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Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Vegan On A Budget

A vegan diet can be an expensive option if  you choose to eat many vegan processed foods, and vegan "fake" meats. But if you stick to the basics it is an extremely economical dietary choice.

I am not a vegan who eats "fake" meats, and looks to recreate vegan forms of traditional foods such as macaroni and cheese, chicken and noodles, etc. I like to eat a whole food, plant based diet and avoid processed foods for the most part.

My weekly staples, and pretty much my shopping list:

oatmeal
lentils
ground flax seed
almond milk
nutritional yeast
mushrooms
diced canned tomatoes
kale
collard greens
napa cabbage
brussel sprouts
carrots
turnips
cucumber
peppers
radishes
celery
ezeqiel bread

I sometimes add, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini squash, and occasionally apples and bananas, and once in while some frozen blueberries. I eat canned beans, pinto, black, or chick, occasionally, and a few times a week some quinoa.

It seems like a small group of foods, but each day I easily hit my protein goal, calcium and iron goals, close to my potassium goal, and average around 50 plus grams of fiber daily. I do take a multi-vitamin each day, B-12 supplement, D3 supplement, and Tumeric Curcumin.

I enjoy my meals, lunch and dinner are always lentils, tomatoes, nutritional yeast, and napa cabbage. I generally eat two servings of kale at lunch time, and two servings of collard greens at dinner time, to this I add some other veggies. I steam my veggies. To save time I cook up a bunch of lentils and  keep them in the fridge, they are always ready to go.

I do not use oil, dressings, vegan spreads, dips etc. as I try to limit my exposure to fat. I do eat a little peanut butter and occasionally some nuts, and I get omega 3's from 2 T flax see I eat with my morning oatmeal.

I have never tried vegan cheese and don't see why I ever will as I simply do not miss it at all, and I was once a cheese addict :)

Meal prep is easy and my meals are filling, satisfying, and nutritious.

I like to drink herbal tea, making sure I have some green tea every day too.

3 comments:

Pen Wilcock said...

Vegan cheese is vile!! (In my humble opinion) Do you eat bread ever? I've had to give it right up. Bread has it in for me. Sadly. I have a romantic idea of bread, but the real thing plays havoc with my system.
Sometimes if I feel like something sweet and warming I have a cup of hot coconut milk with a scant teaspoon of cacao powder in it. I really love it. Nettle tea is my favourite drink mainly — I used to drink Earl Grey with milk in it, but my body has gone on strike over dairy, and tea gives me pains these days. I also love dandelion tea.

? said...

I buy exeqiel bread, not sure if that is available in UK. It is a bread with ingredients taken from the Book of Ezekiel chapter 4, verse 9. It is a sprouted grain bread. I keep it in the freezer, I like a piece toasted, I eat it plain, just kind of nibble on it. Call me weird, but I rather like eating a frozen Alice once in a while. It is a sprouted grain bread. A loaf lasts me over a month. It does have yo be kept frozen, there are no preservatives or anything unnatural.
I drink a lot of herb teas and green tea, but still like a cup of coffee when I get up.
I drink a cup of almond milk each day, sometimes I warm it up and add it to some oatmeal for a warm tasty snack in the afternoon.
Bean

Pen Wilcock said...

I think our equivalent here is Manna bread — I haven't seen it around for a while, but it sounds very similar.