Monday, July 7, 2008

An Introduction

The idea for this blog came about as a result of an awesome dinner my boyfriend and I pulled out of nowhere last night. We were hungry, tired, and most of all, we don't have much money. So when Dinner Time rolled around, we didn't want to go hike up to the grocery store and spend money on more food items when we were convinced that we could make something good using the random ingredients we had at home. And we did make something good. In fact it was downright delicious. And so I thought. . .

"You know? Vegan cookbooks always use these fancy shmancy ingredients that you never have at home when you're really hungry and just want to make something now. I should start a blog about doing just that."

Well here it is.

This blog is going to be dedicated to good, tested, vegans meals, snacks, and desserts that are 100% fancy-pants-ingredient free. You will never have to run over to Whole Foods for a teaspoon of arrowroot powder, organic dried mango, pickled cactus or whatever else you can't find at your local corporate/traditional grocery store (with maybe the exception of nutritional yeast and soy products that the grocery store may or may not carry). All you foodies may be asking yourself. . .

"Why?"

Well, for several reasons.

1. I want to effectively demonstrate that vegan food can be healthy, inexpensive, and accessible. The nearest health food store to me is almost 30 minutes from my home. Therefore, I depend on traditional grocery stores (namely Kroger) for the foods that I eat. Not only by shopping there do I spend less money on food, but I also save on gas and lessen the amount that I use my car. I don't get to eat organic foods all the time, but neither do most of the people in my neighborhood.

2. And on that note. . .I want to demonstrate that veganism can work for anyone, privileged or not. It's hard for me to justify spending $5 on a kiwi at a health food store while the families in my working class neighborhood spend $5 to feed a family of four for a day. When people ask me whether or not my diet is expensive I can tell them, no, I shop where they shop and spend (similarly) what they spend on food. I want to be an attainable role-model, which includes living life on a humble budget (which also sadly means no organic dried mangoes on my salads).

3. Many of the cookbooks I have call for these ingredients that, unless I want to be a super sleuth, I can't find anywhere. While these ingredients may be accessible to someone on a coast, or in a larger city, Indianapolis isn't necessarily vegan friendly. Vegans don't starve here, but it's also not at easy as it is in other places. I want to make the recipes in this blog work for people who don't live in a major city but still want to eat vegan.

4. Lastly, returning to point 2, I live my life on a humble budget because I have little choice to do otherwise. Spending $20 for an ingredient to make 1 meal isn't a viable option for everyday living. The dinner my boyfriend and I made last night had ingredients that, altogether, cost less than $10 and made enough for me to have the leftovers for lunch today. I'm looking to assist other vegans that live on a tight budget but still want to eat delicious and healthy foods.

I hope this blog is somewhat useful. Please contact me with any questions or comments you may have. I'm eager to read them.

Here's to your health and satisfied hunger!

-Ali

No comments: