Copyright © 2010 by Brandi Rollins

Front cover design by Brandi Rollins

Interior design by Brandi Rollins

This publication is available online at www.rawfoodsonabudget.com.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author. The only exception is by a
reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

For permission to reproduce the information in this publication for commercial redistribution, please email customerservice@raw-
foodsonabudget.com

All the materials in this chapter or book are provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or
instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this information; instead, readers should consult
appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.
 Book Outline*
*Updated as of 12/20/10

Forward

Preface

Section 1: Introduction
Chapter 1: My journey on raw foods
Chapter 2: Eating raw foods on a budget: An introduction Released

Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget

Chapter 3: Change how you buy food Released
Chapter 4: Change where you buy food Released
Chapter 5: Change how you store food Released
Chapter 6: Change how you prepare food Released
Chapter 7: Change the way you eat Will be released 1/23/11
Chapter 8: Change the way you think Released
Chapter 9: Grow your own food Released

Section 3: Raw Food Start-Up Costs

Chapter 10: Equipment start-up costs Will be released 12/26/10
Chapter 11: Food start-up costs Will be released 12/26/10

Section 4: Create Your Raw Food Budget!

Chapter 12: Create your budget – part 1 Will be released 1/23/11
Chapter 13: Create your budget – part 2 Will be released 1/23/11

Section 5: Recipes
Juices, smoothies, and nut milks
Breakfast
Entrees and sides
Soups, salads, dressings, and dips
Breads and crackers
Desserts
Preparing dried and frozen foods

INDEX
 Section 1

Introduction
 Raw Foods on a Budget: An Introduction

You may be asking yourself, “Can I really eat a raw foods diet while living on a tight budget?” The answer
is YES! It’s a myth that most people cannot afford a raw foods diet; instead, the reality is that most people just
don’t know how to do it while on a tight budget. Many of the raw foodists I know struggle with their grocery
bills, and most raw food newbies have trouble buying the fruits, vegetables, nuts, raw food products, and equip-
ment required by most raw food cookbooks. In fact, the high costs of the raw foods lifestyle is a topic that many
raw food enthusiasts brush to the side until they realize that by ignoring this issue, they have led themselves into
debt. But, here is the great news…eating raw foods on a budget is simple, and this book will show you how!
Raw Foods on a Budget was designed for readers like you to provide the first comprehensive guide to eat-
ing raw foods on a budget. Designed as a workbook, this book goes beyond just listing the various ways to find
low-cost raw foods and, instead, takes a more holistic approach. Learning to eat raw foods while on a budget is
about changing how and where you buy food; how you eat, prepare, and store food; and your overall relation-
ship with food. This book provides strategies and hands-on activities to help you master these dimensions of
eating raw foods while on a budget, a detailed guide to help you create your own raw foods budget, and over 75
delicious, low-cost recipes to get you started. There is even a chapter about growing your own food!
In the next section, “Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget” (section 2), I will present over 40 de-
tailed strategies and plenty of fun activities to help you learn how to eat raw foods while on a budget. Chapter 3,
the first chapter in section 2, shows you how small changes in how you buy food can significantly reduce your
grocery bills. In fact, this is probably the most important chapter in the whole book because changing how you
buy food will allow you to take advantage of the low-cost food sources provided in the following chapter. In
chapter 4, we will journey through all the different ways you can access high-quality, low-cost fruits and veg-
etables from farms, health food and grocery stores, the Internet, and other unexpected sources. These strategies
will help you lower your grocery bills while supporting your local farms and community.
Chapters 5, 6, and 7 teach you how to get the most out of the fruits and vegetables you purchased. Chapter
5 shows you how to store produce, nuts, and seeds to keep them fresh longer. Chapter 6 presents innovative
ways for substituting low-cost ingredients for more expensive ingredients in your raw food recipes. Lastly,
chapter 7 shows you how small changes in the way you eat can lower your grocery bills and maximize the ben-
efits of a raw foods diet.
Chapter 2: Raw Foods on a Budget: An Introduction 1
 In chapters 8 and 9, you will learn strategies to help you change the way you think about budgeting and
enhance your overall relationship with food. It’s a common response for people to feel restricted and constrained
when they are on a budget; however, it doesn’t have to be this way. Chapter 8 will show you how to feel good
about your budget. In chapter 9, you will learn all the ways you can start growing your own food right now. In
today’s world, there are so many ways for people to garden that don’t require a backyard or access to a plot of
land. Gardening will not only provide you with high-quality, low-cost fruits and vegetables, it will also enhance
your understanding, appreciation, and love of food.
In section 3, “Raw Food Start-Up Costs”, chapters 10 and 11 provide a comprehensive overview of the
equipment and food start-up costs associated with the raw foods diet. This is an overlooked topic that really does
impact your budget, and if you are not careful, you could end up with a lot of expensive equipment and raw food
products sitting on the shelf gathering dust (I know I did!).
Section 4, “Creating Your Raw Foods Budget”, brings together what you learned in chapters 3-11 and helps
you create your own monthly raw food budget. In chapter 12, you will set realistic spending goals and create
the foundations of your raw foods budget, using my own food budget as an example. In chapter 13, you will
finalize your budget by choosing from the strategies presented in section 2 and creating a reasonable plan to
implement them. Because so many strategies are presented in this book, picking and practicing the ones that fit
your lifestyle is a strategy within itself, and this chapter will show you how.
Section 5, the final section in the book, presents over 75 tested, low-cost, delicious raw food recipes for
juices, smoothies, nut milks, breakfast, entrees and sides, soups, salads, dressings, dips, breads and crackers,
pies, ice cream, sorbets, cookies, and even recipes for preparing your own dried and frozen foods. These reci-
pes are simple and don’t rely on many fancy raw food products, because I truly believe that the best raw food
ingredients are the ones you already have access to through local farms and health food stores. In addition, each
recipe includes detailed instructions, recipe cost estimates that can also be used as a shopping list, nutrition
information based on the United States Department of Agriculture nutrition database, and tips for reducing the
costs of the recipes even more!
Raw Foods on a Budget is a great resource for individuals who already eat raw foods, desire to eat more
raw foods, or simply want to find new ways to access high-quality, low-cost fruits and vegetables. Some of you
may be long-term raw foodists and need help in reducing your grocery bills. Others may be new to raw foods
and are struggling with the seemingly high costs of fruits and vegetables and ingredients that many raw food
books require. This book is unlike any other book out there because it was designed by readers like you who
want to enjoy the benefits of eating raw foods without breaking the bank. I am confident that you will find what
you’re looking for in this book!

