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I’ve got a jar of pesto.
I’ve got a box of Angel Hair.
I’ve got Pesto Pasta.
I love pasta dishes because they are so flexible. I can add some carrots, broccoli, artichoke hearts, and red bell pepper and call it a Pesto Florentine, plus it gets veggies down the kids throats.
Win Win.
On my shopping list for this recipe is a can of Pinto Beans ($.89) and burger buns ($2.99). So far, I have spent $7.47 of my $35 food budget, leaving me with $27.63 with which to make 4 more meals.
Recipe from MyRecipes
I’ve got an eggplant and feta, two things that don’t normally show up in my grocery cart, so I’m going Mediterranean!
I’m going to make the following recipes:
Adapted from Low Budget Vegetarian
Cook the couscous as usual, or use leftover rice.
While the couscous is cooking, heat the oil (and butter) in a skillet on a medium flame. When the butter is thoroughly melted, add the cumin seeds. Wait about a minute, add the garlic, and let cook until the garlic starts to brown. Add onion, stir and cook until onion starts to turn transparent. Add the zucchini and spices, stir, and cook until zucchini is desired softness.
Add diced tomatoes and the beans, stir, and heat until thoroughly hot. Stir in the cooked couscous and cook for 3-5 minutes to blend flavors.
You can serve immediately, or keep in a covered dish in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.
Adapted from EatingWell.com
(I’ll be using this as a sandwich spread)
Adapted from Greek.Food.Com
INGREDIENTS
2 slices whole wheat bread (or whatever flavor you prefer)
2 tablespoons Roasted Eggplant & Feta Spread (see above)
6 slices cucumbers (skin on)
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1 roasted red pepper, sliced into strips
2 slices red onions (optional)
2 slices tomatoes
PREPARATION
The only ingredient I don’t already have is spinach. I’ll pick some up at Costco for $3.49, leaving me with $31.51 of my $35 food budget. But it will also buy me enough spinach to be able to use it for other meals!
Read more at: http://greek.food.com/recipe/mediterranean-veggie-sandwich-415493?oc=linkback
Today is the other day I need to be able to cook from what I have in stock. When I made my inventory list, I neglected to mention what I have in my freezer. Lucky me, I have a couple of frozen balls of pizza dough, ready to be man-handled, from a sale a few weeks back! As I mentioned, substitutions should be easy, so I’ll be using the 6-cheese Italian blend of shredded cheese I have on hand.
Recipe from MyRecipes.com
Check out this post to see my inventory list.
Day 1 needs to be strictly from my inventory list because I only shop on Wednesdays (double ad days at Sprouts). Something jumped out at me immediately and is a quick and easy go-to meal. This makes great leftovers, or even a good start to the day! Plus, its quick to make, so you can whip up a lunch in a New York Minute.
This is so easy, and is usually made from things I have on hand on a regular basis
1 red bell, cut in strips
1 green bell, cut in strips
1/2 large yellow onion, cut in strips
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of kidney beans (or about 2 cups)
1 tsp Cumin
Salt, to taste
Shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, salsa(optional)
For the kids, I like to rip up a tortilla and put the mixture in a bowl, like a burrito bowl. Otherwise, they make a serious mess.
If you like things spicier, you can also add chili powder, but I find my kids really don’t like it.
(Sorry it has been a while since I last posted. I’ve been busy being a non-crazy Mom and focused Home Maker)
Here’s the update on us and our diets: We eat about 30% vegan, 68% vegetarian, 2% meat (reserved for when we are invited to friends houses. We try to not be difficult.) The reason we added some dairy and eggs back into our diet is because The Hubby and I lost SO much weight (me 2 dress sizes and him 4 inches) in about a 6-week span, that I didn’t want us dropping any more.
Since adding in dairy again, I’m finding my food budget envelope emptying faster than when we ate strictly vegan, because I’ve added those expensive things, like $15/month on cheddar cheese (Tillamook is the only way to go. And I’m not even getting paid to say that!), among other dairy products.
