A few days ago I wrote, “I … have realized that the myth that we need high protein levels to thrive is just plain wrong. That could be propaganda from the meat industry!”

It is great to feel vindicated when you hold a unpopular viewpoint. It happened to me yesterday when I found these articles:

Vegetarian low protein diet could be key to long life
Secret of a healthy old age may lie in right balance of proteins

As suspected, the mad rush to consume protein via meat, dairy and protein powders is just plain misguided. I feel great using vegan protein sources including peanut butter and legumes, and using the Diet for a Small Planet techniques of mixing vegan proteins. Try peanut butter mixed with rice syrup for a sweet snack, or a combo-plate of rice, potatoes and lentils (my current favorite.) There’s plenty of protein to be had without doing anything unnatural, like killing an animal.

I honestly believe that killing animals to eat their meat is the original sin.

Since I started my $5 per week food budget, I’ve developed an odd habit: dinner for breakfast. Yes, I’m eating my dinner foods first thing in the morning, odd as that may seem.

Before I started conserving on my food budget I started each day with a tall mug of sweetened tea and a Clif Bar. The Clif Bars cost $1.50 or so here in the one supermarket in our remote mountain town. My favorite flavor was “Peanut Toffee Buzz” which has a bit of caffeine in it. Unfortunately the Clif Bars, which cost me a minimum of $10.50 per week, were the first things to go from my food budget. I say minimum because I liked them so much, I often ate them for snacks later in the day as well.

When I ran out of Clif Bars I started making oatmeal for breakfast but my supply has dwindled. Though I’m an avid food storage advocate, I hadn’t stored oatmeal. Big mistake! I plan to make a food storage shopping trip after my six-week $5/wk. budgeting experiment is over. Oatmeal is one thing I’ll stock up on. It is a great way to get a filling breakfast in the morning.

I know a lot of people reading this will be groaning because they think oatmeal is the worst breakfast ever, but it has its uses. It digests slowly and come to think of it, Avena Sativa (oat) is a popular herb for various reasons… energy being one of them. Google “Avena Sativa” and you’ll get other ideas on what people are buying this herb for. I have some in capsule form that I’ve taken as part of my regimen to get off hypothyroid medications.

Since I like to eat a substantial breakfast, and am a total vegetarian, I’ve started eating my rice, lentils, potatoes and carrots for breakfast. I cook them once or twice weekly in my rice steamer; rice and lentils in the bottom and veggies on top. I cut my potatoes in half and eat them like baked potatoes when the rice steamer opens. For breakfast I chop the steamed potatoes and carrots into small pieces, warm in olive oil with sliced fresh garlic, and then add the rice and lentil mixture on top. Spices I add are simply salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I like lots of garlic as you can see, and believe it has great health benefits for my circulatory system.

It is nearly 4am as I write this and I’ve just had two small plates of this wonderful breakfast. Though I also eat the same for dinner I’m fully satisfied with this and know I won’t be hungry for a while.

I’m developing another breakfast… with vegan pancakes and a variety of toppings. More on that another time. The recipe isn’t perfected enough to share yet. Meanwhile, I can say I’m still eating well though I’ve reached week three of my $5/wk. food budgeting experiment.

Food purchases last week were $1.99 for a bag of potatoes, $.35 for carrots, and $.98 for fresh broccoli. That gave me $1.68 left over which I’m adding to this week’s food budget. I haven’t decided yet what I’ll spend it on. I’m considering olive oil as I’m almost out. I do have a couple pounds of butter I could use instead. I’ll probably wait until later in the week to make a decision on what to buy next. Oatmeal comes to mind.

This month I’ve cut my food budget to five dollars a week. This is totally going to change the way I eat. Already I’m running out of things I’m used to eating. The Clif Bars, at $1.50/day, went first. Also the hard candies I was buying to entertain myself with – they’re gone, which is a good thing because I realized they were made with corn syrup which is one of the greatest blights on humanity.

I ‘m getting to the point where I may soon be able to see real life. By this I mean that by having bad food habits I’ve been in a deep canyon all my life. By eliminating certain foods I will be able to emerge from that canyon into a better environment which will include clearer consciousness, greater insights, and other spiritual gifts which at this time I have no knowledge of.

