to learn that a full 52.8% of my food budget was going to things that I no longer eat on a vegan diet.

That means a huge portion of my already meat-limited food budget will go back into my disposable income!!!

Since our family likes to eat at restaurants (almost as entertainment) I grabbed four similar receipts. Foia, Swiss Chalet, Chanosos and The Keg.

In restaurants, it is almost impossible to avoid all the value-added cost that meat based food costs. At our most recent family meal, the average entree cost $24.50. Bill's and my veg option was 9. 64% less!

Our family's budget divides into home meals, lunch meals in restaurants, and entertainment meals for a date or a treat. They all roughly works out to about $350 per week on food, and I have a feeling that is extraordinarily conservative. When I entertain, that figure is much much higher. When we celebrate meals with family (baby nights, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, etc) those figures just do not hold up... (there was nothing like that in September or October...so the figures were bare bones).

How shocking would it be to literally add more than half of our food funds back into our lives, and keep them out of our bodies and arteries?

During this challenge, everyone is asking us how long we plan to "do this".

I can not ignore the fact that we feel better, have added time into our day, have dramatically slimmed, and (if we keep it up most of the time) have very likely cut our risks of cancer, heart problems and stroke. Also, we have virtually no food safety concerns (other than deadly spiders in our food, but I digress...)

What if we can add thousands of dollars back too?

Talk about an investment in the future.

Fried Taste Buds and Audible Chili Verde

My taste buds are fried.

Last night, Harrison made a Tomatillo Chile Verde on audible directions from me, from the couch.  I just finished some for lunch, and can't taste a thing.  Having said that, I can feel the sensation of having eaten spicy food - without any trace of it.  But the crisp tortillas and raw shredded green apple served with it still gave the crunch balancing off the smooth textures of the chili.

The sensation of eating a tart, crisp Granny Smith apple can sometimes be quite overwhelming to your taste buds.  Just sharp, puckering tartness.  Yesterday?  Nothing.  I could feel the taste buds pucker WITHOUT any taste.  It defies logic.

This morning, plodding through my workload, I grabbed a cup of peppermint tea.  Warm flavourless liquid, but then - the sensation of freshness and cooling.  Again - I could feel the periperal effects of what I was eating, but without the taste.

There is ALWAYS hot sauce in my vicinity (my desk, my car, my overnight bag, my briefcase...) while writing this I decided to take a tablespoon of hot sauce just for fun.  Surely I will be able to taste that!?!  I did it twice just to try to describe the sensation.  An energetic flush.  My pulse jumps up. I feel myself getting warmer (not unusual with the fever I've been fighting) but clearly induced by the hot sauce.

It is so crazy to "eat" without tasting.  Here is a great recipe for an unusual, but really great green chili.

* This recipe has been adapted from Veganomicon.  The original recipe contains cubed white potatoes, but I have skipped them here.

Audible Chile Verde

1-2 cups chopped cubanelle peppers
1 cup chopped white onions
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 jar Tomatillo Salsa (President's Choice makes a great one)
1 can (rinsed) white kidney beans
1 can (rinsed) white navy beans
3 teaspoons cumin
optional? 1/4 cup white wine
1 cup Vegetable Broth or water
2 Granny Smith Apples

In a large pot, saute peppers, onions, garlic and cumin until veggies are soft.  Add white wine, reduce slightly.    Add the jar of salsa, the two cans of beans, and enough stock or water to get the chili to the consistency you like.

Shred the green apples, and add them at the last minute.

Fresh cilantro, finely chopped jalapeno and sliced avocado are great green garnishes.  Hopefully they are a good jump start to my immune system, too.

Miso Soup Surprise

I'm quite sure that most moms think that their kids are the greatest.  I certainly think that of my son:)

Tuesday evening, I could feel like I was coming down with something.  Working in a busy building with 600 Type A personalities during flu season doesn't help.   Flu bugs and viruses were making the rounds with our entire office admin.  And yet, after going mostly vegan for 3.5 years I was quite proud to say that I haven't had one cold or flu.  At most I would feel mild " biological imbalances", puree up some greens, up my fluids and flavenoids, and come out the other side unscathed.

