Hey everyone, I'm fairly new. I've been a vegan for 4 years, and just recently discovered raw food (:
I've been about 75% raw for the last month, but I'm struggling with going higher raw because of how expensive it is (I'm not even buying nuts and seeds, because it would wipe out my budget) I have a few ideas about how to save, but if anyone has any other ideas, or can ellaborate on mine, that would be fantastic. (:
There is a co-op close by that I may look into, and I think I will start going to the farmers market every friday. I thought about growing produce but besides the crazy dry heat here in AZ making most fruits and veggies difficult to grow, my nephew and pets destroy just about everything that sprouts, so I may try again when I move (so any suggestions about gardening in AZ would be great too). Thats all I got so far. How much do you all save every month buying raw produce by being "creative"?
Thanks for the help!
Comments
farmers markets are definitley a good idea i know quite a few raw people who strike a friendship with the farmers and because there buying produce regularly they end up getting the good deals, free produce and so on.
It's going to be difficult for me to afford to be high raw as I'm unemployed on
Thanks powerlifter (: I'm definitely going to check out the farmers market in Mesa.
Greenwood, I'm sorry to hear about the situation. You're definitely right about good health being worth the money, I may have to eat less organic, if I can't find any other solutions. I'd prefer not to do that, but I suppose non organic produce is better than cooked food, huh?
reh- I spend most of my unemployment money on food as it is. I don't go out much at the moment except for necessary trips like shopping as the eczema is too bad- the heat of the sun makes it redder and more sore. Not good for my vit D, I know, but I'll supplement til then. I have read on The Vegan Society forum that in a temperate climate like Britain if one is out in the sun for around 30 mins a day from April- Sept that is enough to get Vitamin D but supplement (or eat fortified foods with Vit D- I was eating vegan margarine) in the October- March/April. Us humans were meant to live in sunnier climes!
Me- I will get some organic and the rest not- as long as it is wholefood/raw that will have to do for now. When I have a job it will be all organic (subject to availablity). What I will not compromise on is non organic apples, tomatoes and bananas- they are the worst for pesticides.
Before when I was going out - it was free things like the park, library and volunteer work. I try and live simply- I have no TV and live in just one room with a tiny kitchen (shared bathroom)- saves bills. My internet is free from a kind neighbour.I walk and cycle.
I think a bit of cooked food is fine as long as it is wholefoods and not processed stuff- the only cooked foods I will have now are mostly lentils, beans, sweet potatoes, cauli, broccoli, aubergines and courgettes. I certainly will not be having bread (already gave that up) biscuits, etc! I only buy organic red lentils and find them very digestable and nice to eat. I steam the vegetables I do cook. I have been having mostly wholefoods the past few days from what I had already bought at my last shop.
Of course the cheapest thing to do is to grow one's own! If you have a garden that is worth a go- I have seen people grow organically and they always get a good yield. If I had a garden I would be growing my own.
We have a farmers' market that comes here once a month but the produce is not organic and not that cheap- the organic shop I go to is cheaper! I get a
Greenwood, the farmer's market near me isn't good either. It's not organic and they sell bags of fruit by brands like Sunkist in the branded bags. It seems like they buy the produce at the grocery store and sell it for a higher price. Also the produce is often old. It's really odd that it gets customers.
Oh yeah definitely, I gave up processed foods around the same time I became vegan (: I'm a 5'2 woman, but my stomach is like a black hole lol, I spent $40 at the grocery and by the end of the next day it was all gone, and all I bought was fruits and veggies. I haven't eaten grains for about a week, but maybe if I keep it up, I will notice my appetite decrease? Smoothies are very filling, maybe I will try to drink more of those as well. I hope your eczema clears up soon! (:
"Greenwood, the farmer's market near me isn't good either. It's not organic and they sell bags of fruit by brands like Sunkist in the branded bags. It seems like they buy the produce at the grocery store and sell it for a higher price. Also the produce is often old. It's really odd that it gets customers."
Sorry to hear that leafygreen. Have you an organic shop or scheme near you? Here in Britain we have some organic veg and fruit companies who deliver and organic shops.But another thing you could try is see if any allotments are near you and if you could buy off any of the growers.