2 Section 1: Introduction
 Section 2

Strategies for Eating

Raw Foods on a Budget
 Raw Foods on a Budget: An Introduction

Before I reveal all the ways to access low-cost, high-quality produce, it is important that you first consider
how you buy food. In fact, how you buy food is more important than where you buy food. For example, let’s
take our friend ‘Impulsive’ Ida:
One Sunday morning before lunch, Ida goes to the grocery store and she notices that her favorite
kale is on sale. Normally, a bunch of kale costs $2.49 and now it is on sale for $1.49. Ida gets
really excited and decides to buy three bunches, costing her a total of $4.47, rather than the one
bunch she would normally buy. One kale-filled week later, Ida managed to only eat two bunches
of the kale she purchased. Sadly, the remaining bunch of kale remained in the back of the refrig-
erator for weeks and Ida eventually threw it out. In the end, Ida wasted food and money. How do
you think that she could have prevented this?
There are several strategies that Ida could have used to avoid this problem. Ida needed a better sense of
what she needed. At the grocery store, Ida ‘wanted’ three bunches of kale, but she only ‘needed’ two bunches.
This chapter will show you how to shop for the foods you need rather than the foods you want. Also, you may
have noticed that Ida went to the grocery store hungry. She went before she ate lunch and probably experienced
the “eyes are bigger than your stomach” effect. When we are hungry, we tend to buy more foods than we can
realistically eat. The end result was that Ida spent $1.49 more than she needed to. So, as you can see, the prob-
lem was the way that Ida bought the food, not the price itself. In other words, in order for Ida to take advantage
of low-cost, high-quality produce and successfully stay on budget, she needs to learn how to manage how she
shops for groceries.
This chapter will present six strategies to help you change how you buy food:
1. Buy what you need, eat all you have
2. Plan your meals
3. Use a shopping list
4. Do not shop when you are hungry
5. Buy only 3-4 days worth of food

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 5

 6. Buy what’s in season
This chapter provides the MOST IMPORTANT strategy to eating raw foods on a budget, so let’s get
started!

