Sustenance

Enjoying food is one of my favorite pleasures. People around here think you can't eat healthy and have good taste, but I completely disagree with them. Other people think you can't eat vegetarian and have a healthy diet; I disagree with them too! My diet is filled with delicious, healthy, balanced, and meat-free foods... mostly fruits, nuts, and veggies.

I'll make my meal choices based on what my body is craving. If I'm in need of protein, I'll pick a meal high in protein. Same goes for carbs and fat. There's not a lot of fat in my diet, so that means I can splurge whenever the occasion presents itself, hence the chocolate.

It wasn't easy creating a healthy menu in what feels like the fast-food capital of America, but after a while, I soon found all the healthy choices in the local supermarket, and this is what I came up with.

Breakfast:

• 8oz pressed fruit (from a selection of: oranges, bananas, apples, mangoes, pears, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple)
  
• 1 slice toasted cinnamon raisin bread

Lunch:

• Spinach salad (spinach, broccoli, carrots, red onions, cucumbers, currants, sesame seeds, croûtons, fat-free tomato dressing)

Snacks (one of the following):

• Red pepper hummus w/pita bread
• Jalapeño potato chips
• Mandarin oranges
• Peaches
• Pears
• Chocolate chip cookie
• Chocolate
  

Dinner (one of the following):

• Burrito (seasoned rice, black beans, hummus, red peppers, spinach), low-fat tomato tortilla
• Chat choley (garbanzo beans, veggies, tomatos), basmati rice
• Pav Bhajl (veggies, tomatos), basmati rice
• Steamed noodles, veggies (green beans, red peppers, water chestnuts, cashews), soy-ginger sauce
• Herbed veggies (broccoli, carrots), basmati rice, cashews
• Teriyaki veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots), basmati rice, cashews
• Szechuan veggies (broccoli, water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, red peppers), basmati rice, cashews
• Rotini pasta, spicy tomato sauce, garlic bread
• Spicy seasoned tuna, Ritz crackers
• Seasoned red potatoes, peas
• Minestrone soup, peanut butter sandwich
• Vegetable soup, Ritz crackers, cashews
  

Yes, cashews are my main protein/fat source! Dinner is obviously where I get the bulk of my variety. This may sound odd, but I find it comforting looking forward to the same meals for breakfast and lunch. Always have, probably because I grew up so often not liking what was served for lunch.

The average cost for breakfast is around $20/week, or $3/day. If I'm out, I'll spend that at McDonald's on a McSkillet Burrito (minus sausage, minus cheese) and an OJ. Average cost for lunch is around $14/week, or $2/day. Average cost for dinner varies but is around $5-6/day. Beverages are around $7/week, or $1/day. Snacks are around $21/week, or $3/day.

So no, it ain't cheap; around $15/day or $450/month. On the other hand, if you order by number at a fast-food restaurant, you'll spend $4-$8 per meal, which is easily the same amount per day. Or, you could just eat one meal a day at a nicer restaurant for the same amount.

I like my menu better. If I lived near high-quality, cheap sushi, I'd eat that 4-5 times a week for dinner, but other than that, I wouldn't eat out much. Maybe an occasional visit to the local Thai, Indian, Punjabi, Lebanese, Egyptian, or Moroccan restaurant, but they don't exist around here either, and anyway, I'd rather learn how to make those foods for myself.

Maybe you noticed that my diet is 99% vegan (non-animal, non-dairy), but I don't eat vegan, as most do, for moral/ethical reasons, rather I choose a vegan diet because of the long-term health benefits of doing so. (And so should you!) I'm not vegetarian (non-meat) or pescatarian (vegetarian+fish) either. I'll still eat a choice cut fillet mignon (cooked medium) at good steakhouse if I'm taken there, and I'll savor every bite. But save sushi, I rarely eat meat, and except for chocolate and ice-cream, I never eat dairy, even though I craved it while I was still growing bones!