It is a tragedy of this century that food manufacturers have placed most of humanity – especially Americans – into this canyon of ignorance because of two main influences. (1) Bad eating habits based on processed and poisoned foods, and (2) Learned helplessness. By that I mean we have learned to be dependent on large manufacturing industries for our food and jobs and without them we would be helpless – and the jobs are just about gone. What will happen if the economy pulls the food off our grocery shelves too? How many of us will be able to adjust and find ways to get enough food to live on?

I’m just guessing – but if 10% of Americans know how to garden and preserve food and are prepared and ready to do so, and the other 90% are dependent on food manufacturers for processed foods including breakfast bars and cereals, canned foods, imported coffee and tea, potato chips, mayonnaise and other condiments, store bought bread and pasta, etc, not to forget the incredible bottled beverage industry… if 90% of Americans are dependent on all this JUNK FOOD then what will happen if your NWO overlords decide to pull all that off the grocery store shelves – or if/when the dollar is devalued to the point where you can’t afford to buy a can of beans because it costs $100 and your unemployment check was just spent on rent? And those who eat meat – who are still convinced they can’t live without it – if you can’t get that, are you prepared to go out and kill something – a rat perhaps – then skin it and eat it? I mean, bletch! I personally cannot stand the thought of eating meat and have realized that the myth that we need high protein levels to thrive is just plain wrong. That could be propaganda from the meat industry!

The point here is that if you are not able and ready for a self-sustaining lifestyle you’re likely to suffer including watching your children starve to death before you do – like those families in Africa. Do you really think the world didn’t have enough food to feed them? I think they could have been saved if it were not for greed of food barons in other lands. Surely there’s a better way to manage the food resources of this planet.

All this to say – I hope you are ready to be part of the small percentage of Americans capable of being self-sufficient and able to eat during the recession years. Are you ready? I’m not, but I’m working on it.

These days of spending only five dollars a week on food have opened my eyes to some amazing revelations. For example, food addiction. I am actually having withdrawal symptoms as I wean myself of first one food then another. It distresses me to think that the economy could get so bad that entire families would be deprived and going through the same thing I’m going through now.

Now keep in mind, my challenge here is to buy no more than $5.00 worth of new food weekly, but I still have my stored food to eat. I also have a devoted boyfriend who gifted me with three items in the past two weeks. (1) Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, (2) tortillas worth over $6.00, and (3) a bunch of bananas. I must have pigged out on the tortillas because they are gone already, and this was a big thick bag. I will not replace them. I’ve decided to eat the filling alone —- or maybe make tortillas once a week as I still have flour.

The ice cream comes in a very small pint container. I decided to eat only ½ scoop daily. The last few days I’ve combined that with strawberries that I took from my freezer. So, I have plenty to eat – but I’m not eating what I’m used to, and there’s where withdrawals come in as I’m forced to make little dietary changes. Last night I did EFT for “food addictions” and it helped me feel a lot better.

So that’s the report for now. I’ve allowed myself one $5.00 shopping trip so far and that was spent on an onion, tomatoes, green pepper, candy and … I think that was all. The candy is gone now and won’t be replaced. This week I’ll resist tortillas and go for fresh veggies … especially potatoes and carrots as I’ve now run out of all that was in my garden except for one stray carrot I found in the garden today that I’ve now pulled with glee. It is in my kitchen veggie box. Next time I make steamed rice and lentils and veggies I’ll use it.

Onward toward the light and toward freedom from dependence on food manufacturers. Wish me luck and prepare yourselves for hard times ahead, because they are coming . The American dollar is worth less all the time. Please watch this video and stay informed.

Movie produced by George at Inflation US

My goal, between now and the end of the year, is to spend only $5 per week on food.

Can I do it? We will soon find out.

Why the strict budget? Well, my income went down and now I’m finding out I can still pay all my bills (that’s good) but I will have to choose between firewood and food (not so good.) As it gets really cold here in the mountains, I definitely want to buy the firewood. A nice young man comes by and dumps the wood, a cord at a time, in my front yard right in front of the flower bed. We pay him $190 for all his labor, and usually need more than a cord per month once winter gets rolling.

