The Cheap Vegan Vegetable Garden

I recently started my first ever vegetable garden. My dad had always grown vegetables but I usually just enjoyed the fruits of his labor. Now that I’m living in LA I want to take advantage of the sun and grow some greens of my own.

Since I’m in the city, we don’t have garden space in my apartment complex. I asked my landlord if I could put a planter out and he happily agreed. He even helped me build it! 

To build a planter you need treated wood (to keep bugs from eating it) and some long nails that are really hard to hammer in… I wish I could say that I was a great builder and I did it all on my own, but without help I probably would have just ended up buying a bunch of pots and laying them in a row on a shelf. 

Once I had the planter, I filled it with dirt and an organic alternative to Miracle Grow (ask the people at the nursery for a suggestion).

CHEAP VEGAN WARNING: Don’t be too cheap of a vegan, refrain from getting free dirt on Craig’s List as tempting as free dirt sounds (does free dirt only sound tempting to me?) The problem with free dirt is you don’t know what seeds or plant diseases are already in it, you could be using dirt full of weeds and you’ll only know once you are already too invested to start over.

Next, you need to pick out some plants. This will depend on the time of year you are planting, the climate you live in, and the size of your garden. For example, my dad suggested that I get some carrot seed and sprinkle it around the garden. That would be a great idea in Spring time on the East coast, but not in LA. Be sure to ask your garden supply store what works best in your climate. If you go to a good local nursery the guys there are sure to be a rich source of information, talk to them!

In LA, this time of year, in a planter, these were the plants I decided to grow: 

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Orange Wax Peppers (seeds)
• Purple Basil
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Bush Beans (like green beans)
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant (seeds)
• Cilantro

There is some science to plant placement. Some plants do better/worse planted next to each other. This is called “companion planting”. Basil and Tomato for example work well together. The basil deters certain bugs from eating the tomato plant.

Here is a chart of some good and bad companion plants.

I’ll be keeping you posted on how the garden grows and the tricks and tips I learn along the way.

10 Healthy Foods with a Long Shelf Life

One of the benefits of eating vegan is plant based foods tend to last a lot longer than meat and dairy products. Find out some of the healthiest vegan foods with long shelf lives.

1. Frozen Vegetables - Frozen vegetables are frozen right after they are harvesting, sometimes making them healthier than produce that had to travel thousands of miles to get to your grocer. These are a great cheap way to eat your veggies. 
   For maximum health benefits, avoid extreme heat from boiling or the microwave. 
   To remove bitterness some frozen veggies have, squirt a little lemon juice while cooking. 
2. Frozen Fruit - But frozen bags of fruit or freeze fresh fruit that’s going bad. Great for smoothies!
3. Dry Beans - Buying uncooked beans (especially in bulk) saves a lot of money and cuts down on the sodium that’s in canned beans. (Some hints on cooking beans here)
4. Bulk Rice - Buying giant bags of rice is a great idea. You can keep the rice for long periods of time and save money in the long run.
5. Pasta - At $1 a box you can’t really go wrong with spaghetti. Look for store brands and if you can afford the extra 50 cents, try whole grain pasta for a healthier bowl of noodles.
6. Nuts - Nuts are essential for a healthy vegan diet, not to mention they last an incredibly long time. Save money by buying nuts in bulk online or at bulk grocery stores.
7. Nut Butters - A $6 family size jar of peanut butter can hold you over for months. Nut butters are great for breakfast, in smoothies, even mixed with soy or coconut milk in a stir fry.
8. Herbal Tea - Many teas, especially herbal teas have wonderful health benefits. Green tea releases antioxidants, while Red tea helps with allergies. Tea will last for a long time if kept in a tightly sealed container. Look in stores like TJ Max and Marshalls for gourmet teas at bargain prices!
9. Bulk Potatoes and Onions - Potatoes and Onions can almost make a meal on their own. They last a very long time, but be sure to keep them in a dark, dry, and cool place. Sunlight speeds up the spoiling process on these veggies significantly.
10. Soup - Poor people have been making soup for thousands of years for a reason. It’s easy, it saves rotting food, and it’s delicious. Initially (and briefly) boiling the food kills bacteria, and adding salt helps preserve the ingredients. (Check out this post on the benefits and how-tos of soup basics)

REALLY Easy Spicy Lentils

Protein packed lentils and vegetables with a spicy chilli kick!

Serves about 2

• 1/2 thinly diced onion
• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 diced tomato
• 1 cup lentils
• 2-3 diced chilli peppers (this is medium/hot)
• salt, oil, and veg bouillon to taste

1. Cook onions on medium heat in about a tablespoon of oil until clear.
2. Add bell pepper until coated in oil.
3. Add diced tomato, salt, and 1/4 cube of vegetable bouillon
4. Finally, add your lentils.

Summer to Fall Smoothie Guide

Smoothies are easy to make, efficient, raw, and packed with nutrients. In the summer fresh fruit is everywhere and you can find it for cheap on the $2 rack at the farmers market. 

With fall approaching the summer strawberries are turning in to apples and pumpkins. But fear not, you can still make great smoothies all year round for a reasonable price. 

