Lina update?

[Koala]

Do we have an update on how Lina is doing?

[Guest Anonymous]

Dunno. Nothing on their facebook page, or Anthony's mother's page. When is she due?

[Koala]

I can't remember. Maybe June?

[Deleted03]

it's on "about me" page, according to the counting clock she's 27 weeks and 5 days along, with 86 days to go.

I hope everything is ok

[ChunkyBarbie]

I have been wondering about her lately. She has not been blogging. I hope everything is fine.

[Soldevi]

She said in her blog that they don't have internet access at home. Maybe she is just so tired because of the pregnancy that she doesn't have energy to go cafés or library to update her blog.

I too hope that everything is ok with the baby.

[Koala]

I've got a feeling money is going to get painfully tight once their "quiver" starts filling up. Nothing slaps you into reality like half a dozen growing, hungry kids.

[ilovetchotchkes]

I've got a feeling money is going to get painfully tight once their "quiver" starts filling up. Nothing slaps you into reality like half a dozen growing, hungry kids.

Especially if you eat "vegan". Vegan food is EXPENSIVE if you've got a whole mess of kids. That too and you CAN have vegan kids but you have to be careful that they're getting enough protein.

[Deleted03]

Especially if you eat "vegan". Vegan food is EXPENSIVE if you've got a whole mess of kids. That too and you CAN have vegan kids but you have to be careful that they're getting enough protein.

what??? Vegan food can be very cheap!

I thought she said they did not have internet at home but only temporarily... I cannot imagine her not going on the internet to read stuff and all about messianic websites and vegan moms stuff....

[ilovetchotchkes]

what??? Vegan food can be very cheap!

I thought she said they did not have internet at home but only temporarily... I cannot imagine her not going on the internet to read stuff and all about messianic websites and vegan moms stuff....

I don't know, we were ALWAYS broke food budget wise when I was a vegetarian.... :( Soy and rice milk is a lot more expensive than cow milk. Although organic milk by me is no lie damn near $8 a gallon. (I shit you not. )

Maybe its a geographical thing. I mean YES its really cheap to eat vegan if you have a huge garden~ with Salads coming straight from your backyard all day! But don't her and TT live in an apartment?

[Spider Burps]

I don't know, we were ALWAYS broke food budget wise when I was a vegetarian.... :( Soy and rice milk is a lot more expensive than cow milk. Although organic milk by me is no lie damn near $8 a gallon. (I shit you not. )

Maybe its a geographical thing. I mean YES its really cheap to eat vegan if you have a huge garden~ with Salads coming straight from your backyard all day! But don't her and TT live in an apartment?

We were always broke food-wise when we were vegetarian, too! TVP, post-hydration, was more expensive than chicken where we lived. We had a corner apartment with absolutely no light (our front windows looked out onto a brick wall) so there wasn't even a way to do a window box garden or grow sprouts in a jar because it was too dark. Veggies and tofu were suuuuper expensive because it was a super crunchy town full of college students with daddy's credit card. It was hip to be vegetarian there and the prices reflected it. :(

[Guest Anonymous]

She last posted, on the (Christian) Above Rubies site on 15 March.

Prior to that she posted on the (Jewish) Animal Welfare site on 5 March, asking for vegan shabbat menus.

So I guess she is still buzzing around and still planning a vegan faux Jew family...

[DarkAnts]

I don't know, we were ALWAYS broke food budget wise when I was a vegetarian.... :( Soy and rice milk is a lot more expensive than cow milk. Although organic milk by me is no lie damn near $8 a gallon. (I shit you not. )

Maybe its a geographical thing. I mean YES its really cheap to eat vegan if you have a huge garden~ with Salads coming straight from your backyard all day! But don't her and TT live in an apartment?

You should check out food co ops. I get a fresh basket of produce for $15 each week (plus $1.50 processing fee). You can also get organic at some of the sites for $25 a week. The co op I belong to is called bountiful baskets. They are a nation wide co op so you may want to check them out. It has helped me stay well within my food budget.

[Deleted03]

I don't know, we were ALWAYS broke food budget wise when I was a vegetarian.... :( Soy and rice milk is a lot more expensive than cow milk. Although organic milk by me is no lie damn near $8 a gallon. (I shit you not. )

Maybe its a geographical thing. I mean YES its really cheap to eat vegan if you have a huge garden~ with Salads coming straight from your backyard all day! But don't her and TT live in an apartment?

It depends where you live for the price of milk, at least it was so expensive in Canada, I was better off buying soy milk. I can get good prices at TJ, plus meat is so expensive (I imagine it's worse with kosher meat right?)

At my food coop TVP seems very cheap, but I never use that. Tofu is pretty cheap too. Any beans could be cooked from scratch for very cheap...

I thought that food was cheaper in the South too?

[ilovetchotchkes]

It depends where you live for the price of milk, at least it was so expensive in Canada, I was better off buying soy milk. I can get good prices at TJ, plus meat is so expensive (I imagine it's worse with kosher meat right?)

At my food coop TVP seems very cheap, but I never use that. Tofu is pretty cheap too. Any beans could be cooked from scratch for very cheap...

I thought that food was cheaper in the South too?

I'm in the Chicago suburbs. And kosher meat is HORRIBLE price wise. I can get it at TJ's but its like $6 a LB! so I just drive up to the north shore 1x a month and throw it in a cooler and it all goes into a freezer. I will occasionally "cheat" and get non when we're running REALLY tight. But that's a 1x every 6-8 months sort of situation.

[Sunnichick31]

I'm in the Chicago suburbs. And kosher meat is HORRIBLE price wise. I can get it at TJ's but its like $6 a LB! so I just drive up to the north shore 1x a month and throw it in a cooler and it all goes into a freezer. I will occasionally "cheat" and get non when we're running REALLY tight. But that's a 1x every 6-8 months sort of situation.