Strategy 1
Buy what you need, eat all you have
This is the most important strategy in the whole book! If you always buy the produce you ‘want’ rather
than what you ‘need’, you will always spend more than you budget. And I know it can be difficult to resist those
immediate ‘wants’ like raw vegan chocolate, ice cream, cheesecake, and fruit and nut bars at the grocery store,
but buying these ‘wants’ can wreck your budget. Plus, you can make ice creams, pies, and cookies yourself at a
much lower price. Just take a look at the dessert recipes on pages (TBD).
The first step to buying what you ‘need’ is to figure out how much food you need. The easiest way to see
how much produce you need is to measure how long it takes you to eat a specific amount of produce. You can
do this by eating all of the produce currently in your house before buying any new produce. You might cringe at
this idea; I know I did when I first thought of it because it meant that I couldn’t make any impulsive trips to the
grocery store to buy a food I was craving. Nope, I had to eat all of my food until it ran out. Aughhh!
Though this may seem like a daunting task, you can learn so much from this exercise. This task will give
you a picture of how much food you actually need. And you will probably learn that you need a lot less food than
you originally thought. Plus, this activity can be a very creative experience. As you get down to a few foods,
you probably will have to be more creative in making recipes. One week, I was down to a few carrots, celery
stalks, and lemons. I had just returned home from the gym and was looking for something to eat. But I am not
a big carrot fan, so the thought of making a dish primarily composed of carrots was definitely not in my future.
However, I decided to try juicing the carrots with a few stalks of celery and a whole lemon. I also picked some
parsley from my garden and juiced that, too. It made a very delicious juice that I even included in the recipes
section of this book (see pages TBD). What a nice surprise! The juice was tasty and full of electrolytes from the
celery. In times like this I have created other dishes like Sweet Veggies (on page TBD), in which I cut up some
veggies (i.e. whatever I have in the refrigerator), add a little salt and rice vinegar, and sun-bake the veggies for
8 hours. I still can’t believe how sweet and tasty these veggies taste. Yet, I wouldn’t have been this creative if I
wasn’t forced into it. Allowing my food to run out forced me to experiment with new recipes.
There are other tactics you can use to help you buy what you need. You can plan your meals for 3-4 days,
use shopping lists, and/or avoid shopping when you are hungry. To provide you with more insight into these
tactics, read strategies 2-4!

Strategy 2
Plan Your Meals
Planning your meals in advance will not only tell you how much food you need to buy, but will also help
you avoid wasting money or food. Meal planning may seem like a daunting task, but it really isn’t. It is com-
monplace for people to plan their meals in advance. For example, many people prepare for the work week by
buying their breakfast and lunch foods (e.g. coffee, English muffins, bread, deli meat, cheese, mayo, etc.). This
is meal planning. Often parents buy their children’s lunch foods (juice boxes, sandwich ingredients, cookies,
chips) for the school week ahead of time. This is meal planning. Sometimes people buy ice cream and pies in
6 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget
advance for their after dinner dessert. This is meal planning. I think you get the point. We do meal planning all
the time. The only difference is that now the meals will be raw vegan.
Raw vegan meal planning can be time consuming the first time you do it, but when you do it more often,
it will become more automatic and natural. For example, when I go grocery shopping I have specific meals in
mind for the next few days and I shop specifically for these meals. First, I will think about the recipes I want
for lunch and dinner for the next few days (I tend to hold a lot of recipes in my head) and then I will shop spe-
cifically for those recipes. Because I love my own recipes, I will plan on making these recipes 2-3 times until
the ingredients run out. My thoughts wouldn’t be as organized if I hadn’t gone through the process of planning
my meals on paper. And I also keep my meals simple. For instance, breakfast tends to be fruit rather than an
elaborate raw vegan meal. I save the more fancy stuff or combination recipes like salads for lunch and dinner.
Snacks are whole fruits or cut-up veggies, or something I dehydrated over the weekend. Integrating simple
meals throughout the day speeds up the meal planning process.
To help you create your first raw vegan meal plan, a meal planning worksheet is provided on pages 17-18.

Strategy 3
Use a Shopping List
Using a shopping list while grocery shopping helps you stay on budget. The logic is simple, if you have a
shopping list, it is easier to resist those impulse purchases. Did you know that 60 to 70% of grocery purchases
at supermarkets are unplanned (Underhill, 2008)? That’s a lot! Just think about how much money we could be
saving if we reduced our impulse or unplanned purchases.
So, where do you start? How do you generate a shopping list? A great place to start is to figure out exactly
what you need. This brings us back to Strategy 2. Planning a menu, as described in Strategy 2, can help you
figure out exactly what you need to buy in advance for the next few days. Simply take your menu plan and list
all the ingredients required for each recipe. This will help you keep your shopping list focused; however, you
may find that a few non-menu items will creep onto the list. It is possible that these items are justified purchases;
however, you must first ask yourself “is this food a need or a want? If the food is a need then keep it on the list,
but if it’s a want then drop it like a bad habit. Once you have your shopping list, look around your kitchen to
see if you already have that item. To help you create your own shopping list, a shopping list worksheet has been
provided for you on page 18.