Until Tuesday around 1:30.

My muscles felt like I had just come through an exhausting workout - weak & sore.  I was sweating, yet freezing.  Pushing through a workload made more ominous by the vacation of my fabulous co-worker (she's getting a RED CARPET when she gets back!) I just refused to give in to it.  I worked the afternoon with my winter coat on, looking ridiculous, but certain that it would pass.

I would be arriving home much later than usual, and had telephoned Harrison several times to keep him posted.

I inhaled the smell of something homey, and comforting.  He hugged me and said "Mom, I made you some soup to help you feel better".

Red miso broth, bright green onions, some fresh garlic and cubes of soft tofu greeted me on the stove.  Miso - the fermented soybean paste that the Japanese enjoy for breakfast - is great for your digestion and internal balance.

But it was unbelievably good that night as a gesture of kindness, and nurturing.

Almond Flax Vanilla Butter : DIY Satisfaction

I am finally learning how to make nut butters in my Vitamix.  They are "more healthy", but they are "less delicious". lol.

Pure, raw nut butters taste nothing like the sugary, creamy peanut butters of one's childhood.  They are grainier.  They are more dense.  They are nowhere near as sweet.  Sort of like cookie dough.

So after my first venture into peanut butter, I made an almond butter and added lots of flax seeds - both golden and brown.  Flax seeds are tremendous sources of everything great - amino acids, Omega 3 and Omega 6, fibre and good oil.

But the resulting butter just didn't wow me.  So - I poured in a bit of peanut oil to help with the consistency, and added some agave syrup for sweetness and some vanilla paste for taste.

If you want to make your own without the world's best blender mix an entire jar of raw almond butter with some vanilla beans and some ground flax.  You can probably skip the sweetener.

Your stomach has a sensor that tells you that you are full, both with VOLUME and NUTRITION.  While we usually focus on volume (water, popcorn, fibre) there is less emphasis on the nutrient content of the food.  When this sensor is happy, you just feel full.  Satisfied.  Done.

There is a great line from the Norah Jones song "Turn Me On" that says... "after all, you're the one who turns me off...."    At first blush you might thing - oh, great!  who wants to get turned OFF?  but it's a great line.

It means that you're there - you're done - you've had what you wanted... no more searching, no more unfulfilled stuff.  Just TURNED OFF.  Again, I will liken a foodstuff to something much more other-worldly.  

Served over a crisp apple slice (another perfect food in it's own right), this vanilla almond flax butter will keep you satisfied for hours.

I just drank a cucumber and three oranges!

A great high speed blender is a must have if you want to get your veggies.  Most people think of blenders for smoothies or margaritas, but I am going to take five minutes out of my crazy busy day to blog about juice.

Of course, in the New Years' aftermath, everyone seems to be on one juice cleanse or another.  It might be a profound thought to just incorporate a juice cleanse every so often into your life, every couple of days?  Would you want to be "crash healthy"?  Of course not.  So why be "crash clean???"

Juice isn't like a Catholic confession - one minute you're a sinner, the next your soul's Etch a sketch is another blank slate.  Juice cleanses, and more dangerously other silly celebrity "cayenne lemon" cleanses are just a temp solution, and won't erase a brutal and toxic diet.

Rather than go extreme for anything, why not just add the habit in a few times a week?

I buy a few cucumbers a week because of their beautiful cleansing properties, and rock star alkalinity.  Spa food at it's finest.  I throw them in a smoothie, with lots of filtered water and as much citrus as is lying around the house.  I literally just drank four cups (16 oz) of cucumber and oranges - skin, seeds and all.

They blend well, skin and all.  Peel the citrus, but you could add lemon zest (organic) for fun.

