On the Cheap!

[Guest guest]

" We make our own bread

 

We make our own organic soy milk with our machine (Awesome investment)

 

We don't buy packaged stuff (most packaged stuff is GMO anyway)

 

I breastfeed my children until they are ready to wean

 

We buy flour, beans, toothpaste in bulk through a food co-op that we are

involved in. "

 

As a single parent on a very tight budget, I am incredibly conscious of what

I spend. I easily spend $100 per week on fruits, veggies, soy milk, soy

yogurt, beans, tofu etc. This is way too much $$$ IMO. I wish to God I

could be living somewhere where I could " live off of the land " . The price

of things disgusts me. I pay $2.99 CND for a 2 litre carton of soymilk

(from a wholesaler) while my sister pays $1.99 CND (retail) for 4 litres of

of cow's milk. I pay $2.24 CND (wholesale) for a 440ml carton of soy yogurt

while my sister pays 99 cents CND (retail) for 750ml of dairy yogurt. This

is crazy and I often think about going back to just being a vegetartian and

not vegan based on the financial aspect of it all. Could I be being wiser?

Where I do see the difference is in the cost of meat versus tofu and beans.

I do make my own breads, juices etc and am still breastfeeding my 26 1/2

month old dd but the cost is still there! Grrrr ... I could go on a rampage

but I won't! Why does it cost so much to live heathfully? Shouldn't people

who choose to live unhealthy be made to pay more? They could put the extra

money from crap foods into our health care system! I have been thoroughly

frustrated this week about the cost of things so this topic could not have

come up at a better time!

 

About this close to going back to veg-not-vegan ....

 

 

(.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.)

(.)(.) Jodi ~ Mama to nursling Dasha (06/22/99)(.)(.)

(.)(.) British Columbia, Canada (.)(.)

(.)(.) Have a blessed day! (.)(.)

(.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a

thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. "

--William Jennings Bryan, politician

 

 

 

_______________

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[Guest guest]

Jodi Barnard wrote:

> [...] I pay $2.99 CND for a 2 litre carton of soymilk

> (from a wholesaler) while my sister pays $1.99 CND (retail) for 4 litres of

> of cow's milk. [...]

 

This seems like an appropriate moment to point out a trick

I discovered a few months ago. My partner and I were buying

low fat soy milk like it was going out of style until I

noticed the ingredients, and it all seemed so simple: it

was just soy milk and water. So I tried buying the regular

soy milk and mixing it with an equal amount of filtered

water, and you know what? It tastes exactly the same as

the low-fat stuff. We're now, obviously, spending half the

money we used to spend on soy milk.

 

Seems almost too " duh " to be true, but if you're buying

the low-fat stuff, I strongly suggest you switch to doing

it this way and save yourself the cash.

 

We also make our own fake mayo, and are able to use -very-

little oil, so the major source of fat is the tofu, and we

use low-fat tofu anyway. Our " mayo " ends up costing us

about $1 per jar (mostly the cost of the tofu), and has

only about a gram of fat per serving. The recipe we use

is modified from the _Vegan Vittles_ cookbook: one package

of firm silken tofu, a little apple cider vinegar, a

little lemon juice, a touch of oil, some prepared mustard,

and a bit of sugar and salt. Doesn't taste exactly like

mayo, but for me, that's just as well since I was never

much of a mayo fan. It's a delicious way to moisten up a

sandwich, though. Mmm. :-)

 

I have more tips and tricks, but I'll stop now -- I'm

making myself hungry. ;-)

 

- Kate O'

[Guest guest]

I know how you feel on the veg-to-vegan thing, Jodi and appreciate you're

being so forthright about your frustration. I feel the same way many busy

days when I have to eat yet another plain, dry bagel and piece of old fruit

at school because I didn't have time to plan ahead. However, when I think

about the alternative (eating real cream cheese or a serving of mac and

cheese) it sounds so gross to me I know I'm probably doing the right thing.

I've loved this great conversation about the financial cost of being vegan:

so often I talk about how easy it is these days to do it with all the

products that are readily available to us, that I overlook how easy it is to

do (even this!) badly by relying too much on Tofutti/Tofurkey/you name it

pre-packaged options... In fact, my husband and I have actually gained more

weight since going from veg-to-vegan than we did when we went veggie--

anyone else experience this? I've been assuming it's from the carbo-loading

we've been doing in lieu of getting in there and making something " real " to

eat because we're tired, rushed, etc. To tell you the truth, eating has

become a big pain for us lately! Sorry for the complaint session, just

wanted to vent a little, I suppose.

 

Beth

 

>

> Jodi Barnard [libellule_bleu]

> Monday, September 03, 2001 12:14 PM

>

> Re: On the Cheap!