So, what is a gal supposed to do when she’s got 8 days left before her next payday and only $35 in her food budget?
She get’s creative! (and makes a list. The gal ALWAYS makes a list.)
Here is what I have on hand:
Fruit/Veggies 7 apples 1 Roma Tomato 2 Avocados Strawberries Frozen Raspberries 1 English Cucumber 5 Red Bell Peppers 1 Green Bell Pepper 2 Red onion 2 Yellow Onion 1 Swiss Chard Bunch 1 Zucchini Butter Nut Squash Carrots 1 Eggplant Cilantro Broccoli 6 Red potatoes Dairy 3 eggs Rice milk Almond Milk 8oz Ricotta 24oz Sour Cream Pepperjack Italian Shreds 8oz Feta 10oz Jack Cheese Fresh Parm Beans/Legumes Kidney Beans Garbanzo Beans Green Split Peas Lentils 3 cans of Black Beans Grains Whole Wheat Bread Whole Wheat White Bread Tortillas Israeli CousCous Quinoa Amaranth Lasagna Noodles Penne Cannelloni Angel Hair Oatmeal Vital Wheat Gluten Canned/Jarred Salsa Whole peeled tomatoes Artichoke hearts Raw cashews Pasta Sauce Water Chestnuts Misc. Nori sheets Spring Roll Wrappers Panko
Terms like “Budget Meals” are your best friend (I narrow it down by using the terms “Vegan budget meals” and “Vegetarian budget meals”). When scouring the interwebs for budget meals, I look for meals that fulfill the following criteria:
Most of the ingredients should be things I have on hand, and those that I need to buy should be CHEAP ones. This is usually a produce or grain. If you are missing a cheese, just a hint, that’s not the way to stay in your teeny tiny budget. Chose a different recipe.
Does your recipe call for Italian Seasoning, but you don’t have any? Sub oregano, basil, thyme, garlic, and onion for it!
Does your recipe call for Yellow or Orange bell peppers (which are expensive!!) but you only have red? Use red. Duh.
Do you only have rice when a recipe calls for potatoes? Use the rice!
I’ve been shopping at Sprouts, and I LOVE it. I’ve come to find out that Wednesdays are double ad days, which means I get to shop the sales from both the previous week and the current week. Love it. So, check out when your store has the best deals! Safeway, for example, has their $5 specials each weekend. Pair some of those specials with a manufacturer’s coupon, and BOOM, great deal.
But shopping on Wednesdays only means I have to find 2 meals out of what I have on hand since today is Monday and it’s pretty frowned upon by well, everyone, to only feed your kids every three days. (I know there are people, kids included, going hungry out there. But if you, my reader are one of those people, may I be so blunt as to ask you why internet access is more important than feeding your family?)
Stay tuned for my first quick and easy meal that I’ll be making!
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
How on Earth could the murder of 26 people, 20 of which were children, be used for the good of those who love God??
God has opened my eyes and my heart to think of a few, even as the enemy tries to fill me with hate and rage.
20 Children have had their innocence stolen from them. They watched as their murderer ended the life of his victims before he reached them.
The Bible, to the best of my knowledge (and Google’s), does not say anything about the “age of accountability”; that is, the age at which a person has individual knowledge of sinful choices and of coming to the Father. We do not know with absolute certainty that children and babies get a “free pass” to Heaven. However, we do know God is loving, faithful, just, merciful, and always right (the only parental figure that can say that!).
Jesus was given on the cross as an atonement for all of our sins. To those that have not yet formed a relationship with Christ, this is true for you also! God doesn’t preface his sacrifice as “as long as you think I’m legit, you’re good to go”. He is just waiting for you to come to Him. It’s like making up the guest bed in your home in anticipation of a hopeful occupant. He’s ready when you are.
I believe His grace and mercy extends to those children of Sandy Hook Elementary. He had a warm cozy bed waiting for them.I believe being in the glorious presence of Christ took away their fear of being away from their families, their loveys, their creature comforts. I believe they stood judgement, just as every other person on the planet will in their due time, but I believe these young souls, so full of life, energy, and happiness (if you’ve ever been around a child, you’ll agree), passed His eternal judgement and were welcomed into His house to choirs of angels.
