Comments on Indian Food Rocks: Friday chit-chat

My son has the same problem with milk.I give him m...

2009-10-13T19:06:34.726-06:00

My son has the same problem with milk.I give him milk shake with a little soy milk and a big banana everyday,lots of organic cheese,and organic milk some days.It is hard and like you said expensive.Lactose free is sweet so I give him organic soy un-flavoured.And lots of yogurt with his rice meals.Hopefully all this is adequate?

The lengths we go to...for friends! :)

2009-10-11T12:09:42.480-06:00

The lengths we go to...for friends! :)

Jen, you have to win! ;-) Shopping is a time suc...

2009-10-10T14:35:36.688-06:00

Jen, you have to win! ;-)

Shopping is a time suck initially because we're scouring for those deals. But once you have it down pat, it's much easier. It took me a couple of weeks and then I knew exactly when to go where for what deal. It becomes second nature, almost. It does get difficult the farther away you live from your work place and the stores.

In India, we used to shop for veggies and bread on an almost daily basis - the market was on the way home from the train station. Grains, legumes, beans would be purchased once a month in small quantities because we didn't have much storage space in our apartment. Certain spices once a year and so on. A largely seasonal buying pattern.

Please thank Jeremy for me! I wasn't sure if we were dreaming it especially since there is no added sugar or sweetener and the sugar content is lower. I have been looking for unsweetened soya milk but everything in the local stores is sweetened. I guess I will need to look in POM or H-Mart soon.

Nandini, it's hard to do this challenge with so many things going on at the same time, which is why I am not doing it. I think the paradigm might be slightly different for ethnic communities who eat/cook their ethnic foods and may not be comparable with the general American population. This is my uneducated guess. My pantry gets cleaned out every so often. My freezer doesn't accumulate frozen stuff because as soon as I have enough in the freezer, I stop cooking and only supplement with salads, rice or rotis. For you, everything will be made fresh!

Lactose-free milk is regular milk to which lactase enzyme has been added to break down lactose to a more digestible form for those who are lactose intolerant. We can handle cheese and yogurt (the lactobacilli does the trick here) but not milk. Our stomachs complain so much you can hear the gurgling from the next room, develop lots of gas and even diarrhea. Granola with yogurt for us, not milk.

Pel, that's a great list of veggies however, I think there needs to be more info than just the amount of calcium in that veggie. We eat a lot of spinach but the calcium is wasted because of the oxalates in it, which prevent absorption by our bodies. Perhaps that is the reason why Medha's pediatrician pushes for milk - because it is most easily absorbed in that form?

The Eat on $30 challenge is more for those who live from week to week, rather than those of us who plan ahead and save accordingly to pay for higher expenses in those months.

You, in any case, are an aberration!

Anita, I tried my best to make this reply longer than the post itself. Just for you!

How about not relying on dairy so much? These are ...

2009-10-09T23:48:33.261-06:00

How about not relying on dairy so much? These are calcium-rich veggies, and Vit B-12 shouldn't be a problem if you are eating fish and/or meats.

I live on less than $30/week...closer to $20, even if that. But I preserve every summer and autumn from what I grow and and buy at the Farmers' markets- that's a big savings for the veggie-flow! I buy legumes in 4-lb bags, rice in 20-25 lb bags (ethnic grocery stores, yes indeed...but not always; moong was the dhal-du-jour for quite awhile...); I personally don't eat meat much (maybe once every 2 months), but I do try to cook 1 lb of fish every week or two; I don't think I could do it without my bulky stash of dried things and preserves- that, for me, is essential: I consume about 1.5 bushels of tomatoes in one year. So, my expenditure goes up at the end of summer/early autumn and goes way down in the rest of the year.

I love this post. The tips are worth it all. Voted...

2009-10-09T23:07:55.945-06:00

I love this post. The tips are worth it all. Voted for Jen :) I'd love to do the Eat on 30 Challenge, but sigh, we are moving this month and were affected by the Atlanta floods and what not. And looking for jobs to boot (ya!) So I think I need food to keep sanity. And I do think with just the both of us, we do eat within $30 if not less than that.

Anothr thing is probably to raid your pantry or freezer for things you've forgotten. I did that challenge a couple of months and was amazed at what I came up with.

About milk - never thought of it the way you have, frankly. Didn't know there was lactose free milk ( do you mean the almond milk, rice milk kinda stuff?) I dunno if I'm ready for it yet.

You are awesome for spreading the word on the Quak...

2009-10-09T22:00:09.479-06:00

You are awesome for spreading the word on the Quaker challenge and the Eat on $30 challenge, thank you!! Love the tips you offer up as well. In the process of planning and shopping for the food, I found that time is a big suck in exchange for $. Don't know how people who hold multiple jobs can swing that kind of time :(

As for the milk. Jeremy says they add a lactase enzyme to the milk to digest the lactose and a simpler sugar is the by-product (glucose), which is probably why it is sweeter. There is unsweetened soy milk which you can add sugar to. Chinese use it for sweet or salty drinks or soups.

xxoo!!