Is it the greatest thing you've ever tasted?  No.

Is the vitamin C, blood balancing, fibre and hydration great for you?  Yes.

Sometimes, with all the craziness in life, you just want to skip the extremes, and the drama and just go slow and steady.  Your health is the sum total of ALL of your daily decisions.  So the more you incorporate good ones, the better you will feel.

p RICE less!

Yesterday was Monday, so that means Red Beans and Rice for dinner.  Yesterday I pulled together a half a bag of veggie ground beef, some chopped celery, some chopped onion and garlic, a jar of tomatoes from the summer (but canned would have been great, too) and a can of red kidney beans and simmered for about 20 minutes.

It amazes me how many times I make this recipe, and how it is literally different every time.  On top of that, dinner Monday usually means lunch on Tuesday (which I just polished off).  And it was delicious!

I keep thinking I am going to get sick of the recipe and I just don't.  Why is that???

Freestyle recipes are like snowflakes - no two are alike.  Yesterday I used the opportunity to add in about a quarter cup of super-spicy salsa which has been lingering in my fridge since the holidays.  It gave the sauce a terriffic kick!  I also added some tiny chopped beets, which added an earthier flavour.

I have two new students working for me this semester who are really fun to have in the office, and we talked a bit about food yesterday.  We talked about how skills like shopping, cooking, eating and leftover management are life skills which one absolutely MUST acquire.  And the sooner, the better!

Essentially, as a busy person, there is something immensely satisfying about Red Beans and Rice Mondays.

I know "what's for dinner".  I can freestyle what I want into a basic recipe and know it will turn out OK.  I can make just a bit extra and freeze some for the next time meal time is crazy.  I added a second can of red kidney beans when this occurred to me last night.

Kathy Freston, the author of "The Lean" which is a fantastic book on eating, balance and healthy habits, suggests eating a bowl of brown rice for breakfast in her book.  Talk about outside the bowl.

Having said that, I thought about my years of enjoying Rice Krispies, Rice Crackers and Rice Pudding and realized that it's not T H A T weird.  So I tried it.

On Monday night, I make extra rice.  Tuesday morning I grate an apple, add some cinnamon, nuts or seeds (this morning it was green pumpkin seeds) and coconut milk, and breakfast is done!

Some mornings it is chocolate almond milk, apples and cranberries.

Chia and Peaches...

Hemp seeds with Blueberries...

Raspberries with some Nutmeg (you'll swear you are eating a jelly doughnut!)

Oranges with Vanilla... (creamsicles??!!??)

It is extremely filling and satisfying.  (Heck, just writing "oranges and vanilla" make me want to eat breakfast all over again!!!)  Very inexpensive, great fibre, great flavour and easily transportable.  The perfect quick breakfast that I can eat at my desk "whenever" I can fit it in.  No soggy cereal turning to mush....  The fruit and nuts just amp up the nutrition.

Sometimes the busiest among us just need to adopt one little habit to make our weeks go a bit more smoothly.

Killing off "What's for dinner?", "How can I use up these leftovers?", "How can I save some cash?", "How can I eat healthier?", "What's for Lunch?" and "What's for breakfast?" with one shot??

P RICE less.

Souvlaki and Common Cents

I suppose I would concede that it takes more than a little ego to even write a blog.  As if people are going to read what I write about food.  Just some regular woman leaning in to the healthiest lifestyle and food choices that she can make and then just writing about it, and sharing photos and ideas...

And yet?

Every so often I amaze even myself with a recipe.  A string of thoughts, combined with substitutions that are actually better than the original...  these are the things that remind me why I blog.

This souvlaki is absolutely up there with one of the best things I have ever made (vegan or not!).

As per usual, it's Friday and I am wiped .  The calm of the holiday break has broken, and real life crowds in.

