May 24th

Since I’ve eaten leftovers all day today, I thought I would take the time to tell you a bit more about some different products and foods I’ve come to love. First off, people have been asking me if it’s more expensive to eat vegan. My answer is, about the same, especially if you already eat organic foods when possible. So I’ll tell you about one expensive-ish product and another ridiculously inexpensive food to cancel it out.

The largest expenses on a regular grocery bill are usually any type of meat and cheese. If you take those out, you’re left with a much lower grocery bill. Fill that up with organic vegetables instead and your bill is still less than the original. Earth Balance butter is about the same as margarine if you can find it at a grocery store instead of a health food store. Specialty items like Vegenaise or organic miso can get more expensive, but you can balance that out with my new favourite: dried beans. Maybe you already have loads of dried beans, maybe you’ve never used them before. Before January I had never even considered buying dried beans…why would I wait an entire day to soak them when they’re available in a can, ready to eat? But it’s soooo inexpensive, especially if you can buy them in bulk. You pay much less for a huge bag of dried beans than for one can of the same. Maybe you’re paying extra for all that extra sodium? Don’t get me wrong – canned beans are so convenient, especially when you don’t have time to soak them. Most beans have to soak for 8 hours and then cook for 1 hour before they’re ready, so unless you plan your meal, you won’t be eating dinner before 3:00 am. But if you do have time, buy lots and lots of dried beans! I always keep at least two types on hand: lentils and chickpeas (lentils are the exception to the soaking rule and they can cook from dry in about 40 minutes). I also have adzuki and cannellini beans on hand right now. Each type tastes different but each is delicious. That’s adzuki and lentils in the picture.

Another product I have started using is Vegenaise. There are lots of vegan mayos available, but the best brand is Vegenaise by Earth Island. It’s the only brand found in the refrigerated section of the health food store and had surprisingly very pronounce-able ingredients. It has the same texture and a similar taste to regular mayo, but I kind of like the taste of it better. And anything that mayonnaise does, veganaise can do better. Like:

Curry Mayo Dip for sweet potato fries: Add curry powder to Vegenaise. Eat.

Or...

Garlic Mayo for zucchini or burgers: add minced garlic to Vegenaise. Eat.

Or...

Spinach-Artichoke Dip with pita chips
IMix 1 cup Vegenaise, equal parts quartered artichoke hearts and spinach, pepper, and some vegan parmesan. Mash everything together and heat in the oven and it tastes just like the stuff you get at restaurants.

I’m loving Vegenaise and I would continue to use it instead of mayo even if I wasn’t vegan, just because it’s so much healthier.