Pre-cut fruits and vegetables
Pre-cut fruits and vegetables didn't even exist 10 years ago, but Americans spent more than $600 million on prepared salads alone last year. According to Information Resources, Inc., pre-cut vegetables are the fastest-growing category of produce.
We understand that grabbing pre-cut fruit and vegetables can help cut down on your time in the kitchen, but that small convenience carries a big price. It's safe to say you are paying at least double the cost for pre-cut produce versus buying their whole counterparts. Another negative – you aren't getting all the vitamins you think. Tests have shown that pre-cut vegetables, for example, start losing their vitamin C once they are cut!
Anything at eye level in the grocery store.
Here's a great inside tip that we got from a store manager: You'll pay more for items at eye level on the grocery store shelves.
Products with the highest markups get that prime shelf space because the store gets a share of those fat profits. Less profitable products get high and low shelf space at the supermarket, so that's where you are likely to find the best bargains.
Bottled Water
Did you know that the two biggest brands of bottled water in America --Dasani and Aquafina -- are nothing more than purified tap water? In fact, estimates are that 40% of all bottled water is tap water. At close to $2 a bottle, bought alone, that makes bottled water one of the biggest retail rip-offs.
For the price of one bottle of Evian, a San Franciscan can receive 1,000 gallons of tap water. According to "Message in a Bottle" by Charles Fishman, bottled water can cost 10,000 times more than tap water -- about $10 per gallon for high-end brands. And more than 90% of that cost is in the bottle, lid and label -- NOT producing the water.
If you are concerned that your tap water is not as clean as bottled water, buy a water pitcher with a filter or install a filter on your faucet. Then buy re-usable bottles to fill and take with you when you are on the go.
Produce at organic groceries
The huge boom in buying organic produce has led to a huge boom in prices. You'll pay 30 to 50% more for organic produce -- sometimes more if something is not in season. Now, that may be completely worth it to you, but if you are looking for ways to save, here are a few ideas.
First, shop at your local farmers markets and look for farmers growing organically. They likely won't be charging big markups. Next, consider not buying organic when you are shopping for types of produce that use very little pesticide. The top 10 types of produce with the lowest pesticide levels are (starting with the lowest): onion, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), kiwi and bananas.
Non-organic produce at organic groceries
Just because produce is being offered at an organic store, does not mean it's organic! Be sure to check the signs and labels before you buy. Non-organic produce often still carries a hefty mark-up at specialty stores.
You could end up paying 30 to 50% more for the same non-organic apples or tomatoes you could get at your regular grocery store. Buyer beware -- read the labels!
Coffee
Coffee mark-up is insane. And we're not just talking about the fancy "mocha grande latte with soy" kind of coffee. A plain ol' cup of joe can carry an absurd markup.
A plain 16 oz. cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts costs $1.75. You'll pay at least that for a much smaller cup at most restaurants. Consider that a plain 16 oz. cup at home will cost you about $.55.
We're not telling you not to enjoy that occasional coffee run. But just one cup of coffee a day at home rather than buying it could save you $438 a year.
French fries at restaurants
French fries are a big profit maker for restaurants. A 10 ounce potato makes about 90 french fries (that's about the serving size for large fries at a fast food restaurant). That potato costs about 30 cents, but brings the restaurant about $1.75.
Today I got vegan treats from Germany! My friend Xina moved there earlier this year. It stinks for all of us here who love her, but I know she's happy in Germany. She sent Stephen a marzipan chocolate bar and some chocolates filled with cognac, I think. I got some Pfeffernüsse cookies and some chocolates filled with coconut. She also sent some little nips of Jägermeister and some other kind of unknown alcohol. I'm excited to try the cookies, but I think they need to be accompanied by a nice cup of coffee. I need to get on the ball and buy some real coffee soon. I have a nice french press that I use on occasion, but most of the time I drink shitty instant coffee. I don't drink coffee too often because it makes my tummy all rumbly, but I do like it once in awhile. 