The children who escaped the massacre are scarred for life. Their coping mechanisms are not yet in full-functioning mode, and they will never be the same.
I am sure there will be some children that will carry these scars for the rest of their lives. I pray peace in abundance on them, that God may bring a supernatural sense of understanding on their hearts and minds. I pray that they may wear their scars with pride of having been brought through a tremendous battle. But even in worldly wars, there is a rehabilitation process, which these victims of terror must muddle through.
I also think there will be heros that emerge from the crowd. Maybe they didn’t yesterday. Maybe they won’t today or tomorrow. But I have faith that at least one of the attendees of Sandy Hook Elementary will go on to save lives. They will go on to show other children that war-scars can be strengthening in times of trial. They can build a fortitude in a person that is not replicable by any other source. They will change the world.
20 families have to spend Christmas without their babies. They will never hug them again. They will never smell them again. They will never brush their teeth, their hair, or tie their shoes for them again. They have lost a piece of their heart.
Families all over the nation held their babies closer last night. They prayed for them and with them, maybe for the first time, last night. They kept their impatience in check last night. They counted their blessings last night. They listened to their child’s stream-of-consciousness with a changed heart last night. They dealt with the noise, mess, chaos with a little more grace.
I know I did.
The Hubby and I have changed the course of our lives many times in our 10 years together. We’ve taken on extra commitments by adding dogs and children to the mix. We’ve taken on added financial commitments buy a house before we were married. We focused and became debt free, even when it meant saying “no” to toys, vacations, and dinners out. And most recently, we’ve adopted a plant-based lifestyle for ourselves and our children. Through most of our life changes, we’ve encountered a fair amount of resistance, but none so much as this most recent one!
As a parent, there is nothing worse, in my opinion, that someone insinuating that you are doing a bad job, or don’t have your child’s best interests at heart. People haven’t commented about the nutrition concerns in terms of me and the Hubby (which is funny because we actually need much more than the kids do) but only in regards to the health and growth of my children.
I am not here to defend our lifestyle. I am here to educate.
Protein is required by the body for the growth, maintenance and repair of all cells. In terms of muscle growth, when you work a certain muscle, you break down the muscle during the workout, then repair it with protein, gradually growing them. It’s why athletes and bodybuilders are all hot-to-trot for protein powders. They are constantly breaking down their muscles and needing to repair them quickly so they can go at it again! Protein is a major component of all muscles, tissues and organs and is vital for practically every process that occurs within the body such as metabolism, digestion and the transportation of nutrients and oxygen in the blood. (source: HelpWithCooking.com)
Our bodies need 20 amino-acids. Those amino-acids link together to form peptides. Those peptides link together to form proteins. Our bodies naturally make 11 of them, so the other 9 are called “essential amino-acids”, meaning it is essential that you ingest them to make your body run properly (source: No Meat Athlete).
Animal proteins are considered “complete proteins” because they provide all of the essential amino-acids.
Plant-based proteins are “incomplete proteins”, because they are low in one or more of the essential amino-acids. However, what one lacks, another has in abundance. These would be called “complementary proteins”. Eating the two together results in all of your essential amino-acids.
If you think of rice and beans as “going together”, you’d be right! Rice and beans are wonderful complementary proteins. (source: CDC.gov)
One caveat: you have to opt for the best of the best. No more Minute Rice and refried beans. I always opt for brown rice (which freezes beautifully and doesn’t take much longer to cook a whole bunch of it than it would to make one serving) and whole beans, not refried. Refried beans have TONS of fat in them!
The comments I’ve gotten about the amount of protein in a plant-based diet started to get at me. I started to question if I was giving my children what they needed. It doesn’t help that my Little is 14 months old and barely standing independently, and definitely not walking. Was it because I didn’t give her what she’s been needing to grow the muscles in her legs?
So I Googled it.