I have a lot of food stored up here. I have canned foods I almost never touch. I was saving them for an emergency. They’re about a year old now and I really should consume them and then replace the stored items when I’m feeling more prosperous. I’ve also got lots of stored beans and rice, and other dry foods… you know, flours and things like that. I think this will serve to sustain me.

I’m nearly through consuming all the vegetables from my summer garden. I need to plant a winter garden soon… but that won’t suffice for this six-week budgeting experience. Therefore I expect that some of the weekly shopping money will be spent on vegetables. I’ll also need to buy tortillas, though if need be I can make them.

One thing I’m giving up entirely is bread. All it does is make me fat and fill me with candida. It may be the primary reason why I’ve had trouble losing weight. Whoever said bread is the “staff of life” really hooked me. All these years I thought of bread as essential… but no more. The supermarket here sells quality bread (the only kind I’d eat) for $4.50 a loaf. Obviously that will be too much for my $5 per week food budget. I’d rather spend my money on other things.

Another thing I’ll have to give up is my beloved Clif Bars. I’ve been buying them for breakfasts and snacks for a couple years now, and I’ll sure miss them. But at $1.50 a pop, I just can’t afford them now. I’ll probably make myself bowls of oatmeal to get the same effect without the high cost.

I’ll post my results after my first weekly shopping trip.

Oh, I also should mention — I will no longer go into town more often than once weekly to pick up mail and get groceries. Staying away from shopping areas is sure to help keep me from spending money!

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Now for a word on what I’m eating today. I recently bought a rice steamer and I’m just loving it! I make brown rice with lentils (2 cups rice, one cup lentils) in the bottom of the steamer and put vegetables in the steamer tray on top. This week the veggies were potatoes and carrots. I take the resulting rice/lentils/veggies and fry them in a bit of olive oil, adding garlic powder, pepper, turmeric and ginger. This goes into a warm tortilla with fresh diced onion and a bit of hot sauce. A delicious, healthy and filling meal. Very vegan!

Do you have a favorite salsa recipe?

Mine is SO simple!

I chop a few tomatoes into small pieces, add about half a chopped onion, and add one finely chopped jalapeno pepper. Can’t get much simpler than that! Still, it totally satisfies me.

At one time I didn’t know much about Mexican food. My mother never cooked it. NEVER.

Then when I was about 23 years old, I had a Hispanic boyfriend. I say Hispanic instead of Mexican because he’s never been in Mexico. Maybe today the preferred term is Latino. I don’t know… Hispanic always sounded okay to me. Anyhow, he took me home to meet his parents… they were living in Chowchilla, California at the time. His mother made dinner … and I sat down to a meal like nothing I’d ever had before.

I was doing okay with the food - all vegetarian, my favorite! She gave me homemade pinto beans and fried potatoes on a paper plate, and then plunked down a flour tortilla right next to that. Oh my goodness! I had NO IDEA what to do with the tortilla! I had to sit there watching my boyfriend eat so I’d get an idea of what to do with it. He tore it into tiny pieces and used it to pick up the other foods!

That was my introduction to Mexican food. A few months later I MARRIED this guy, and actually LEARNED to cook Mexican foods. Then in 1985 we divorced… but I still love the Mexican food!

Have you ever noticed how much better home cooked pinto beans are? I mean, better than the ones coming out of a can? WOW, the taste differential is astounding!

I like to cook beans about once a week… usually black beans, pinto beans, or lentils. I often combine the lentils with rice. This is my burrito filling. At this point I’ve weaned myself off of cheese so all I put into my burritos is the beans, salsa, and sometimes potatoes, rice, or lettuce.

I also have the habit of warming my tortillas just like my mother-in-law did… directly over the flame of a gas burner. I’d be so lost with an electric stove! My now-boyfriend insists on frying his tortillas in a frying pan with butter. Not for me! I toss mine directly on a fully-lit burner and count to ten, then turn them over, count to ten, wait for the bubbles to emerge, and that’s it. No butter, no extra calories.. no mess.

Can you tell I love burritos? I’ve been eating them a lot lately… often alongside a mug full of my amazing and delicious vegetable soup. (The soup will have to be another posting… some other day.)

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Also: Happy First Day of Spring… Joyous Spring Equinox… and for the Persians and Baha’is: Happy Naw Ruz!