Have you tried shopping on Devon Avenue? Every time i'm there to go shopping at the Muslim stores, I see TONS of Orthodox Jews (I think I even saw a Hassidic Jew once or twice too). Prices on Devon may be cheaper.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Have you tried shopping on Devon Avenue? Every time i'm there to go shopping at the Muslim stores, I see TONS of Orthodox Jews (I think I even saw a Hassidic Jew once or twice too). Prices on Devon may be cheaper.

That area is becoming less and less populated w/ Jews- there's a HUGE Jewel on Howard out by Evanston that I usually go to. Even the Jewish bookstore that had been there for YEARS moved up to the Skokie area!!!!

[alysee]

I eat pretty cheaply. I just buy fruits and veggies that are in season. It helps with prices. It also helps to use the fruits and veggies that are on sale. Good for nutrition. I also don't go crazy with processed foods because I can't eat a lot of them. I could soak beans for even cheaper but I have tried once and failed miserably.

You have to eat simply and not extravagant but it can be cheap. The most expensive thing I buy is probably quinoa, walnuts, organic and natural peanut butter and almond milk. I don't always buy quinoa and I don't always have to buy peanut butter.

If you eat simply meat or not, you can eat fairly cheaply. I plan on feeding my kids vegan, but I also plan on moving out of the city by next year so that we can have some land to grow things.

[Wolfie]

I eat pretty cheaply. I just buy fruits and veggies that are in season. It helps with prices. It also helps to use the fruits and veggies that are on sale. Good for nutrition. I also don't go crazy with processed foods because I can't eat a lot of them. I could soak beans for even cheaper but I have tried once and failed miserably.

You have to eat simply and not extravagant but it can be cheap. The most expensive thing I buy is probably quinoa, walnuts, organic and natural peanut butter and almond milk. I don't always buy quinoa and I don't always have to buy peanut butter.

If you eat simply meat or not, you can eat fairly cheaply. I plan on feeding my kids vegan, but I also plan on moving out of the city by next year so that we can have some land to grow things.

I'm not sure how you could fail miserably at soaking beans unless you didn't watch while they were boiling and either overboiled or let them run out of water.... (I have a pressure canner and usually soak, then pressure can beans so I have them on hand. I do occasionally buy canned beans too, but only if they are on sale.)

I have found that if I have a vegan meal, I need more food to feel satisfied, or I will get hungry sooner than if I eat something with animal protein (meat, eggs or dairy), so I do think it is more expensive to be a vegan because of the amount of food. Especially as we were talking in another thread about how much teens can eat.

[alysee]

I'm not sure how you could fail miserably at soaking beans unless you didn't watch while they were boiling and either overboiled or let them run out of water.... (I have a pressure canner and usually soak, then pressure can beans so I have them on hand. I do occasionally buy canned beans too, but only if they are on sale.)

I have found that if I have a vegan meal, I need more food to feel satisfied, or I will get hungry sooner than if I eat something with animal protein (meat, eggs or dairy), so I do think it is more expensive to be a vegan because of the amount of food. Especially as we were talking in another thread about how much teens can eat.

I have failed at soaking beans because I clearly did something wrong in soaking them for 24 hours...because they were rock hard like they hadn't been there for even 15 minutes.

I have had the opposite effect with veganism. I actually eat less because of all the fibre and fat I eat. Too each their own though! Also if you grow your own vegetables it would be even cheaper.

[Spider Burps]

I have failed at soaking beans because I clearly did something wrong in soaking them for 24 hours...because they were rock hard like they hadn't been there for even 15 minutes.

I have had the opposite effect with veganism. I actually eat less because of all the fibre and fat I eat. Too each their own though!

Are you at altitude or were your beans perhaps old? When I lived almost a mile above sea level I had to boil the beans like I was doing the "quick soak" method, but then let them soak overnight like one does with the standard method. If your beans are old, they can fail to rehydrate. I've had that happen several times with beans I've gotten from bags on shelves (or beans I bought and then forgot about), but rarely have had a problem with beans from bulk bins.

[Guest Anonymous]

Your beans might have been too old. I have found that bulk buying doesn't work for me because they don't last forever, as I first imagined.

Also, have you tried the trick of putting the beans in the soaking water, bringing to the boil and then turning off and leaving for a shortened soaking time?

[prayercloseted]

My go-to cookbook is "How to Eat Vegan on $4 a Day". One doesn't need expensive substitutes like TVP to eat vegan.

[alysee]

Your beans might have been too old. I have found that bulk buying doesn't work for me because they don't last forever, as I first imagined.

Also, have you tried the trick of putting the beans in the soaking water, bringing to the boil and then turning off and leaving for a shortened soaking time?

Thanks for the tip. Now I am hoping if I was to buy a bag of beans from the grocery store and cook them within a week that they won't be too old. I thought it was because maybe I didn't change the water enough or something. I am into being frugal so this should improve the grocery bill even more!

[DarkAnts]

I'm not sure how you could fail miserably at soaking beans unless you didn't watch while they were boiling and either overboiled or let them run out of water.... (I have a pressure canner and usually soak, then pressure can beans so I have them on hand. I do occasionally buy canned beans too, but only if they are on sale.)

I have found that if I have a vegan meal, I need more food to feel satisfied, or I will get hungry sooner than if I eat something with animal protein (meat, eggs or dairy), so I do think it is more expensive to be a vegan because of the amount of food. Especially as we were talking in another thread about how much teens can eat.

I have the best luck soaking and cooking beans in the crock pot. I do it on low until they are tender.