Tips to Making Cheap Fall Smoothies

1. Use frozen fruit.
   Frozen fruit is frozen when it is perfectly ripe. This means it’s sometimes a little better than the produce you find shipped in from South America. You can also cut back on adding ice since the fruit is already frozen.
   Surprising Tip:You can sometimes find frozen fruit cheaper at Trader Joes
2. Buy in Bulk.  If you prefer fresh fruit, buy in bulk. (tips on fresh produce smoothies below*)
3. Add Veggies. While a lot of fruits are going out of season, a lot of new veggies are coming back. We got spinach, squash, pumpkin and lots of other great flavors to start experimenting with for your fall green smoothies. 
4. Swap Fruit to Fit the Season. Don’t worry you don’t have to have spinach smoothies til next June, switch to fruits that are in season. The fall means cranberries, melons, pears, plums, and apples are freshly available, experiment and see what’s ripe for you ;)

**BONUS TIPS FROM A CHEAP SMOOTHIE EXPERT

Jacob Sworeheath is a young professional living in Philadelphia on less than $100 a week. These are his tips for great smoothies all year long:

I like to get as many nutrients out of a smoothie as possible so I always use an orange juice base and usually only raw fresh fruit. Sometimes I put raw spinach leaves, or carrots. If you do that, you have to use soy milk instead of orange juice, because the combination is too strong if you use OJ with spinach.

Normally I buy 2 lb of strawberries a week. I drink one every day. If I miss a few days, I will cut the tops off the strawberries and put them in the freezer. Frozen fruit is a great option. If you have some fruit that is about to go bad. Just freeze it and try it in a smoothie. I’ve used plums, nectarines, peaches, cherries, and other weird fruits which were about to go bad. Sometimes you can find them for cheaper. Make sure to cut them before putting them in the freezer.

Flax seed is something that I WISH I put in every smoothie because it is so healthy …but cleaning it can be a pain, and I just forget to buy it usually, it might be expensive?
 (Flax seed is usually $1.50/lb and can be stored in the freezer-CV) 

Jacob’s go-to smoothie:

• 1 cup of OJ
• 5 strawberries
• 1 banana
• ice

Cheap, Fresh, Local.

The purpose of this blog is to help people figure out ways to incorporate whole foods in to their diet without spending too much money. There is a perception that eating a vegan diet is very expensive compared to an omnivorous diet. The fact is there are plenty of easy ways to go vegan and eat well on a budget. One of the best and healthiest ways to do this is to cut out the processed foods and start eating more whole foods. Farmers markets are a great place to nab deals on fresh fruit and vegetables.

Most farmers markets offer a table of food at a reduced price like the one shown in the picture above. These are foods that are just a little past their peak but haven’t quite gone bad yet. This is a great option for those of us who want fresh local foods but can’t always afford produce at full price.

These cheaper produce options aren’t always the ones we would have chosen regularly. Use this as an opportunity to get creative and try new foods. Find recipes using any ingredient at www.vegweb.com. Just search the name of the fruit or vegetable and dozens of recipes will pop up.
(To find out more tricks about using vegweb click here)

At this farmers market we ended up buying 2 eggplant, 1 red pepper, 5 zucchini, and a bag of 10-12 lemons and limes for only $6! Perfect for pasta primivera and lemon pellegrino.

How to Save Money on Your Next Beach Day

Going to the beach for the the weekend gets really expensive. Between tolls, gas, parking, and beer, you can rack up a hefty bill. Here are some tips on snacks you can bring to the beach to save some money on eating out.

1. PB&B - While a PB&J is one of my favorite foods, just 1 tbsp of grape jelly has 16 grams of sugar! On an average PB&J I would usually use between 2 & 3 tbsp of jelly, equaling out to 32 to 48 grams of sugar! Using a banana instead of jelly is a great option. It’s also super cheap. A banana costs about 54 cents a pound. Buy a big jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread, and you have about 10 meals. Plus, this is easy to tote in a cooler or backpack. AND best of all, it’s not sticky!
   Check out this quick PB&B “taco” recipe.
2. Hummus and Veggies - It’s easy to snack on the wrong stuff at the beach. When you’re just laying around in the sun, it’s hard to put down the pretzels. So bring out the garbanzo and veggies instead. This low mess snack food is filling and nutritious. Plus eating foods with a lot of water in them like cucumbers, bell pepper, or celery keeps you hydrated.
3. Frozen Grapes - Freeze your grapes for a cool refreshing snack. Grapes don’t turn rock hard when frozen. In fact, they are surprisingly easy to eat. Freezing grapes also helps them last longer making it a great way to save the grapes that are starting to soften. Grapes also help level out our pH/blood sugar levels and are full of water. Making them another hydrating summer snack.
4. Tomato Pie - This may be a regional snack, but it’s great on the go and you can buy it by the lice. Tomato pie (image here) is simply a Sicilian pizza without cheese served cool. You can buy a whole pie or a slice from the bakery, pizzeria, or make your own before coming.
5. 3 Bean Salad - combine 3 types of beans with chopped vegetables such as onions, bell pepper, and celery. Then add red wine vinegar and seasoning of choice. (suggested: parsley, oregano, garlic, etc)
   Put salad in a big tupperware and enjoy a hearty salad full of protein.

Cooking with Frozen Veggies doesn’t have to end bitter.