Strategy 4
Don’t shop when you are hungry
An easy way to prevent impulse buying is to avoid grocery shopping when you are hungry. When some
people are hungry, they tend to buy more food (Mela, Aaron, & Gatenby, 1996; Nisbett & Kanouse, 1969) and
are more likely to buy unhealthy snack foods for immediate consumption (Read & Leeuwen, 1998). For raw
vegans, this may mean that we splurge on expensive raw snack foods like cookies, chocolate, and crackers to
satisfy our immediate hunger rather than waiting to eat a delicious meal at home. If you know that you tend to
buy more food when hungry, satisfy your hunger first and then go shopping. But, if you find yourself hungry
while grocery shopping, buy a quick snack like an apple or bag of nuts from the grocery store first before you
start shopping. Although you will have to check-out twice, it will save you money in the long-run.

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 7

 Strategy 5
Only buy 3-4 days worth of food
I am often asked this question: “How many days do I buy food for?” This is an important question because
it can be difficult to estimate how much fruits and vegetables you will be able to eat before they go bad. There
seems to be this tension between not buying too much food, not having to return to the grocery store too often,
and not wasting food. I find that 3-4 days worth of food helps me to balance this tension. You may want to fol-
low a similar strategy because it is easy for food to be forgotten. Plus, you may find that the food you buy for
3-4 days actually lasts 5-6 days. That’s 2 extra days! This can occur because you might miss a planned meal or
snack (e.g. someone treats you to lunch, you are not hungry, or you eat a meal not on your menu plan), or you
have leftovers from the last meal. Plus, eating raw foods is about freshness, so you don’t want produce sitting
in your fridge for long periods of time.
When you buy 3-4 days worth of food, you will probably visit the grocery store 2-3 times a week. This
may be more frequent than you currently shop or wish to shop; however, it comes with the raw food territory. In
order to have fresh fruits and vegetables in your home, they must be purchased often. But, you can reduce the
amount of time you spend grocery shopping by visiting stores that are located close to each other or by going
to the grocery only when necessary. For example, I typically visit my local health food store once a week, so
I schedule it when I know I will be in the area. However, when I don’t need to go, I don’t go. I also schedule
blocks of time to do big grocery shopping trips. On Tuesday afternoons, I pick up my CSA farmshare from a
community center, visit a produce shop at a local farm, and then visit my local health food store. On Saturday
mornings, I visit an international market and 1-2 grocery stores. These excursions only take me 1-1½ hours per
trip! This is a small price to pay for good health.

Strategy 6
Buy what’s in season
There are so many reasons to buy what’s in season. For one, fruits and vegetables are cheaper when they
are in season. For example, I can buy one quart (i.e. 4 cups) of blueberries for $3 when they are in season;
however, when they are not in season, ½ pint (i.e. 2 cups) will cost me $3.99 at the grocery store. Tomatoes are
another good example. I can buy 24 pounds of organic tomatoes (1/2 a bushel) through my CSA program for
$7.50; however, when tomatoes are not in season, I can only purchase 1 pound for $3.99 at the grocery store.
As you can see, it is cheaper to buy produce when it’s in season. In addition, produce tastes much better when
it is in season. Strawberries in June taste much better than strawberries in December. Just because you can buy
a strawberry in the winter doesn’t mean that it is edible or tastes good. Moreover, out-of-season produce tends
to be shipped long-distances from other states and countries. Large chain grocery stores are able to stock out-
of-season produce like strawberries, apples, and melon in the winter because they are grown in countries like
Mexico and New Zealand. Just think of how much pollution is created by shipping produce such a long distance.
Also, in order to ship fruits and vegetables long distances, they are picked while they are unripe. This affects
the nutrient content of the produce. The longer fruits and vegetables are allowed to ripen on the vine, the greater
their nutrient content. Because local in-season fruits and vegetables are picked when they are ripe, they typically
have a higher nutrient content than produce shipped long distances. And lastly, when you buy what’s in season,
you support your local economy. You can support your local farmers by buying in-season produce from farmers
markets and CSA programs.
Eating by season can be a little daunting, especially when you see strawberries, blackberries, and other
8 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget
juicy fruits all year round in your grocery store. However, there are ways to help you adjust to eating by season.
One way is to join a CSA program. Farms only grow produce that’s in season, so it’s very unlikely that you will
receive strawberries in the winter. Another useful strategy is to taste a food like blueberries while it’s in season,
so that you can appreciate its full flavor, and then eat that same food when it’s not in season. I did this when I was
desperate for some blueberries in the winter. After tasting the out-of-season blueberries, I immediately tossed
them out because they had no flavor whatsoever. Another strategy is to gorge on a fruit or vegetable while it’s
in season. For example, when strawberries are in season, I eat pounds and pounds of them. Then at some point,
I am done with them and don’t really miss them until they come back next season.
To help you determine when specific fruits and vegetables are in season, pages 10-13 display fruit and
vegetable availability calendars for the northeast, midwest, south, and west coast regions of the United States.
You should be able to find these foods (and more) when they are in season at your local farm, farmers market,
and grocery store. Note that farms frequently store vegetables and grow leafy greens in greenhouses during the
winter, so many foods like beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, leeks, apples, and lettuce mixes will be available all
winter long.
When reviewing the produce availability calenders, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First,
these calendars are estimated timetables because weather and soil conditions can delay or speed up crop matu-
rity. Second, these calendars may not display all of the produce you have access to locally, so it is a good idea
to talk your local farmers about the produce grown in your area. Third, it was not possible to include every state
in these calendars, so you may find it useful to look up the produce availability calendar for your state at http://
www.fieldtoplate.com/guide.php or at your state’s Department of Agriculture website.