Bill is up for dinner "out" because he doesn't want me to have to do "too much work".  I, however, am not wanting the budget-buster Friday dinner AND have sworn off wine and booze for a while as I train for my first triathlon.  I decide that a restaurant is just too tempting and laden with obstacles, and start thinking about what I can pull together at home.

So - what's a body to do?  On my drive home, I am ruminating.  What would we eat even if we were going to go out?  Italian, Indian and Thai all showed up on the menu this week.

I'm tired.  I want an easy and cheap dinner which will fuel us, yet enough to be comfortable for a date night.

There is a gorgeous Greek restaurant we love that makes great souvlaki, Greek salads and delectable fries (what is that seasoned salt, anyway??).  But I don't need fries, I don't want grilled animals, and I don't want feta.

IF you get used to listening to your body, you can usually isolate what it is you're craving.  And for me it was that garlicky tzaziki and the salty seasoning of Greece - lemon, garlic, salt and oregano.  If I could get these things on the plate (all vegan, I might add) I could recreate that Greek Diner dinner, without the thousands of calories, nutritional voids and empty carbs and fats.

I have cukes, garlic, lemon, Earth Balance mayo, coconut yogurt at home!

I could get veg "chicken strips" except that Bill doesn't like them.  He prefers the unprocessed foods.  We differ on this point, as sometimes I JUST WANT TO FEEL LIKE THE OLD "NORMAL' and veggie ground beef, beef tips, turkey and chicken help me do that.  But it is date night - which by definition should satisfy both of us.  I decide on a chunky mashed chickpea instead.  Turns out this is the real genius behind this dish, because it drastically ups the fibre and protein, and drastically reduces the cost.  ( We are a great team!)

Given "beets" is also my new year's resolution, I wanted to see what snack-y beet chips might be lurking in the natural food section.  Lots of lovely choices were there, and I settled on TERRA : Exotic Mediterranean Flavour Root Vegetable Chips ($5.29) to stand in the place of the fries.  They are spectacular, and added beautiful colour and crunch to the plate.

For a final dash of inspiration, I also picked up a small box of baklava ($2.29)(butter, I know...) but "progress, not perfection" is my new mantra.

I whizzed through the kitchen and in about 10 minutes we were eating the most delicious souvlaki I have ever had.  And the healthiest.

I threw the whole wheat greek pitas ($2.19) on the (George Foreman) grill to lightly warm them and crisp up the outside.  That thing heats up so quickly and makes the bread soft and easy to fold.

I put some beautiful purple and green baby romaine leaves down, in place of the nutritionally void iceburg lettuce.

In my Vita-mix blender I scooped a quarter cup or so vegan mayo, a quarter cup or so vegan coconut yogurt, two baby cucumbers and a clove of garlic, with some sea salt.  10 seconds later I had a light, delicious and fresh vegan tzaziki.

The mashed chickpeas, plus some fresh oregano, lemon zest, lemon juice, a dash of salt and some olive oil rounded out the rest, and provided the filling.

A final presentation item lurks in the tiny ice-cream scoop I use for cookies.  It created even, perfect little balls so the plate looked like skewered souvlaki.  We eat with our eyes first, after all!

This dish was so delicious, that writing about it doesn't do it justice.  And the reason is all the stuff I usually write about in this blog:

1.  Have good ingredients on hand - a well stocked pantry and fridge allows for more freestyling, especially when time is tight.

2.  Try a non-animal version of your favourite dishes - most flavours and sauces are plant-based already.

3.  Use fresh ingredients - zing and crisp are great additions (onomatopoeia is the word you're looking for!!)

4.  Combine textures and colours - they elevate your cooking.

5.  Have the right tools in your kitchen - they are well worth the investment.

6.  Keep an eye on the hidden cost of having others cook for you.  Eating out would have run us around $42 bucks, between souvlaki dinners, baklava and whatever other temptations may have lurked on a menu.

Eating in was $9.77, and was enough for both dinner last night, and lunch today, with an average cost?

$2.44

Common cents.