Here is a summary of the cost of the food I ate this week, my
shopping list, and the nutritional analysis. I have made this as
complete and accurate as I have been able. Any errors are honest
mistakes. I did notice, today, that I left out the olive oil ($.20) in
the Cuban Black Bean recipe. I am not going back and changing the daily
numbers - it would be insignificant anyway - but I'll add it into the
total for the week. Also added in at the end is the cost of the cilantro
I used, which was about 2/3 of a bunch. I chopped it up and put it into
the freezer part way through the week since it does start to go bad.
One thing is that I did not have any spoilage or waste this week and one
does have to allow for that to happen.
In
calculating costs, I rounded up on fractions of a cent unless it was
.002 or less. (I.e. if the cost of bran flakes was 9.4 cents per
serving, I rounded it up to 10 cents; if it was 9.2 cents or 9.1 cents, I
rounded down. That didn't happen often.
There
were some items I already had in my pantry so I calculated their cost
based on the price I would pay were I buying it today at the store
indicated. The stores were all within a 3 mile radius of home (really more like 2 miles), within
walking or biking distance. During the week before I started the
experiment, I went to the stores (and also Whole Foods to check on just a
few items) to compare prices in preparation for the experiment. In real
life, I do make mental notes (and sometimes written notes) of who has
what at what price and, rather than run all over making special trips to
get an item at a cheaper price, which would not be very frugal, I stop
in the grocery store on my way to or from work.
The
main components of my diet were beans and dal for protein, rice, corn
tortillas, and potatoes for starch and complementary protein, kale for a
pretty cheap and very nutritious green vegetable, bananas, and bran
flakes. I also had home made soy milk every day, which was a very good
source of protein, and supplemented other vegetables and fruit as I
found good deals on them. Daily snacks consisted of carrots and peanut
butter and celery, the last of which was primarily a vehicle for eating
peanut butter. I made a large pot of vegan chili, Cuban black beans, and
enough long grain brown rice to last several days early in the week and
a second batch of brown rice later in the week. By making larger
batches, and freezing single serving portions, I was able to do most of
my cooking in one afternoon and merely heat up meals on the following
days. I made two batches of soy milk, enough to have with cereal every
day, make chocolate pudding, and drink the occasional glass straight. In
the future, I may experiment with freezing it so I would not have to
make it so often. Of course, I would need to make sure I have space in
the freezer, too.
I did not use any fancy equipment with the
exception of a high-powered blender recently purchased at a thrift shop.
(I love it.) I do own a conventional blender, also purchased at a
thrift shop many years ago, and it would have served just as well. I
also used a potato ricer to squeeze the soy pulp when making soy milk (I
discovered on the second batch that it is excellent for that) but a
piece of cheese cloth (which I used for a final strain anyway) is
sufficient. Other utensils were a strainer, frying pan, good sized
cooking pot, a slow cooker (also purchased at a thrift shop and very
valuable for cooking beans) . . . nothing out of the ordinary.
Most
of the food I ate is common and generally available. Dal may not be but
there are many different kinds of beans easily available and lots of
different ways of making them. Tortillas may not be easily available
everywhere but they are common enough. Not everyone is going to want to
take the time to make soy milk but I am not presenting this as *the* way
to have a frugal vegan diet, just presenting it as *one* way. I have
been buying soy milk and, after seeing how easy it is to make, I shall
probably be making it a lot more often after this experiment.
If
one wants to live frugally, one must learn to make things from scratch.
Convenience costs. A pound of dried beans generally will cost the same
as a can of beans but will yield about six or eight times more finished
beans. If one soaks them overnight and then cooks them in a slow cooker
(I put them in the pot in the morning and they are done when I come
home) they are very easy to make, do not require much active time, and
can then be used in a variety of soups, for refried beans, hummus,
burgers, all sorts of good, filling, high protein meals. Combined with
grains (rice, tortillas, bread) their protein content is boosted.
With
some creativity, one can have a varied diet that is interesting, tasty,
nutritious, and inexpensive. This experiment has inspired me to
continue creating inexpensive vegan meals.
Nutritionally,
I apparently got adequate calories. I did not go hungry and neither
gained nor lost weight. I made sure I got a minimum of 50 grams of
protein each day. In spite of the high carb content, I felt fine. The
high fiber offset a lot of the carbs and slows down their absorption,
thus blunting their effect on blood sugar. Calcium was only about half
the recommended daily allowance; I should probably supplement. Iron,
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, were all significantly above the RDA. Iron usually
averaged around 178% RDA but spiked to 279 one day, driving the average
for the week up to 192% RDA.
All in all, I feel satisfied that,
outside of the calcium, this was a pretty decent diet. For the record, I
am female, 5'5", weigh 130#, and am moderately active. I practice
massage, which is not strenuous but keeps me on my feet and moving. I
did a high intensity 20 minute weight session one day, attended one 60
minute vigorous dance class, and engaged in dance practice or social
dancing on three other evenings.
Total cost of food for the week
(the daily totals, plus $.60 for a partial bunch of cilantro, plus $.20
for some oil I left out of one calculation, plus salt, which I did not
add in every day because it was too insignificant to count): $18.30.
Nutritional content (average per day):
Calories: 1611/day
Protein: 62 g/day
Fat: 50.4 g/day
Carbs: 274 g/day
Fiber: 53 g/day
Net carbs: 221 g/day (total carbs less fiber)
Calcium: 51.4% RDA
Vitamin A: 663% RDA
Iron: 192% RDA
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