Servings Size 1 bar (75g) Servings Per Container 6 | |
  | |
| Amount Per Servings | |
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| Calories 100 Calories from Fat 0 | |
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| % Daily Values* | |
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| Total Fat 0g | 0% |
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| Saturated Fat 0g | 0% |
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| Cholesterol 0g | 0% |
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| Sodium 5mg | 0% |
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| Total Carbohydrate 23g | 8% |
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| Dietary Fiber 0g | 12% |
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| Sugar 12g | |
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| Protein 1g | |
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| • | Vitamin A 2% | • | Vitamin C 8% |
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| • | Calcium 0% | • | Iron 0% |
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| INGREDIENTS: FILTERED WATER, MIXED FRUIT CONCENTRATE (PINEAPPLE SYRUP, APPLE, PEAR AND PEACH CONCENTRATES), BROWN RICE SYRUP, PEA STARCH, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CAROB BEAN GUM, GUAR GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR. | |||
So, as you can imagine, it's relatively hard to eat. I prepared myself yesterday by buying the new Kozy Shack Soy Pudding. I got it in chocolate, but they also have vanilla. I've heard of it around the internet, but I finally found some at Shaws. I tried it on Wednesday night, and I thought it tasted a little weird. Kind of a chalky taste. BUT today I ate the other 3 that were in the package and I really liked them. I'm not sure if it has to do with the fact that I just sort of sucked it down because that was the easiest thing to do. Since I got a coupon for this pudding after I checked out last night, I'm gonna buy some more. Needless to say, I am super grateful that I found a relatively popular brand of pre-made soy pudding. Sure, there is ZenSoy pudding, but I can only get that at Whole Foods, which is 45 minutes away, or at Living Earth, which is currently going through tons of renovations. I also definitely wasn't in the mood to make my own from scratch.
Lately on the ppk we have been trying to make use of our cookbooks. This week’s book is Veganomicon. I’ve made a good amount of recipes since I was a tester (my name is in the back! I’m so special!). I’ve made the smoky grilled tempeh a million times, but for some reason I never tried the hot sauce glazed tempeh. I decided it was time to buckle down and just do it. I had tempeh in my fridge that expired a few months ago. But really, how can tempeh expire if it’s already basically just moldy soybeans? Since tempeh comes very well packaged, sitting between 2 or 3 layers of tight plastic, there wasn’t any problem with it when I opened it. I also finally had a use for some wine that I had taken from my brothers apartment when he moved. I didn’t want to drink it, but I wanted to use it for some kind of recipe. This one uses a half cup, though I did add extra just so it would cover all of it. The tempeh I’ve been using lately is the Soy Boy brand. It’s usually the cheapest one at Whole Foods so I always grab a few. For some reason, this brand is super thick. I find that the outside and the edges marinate pretty well, but the middle never does. I think from now on if I keep using this brand that I will cut it into smaller pieces so everything can marinate well.
Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh
By Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Ingredients
8 ounce package of tempeh
1/2 cup wine (whatever kind you've got on hand, just nothing sweet, or use vegetable broth and a touch of wine vinegar)
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice from 1 lemon)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions
Bring a pot of water to boil.
Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to fit the tempeh slices.
Cut the tempeh in half widthwise then cut each of those squares diagonally to form 4 large triangles. When the water is boiling, add the tempeh, lower the heat and steam for 10 minutes.
Use tongs to remove the tempeh and then immediately place them in the marinade bowl for 1 hour, flipping them every now again to cover with the marinade.
Preheat a greased grill pan over medium high heat. To grease it, brush lightly with olive oil or if you have a spray bottle of olive oil, that works, too. (Get a spray bottle of olive oil already!)
Grill each side for 5 minutes. When the second side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let cook for 30 more seconds.
Alternative broiling instructions:
Preheat the oven broiler. Place tempeh in a rimmed pan (I like to use my cast iron pan for such purposes). Spoon some of the marinade over it and broil for 5 minutes. Flip it and spoon some more marinade over it and cook for another 5 minutes. When the second side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let cook for 30 more seconds.
This spring, I convinced my mom to grow some basil for me. She does all the gardening in the house, so it didn’t seem like it would be a big deal for her to add that to her repertoire. Thankfully she went along with it. So this pot of basil has been growing on the back porch all summer, and I finally got around to using it. I plucked off about 3 cups of it to make some pesto. I kind of followed a few different recipes because I tend to not have everything in one particular recipe. I think it turned out pretty good, except afterwards I felt kind of sick. Then I felt better until I ate some more, and then I felt a little sick again. I think I either added too much olive oil, or I’m not good at digesting basil. I think I’m going to have to make it again sometime with less oil to see if that was the culprit or not.
-3 cups of basil
-1/2 cup or less of olive oil
-Handful of pine nuts plus some raw sunflower seeds (that’s just what I had). Probably about a half cup or so
-garlic! I have that jarred minced garlic, so I put in about three scoops
-course salt
- 1/3 to ½ cup nutritional yeast
So what I did was put the basil, nuts, garlic and salt in the food processor and mixed it up. Then I slowly added the olive oil. Then I added the nutritional yeast and mixed it all together. My food processor is awful though, so I kept having to stop it and scrape down the sides.
There are so many pesto recipes out there that you don’t really need to stick to one. I think next time I might try some arugula pesto to see how that is.
Basil straight from the garden.
