Anyhow back to the point of this post. I wanted to share some of the lessons I (we) have learned so far and also my budget for April.
1. EarthFare is the only "one stop shop" place for someone on a vegan, non-processed food diet. I can get better prices at Harris Teeter on some things (e.g. soy and almond milk) but they don't have a lot of organic produce. Trader Joe's is great for some things (e.g. nuts, oils, butters, crackers, hummus, pitas, tortillas and organic fruit leathers for Gavin) but their organic produce selection is limited and they don't carry as many vegan alternatives. WalMart and Target- well, it's super hard to find non-processed foods at these stores. AND I've noticed that Walmart jacks up the price of anything near healthy. So they do sell some organic things but it'd cost me sometimes even twice as much as elsewhere. Although for staples like whole wheat flour and spices, their prices are competitive. BJ's wholesale also has a good selection of organic, "real" food but I try to stay away because I can blow my budget with one trip.
2. Bulk bins are my friend. I always walked by these bins and wondered who would buy from them. Now, they make up most of my shopping cart. I even bought reusable cloth bags because I was collecting too many of the plastic, disposable, bulk bags. The reusable bags are great because I get a bigger discount on bulk when I use them b/c the cashier reduces the weight of the bag...EarthFare's formula for cloth bags is more than my bags weigh so it's just pennies but I do save money by using them. What do I buy in bulk? Rolled oats, Steel cut oats, Instant oats, Brown rice, barley (all kinds), quinoa, couscous, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, beans (all types), nutritional yeast (something I just learned about- it's a great vitamin B12 source), flour (all), raw cashews/almonds, trail mix....so A LOT! It's SO much cheaper to buy from the bulk bins than to buy already in packages from the aisles. Plus, I only buy what I need for the week and there's less waste. win-win.
3. True whole-wheat bread is VERY hard to find. I never realized that it's nearly impossible to buy 100% whole-wheat bread from a regular store. Almost always there's whole wheat flour but it's mixed with white enriched flour. Plus, finding one that tastes good is harder! I thought I liked wheat bread but it's hard to find the "real" kind that tastes good. I found a pack at Trader Joe's that it has only 5 ingredients which includes honey and that makes it taste better. And it's cheaper than anything else I've found that's comparable-- so Trader Joe's in this case lives up to its hype.
4. I NEED more kitchen gadgets!!! I have started a wish list on Amazon so I can keep track of all the things I need/want to make my cooking easier. For example, I learned my food processor is way too small. I need bigger and better things like a bigger food processor (so I don't have to grind in phases taking 4x as long!), a good, eco/safe, non-stick skillet, a mixer (I just blew the motor on mine today), silicone baking sheets, more glass storage containers for leftovers, a griddle, spatulas, bamboo spoons, etc. I'm doing a lot of cooking and I need anything I can get to minimize prep and cooking time. I need to make an investment and buy good stuff so that it lasts. I've got my eye on a seasoned cast iron skillet and I'm just waiting on a good deal- that's my most pressing need right now.
5. "Side effects" of eating real food. When you eat real food it takes less time to digest (I assume this is why) so there are more frequent trips to the bathroom if you know what I mean. The positive of this is that we have NO problems now with Gavin going to the potty. He no longer has constipation problems so this makes me very happy. I'm thinking the drastic decrease in dairy products also helped him. We don't drink dairy milk and his only source of animal product is cheese which he has sparingly through snacks (string cheese, cheese on crackers, etc).
Another thing that has improved for me at least is the bloating. I never really realized how bloated I was all the time. I didn't know what people meant by that until now that I don't have that feeling. It feels pretty good. I also feel "lighter" and I don't mean as in less weight but that's just the only way I can describe it. I guess this is a psychological thing but maybe it's because I don't have any guilt over what I eat anymore.
6. You can find a substitute for everything. There are two things that I thought I could not live without: Ovaltine and Nutella. Well, the last container of Ovaltine in the house is GONE! And since it is not vegan, I won't buy it anymore. It turns out that chocolate soy milk does the trick. I don't miss Ovaltine anymore. Nutella is hard to find an alternative for. The vegan version is nearly $12/jar which is outrageous. The good thing is that if I eat balanced, I don't crave as many sweets so it's easy to forget about it. There is still 1/2 a jar in the pantry because it was opened and I won't waste food but I now know that I can live without it.
I just baked vegan chocolate chip cookies with whole wheat flour and they're delicious. Nick is eating them just as fast as the regular kind.
