After watching Forks Over Knives again yesterday I had to ask myself why I ate meat.
While I was butchering the deer I really thought about it.
The answer is taste. Nothing tastes like meat. I am not talking chicken breast which can be as bland as tofu, but pork belly, bacon, duck, wild game. The flavor of those meats is like nothing else and the satisfaction I get is enormous.
When eating at a normal budget I tend to use meat as a seasoning. A few anchovies, in a pasta, an ounce of pancetta for my brussels sprouts, a thin slice of ham with my roast vegetables in a sandwich.
However the truth is that on the Diabetic Food Stamp Project I am eating 4 to 12 times the amount of meat I usually eat.
Why?
Cost per calorie.
Without masses of pasta, bowls of rice and peas, and other carbs I must be careful of, I am limited to the more expensive store items.
To get enough calories for the day to even minimally operate from all vegetables...let me give you an example; It would take 10 lbs of broccoli at .99 a head, cooked with nice olive oil (more oil than I use in a week) to get my normal calories for the day. Not 4.25 but 11 bucks. Cabbage the cheapest vegetable out there again cooked with olive oil would cost 7 a day.
Vegetables are expensive per pound and per calories. That my friends is the Naked Truth as to why the poor do not eat platters of vegetables.
Our government in their infinite lack of wisdom thinks the answer is in a new plate diagram, and when that fails throw money specifically advertising to those on Snap.
People who resort to Snap are not idiots. They know what to do, they can't afford to do it.
In Harlem I have been to many parties and dinners and meetings. Meat as a seasoning is common, it is a way to stretch meat further. A couple of smoked wings will season a pot of collards. One ham hock will season a pot of beans. A pound of sausage will season a big pot of dirty rice. At a Christmas party when I brought an antipasto platter with roast peppers, onions in balsamic, Grilled zucchini and fried artichoke hearts it was the first platter empty.
My offering had set me back about 40 dollars while the rice with sausage, even in that huge hotel pan cost maybe 3.
I think a goal of 5% protein from meat and dairy is not an unreachable goal. It would certainly help our health and well being. Of course classes are needed to teach new ways (and some ancient ways) but we need to subsidize Quinoa and Broccoli, not corn and petrol.
That will be a new world...
Can anyone join with me to help make it happen?
Speaking of new world...I decided to go ahead and process the ribs and share with my neighbors. The rest of the venison I had went in the freezer and the rest of the deer are in a friend's freezer for me to eat March 1.
However I will feed some to my cats. I've a freezer bag of bits of trim for them.
I must admit Forks over Knives did affect me. Despite the budget I went with a vegetarian salad for breakfast.
I begin with 6.76
First I had my pomegranate while deciding what to do. Then I had coffee with my cream and made a salad of fennel 1.00, two oranges .50 and 1/2 cup of pomegranate .50. The total is 2.50 I am having 1/3 at a cost of .83 cents.
Coffee with Cream .15
Pomegranate .50
Salad .83
Total 1.48
Carbs 39 grams
Calories 177
By noon I was famished.
My light delicious breakfast had not stayed with me.
I had Carbonara sauce left from yesterday (thinking I was making it for a normal batch of pasta I made too much). I had close to one cup of cheese tortellini in the freezer.
Sauce with bacon .65
Cheese Tortellini 1.00
Iced Tea .03
Total 1.68
Carbs 45 grams
I feel better.
The great thing about stuffed pasta is that you can eat more as it has lower carb content due to the cheese, or mushroom inside. The tough thing is that it is much more expensive.
Before I left I pulled a loaf of whole grain (Whole Wheat, Oat and flax) bread out of the oven. Of course I had a nice slice while it was warm.
Bread .10
Carbs .15
I got to Chinatown today. I purchased two leeks for .95, 3 potatoes for .79 (potato leek soup),Bok Choy for .74, big eggplant for .40, red bell pepper for .63, a zucchini for .95 and a tomato for .36.
I need more vegetables and these were the cheapest I could find today.
I also bought roughly 1/2 pound of pork belly at 2.39 a lb. It came to 1.18.
I did have one bite of the now completed Venison Jerky when I got home (I had to taste it) before I give it away to the hunter. If he does not take it all, I will store it in the freezer. Otherwise I fear I will
be powerless to resist.
I feel fat. I know that I am not fat, but I feel fat. The cheaper food, less fiber, all have driven my digestion to a slow point. I get bloated easily and my energy is really low. I came close to skipping the gym yesterday and between the way I felt and what I had to do I came close.
It was a lot of running around before I got to my dinner...Meeting UWS, gym, phone conference, I was cooking and talking but finally sat down to eat at 9:45.
I Cooked the pork belly with 1/2 of the red pepper and ate half of it over a big bed of salad greens.
This worked just as well as rice, the crisp greens balanced the richness of the pork and I had a lot of color and flavor.
It was a busy day and I was up late enough not to suffer any indigestion.
Pork .59
Pepper .32
Salad Greens 1.00
Iced tea .03
Total 1.94, not an inexpensive meal.
Carb 9 grams
Total Calories for the day 1,518.
Cost 5.20
Leaving me 1.56 to carry over
While I was butchering the deer I really thought about it.
The answer is taste. Nothing tastes like meat. I am not talking chicken breast which can be as bland as tofu, but pork belly, bacon, duck, wild game. The flavor of those meats is like nothing else and the satisfaction I get is enormous.
When eating at a normal budget I tend to use meat as a seasoning. A few anchovies, in a pasta, an ounce of pancetta for my brussels sprouts, a thin slice of ham with my roast vegetables in a sandwich.
However the truth is that on the Diabetic Food Stamp Project I am eating 4 to 12 times the amount of meat I usually eat.
Why?
Cost per calorie.