REFERENCES
Mela, D., Aaron, J., & Gatenby, S. (1996). Relationships of consumer characteristics and food deprivation
to food purchasing behavior. Physiology & Behavior, 60, 1331-1335.
Nisbett, R., & Kanouse, D. (1969). Obesity, food deprivation, and supermarket shopping behavior. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 12, 289-294.
Read, D., & van Leeuwen, B. (1998). Predicting hunger: The effects of appetite and delay on choice. Or-
ganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 76, 189-205.
Underhill, P. (2008). Why we buy: The science of shopping--updated and revised for the Internet, the
global consumer, and beyond. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 9

 Seasonal Charts for the
Northeast Region of the United States
Based on produce availability charts for Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut

10 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget

 Seasonal Charts for the
Midwest Region of the United States
Based on produce availability charts for Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 11

 Seasonal Charts for the
South Region of the United States
Based on produce availability charts for Louisiana (LA), Georgia (GA), and Kentucky (KY)
Abbreviations in the calendar indicate when a food is only available for that state.

12 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget

 Seasonal Charts for the
West Coast Region of the United States
Based on produce availability charts for California (CA) and Oregon (OR)
Abbreviations in the calendar indicate when a food is only available for that state.

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 13

 Produce Availability Calendars’ Sources
Northeast
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Pennsylvania produce: Simply delicious. Retrieved from http://www.
pafarmnews.com/Articles/2007/070207_PDA_seasonalchart.htm. Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
Connecticut grown crop availability calendar. Retrieved from http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/images/season.
jpg. New York State Department of Agriculture. New York state fruit and vegetable harvest calendar. Retrieved
from http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/HarvestCalendar.html.
Midwest
Illinois Department of Agriculture. Illinois...what’s in season. Retrieved from http://www.agr.state.il.us/agri-
happenings/farmers.php. Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Produce availability calen-
dar. Retrieved from http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/Horticulture_and_FarmersMarkets/harvestCalendar.asp.
University of Missouri Extension and University of Illinois Extension. (2009). To market...to market: A guide
to locally grown food in the St. Louis Bi-state area. Retrieved from http://extension.missouri.edu/ecregion/
market/2009MarkettoMarket.pdf.
South
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Louisiana harvest calendar. Retrieved from http://www.
ldaf.louisiana.gov/portal/Portals/0/MKT/Farmers%20Market/LOUISIANA%20HARVEST%20CALENDAR.
pdf. Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Grower’s Association. Availability chart of GA grown produce. Retrieved from
http://gfvga.org/georgia-grown/availability-chart-of-ga-grown-produce/. Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
Kentucky proud produce: Produce availability guide. Retrieved from http://www.kyagr.com/marketing/farm-
market/documents/PRODUCEAVAILABILITYGUIDE.pdf.
West Coast
The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture. Fruit and nut calendar. Retrieved from http://
www.cuesa.org/seasonality/charts/fruit.php. The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture.
Vegetable calendar. Retrieved from http://www.cuesa.org/seasonality/charts/vegetable.php. Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture. Oregon grown fresh produce: Seasonal availability. Retrieved from http://www.oregon.
gov/ODA/docs/pdf/pubs/produce_calendar.pdf?ga=t. Tri-county Farm Fresh Produce. Season guide. Retrieved
from http://www.tricountyfarm.org/season-guide.