One substitute NOT worth spending money on is vegan/"fake" cheese. I don't know what the vegans online are talking about when they claim "Daiya" is the best cheese they've had. ALL vegan cheeses are horrible. It's much better to skip it all together. I have "substituted" a creation of raw cashew pieces and nutritional yeast for cheese in casserole dishes and that works well...but I was just trying to create a topping not trying to imitate cheese taste. For tacos and sandwiches I just do without. Nick still can't have a sandwich without cheese but he did tacos without cheese just fine.
7. Always read the ingredients list. It takes me forever to shop now because I can't buy anything we consume unless I read the ingredients list. I was shocked at how many things have dyes in them, sugar, etc. Reading the list goes for everything- not just food. For example, I looked at the ingredients list on kids' toothpaste and found artificial colors (red, blue). Recently I also looked at baby food and found that Gerber veggies have tuna oil in them (for DHA). There's nothing wrong with that but I was surprised to find FISH in baby's food. No wonder kids sometimes have reactions to food that seemed harmless. Part of the reason I haven't switched Liam to formula yet is that I just cannot bring myself to buy the stuff because of the ingredients. I know Gavin had it but I didn't have an option then. I am lucky now that I have an option. I am still producing milk just fine so I feel guilty wasting that source of food to go spend money on something else.
Well, that's all I can think of right now. I should be able to report on the cost of real food by the end of this month. For sure, it's way more than I ever spent on food before. I never spent more than like $40 grocery trip when I used coupons and now I'm spending $100 every time I shop. My goal is to keep it at $400/month. But the way Gavin is eating organic raspberries and blueberries ($4-5/container and he can eat it in one sitting if I let him), our cost may be higher. :)
Another thing that has improved for me at least is the bloating. I never really realized how bloated I was all the time. I didn't know what people meant by that until now that I don't have that feeling. It feels pretty good. I also feel "lighter" and I don't mean as in less weight but that's just the only way I can describe it. I guess this is a psychological thing but maybe it's because I don't have any guilt over what I eat anymore.
6. You can find a substitute for everything. There are two things that I thought I could not live without: Ovaltine and Nutella. Well, the last container of Ovaltine in the house is GONE! And since it is not vegan, I won't buy it anymore. It turns out that chocolate soy milk does the trick. I don't miss Ovaltine anymore. Nutella is hard to find an alternative for. The vegan version is nearly $12/jar which is outrageous. The good thing is that if I eat balanced, I don't crave as many sweets so it's easy to forget about it. There is still 1/2 a jar in the pantry because it was opened and I won't waste food but I now know that I can live without it.
I just baked vegan chocolate chip cookies with whole wheat flour and they're delicious. Nick is eating them just as fast as the regular kind.
One substitute NOT worth spending money on is vegan/"fake" cheese. I don't know what the vegans online are talking about when they claim "Daiya" is the best cheese they've had. ALL vegan cheeses are horrible. It's much better to skip it all together. I have "substituted" a creation of raw cashew pieces and nutritional yeast for cheese in casserole dishes and that works well...but I was just trying to create a topping not trying to imitate cheese taste. For tacos and sandwiches I just do without. Nick still can't have a sandwich without cheese but he did tacos without cheese just fine.
7. Always read the ingredients list. It takes me forever to shop now because I can't buy anything we consume unless I read the ingredients list. I was shocked at how many things have dyes in them, sugar, etc. Reading the list goes for everything- not just food. For example, I looked at the ingredients list on kids' toothpaste and found artificial colors (red, blue). Recently I also looked at baby food and found that Gerber veggies have tuna oil in them (for DHA). There's nothing wrong with that but I was surprised to find FISH in baby's food. No wonder kids sometimes have reactions to food that seemed harmless. Part of the reason I haven't switched Liam to formula yet is that I just cannot bring myself to buy the stuff because of the ingredients. I know Gavin had it but I didn't have an option then. I am lucky now that I have an option. I am still producing milk just fine so I feel guilty wasting that source of food to go spend money on something else.
Well, that's all I can think of right now. I should be able to report on the cost of real food by the end of this month. For sure, it's way more than I ever spent on food before. I never spent more than like $40 grocery trip when I used coupons and now I'm spending $100 every time I shop. My goal is to keep it at $400/month. But the way Gavin is eating organic raspberries and blueberries ($4-5/container and he can eat it in one sitting if I let him), our cost may be higher. :)
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