I went to a trusted source (cdc.gov) to find the following numbers:
Recommended Dietary Allowance for Protein Grams of protein needed each day
Children ages 1 – 3: 13 grams
Children ages 4 – 8: 19 grams
Children ages 9 – 13: 34 grams
Girls ages 14 – 18: 46 grams
Boys ages 14 – 18: 52 grams
Women ages 19 – 70+: 46 grams
Men ages 19 – 70+: 56 grams
I nearly cried tears of joy when I read that. Our typical breakfast is a whole grain (bagel, toast, English muffin, oatmeal, Cheerios, etc.), a fruit (bananas, grapes, apples, or a fruit smoothie), and soy yogurt with homemade granola (with peanut butter, seeds, nuts, and dried fruit in it).
This morning, my girls each had 1 piece of Whole Wheat toast (6 grams/slice) with 2 tbsp peanut butter (7 grams) and a 1/2 cup soy yogurt (4.5 grams) with granola (~ 4 grams).
At breakfast, my kids each ate about 21.5 grams of protein. And we still have snacks, lunch, and dinner to eat! My worry moved to “am I giving them too much protein??”
Thankfully, there is an answer for that too:
Most people eat more protein than they need without harmful effects. However, protein contributes to calorie intake, so if you eat more protein than you need, your overall calorie intake could be greater than your calorie needs and contribute to weight gain.
Besides that, animal sources of protein can be sources of saturated fat which has been linked to elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease.
In addition, for people with certain kidney diseases, a lower-protein diet may be recommended to help prevent an impairment in kidney function. (source)
In Forks Over Knives, we are educated, via The China Study, that animal-based proteins actually encouraged the growth of cancer cells, but a plant-based diet discourages their growth. A good source of protein, that is readily available in many different forms, is soy. However, it’s been shown that an excessive amount of soy protein actually works in the body to increase IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor) levels, effectively negating the positive effects of a plant-based diet.
High levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF- 1) are associated with increased risk of prostate cancer, whereas increased levels of some of its binding proteins (IGFBPs) seem to be protective. High intakes of dietary protein, especially animal and soy protein, appear to increase IGF-1. (source: Ornish Soy Study).
But did you know that a study done of Asian women with higher levels of soy intake show a significant decrease in breast cancer, whereas the same study done on American women didn’t show a correlation? (source: Cancer.org). This is mainly because Asian women eat large amounts of soy for their whole lives, and possibly because they did not eat cancer-encouraging foods in their adolescence. Interesting, right?
Soy acts like estrogen in the body. Estrogen promotes wound healing. Because cancer cells are made by our bodies, we are “wounded” from the inside out, therefore, the estrogen in our bodies can help repair that! So.Cool.
However, you need a certain amount of soy in your body to “make it work”. If you eat too little, it’s like it doesn’t count. If you eat too much, you grow cancer cells.
Grrrr…
No wonder people are all confused as to the health benefits of soy!
I found this very quick and easy to understand 90 second video that sums up how much soy is ok.
As for my family, we eat tofu very rarely (I don’t like the texture, but I am open to cooking it in different ways to see if that changes), enjoy a serving of soy yogurt once a day, and add edemame to things like quinoa salad. We use rice milk in general for cooking and smoothies, and I still have 1 gallon of cows milk for Big’s dinner drink (though I’m trying to phase it out), and for kids Cheerios, but only because I haven’t found a replacement that we are all happy with.
One of my favorite sites EVER in this new journey of ours is The Vegetarian Resource Group, so I totally wasn’t surprised that they had a beautifully designed table of Vegan Proteins. Keep in mind, it’s not a complete list, by any stretch, but it’s a good start!
