Are there any vegetarians here? If there are how much money do you have by being a vegetarian. Vegetables are sometimes if not always more expensive than regular foods, when buying quality vegetables.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat plenty of vegetables. There are vegetable sales in my local market, perhaps when they buy too much of one type, so I often buy those and freeze them if possible. I also buy frozen vegetables. They are healthier than canned, though not as good as fresh. Check to see if you have local farmers markets as well. Locally grown veggies and fruits are great, and often cost less than ones that were shipped halfway around the world. Or you could always grow your own in the backyard garden.
I've dabbled in vegetarian a few times. While the veggies themselves can be purchased inexpensively, you have to be disciplined to use them all up before they go bad. Also, many of the vegan alternatives to traditional products, such as Mayo, Cheese, Milk, and fake Meats are pretty pricey themselves.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I also love vegetables. But since I'm not really in charge of buying the food at home, I just eat whatever my dad buys from the store or market. So our diet consists of a nice balance of meat, fish and vegetables.
Vegetarianism is not healthy. Most vegetarians eat a load of carbohydrates to compensate for the lack of meat. They usually have key vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well. The best solution would be to grow your own or buy frozen veggies.
I am mostly vegetarian. I stock up on a lot of mushrooms and make a quick meal of them. They have a good amount of protein and fiber and i love the taste too. Green leafy vegetables and mushrooms are really hard to store .. so i buy what i need for each day when I go out for my walks.
Maddie, my mom and I have been getting the weekly box of produce from the farmer's market. These past two weeks have been packed with greens and mushrooms! Last week I made kale with garlic and mushrooms and this week we have chard, beets with the greens still on them, cabbage... I still have the enormous head of cabbage from last week so my mom took the one from this week. I also had some mushrooms left so they will go into some kind of dish with this week's shitakes. I haven't started cooking yet because the water pressure was down in the entire city yesterday so we are under a water boil advisory for now and I didn't wash the greens when I got them home (sigh). Everything still needs to be cleaned except the oranges :-( (P.S. I will email you soon!)
Vegetarianism can be healthy, as long as you are doing it properly. I am not a vegetarian, but I make sure that I eat a lot of different kinds of foods. Just because you may know some vegetarians who load up on carbohydrates doesn't mean that all of the vegetarians do that. In fact, the counter argument could be that some meat-eaters load up on meat and starches without adding a little variety into their diets. Diet and nutrition is really on an individualized basis - you can be very healthy or very unhealthy being a vegetarian. Fruits and vegetables are not always expensive. In fact, if you buy from a farmer's market or just buy from the grocery store, it will be fine! Foods that are in season tend to taste great and still be relatively cheap. Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables will really help stretch your dollar. Flash frozen vegetables are great because you have all the nutrition there, but you don't have to worry about the vegetables going bad. Unless you're planning on eating raw vegetables as a snack (like carrots), I've never had problems with frozen vegetables. Frozen fruits are a treat, especially in the summer when you just eat them straight from the freezer or to throw into a smoothie.
That is one healthy diet you are having. I love eating the green stuff.. they are so full of iron, fiber and packed with micronutrients. Don't stress on the PM you can do it whenever you want.. i am fine with that I really don't know where this thinking comes from that vegetarianism is unhealthy.. most people in my country are vegetarians and they excel at every field, they are slim and healthy too.
I am not a vegetarian but I was for a while and found that I spent much less money on food. Buying fresh vegetables, grains, beans and lentils really saved me a lot of money and is also very delicious. You tend to save more if you make everything from scratch as the convenient vegetarian food can be pricey!
I think that it's a money saver in more than one way when you cook from scratch. First, going to the grocery store to buy different types of ingredients that you wouldn't normally buy can be fun. You can do research on recipes or try out things that you felt like you could only try at a restaurant. If you shop smart using sales, produce that's in season, a grocery list, etc. then you can save a ton of money that way. Now that you're cooking at home, you are not going out to eat. Another money saver! (And for those of you who say that you can eat from the dollar menus of fast food joints, you will pay the price later with your health!). I have had tons of "in-home" dates with my boyfriend, watching a movie and eating a homecooked meal. You can even bring friends over and have a fun pot-luck style type of dinner instead of going out and spending tons of money on food and drinks. By cooking at home, you're more likely to have leftovers... that means you can pack a lunch or freeze the food for later.
I'm not a vegetarian but i do include a lot of vegetables in my diet along with copious amounts of fruit. I suppose I eat more fruit and veg than I do meat so you could class me as a little bit vegetarian. LOL!!