14 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget

 ACTIVITY
It is time to have some fun and do an activity or two! These activities will help you practice some of the
strategies provided in this chapter.

Activity 1: Learn what you need by eating all you have

One week, plan to eat all of the produce in your refrigerator before you buy additional produce. The goal
here is to help you decipher how much produce you actually need. Because we tend to overestimate how much
we need and underestimate how long it takes us to eat all the produce we buy, doing this activity will help you
stay under your budget.
First, list all of the produce you have in your house on a piece of paper and place it on the refrigerator. That
way you will know what you have right now. Second, begin eating all the produce on the list until every food
has been crossed off the list. In addition, pledge that you will not buy any additional food until you have eaten
all of the foods on your list. Also, avoid going to the store while at work or when on the go; just tell yourself that
you are committed to eating what you have.
You may encounter difficulties when you do this activity. When I first did it, it was hard to resist buying
cherries and grapes from the grocery store. I wanted things I didn’t have. However, once I began to get low on
produce, I began to feel this sense of accomplishment. And I became more creative. I started making juices and
dishes that I wouldn’t have thought of if I hadn’t gone through this experience.

Activity 2: Plan your meals and create your shopping list.

Plan your meals for the next 3-4 days! It takes practice to get into the habit of doing this, so get started to-
day. Planning your meals not only helps you spend what you need, but also makes your transition to raw foods
much easier. You will find that it is easier to eat raw foods when you have a plan. Browse through the recipes
section of this book, and then use the guide and worksheet on pages 16-17 to create your menu plan.
Once you have created your menu, it is time for you to create your shopping list (use the worksheet on page
18 to help you). Look at the cost estimation tables of each recipe in the recipes section of this book and use it
as an ingredients list. You can also use this table to estimate how much it will cost you to buy these ingredients.
Because these cost estimates are based on the amounts of ingredients the author used in each recipe, try to buy
your oils, nuts, spices, and sweeteners in bulk. Many health food stores now sell these items in bulk, saving you
money on packaging.

Activity 3: Buy 3-4 days worth of food and see how long it lasts
This is a great activity to see how long 3-4 days worth of food will actually lasts you. In my experience,
3-4 days worth of food will actually lasts me 5-6 days. That is 2 whole days longer than I expected! Typically,
the food lasts longer because I will miss a planned meal or I will eat an unplanned meal (e.g. someone treats me
to lunch, I make a different recipe, etc.).
To do this activity, simply buy 3-4 days worth of food and eat it until it runs out. It is helpful to make a list
of the foods you purchased and tape it on your refrigerator. Be sure to write down the date you purchased this
food. As you eat each the foods on the list, cross them out on the list. When you have crossed-out every food,
then simply count how many days it took you eat all of this food. Keep in mind that some foods don’t need to
be on the list like vanilla and spices because only small quantities are used in recipes and, as a result, they tend
to last a long time. In addition, you may purchase large amounts of foods in bulk like a 5 pound bag of cashews;

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 15

however, it is unrealistic that you would eat that many cashews in 3-4 days. Though it should still go on your
list, don’t expect that you will eat all of these bulk foods in 3-4 days.

Plan Your Menu For the Next 3-4 Days!

Get started and plan your menu! Menu planning is simple; however, there are several strategies you may
want to consider when planning a menu within your budget:
1. In the example menu plan shown below, notice that several of the meals and snacks contain the same
recipe. Most recipes have more than one serving, so depending on how many people you are feeding, you will
likely have leftovers. Therefore, pay attention to the serving amounts on each recipe.
2. Many of the recipes listed in the example menu plan require similar ingredients. You will want to do
something similar because making a recipe once is very expensive. It is much cheaper to reuse the same ingre-
dients from one recipe in another recipe.
3. Notice that on Thursday, I have planned to eat leftover fruits and vegetables. I expect that there will be
left over fruits and veggies from the recipes I made earlier in the week because there are always left over ingre-
dients. This way I will make sure that I eat all the food I have before I buy additional food.

Now, it’s your turn!

Create your own menu plan on page 17!

16 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget

Chapter 3: Change How You Buy Food 17
 Create Your Shopping List
Now that you have planned your menu for the next 3-4 days (or have a menu organized in your head), it
is time to create your shopping list for this menu plan. First, find all of your recipes and then begin listing the
ingredients and amounts you need for each recipe. You may find that several recipes call for the same ingredient.
Rather than listing that one ingredient multiple times on your list, create a running tally of the amounts required
for each ingredient (as shown in the example below).

