Eat Simpler, Save Money 2

On my blog entry titled "Eat Simpler, Save Money" I listed a sample of my monthly food shopping list. I explained how I eat healthy, home prepared meals and feel very satisfied while spending only about $4.50 a day per person.

To spend that amount, I changed the way that I interacted about food. I now eat only when I'm hungry and I stop eating before I'm full. I never feel hunger pangs or a drop in energy level because I eat 4 to 6 small meals instead of the traditional 3 large ones. I also carry a snack with me everywhere so that I don't spend unnecessarily on unhealthy, expensive impulse buys when I feel the need for a snack.

Most people don't want to eat like I do and I'm definitely not trying to convince anyone to change. Grant left a question under the comment section of my previous "Eat Simpler" blog entry this past week. He asked what sorts of dishes I prepare using the very simple ingredients listed, so I'm posting the answer as a new entry.

Like many other people here in the U.S., I was raised eating mostly processed foods, when I moved out of my parent's home I almost always ate out because I didn't know how to cook well (I took shop classes in school instead of home economics), then I learned how to cook but found that I didn't enjoy spending time in the kitchen. Now I'm mostly a raw vegan. About once a month I'll eat out and have some sashimi (raw fish). Sometimes I'll eat something with dairy or a bit of chocolate but will pay the price later because these are two foods that give me nasty allergic reactions.

I've been trying my best to eat raw vegan for about 2 years because of my food allergies. Since this change in eating, I enjoy spending less time in the kitchen, I feel more energetic, my skin is clearer, my allergies have disappeared, and surprisingly I also lost weight and am now at 120 lbs (just 5 lbs above my high school weight - finally losing 20 pounds of pregnancy weight that I gained 17 years ago).

The taste of a ripe piece of fruit, or a salad with everything in it (instead of just iceberg lettuce and some tomato smothered with pre-made dressing), became absolutely amazing once I stopped eating processed foods!

For the answer to Grant's question about what I do with the food I buy see my next post, "Eat Simpler, Save Money 3".