| Table 2: Protein Content of Selected Vegan Foods | |||
| FOOD | AMOUNT | PROTEIN(gm) | PROTEIN(gm/100 cal) |
| Tempeh | 1 cup | 41 | 9.3 |
| Seitan | 3 ounces | 31 | 22.1 |
| Soybeans, cooked | 1 cup | 29 | 9.6 |
| Lentils, cooked | 1 cup | 18 | 7.8 |
| Black beans, cooked | 1 cup | 15 | 6.7 |
| Kidney beans, cooked | 1 cup | 13 | 6.4 |
| Veggie burger | 1 patty | 13 | 13.0 |
| Chickpeas, cooked | 1 cup | 12 | 4.2 |
| Veggie baked beans | 1 cup | 12 | 5.0 |
| Pinto beans, cooked | 1 cup | 12 | 5.7 |
| Black-eyed peas, cooked | 1 cup | 11 | 6.2 |
| Tofu, firm | 4 ounces | 11 | 11.7 |
| Lima beans, cooked | 1 cup | 10 | 5.7 |
| Quinoa, cooked | 1 cup | 9 | 3.5 |
| Tofu, regular | 4 ounces | 9 | 10.6 |
| Bagel | 1 med. (3 oz) |
9 | 3.9 |
| Peas, cooked | 1 cup | 9 | 6.4 |
| Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), cooked | 1/2 cup | 8 | 8.4 |
| Peanut butter | 2 Tbsp | 8 | 4.3 |
| Veggie dog | 1 link | 8 | 13.3 |
| Spaghetti, cooked | 1 cup | 8 | 3.7 |
| Almonds | 1/4 cup | 8 | 3.7 |
| Soy milk, commercial, plain | 1 cup | 7 | 7.0 |
| Soy yogurt, plain | 6 ounces | 6 | 4.0 |
| Bulgur, cooked | 1 cup | 6 | 3.7 |
| Sunflower seeds | 1/4 cup | 6 | 3.3 |
| Whole wheat bread | 2 slices | 5 | 3.9 |
| Cashews | 1/4 cup | 5 | 2.7 |
| Almond butter | 2 Tbsp | 5 | 2.4 |
| Brown rice, cooked | 1 cup | 5 | 2.1 |
| Spinach, cooked | 1 cup | 5 | 13.0 |
| Broccoli, cooked | 1 cup | 4 | 6.8 |
| Potato | 1 med. (6 oz) |
4 | 2.7 |
| Sources: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18, 2005 and manufacturers’ information. | |||
Health is not dependent on a number. It’s not the number sewn into your pants. It’s not the number on the scale. It’s about how you feel. Though I am about to drop LOTS of numbers on you, I never thought I was highly concerned with “my number”. I don’t lose sleep. I don’t own a scale at home. I just remember a bunch of numbers. When looking at your own health, I strongly urge you to toss your scale and your notions of “If I am XXX lbs, I can call myself ‘healthy’”.
Growing up, I was ALWAYS skinny. People thought I had an eating disorder. Maybe I did. I didn’t eat breakfast. Ever. I had a Sprite and a bag of Ruffles for lunch. Always. Sometimes, a bag of Skittles for “dessert”. And though I remember family dinners during my early years, they aren’t a mainstay of my teen-year memories. I was always babysitting, going to Youth Group, hanging out with friends, or working at Baskin Robbins. Not a whole lot of time for eating a well-rounded, nutritious and healthy meal! I weighed around 110 lbs.
When I was a young adult, I started working in restaurants. I’d only eat breakfast if I went out for it (about 2-3 times a week) and usually, it was more like brunch because I slept in until 10am. I’d start my shift at work between 4-5:30pm and cram dinner (typically a burger and fries) down my throat before I was on the clock. I weighed around 120 lbs (I’m 5’9″).
Then I met The Hubby. We enjoy each other’s company, so I started to cook. He’s a “breakfast guy, so we’d either go out or we’d make something like french toast and bacon. “Our Dinner” would typically consist of filet mignon (seriously), Pasta Roni, and either a caesar salad or asparagus. I lived by the “protein, starch, veggie” model, and would pretty much have a meltdown if everything on our plate was the same color. The Hubby never understood that.