"Oh yeah definitely, I gave up processed foods around the same time I became vegan (: I'm a 5'2 woman, but my stomach is like a black hole lol, I spent $40 at the grocery and by the end of the next day it was all gone, and all I bought was fruits and veggies. I haven't eaten grains for about a week, but maybe if I keep it up, I will notice my appetite decrease? Smoothies are very filling, maybe I will try to drink more of those as well. I hope your eczema clears up soon! (: "
reh- you must have eaten a lot lol. Though, I don't know how much $40 would buy.
Increase bananas!!!
Thanks for the link greenwood, I'll definitely check out the recipes (:
rawcanadian- I eat 6-7 bananas a day :P so I guess I could always eat more, but I like to have other foods in my diet too lol.
Actually check out these stats:
Here is the nutrition breakdown if you eat 30 bananas and 1 pound of raw spinach and 50grams hemp seed and 50grams almonds:
Nutrition Facts
Amounts per 3540g
Calories 3150.6
Calories From Fat 94.8
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11.7g
Saturated Fat 4g 35%
24%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 35.4mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 808.5g
Dietary Fiber 92g
Sugars 432.9g 135%
267%
Protein 38.6g 51%
Vitamin A 45% Vitamin C 513%
Calcium 18% Iron 51
Now here is 1 pound of raw spinach (You can eat other vegetables, but this is just an example)
Nutrition Facts
Amounts per 450g
Calories 103.5
Calories From Fat 12.3
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1.8g
Saturated Fat 0.3g 5%
2%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 355.5mg 15%
Total Carbohydrate 16.3g
Dietary Fiber 9.9g
Sugars 1.9g 3%
29%
Protein 12.9g 17%
Vitamin A 844% Vitamin C 211%
Calcium 45% Iron 68%
Hemp Seed
Amounts per 50g
Calories 256.6
Calories From Fat 141.3
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15.7g
Saturated Fat 1.1g 47%
7%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 16mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 11.2g
Dietary Fiber 1.6g
Sugars 1.6g 2%
5%
Protein 17.6g 24%
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% Iron 0%
Protein Breakdown of Hemp Seeds
Amino Acid mg/g seeds
Phosphoserine 0.9
Aspartic Acid 19.8
Glutamic Acid 34.8
Threonine 3.7
Serine 8.6
Proline 7.3
Glycine 9.7
Alanine 9.6
Valine 3.0
Cystine + Cysteine 1.2
Methionine 2.6
Cystathionine 0.9
Isoleucine 1.5
Leucine 7.1
Tyrosine 5.8
Phenylalanine 3.5
Tryptophan 0.6
Ethanolamine 0.4
Lysine 4.3
Histidine 2.5
Arginine 18.8
Almonds
Amounts per 50g
Calories 289
Calories From Fat 212.5
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 25.3g
Saturated Fat 1.9g 76%
12%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0.5mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 9.9g
Dietary Fiber 5.9g
Sugars 2.4g 2%
17%
Protein 10.6g 14%
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 12% Iron 12%
If there is any nutrients missing let me know.
Looks like around 78 grams of protein so we got that covered.
I know this diet is extreme, only 4 ingredients, but it shows that you can eat for $15-$20 a day and get all your nutrients. (close to 3700 cals)
Would else would you need???
Maybe b12 because if you lack in that then you can be in trouble. So I would take some just in case.
Also, you might want to take in vitamin D if you don't get enough sun or move to the tropics LOL.
I spend at least 175 dollars a week just on fruit !! sometimes it can change though .
i can spend up to 20$ a day on grapes alone
Fruit must be expensive in the USA. I can get a huge bag of spinach in Lidl for 99p.And I mean huge- enough to last me a week. A pack of 3 peppers costs around
It's your health. Cut back on other costs if possible. Feed your body what it needs. Also, your appetite will diminish and you'll eat a lot less. It seems really expensive at first, but you'll learn. Bananas and apples are your best friends. And start a garden! Good luck and keep us posted.