18 Section 2: Strategies for Eating Raw Foods on a Budget

Section 5
Breakfast Recipes
Granola
Makes 8 servings
This granola is crunchy, chewy, and sweet, and
makes use of the almond pulp you have sitting in
your refrigerator. You may nd it useful to make
this granola in combination with almond milk so
that the pulp can be used to make the granola and
you can eat the granola with the milk.
Estimated Recipe Cost*
Ingredient Amount Price
buckwheat grouts 2c $2.00
apples 6 medium $2.25
bananas 7 medium $1.50
raisins 1 1/2 c $1.50
almond pulp 1/2 c <$1.00
Ingredients
vanilla 1 1/2 tsp <$0.25
2c buckwheat grouts
6 medium apples cinnamon 2 tsp <$0.10
7 medium bananas nutmeg 1/4 tsp <$0.05
1 1/2 c raisins clove 2 pinches <$0.05
1/2 c almond pulp, pressed into cup green stevia powder 1/4 tsp <$0.05
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (glycerin-based is best) coconut oil 1 tbsp <$0.25
2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground Total Cost $9.00
2 pinches clove, ground
Price per Serving: $1.13
1/4 tsp green stevia powder
1 tbsp raw coconut oil (optional) *Based on prices the author paid to make the recipe.

Tips to Reduce Recipe Cost

Items Needed • Check with your grocer for overripe
Food processor, Vitamix or high-speed blender bananas. They are sometimes in the back
Dehydrator and are usually half priced.
Sprout tray, colander, or nut bag to sprout the buckwheat • Make this recipe when apples are in sea-
son and/or least expensive.
• Use pumpkin pie spice if you do not
have cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
Nutrition Information Per Serving
(% of Daily Value - Based on 2,000 Daily Calorie Intake)
Dietary Fiber 47% Vitamin B6 28% Thiamin 8% Iron 11% Manganese 52%
Protein 16% Vitamin B12 0% Riboavin 19% Sodium 0% Vitamin K 5%
Vitamin A 2% Vitamin E 2% Niacin 20% Potassium 25% Copper 33%
Vitamin C 24% Folate 10% Calcium 4% Zinc 9% Selenium 7%
NOTE: Nutrition information are estimates only. Nutrition information was estimated using Now You Are Cooking! Version 5.85
software, a program that utilizes the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrition Database.
*The almond pulp and milk are not included in the nutrition information because the nutritive composition of these ingredients
are currently unknown.

112 Section 5: Recipes

Instructions
First, you will need to sprout the buckwheat. This usually takes 2-3 days. However, the sprouts will grow faster
in warmer climates. The sprouts are ready when they are ½ inch long. To sprout the buckwheat, soak it over-
night. Next, drain the buckwheat and rinse it repeatedly. Place the buckwheat in a sprouting tray, colander, or
nut bag. Rinse the buckwheat 2 times per day until the sprouts are 1/2 inch long. Rinse the buckwheat one
more time before using it in the recipe.

Peel and core all of the apples and set aside. Using a food processor or high-speed blender, blend 3 of the
apples, 3 bananas, and 1/2 cup of the raisins until liqueed. Pour over the buckwheat sprouts and mix well. Add
the almond pulp, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and green stevia powder, and mix. Add the coconut oil and
mix well.

Cut the remaining apples and bananas into ¼ inch wide slices, and add to the granola and fold into the buck-
wheat.

Pour the mixture onto two dehydrator trays and spread. The layer will be 1/2-inch thick. Dehydrate the gra-
nola at 145-degrees for 1 hour and then reduce the temperature to 105-degrees and dehydrate for 24 hours.

This recipe makes 1 lb of granola! Enjoy!

Breakfast Recipes 113

Entrees and Sides
B12 Kale Salad
1 large serving
This is a great simple, tasty, lling salad that
provides an estimated 7.8 grams of B12! That’s
130% of your recommended intake for the day!
And the recipe is kid-friendly! What more can
you ask for!

I use dinosaur (or lacinto) kale to make this rec-

ipe, however, you can really use any type of kale.
And feel free to add other vegetables and nuts to
the salad including peppers, hemp seeds, toma-
toes, celery, etc.

