Balance between Health & Being Frugal

[Dr. Shane]

Most health food is expensive. Regardless is we are talking about good healthy breads, peanut butter, veggie meats, soy milk, canned soups, or low-fat-high-fiber frozen dinners - it is all more expensive than less healthy options. One can eat healthy and economical if they cook all their food from scratch but even in doing that, buying cheap and unhealthy food would provide cost savings to the household budget. And many families live on two incomes so no one has the time to make all that food from scratch.

Is there a balance between eating the best and most healthy food and being frugal so one has more money to give to various ministries, save for retirement or college expenses? Is spending an extra $50-$100/month on buying the healthiest food being a good steward with the resources God has given us?

[fccool]

Regardless is we are talking about good healthy breads, peanut butter, veggie meats, soy milk, canned soups, or low-fat-high-fiber frozen dinners

Shane, but most of the above are necessarily healthier alternatives. I don't consider the textured meat substitutes to be a healthy option. Neither do I consider the canned soups or frozen dinner to be these either.

The healthy lifestyle is not more expensive than these. If you consider the price of today's vegetables and greens, these much lower than any meat product.

I personally find being vegetarian much cheaper, because I cook my food and it does not take much time to do it, especially considering that most fruits and vegetables are better eaten raw.

Much of my staple diet is soup, and it is really cheap to make... much cheaper than buying it in stores. Canned produce will loose much of their nutritional value, so the real thing will always be cheaper and healthier option.

My advice would always be.... Stay away from substitutes such as packaged textured soy products. Although these do ease the transition to vegetarianism, in the long run these are less healthy alternatives than the real thing.

PS. tofu is pretty easy to make

[carolaa]

Cheaper, yes, I agree wholeheartedly. But they are much more time consuming. How does one balance eating healthfully and cheaply with the time required to do so?

[Gail]

Good recipes! One thing I cherish a LOT is the tabbouleh recipe a Mormon lady gave me once. It is a cheap way to feed a crowd and great tasting.

Canned soup? I use them for filler in a loaf or gravy (ie-mushroom). Day before yesterday I made cabbage rolls and tried using C*******s tomato soup rather than canned tomatoes. It was not nearly as tasty.

Something seems to be lost in "process".

I also would love some great recipes for meals that are quick. I don't often feel like cooking a big meal after a day of working.

Lately I've been making smoothies. They are quick and nutritious but will only feed 1 or 2, unfortunately.

[aldona]

Quote:

good healthy breads, peanut butter, veggie meats, soy milk, canned soups, or low-fat-high-fiber frozen dinners

All the most expensive and most processed options! That's "healthy"?

Whatever happened to fresh fruit and vegetables, bulk grains, cereals, beans and lentils?

Just go to any college campus and talk to the average 18-year-old penniless vegetarian hippy student. They will show you dozens of ways to eat well on a budget. And no, it doesn't have to take a long time to cook from scratch.

aldona (still fondly remembering last night's delicious lentil and vegetable soup, made by Egyptian housemate)

[Dr. Shane]

Cheaper, yes, I agree wholeheartedly. But they are much more time consuming. How does one balance eating healthfully and cheaply with the time required to do so?

Exactly! That is what I am talking about. Many families don't have the time to cook everything from scratch. Brown rice and beans are cheap but they take a long time to cook.

Many of us are not going to get away from some processed foods anytime soon. Ketchup. The healthy stuff is expensive. The unhealthy is cheap. Peanut butter. Ditto. Health bread is expensive. Unhealthy bread can be purchased cheaper than what it costs to bake bread at home! Pasta is perhaps an exception. There isn't a lot of cost difference between regular pasta and whole wheat. Now if we want to talk about desserts like cakes, pies and ice cream we are paying a lot more to get the more healthy options.

[Cosmin M.]

My mother makes all the food. We never buy already made food. Except these....

[Cosmin M.]

Which I normally throw in the microwave and heat it really fast when I am in a hurry.