When it's apple season I can get apples free from next door's tree. :)
I live in Sweden and here everyone is allowed to go into the forests and pick berries and mushrooms, no matter if it is private property. Trespassing is allowed for this very reason! It's called "every mans right". So in the Fall, I do a lot of berry picking...blueberries, currant berries, raspberries and lingon. I freeze them and then we have berries in our smoothies all winter long. I also pick a lot of chantarelles, which I do fry...everyone has a weakness :) )
Generally, I think I could be even better at foraging and freezing. I know freezing isn't as good as fresh, but it gets you through the winter months a bit cheaper. And to be honest, when there is a meter of snow outside your window, in the middle of winter, those wild hand-picked berries taste soooo good.
Now I'm going to start sprouting to hold down costs. I've ordered my jars and am waiting anxiously for the mailman to arrive with them.
I live in Sweden and here everyone is allowed to go into the forests and pick berries and mushrooms, no matter if it is private property. Trespassing is allowed for this very reason! It's called "every mans right". So in the Fall, I do a lot of berry picking...blueberries, currant berries, raspberries and lingon. I freeze them and then we have berries in our smoothies all winter long. I also pick a lot of chantarelles, which I do fry...everyone has a weakness :) )
Generally, I think I could be even better at foraging and freezing. I know freezing isn't as good as fresh, but it gets you through the winter months a bit cheaper. And to be honest, when there is a meter of snow outside your window, in the middle of winter, those wild hand-picked berries taste soooo good.
Now I'm going to start sprouting to hold down costs. I've ordered my jars and am waiting anxiously for the mailman to arrive with them.
I shop mostly at a Korean market. It's actually a chain called Hmart. They carry more organic produce than Whole Foods and it is less expensive and way more fresh. They have a much larger selection than anywhere else I have ever been. They also carry a store made kimchi that doesn't have any fish sauce or oysters in it :)
I don't always buy organic, because frequently I will want an item and it won't be available organic. However, certain items I won't eat unless organic, like strawberries and cherries. They use loads of pesticides on those. I have heard that all cruciferous veggies are OK to eat because they don't need to use pesticides anyway.
Nell- I wish I could do that, picking fresh berries sounds wonderful, unfortunately fruits and veggies don't generally grow wild around here, the whether is much too hot.
Casey- You're right, wholefoods is very expensive, they get you by providing the organic produce and then they jack up the price of everything else (condiments, spices, ect.)because they count on people not wanting to make more than one trip to the grocery. Maybe I will look around for cheaper stores to purchase my organic produce.
Thanks for the tip about Lidl greenwood. I am lazy and tend to get most of my shopping from one place but I eat a ton of spinach so def going to Lidl from now on!
I forgot to mention that the Korean market also carries kelp noodles super cheap. I personally can't stand them, but I know a lot of people enjoy them.
that korean market sounds wicked where are you based for those Casey?
I can't afford to buy completely raw nuts......my family just buys walnuts, almonds, and pecans in bulk from Costco (or Sam's Club) When I make walnut milk, I use up the leftover pulp by adding in honey, vanilla, a pinch of sea salt, and shredded dried coconut; mash onto dehydrator trays and dehydrate for a couple of hours to make cookies.
If I have fruit that I haven't been able to eat up that is going bad, I just put it in a smoothie and you wouldn't know the difference.
Food co-ops are nice but don't always have everything you are looking for.
"Thanks for the tip about Lidl greenwood. I am lazy and tend to get most of my shopping from one place but I eat a ton of spinach so def going to Lidl from now on! "
Are you in Europe sv3? Lidl is great- the bag of spinach is huge! I think it has had minium pesticides too as I find little holes on the leaves where the insects have had a little meal! :)
But don't worry- the spinach is never rotten and always fresh- I like a sign of insects having a munch as then it shows there is some life in the soil!
They do good unsalted nut mixes also- not raw nuts but at least not salted and sugared! They also do living salads- salad plants and herbs in pots cheaper than other supermarkets. I'm not a fan of supermarkets but Lidl is pretty good.
"I can't afford to buy completely raw nuts......my family just buys walnuts, almonds, and pecans in bulk from Costco (or Sam's Club) When I make walnut milk, I use up the leftover pulp by adding in honey, vanilla, a pinch of sea salt, and shredded dried coconut; mash onto dehydrator trays and dehydrate for a couple of hours to make cookies."