Without masses of pasta, bowls of rice and peas, and other carbs I must be careful of, I am limited to the more expensive store items.
To get enough calories for the day to even minimally operate from all vegetables...let me give you an example; It would take 10 lbs of broccoli at .99 a head, cooked with nice olive oil (more oil than I use in a week) to get my normal calories for the day. Not 4.25 but 11 bucks. Cabbage the cheapest vegetable out there again cooked with olive oil would cost 7 a day.
Vegetables are expensive per pound and per calories. That my friends is the Naked Truth as to why the poor do not eat platters of vegetables.
Our government in their infinite lack of wisdom thinks the answer is in a new plate diagram, and when that fails throw money specifically advertising to those on Snap.
People who resort to Snap are not idiots. They know what to do, they can't afford to do it.
In Harlem I have been to many parties and dinners and meetings. Meat as a seasoning is common, it is a way to stretch meat further. A couple of smoked wings will season a pot of collards. One ham hock will season a pot of beans. A pound of sausage will season a big pot of dirty rice. At a Christmas party when I brought an antipasto platter with roast peppers, onions in balsamic, Grilled zucchini and fried artichoke hearts it was the first platter empty.
My offering had set me back about 40 dollars while the rice with sausage, even in that huge hotel pan cost maybe 3.
I think a goal of 5% protein from meat and dairy is not an unreachable goal. It would certainly help our health and well being. Of course classes are needed to teach new ways (and some ancient ways) but we need to subsidize Quinoa and Broccoli, not corn and petrol.
That will be a new world...
Can anyone join with me to help make it happen?
Speaking of new world...I decided to go ahead and process the ribs and share with my neighbors. The rest of the venison I had went in the freezer and the rest of the deer are in a friend's freezer for me to eat March 1.
However I will feed some to my cats. I've a freezer bag of bits of trim for them.
I must admit Forks over Knives did affect me. Despite the budget I went with a vegetarian salad for breakfast.
I begin with 6.76
First I had my pomegranate while deciding what to do. Then I had coffee with my cream and made a salad of fennel 1.00, two oranges .50 and 1/2 cup of pomegranate .50. The total is 2.50 I am having 1/3 at a cost of .83 cents.
Coffee with Cream .15
Pomegranate .50
Salad .83
Total 1.48
Carbs 39 grams
Calories 177
My light delicious breakfast had not stayed with me.
I had Carbonara sauce left from yesterday (thinking I was making it for a normal batch of pasta I made too much). I had close to one cup of cheese tortellini in the freezer.
Sauce with bacon .65
Cheese Tortellini 1.00
Iced Tea .03
Total 1.68
Carbs 45 grams
I feel better.
The great thing about stuffed pasta is that you can eat more as it has lower carb content due to the cheese, or mushroom inside. The tough thing is that it is much more expensive.
Before I left I pulled a loaf of whole grain (Whole Wheat, Oat and flax) bread out of the oven. Of course I had a nice slice while it was warm.
Bread .10
Carbs .15
I got to Chinatown today. I purchased two leeks for .95, 3 potatoes for .79 (potato leek soup),Bok Choy for .74, big eggplant for .40, red bell pepper for .63, a zucchini for .95 and a tomato for .36.
I need more vegetables and these were the cheapest I could find today.
I also bought roughly 1/2 pound of pork belly at 2.39 a lb. It came to 1.18.
I did have one bite of the now completed Venison Jerky when I got home (I had to taste it) before I give it away to the hunter. If he does not take it all, I will store it in the freezer. Otherwise I fear I will
be powerless to resist.
I feel fat. I know that I am not fat, but I feel fat. The cheaper food, less fiber, all have driven my digestion to a slow point. I get bloated easily and my energy is really low. I came close to skipping the gym yesterday and between the way I felt and what I had to do I came close.
It was a lot of running around before I got to my dinner...Meeting UWS, gym, phone conference, I was cooking and talking but finally sat down to eat at 9:45.
I Cooked the pork belly with 1/2 of the red pepper and ate half of it over a big bed of salad greens.
This worked just as well as rice, the crisp greens balanced the richness of the pork and I had a lot of color and flavor.
It was a busy day and I was up late enough not to suffer any indigestion.
Pork .59
Pepper .32
Salad Greens 1.00
Iced tea .03
Total 1.94, not an inexpensive meal.
Carb 9 grams
Total Calories for the day 1,518.
Cost 5.20
Leaving me 1.56 to carry over
3 comments:
Tell it like it is brother Karl. This bitch at the hospital telling me to eat wild Salmon.
Where the **** I gettin money for salmon.
Macaroni and cheese three for a dollar.
Yesterday I spent $30 and got:
Four large red peppers
Four large navel oranges (3lbs)
10oz. Crimini Mushrooms
3lbs. Watermelon
3lbs. Banana
2lbs. Strawberries
3lbs. Granny Smith Apples
3lbs. Pineapple
So say 20lbs. of fruit and vegetable - it works out to $1.50 a pound. Not bad.
And as to wild salmon, you can get frozen salmon filets for about $6.99 per 1.5lb. So $4.66 per pound.
Truth,
No such thing as frozen wild Salmon available in Harlem for anywhere close to that price. The closest I have found is at Costco for most recently 14.99. Farmed Salmon was available for less.
Half a pound of strawberries right now here is 2.00 making 1 lb. 4 a pound. The cheapest apples currently in Harlem are 1.99 a pound.
Then what is the price per calorie? The price per meal.
Were 23 to have 1/4 pound of wild salmon at current prices she would pay about 3.75 or 50 cents away from what she might be able to pay for a meal. She would have fewer than 200 calories.
Whereas 3.75 in pork would give her close to a pound and about 2,000 calories.
She may need to lose weight, but if she does not the search for calories per pound becomes as important as the search for price per pound.
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