[Dottie]

For things that take a long time, such as brown rice, beans, or stew-type foods, a crockpot is good. The foods can be put in the slow cooker in the morning and be ready to eat at supper time.

Have you seen the slow cooker books? There are several, each for a different type of diet.

I read recently that canned foods have just a high a nutritional value as frozen, because the canned foods are canned sooner after they are picked than the frozen. One of the problems with canned foods, though, is the high salt content, although many different types of food now come in no-salt or low-salt versions.

[Cosmin M.]

This is kind of off-topic and kind of something you don't talk in public and kind of embarrassing.. but you know the classical, sitting on the toilet reading the newspaper? Well I am like that but I read books from this basket we keep there. Most are cook books so I know a bit about cooking.

[Dr. Shane]

I think if we were to compare the grocery bills of Adventists who place an importance on health with the grocery bills of average folks we would see Adventists spend significantly more on groceries.

[phkrause]

Well dgrimm have you seen the prices even of organic compared to non-organic. And I agree with shane, it seems that to eat healthy costs you more and I'm not talking about just ABC alternative meats.

pk

[Dr. Shane]

Since adopting the Dave Ramsey money management system we keep track of how much money we spend on EVERYTHING. I was amazed at how much more we spend on groceries than my ex-secretary - and we have the same size families. I have started buying cheaper foods and all the savings does add up. I haven't went down to the "garbage" levels. For example, we were buying whole wheat bread that had 45 calories per slice and 5 grams of fiber. It costs $2.79/loaf. Now we are buying whole wheat bread that has 80 calories per slice and 2 grams of fiber. It costs $1.89/loaf. We use to buy organic ketchup and have switched to regular generic in a giant bottle. We use to buy natural peanut butter and have switched to regular peanut butter sold in giant containers. For our kids lunches we are still buying the baked chips in individual bags which cost more than the fat-filled chips. We buy baked crackers in a big box and portion them out in snack bags. We buy the generic "egg beaters" in the large container but it is still substantially more than regular eggs. We buy soy milk which is substantially more than cow's milk. We don't buy much cheese but if we did the fat-free cheese isn't sold in large quantities and thus costs more than the fat-filled cheese. The healthy tortillas, like healthy bread, costs more. A package of 10 whole grain tortillas cost about $3. Less healthy tortillas come in a package of 25 for under $2. The kids love mac & cheese. The cheap stuff costs 4 boxes for $1. The generic whole wheat mac & cheese is 59¢ - the name band is $1.09.

[Nan]

It would probably be even cheaper to make your own mac and cheese....

[aldona]

Quote:

Brown rice and beans are cheap but they take a long time to cook.

Back to my student days again...

Microwave rice cooker = about $2 or $3

Brown rice = 15 minutes in microwave, cooked in same

(while you cut up veggies and set the table).

Split red lentils = cook in 10-15 minutes (the whole or brown ones take a bit longer, but not much)

1 can of beans, already cooked, no preservatives or other additives except for salt and water = about $1

1 can of baked beans in tomato sauce = from about 70 cents

1 can of fake-meat product, with label that reads like one of my third-year organic chemistry textbook = $3-$4

Going to the grocery store at the end of the day = fresh produce at half price or less.

Peanuts + blender (or grinder) = home made peanut butter for a fraction of the cost. Tastes great, and you can make as small or large a quantity as you want so you always have a fresh supply.

I still don't get what the problem is. It takes far less money and effort to eat fresh, healthy and less-processed food. The Adventist health movement should be at the forefront of showing people how to cook simple, economical and tasty meals from fresh produce. Instead, we have made vegetarianism so complicated, fiddly and expensive that many average people think it is out of their reach and feel it is less trouble to stick to meat.

A number of years ago our church hosted a great vegan chef who did some demonstrations just like what I mentioned - quick and easy meals using fresh ingredients, economical and delicious. Not a fake-meat or prepared frozen meal to be seen anywhere. But he wasn't an Adventist.