I know Dixie- raw nuts are very dear- I'm getting the unsalted mixed ones from Lidl for now til I'm employed again and can afford raw nuts. How do you make walnut milk? That sounds yummy.I've seen nut milks in the organic shop but they have sugar in them and I found out today I'm intolerant to sugar.
There are a ton of different recipes for nut milk but you can follow a very simple formula: Rinse 1 cup of nuts, then soak for 4 hours or at least 6 hours, rinse and then put these nuts in a blender. (Don't put the water you used to soak the nuts in the blender, get new water!) Add 2-3 cups of water and blend until smooth, at least 1 minute. Put this mixture through a strainer and the liquid will be your "milk" and the pulpy stuff you can use for other things. Use within 3-4 days. You can also add a little honey, vanilla and a pinch of sea salt to sweeten your milk if you like it like that. As always with raw food, sweeten it to your liking.
I can't make almond milk because my sister is allergic to almonds, so I just use walnuts.
So the nuts go soft enough to blend? I haven't an electric blender as yet, only a mechanical one- it wouldn't blend nuts and I doubt my smoothie maker could do it either. I'll have to wait til I get a blender to make nut milk- thanks for the tip.I saw coconut milk in the organic shop yesterday when I went to collect my organic fruit and veg order. Next time I go I'll see if it is sugar free.I bought a tin of it ages ago and it is in my fridge but when I looked more closely at the label it has e- numbers in it. :(
I did find carob powder in the health shop I had my food intolerance test in yesterday so got some- I can make a (small of course) carob bar with it as I have coconut oil!
greenwood, I live in Manchester, England. :-)
Hi!
I just found out that in the food stores they throw out fruits and vegetables every day and that I can have it all for free. If I don't take it, it is used to make fuel or someting. This week I got four huge boxes full of fruits and vegetables they were going to throw out. If one tomato in a pack of six is a little bad, they throw out the whole pack for example. Most of the stuff in the boxes were still fresh and good to eat so now I have the frige and the freezer full of fresh food (and my neighbours too;) ) I also made a deal with one of the stores that I can come there and pick up these boxes when I want to! I am lucky and live in a country where non organic fruits and vegetables are safer to eat than the organic ones in other countries ( at least surveys says that, if that is true I can not be sure of, but what I know is that I feel SO good on this raw food diet, I am so happy I foud this "consept").
"greenwood, I live in Manchester, England. :-) "
Blimey I am just up the motorway to you! I'm in Liverpool. We have some good Asian food shops here and a sweet little organic shop called Windmill in Wavertree, George Harrison's old home. We also have two new agey type shops that sell dried herbs for medicines.And in the city centre is the Lidl! And an independant health shop- the man that runs it knows loads about herbal medicine- I tend to ring him up rather than the doc lol. How is Manchester for organic and Asian shops? Did you go to the Lidl?
And in Sefton (Mersyside) is the independent health shop I had my intolerance test done.
Hi!
I just found out that in the food stores they throw out fruits and vegetables every day and that I can have it all for free. If I don't take it, it is used to make fuel or someting. This week I got four huge boxes full of fruits and vegetables they were going to throw out. If one tomato in a pack of six is a little bad, they throw out the whole pack for example. Most of the stuff in the boxes were still fresh and good to eat so now I have the frige and the freezer full of fresh food (and my neighbours too;) ) I also made a deal with one of the stores that I can come there and pick up these boxes when I want to! I am lucky and live in a country where non organic fruits and vegetables are safer to eat than the organic ones in other countries ( at least surveys says that, if that is true I can not be sure of, but what I know is that I feel SO good on this raw food diet, I am so happy I foud this "consept").
That's great for you! :) In the co- op supermarket local to me they have virtually ALL the fruit and vegetables wrapped up in plastic. I popped in there last week to get some bananas (they do fair trade organic there) and fruit juice and I noticed that almost all the fruit had gone rotten and they were selling it off cheap. It wasn't worth getting it as they hadn't reduced it much and most of it was mouldy. I told the security man that it was terrible to package the fresh food in plastic as it makes it rot and it isn't necessary and is wasteful. He agreed with me. I think I will write to the head office and suggest they follow Lidl which don't use that much packaging- most of their fruits and veggies are out on the shelves in cardboard boxes.