The Great Veg Experiment

A Latvian and an American once had an idea. One is a carnivore, the other —a vegan. They talked, and talked, and came to a decision. That something new and exciting that fit their shared vision, an idea, an experiment if you will. They decided to go through ups, downs, and thrills. Here is the intro and the day one.

The premise of the experiment was trying to see how much it would cost to have vegetarian (and vegan where possible) meals that taste good. I also wanted to see how cheaply one can eat, since budget and planning is as important as ever.

This first meal was a simple pasta dish with mixed vegetables and tomato sauce. On day two I added some chillies, spinach, and a handful of oats.

I haven't calculated any calories or nutritional value to this dish, but if you would like me to do that—send me a message.

So Day 1:

• Pasta (Penne, but it doesn't matter)
• Frozen mixed vegetables
• Tomato ketchup or tomato sauce of any description
• Spinach
• Oats
• Dried herbs and spices

I bought most of my ingredients in the local Tesco supermarket, so the prices are all in £ and they will vary from place to place. I just noted down what the whole packet of ingredients cost me. I will also try and note how far these ingredients stretch.

• Penne Pasta 500g pack £ 0.30
• Frozen Mixed Veg (or frozen veg of your choice) 1kg £ 1.30
• Ketchup 550g £ 0.44
• Spinach 250g £ 0.79
• Oats 1kg £ 1.10
• Vegetable oil 1l £ 1.20

It's a one pot thing, but you can make a big batch and eat the next day (as I did) or even put it in a Tupperware container and freeze if you don't like eating the same thing two days in a row.

Growing up we used to make a big batch of soup, and it would last us for at least a week, so I'm a big fan of both—leftovers and batch cooking.

I used about two cups of pasta, about three tablespoons of olive oil, two to three cups of veggies and only about two tablespoons of ketchup, but it all depends on your preference/need.

Why do this? And what about meat?

Although I am a self-proclaimed lover of bacon, I didn't feel like I was missing anything by having a simple pasta dish, and it also allowed me to eat more vegetables, which I'm not always very fond of.

I set out this challenge to myself and will try to do this for a month. No promises, but we'll give it our best shot.

The only exception to this self-imposed experiment and embargo on meat will happen if we're eating out, and I'm not the one ordering food. Or if eating meat out turns out to be cheaper (impossible, right?) than not eating it. I have not yet decided about fish, but since I don't eat a lot of it in the first place (again, expensive) it shouldn't be a problem.

I will try to cut down my caffeine intake, as well. I'm sure it will have an immediate effect on me, and I will try to document that as well.

Since starting this little experiment, I have decreased my caffeine intake to about three cups of coffee. I'm the kind of person who likes to have a drink next to me, especially if I'm sitting behind a screen which happens quite often these days.

Coffee used to be my go-to drink, and I'm sure I could go decaf. However, if I want to save money, coffee is a big chunk towards expenses. At least if you want to drink good coffee.

Therefore, something has to give and coffee is the first thing. We'll see how long I last with that.

So this is the story we'll try to stick to, for a month. They say you should give something up for lent. Well, it's not really lent any more since Palm Sunday is this coming one, but better late than never. Or at least—do something when the time seems right rather than struggle along while hating the process.