Yeah, what I've been calling my hand mixer/hand blender = immersion blender. Why would anyone use anything else?

I was picturing you rocking one of these bad boys.

Some people use a food processor for more than hummus. I know that's a bit surprising. Having said that I bought my first food processor maybe 4 years ago for about $90 on sale, it's a good name and got good reviews. It also has a blender attachment which is a nice bonus. I probably used it 4-5xper month the first 2 years I got it and now probably 3-4x per month so if we average it out to 4 times a month for 4 years it's approximately 46 cents per use, obviously not counting electricity. Now this may not be particularly frugal with hummus (although you can cut costs by making a big batch and freezing it) it is very economical when it comes to making curries or other assorted goodies I'd be paying a substantial amount more for if I was buying takeaway/going out. Plus cooking makes me happy. I hope you aren't working out cost per use on sex toys for your partner before agreeing to the purchase Greg.

I hope you're washing that food processor pretty thorough​ly afterwards before preparing food with it.

That's the secret ingredient that makes my food taste so good! Not vegan though, sorry.

Oh god you're Zoe Stavri aren't you

I also simply buy my hummus since Lidl has very good one at decent price over here and I don't use it with bread so my usage is pretty low. Time is also relevant, it would probably take ~10 min to make it when you take into account all the cleaning etc.

I totally understand why people buy it, I've bought it on more than one occasion myself but it's still nice to make your own sometimes. Also economics doesn't always come into it with cooking, for example lasagne is sometimes more expensive for me to make than to buy but the quality is way worse with store bought so I never buy it. This isn't the case with hummus thankfully, it's pretty decent from the supermarket.

For starters, if you'd just like to change up what you're already doing, I LOVE this sauce over baked tofu and rice:

Peanut Sauce

I defy the directions and use old fashioned peanut butter (just peanuts and salt) and it works just fine...I add a touch more sugar to balance out the sweetness.

Tofu is also surprisingly good with a tomato sauce. I have a fast one in my mom's recipe book I'll dig out for you.

This chickpea curry comes together really quickly with minimal chopping and is really, really good. I just use a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon when I don't have cinnamon sticks. And if you're cooking lentils anyway, you could cut up some veg and make this lentil stew which I make something like twice a month.


ETA: also, if you try the tofu scramble, may I recommend spinach and grape tomatoes? So good!

Tyvm

Are people here using immersion blenders for even simple things like scrambled eggs which you can do with a fork?

When I ate eggs, I didn't even use a fork, that's how lazy I was. I broke them directly into the pan and scrambled away with my spatula while they cooked.

It's amazing I get the (fairly good imo) results I do with my constant quest to minimize the number of dishes I have to wash.

My diet has really changed in the last six months. Some of it reflects changes to daily life, but there's something else. ... it just seems like there's enough amazing plants on the planet to sustain us all, without having to make something suffer. ....

I mean, I f'ing love hamburgers but in the last few months I've stopped eating meat almost entirely. I've gone mostly vegan, but it wasn't on purpose or anything. I just realized I felt so much better physically and emotionally and I wasn't hating myself for eating 9 million calories all the time ...

This is most of my diet. The cans are beans and tomatoes.



The whole shift is kind of confusing. I didn't set out to do this and it could certainly change, I do love those burgers ... but aside from cheese on some pizza I feel great having given up most animal-based foods.

Mmm, banana burrito.

Good for you Elsapo.

**** you I now have a Hanson song in my head.

Genuine question. Can you talk me through your meals, I only see one days worth of food here.

ElSapo, have you had any lab work done to see how this diet has impacted your overall health? Are you taking any vitamins or supplements yet?

Re: my diet. Yeah, I've dropped a fair bit of weight in the last few months. OTOH, my diet really was pretty atrocious. So the weight is, imo, healthy loss. Swapped several hamburgers for fruits, grains, etc.

I'm not on any supplements or vitamins yet, but if this diet keeps up I'll probably check in with my doctor. I also believe, in general, people eat far more than they need to. And I love it and am as guilty as anyone, but I also enjoy eating a calorie-restricted diet.

The photo is representative, so don't take it for all there is to eat in the house. But for instance: Yesterday I ate a quarter of a watermelon, several apples, bananas, walnuts, brown rice and brussel sprouts, and some tortilla chips.

A standard meal I'll make today will be a cup of brown rice, can of beans, can of tomatoes (I used canned for convenience), diced onion, half a small butternut squash, seasonings ... That's a lot of food, imo: maybe 1,000 calories?

My diet is not strict, in that if I feel like I need or want something I eat it. I tend to be pretty good at listening to my body.

What lab work would a doc do? I had a physical about 3-4 months ago but I forgot to go back for blood work.

On the one hand I'm not really concerned, since I half expect my diet to revert in the not-distant future. And it was really bad, at times. ... But otoh, my diet is pretty solid right now and I'm drinking like a normal human being so this is as good a time as any to get work done.

I've been vegetarian 25 years and never taken a supplement. Blood work is probably iron and B12, but if you eat beans iron should be no problem and if you're not vegan B12 should be no problem.

ElSapo, b12 and iron like gregorio said and calcium as well. If you spend most of your time indoors vitamin d too probably. Also, if you had a really poor diet then blood pressure benchmarking might be important, but make sure to do readings on both arms as it can be an early detection method for clogged arteries.

Interesting, thanks. ... I don't know how to categorize my poor diet, I mean, it wasn't the worst and perhaps I'm overstating. Just a lot of bar food and drink. I've been told my blood pressure was on the high end of normal before.

Vitamin D probably isn't an issue. Have't thought about calcium.

B12 is in a lot of stuff I haven't been eating lately. I have been eating some cheese but not a lot and not particularly good cheese either, just crap on pizza ... so, how long would it take to feel the effects of a vitamin B12 deficiency?

I don't think iron is an issue. I eat a lot of beans, nuts, lentils, other stuff.

Is B12 the vitamin people always bring up when someone argues humans were not meant to be vegan?

yes, it's the only thing you can't get from a plant-based diet. Many vegans get it through fortified non-dairy "milks", red star nutritional yeast or marmite.

For most people it will take a long time to feel the effects of not getting enough B12, but the effects are pretty bad long term, and supplements are ridiculously cheap, so probably not a bad idea to take one once/twice a week if you're eating vegan or close to it.