(And no, I didn't learn any of what I know about cooking fresh produce from Adventist sources. Most Adventist cookbooks only focus on fake-meats. And at my Adventist high school, the weekly cooking class was predictable:

- Heat oil in pan

- Add onion, then tomato paste

- Add can of different fake-meat product each time (this was the only thing that varied from one week to the other)

- Season with basil (yes, always the same - just basil)

- When cooked - you now have a Generic Adventist NotMeat Meal.

It was not until I went to university and spent time with the long-haired tofu-eating sandal-wearing tree-hugging incense-burning hippies and Vegetarian Society members, that I discovered a whole new world of food.)

aldona

[Doug]

I was reading somewhere if you attend a church that has one or two members who have Costco memberships, once or twice a month someone with a large van or truck could make a trip to the store, buy food in bulk, and store the excess it at the church (buy a used refrigerator or two) ands you could save a lot of money this way instead of making weekly trips to the expensive grocery store.

[phkrause]

I make my own bread so that is even cheaper. hahaha

pk

[Dr. Shane]

I doubt I could make peanut butter for less than I can buy it for. I know I can't make bread for less than I can buy it for.

[carolaa]

I doubt I could make peanut butter for less than I can buy it for. I know I can't make bread for less than I can buy it for.

I'm pretty convinced you can't have cheap and quick and nutritious very often. There's a few exceptions, I'm sure, but you're lucky most of the time to get 2 out of the 3. I keep intending to try my crockpot, because I think that would be a great way to save time. I've tried cooking ahead on Sundays too. I'm not sure what else a person can do if they don't have a lot of time.

[Dr. Shane]

Cooking classes would be a good thing if they were shooting for those three things: cheap, quick and nutritious. Most Adventists are just focused on "no meat" and they make stuff with a bunch of fat, sugar and refined carbohydrates. The cooking programs I have watched on Adventist TV are pretty consistent with that.

[Outta Here]

Someone in this thread mentioned Costco, so I'll second the recommendation. Buying things in bulk saves a considerable amount of money. Staple items we purchase from our local Costco include: almond milk, rice milk, carrot juice, almond butter, walnuts, spices (onion flakes, garlic, cloves), extra virgin olive oil, Cheerios, oatmeal, blueberries, apples, tomatoes, avocados and hummus.

I'll also second the recommendation for eating more fresh produce and less processed or refined foods—the simpler the diet, the better. We have a rather small rice cooker; our machine serves as a food steamer as well. For meals for the family, the rice takes 41 minutes to cook (1 minute "prep time", 40 minutes cooking). Stored in an air–tight container in the refrigerator, this cooked rice will last up to a week. Steamed vegetables take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes to cook.

One additional thought—spending a little more for healthier items will save you money on health expenses in the long run. Think of it as an investment in the future.

[Doug]

I am trying to cut down my food purchases to about $100 per month I will have a mortgage to pay.

[GreatLakesGramma]

A co-op buying club can save money, if you are wanting to buy "ingredients" in bulk. Forget about processed foods - they aren't much cheaper from co-op than a store. Sometimes they're more.

I won't buy inferior bread, but there is a bakery outlet nearby, where I can get top-quality organic breads for only $1.39 per loaf. Non-organic whole grain breads are even less.

I eat a lot of fresh produce, as I must eat mostly raw to feel decent. It isn't always the cheapest way to eat though, and definitely not the quickest. Growing your own veggies saves a lot of money, especially if you grow organic and compost your garbage, but of course it can take a lot of time. But a salad garden can be grown in a small plot and not take a large amount of upkeep, if you use the square foot gardening method. And you get your fresh air, sunshine, and exercise at the same time.

Sprouting is good for nutritious greens during the winter, and is very low in cost, if you can get used to the taste. It doesn't have to take a lot of time either. Though most vegetable sprouts are supposed to be rinsed 3 times a day, I have often only done it twice in a day. It doesn't hurt them, they just don't grow as fast. But you have to use good water. If there are mold spores in your water, your sprouts will get moldy being rinsed only twice a day. It's a good way to find out whether you should stop drinking your tap water!