>

>

>

> " We make our own bread

>

> We make our own organic soy milk with our machine (Awesome investment)

>

> We don't buy packaged stuff (most packaged stuff is GMO anyway)

>

> I breastfeed my children until they are ready to wean

>

> We buy flour, beans, toothpaste in bulk through a food co-op that we are

> involved in. "

>

> As a single parent on a very tight budget, I am incredibly

> conscious of what

> I spend. I easily spend $100 per week on fruits, veggies, soy milk, soy

> yogurt, beans, tofu etc. This is way too much $$$ IMO. I wish to God I

> could be living somewhere where I could " live off of the land " .

> The price

> of things disgusts me. I pay $2.99 CND for a 2 litre carton of soymilk

> (from a wholesaler) while my sister pays $1.99 CND (retail) for 4

> litres of

> of cow's milk. I pay $2.24 CND (wholesale) for a 440ml carton of

> soy yogurt

> while my sister pays 99 cents CND (retail) for 750ml of dairy

> yogurt. This

> is crazy and I often think about going back to just being a

> vegetartian and

> not vegan based on the financial aspect of it all. Could I be

> being wiser?

> Where I do see the difference is in the cost of meat versus tofu

> and beans.

> I do make my own breads, juices etc and am still breastfeeding my 26 1/2

> month old dd but the cost is still there! Grrrr ... I could go

> on a rampage

> but I won't! Why does it cost so much to live heathfully?

> Shouldn't people

> who choose to live unhealthy be made to pay more? They could put

> the extra

> money from crap foods into our health care system! I have been

> thoroughly

> frustrated this week about the cost of things so this topic could

> not have

> come up at a better time!

>

> About this close to going back to veg-not-vegan ....

>

>

> (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.)

> (.)(.) Jodi ~ Mama to nursling Dasha (06/22/99)(.)(.)

> (.)(.) British Columbia, Canada (.)(.)

> (.)(.) Have a blessed day! (.)(.)

> (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.) (.)(.)

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> " Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a

> thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. "

> --William Jennings Bryan, politician

>

>

>

> _______________

> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

At 09:37 AM 9/3/01 -0700, you wrote:

>I have more tips and tricks, but I'll stop now -- I'm

>making myself hungry. ;-)

 

No, no! Don't stop! Go have a snack and come back and post more tips and

tricks. <grin>

 

Jeri Burdett

TerraWeb Technologies--Solutions that fit your style

Website hosting, design, & domain registration at down-to-earth prices

http://www.twtek.com

[Guest guest]

Jeri Burdett wrote:

> At 09:37 AM 9/3/01 -0700, you wrote:

> >I have more tips and tricks, but I'll stop now -- I'm

> >making myself hungry. ;-)

>

> No, no! Don't stop! Go have a snack and come back and post more tips and

> tricks. <grin>

 

OK, then, here are some more off the top of my head:

 

- When you shop for produce, look for the stuff that's on

sale and stock up, but only if you honestly think you can

and will use it all for soups, sauces, etc. that you can

then freeze for later thawing and eating. Nothing is as

good a bargain (and as healthy!) as in-season produce.

 

- Keep potatoes on hand, and use them to add bulk to soups,

stews, casseroles, whatever -- they're usually cheap,

they last a long time when stored well, and they make you

feel full. In short, a great bargain food.

 

- If you can get dehydrated TVP cheap, it's another great

way to make a meal seem heartier and more filling, and

it's handy to have around when you accidentally make your

soup too thin -- just throw some in there as is (I mean,

don't rehydrate it beforehand) and it will absorb the

liquid as it rehydrates. Many an impromptu soup gone awry

has been salvaged this way at my house. :-)

 

- Use dehydrated beans instead of canned whenever possible.

They don't take -that- much effort if you're able to plan

ahead, and they're cheaper. They also waste less

packaging, so you can feel smug about doing the right

thing for the environment. ;-)

 

Another tactic is to figure out the foods you most like to

prepare and eat (one of our favorites is pasta with sauteed

mushrooms and onions, topped with hot sauce), and calculate

how much they cost to make. Then see if you can cut the

cost anywhere. We did this with several dishes by cutting

the amount of the costliest ingredient, substituting some

cheaper ingredients, and so on, and we now have a " menu " of

three or four inexpensive (under $3 for both of us) meals

that we like enough to eat several times a week, and a few

special meals (all under $10 for both of us) that we can

eat every few weeks. We try to eat out only a few times per

month (usually Thai food), and every so often, when I have

an uncontrollable urge to cook something different, we'll

splurge on making something new and experimental.

 

Looking forward to seeing others' tips and tricks,

 

- Kate O'

[Guest guest]

Trick...keep a bag in the freezer and put the tops/bottoms/snippets,

etc. that you have cut off veggies into it. When the bag is full use

for soup. Save just about everything -- the teeny bits of garlic you've

cut off from either end, the end of the squash and peppers, mushroom

stems, tag bottom of the celery bunch. Even that bit that is just a tad

too slimy to put in salad, but hasn't turned. You can strain it all out.

 

Sarah