Estimated Recipe Cost*

Ingredients Ingredient Amount Price

5 leaves kale kale 5 leaves $0.50
1 tsp white rice vinegar (if you use brown rice white rice vinegar 1 tsp <$0.05
vinegar, be sure to use less of it) sea salt 3-4 pinches <$0.05
3-4 pinches sea salt
laver nori seaweed 1 handful $1.00
1 handful laver nori seaweed (about 1/2 cup)
nutritional yeast 2 tbsp <$0.50
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 c raw sunower seeds raw sunower seeds 1/4 c $0.30
1 clove garlic garlic 1 clove <$0.10
1 tbsp olive oil olive oil 1 tbsp <$0.25

Total Cost $2.75

Items Needed: none.
Instructions: Tear the seaweed into very small pieces. Price per Serving: $2.75
This can be done by hand or you can use a Vitamix, food *Based on prices the author paid to make the recipe.
processor, or coffee grinder to do this as well. Put the
seaweed aside for now. Next, layer the kale leaves on top of Tips to Reduce Recipe Cost
each other, roll them into a burrito, and cut them into thin • Buy laver nori seaweed in bulk (e.g. 1
slices. Place the sliced kale into a large bowl, and add the pound bag) from online stores like Maine
salt and vinegar and mix well. Allow the greens to marinate Sea Vegetables (www.seaveg.com).
while you mince the garlic. Then add the garlic, sunower • Buy your sea salt, sunower seeds, and
seeds, nutritional yeast, and seaweed to the kale and mix nutritional yeast in bulk.
well. Lastly, add the olive oil and mix well. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information Per Serving
(% of Daily Value - Based on 2,000 Daily Calorie Intake)
Dietary Fiber 49% Vitamin B6 520% Thiamin 707% Iron 56% Manganese 122%
Protein 48% Vitamin B12 130% Riboavin 583% Sodium 26% Vitamin K 13%
Vitamin A 167% Vitamin E 98% Niacin 304% Potassium 46% Copper 61%
Vitamin C 462% Folate 49% Calcium 48% Zinc 20% Selenium 57%
NOTE: Nutrition information are estimates only. Nutrition information was estimated using Now You Are Cooking! Version 5.85
software, a program that utilizes the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrition Database.

Entrees and Sides

Desserts
Desserts
Donut Holes
Makes 6 donuts
This recipe tastes just like glazed donut holes! It
is so simple and delicious. And because they are
so tasty, it is best to make this recipe when other
people are coming over; otherwise, you may eat
them all yourself! These donut holes taste best
when served warm. Allow them to sit in the sun
or dehydrator on low for a few hours.

Ingredients Estimated Recipe Cost*

1c raw shredded coconut
1/3 c raw walnuts, whole Ingredient Amount Price
1/2 tsp vanilla (glycerin-based tastes best) raw shredded coconut 1c $0.50
1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground raw walnuts, whole 1/3 c $0.75
1 pinch sea salt
vanilla 1/2 tsp <$0.10
4 medjool dates
cinnamon, ground 1/4 tsp <$0.05
2 tbsp raw agave
sea salt 1 pinch <$0.05

Items Needed: food processor medjool dates 4 $1.00

raw agave 2 tbsp <$0.25
Instructions: Process the shredded coconut in the food Total Cost $2.70
processor until the oils begin to come out of the coconut.
Add the walnuts, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and process Price per Donut: $0.34
until the walnuts are well broken down. Add the dates and
process until they are completely broken down into small *Based on prices the author paid to make the recipe.
pieces. Lastly, add the agave and process until the dough
starts to clump. Form the dough into 6 small balls. To warm Tips to Reduce Recipe Cost
the donut holes, place them in a dehydrator or outside • Try to buy all of the ingredients in bulk
under the sun in a bowl covered with cheesecloth. Use a
rubberband to keep the cloth in place. Warm for 3-4 hours.

Nutrition Information Per Donut

(% of Daily Value - Based on 2,000 Daily Calorie Intake)
Dietary Fiber 36% Vitamin B6 10% Thiamin 2% Iron 10% Manganese 71%
Protein 9% Vitamin B12 0% Riboavin 4% Sodium 2% Vitamin K 1%
Vitamin A 1% Vitamin E 2% Niacin 3% Potassium 11% Copper 24%
Vitamin C 2% Folate 2% Calcium 5% Zinc 7% Selenium 12%
NOTE: Nutrition information are estimates only. Nutrition information was estimated using Now You Are Cooking! Version 5.85
software, a program that utilizes the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrition Database.

Desserts
 Find the book, and more free recipes and articles at:
www.rawfoodsonabudget.com

And, sign up for the first FREE online television network devoted to showing
you how to live raw foods on a budget!

Visit www.rawfoodsonabudget.com to sign up today!

Enjoy!
Brandi Rollins
www.eastcoastrawvegan.com
www.rawfoodsonabudget.com