I went from a size 5-8 (I’d fluctuate greatly) to a solid size 10. I was 150 lbs, but I was happy in my personal life. I felt healthier than I ever had, probably because I was *actually* eating food again! And though I had never been that heavy, I would often say “I think my body is made to be at 150 lbs”, but I wonder if that wasn’t just an excuse to eat high on the hog.
I was 150 lbs when I got pregnant with Big, and I was 175 lbs when I delivered her. My goal, before getting pregnant again, was to be back at pre-pregnancy weight. I was eating well, exercising regularly, and was at 147 lbs when I got pregnant with Middle two years later. I was 180 lbs when I delivered her. Again, my goal was to be back to pre-pregnancy weight before getting pregnant again, and I was hitting the gym HARD. I was down to 143 lbs when I got pregnant for the last time and was 185 lbs when I delivered.
I was a solid Size 12 at Christmas time (I had gotten a pair of skinny jeans as a gift. It’s how I remember), and there was a part of me that resigned myself to being “bigger”. Though my energy was in the dumps, I blamed it on the whole 3-kids thing. I gave away all of my smaller-than-size-10 clothes, because I figured I would never ever fit in them again after having had 3 kids. Ain’t gonna happen. Size 10 was my goal. Size 10 was always my goal. Size 10 was my wedding dress size. Size 10 was my “happy size”.
In March 2012, I cut out liquid cow’s milk, more for financial reasons (we were plowing through milk! 4 gallons a week!!) than for health reasons, but I lost a quick pant-size and 10 lbs! I was in my “happy size”, but my energy was still limited. I was exercising sporadically because of the limited energy, and huffing and puffing, for 6 months, through a single mile on the treadmill. (**sidenote** I know some of you are thinking “I always go further when I’m not on the treadmill”, but I was a weird one. I liked the ratwheel treadmill. I got hyper-focused instead of having to be on high alert for cars, sketchy people, or pushing a stroller). I saw very little improvement over a number of months. I was frustrated, to say the least, which really isn’t a motivator for me!
And then my journey to health went into high-speed in late September 2012, when the hubby watched Forks Over Knives. Two days later, we cut out all animal protein for health reasons, not for financial, moral, or political reasons. The Hubby said to me “I’m not going to like it, but I really don’t want cancer”.
One month later, in mid-October 2012, I was running 3-4 miles with little effort. It felt like my blood was flowing easier. It felt like my legs were stronger. It felt like I was more clearheaded and that taking care of myself was worth the effort because I felt better, and was therefore, better able to care for my family. I buttoned a size 6 for the first time in a decade. We quit the gym because I had surpassed all of my gym goals with my stroller and determination better than I had with a $114.99/month automatic debit. Because I don’t own a scale, and we not longer belong to the gym, where I would weigh myself, I have no idea how much I eigh. Part of me loves not knowing. Just seeing my toned legs swimming in pants 2 sizes too big, or my belt clicked at the tightest notch tells me I’m doing the right things for my body.
But more than that, I feel good. I feel strong. I feel energized. I feel healthy. Because I am.
I’m pretty sure vegan food is bland, or needs too much sugar to make it taste good.
Where are you getting your calcium?
What about B12?
I’m just afraid the kids aren’t getting what they need…
Vegan/Plant-based foods are so high in sugar to make them taste good!
You have to eat a TON of quinoa to equal the protein in one chicken breast!
You are wasting away!
Don’t you know eating too much soy is bad for you?
I’ve got a wicked sweet tooth. I could never give up chocolate.
I’ve been cooking and serving my family a mainly vegan diet for nearly two months, and I’ve heard on more than one occasion, sometimes from well-meaning people, other times from Judgy McJudgersons, all of the above comments. There are times that I have to take a breath and realize it’s not about what people *think*, it’s about how I feel and the FACTS.
I’m going to take the next few days to explore, and hopefully explain, the things that have come up during our plant-based journey, and especially the two big ones for me: physical effects and nutrition.
As I unpack all of this for you, I encourage comments about what you think, but please be respectful of other opinions. We are, after all, people on the other side of the screen.
Stay tuned for Plant-Based Myths Segment 1: How I Feel, coming soon!
