Food Inflation is Not a Concern on the Peasant Diet

Food prices are spiking and people are complaining. I’m not. The Peasant Diet that I designed back in 2016 not only will lean you out, you’ll also save a lot of money on food.

I wanted to post this earlier, but first I needed to do my defense of Low Fat Dieting. The Peasant Diet is based primarily on cheap unprocessed carbohydrates.

• potatoes
• sweet potatoes and yams
• oats
• lentils and other legumes
• quinoa
• rice (brown and sometimes white)
• buckwheat
• farro
• kamut

Then add in some cheap protein sources such as eggs, sardines, and possibly chicken. I tend to favor lentils as my primary protein as I overdid the sardines last year.

Think Buddha Bowls

Now that I have years of experience with the Peasant Diet and its sequel diet Potatoes & Protein, I found making single bowl dishes to be highly effective. The bottom of the bowl will be a tuber or a grain. Then top that with either legumes, sardines, or eggs. Add additional veggies or sprouts. Stir in some salsa or hot sauce and you are done. Be careful not to add a calorie-dense topping.

Every week for 2 years now, I grow a batch of broccoli sprouts. I use seeds from the Rainbow Heirloom Seed Co. It takes about 5 days to go from seed to sprout. These are perfect toppings for Budda Bowls.

You now have a heavy, nutrient-dense, unprocessed meal that was dirt cheap. And because the carbs are unprocessed, you will reach satiety quickly.

I got to a point last summer where I had to add additional calories because I was losing too much weight on the Peasant Diet. If this happens to you, add a little extra virgin olive oil to the bowl.

When cooking, I make larger portions and then have leftovers ready for multiple meals. Although recently I favor having my lentils and grains shipped to me, in the past, I’ve gotten great deals buying them in larger quantities at restaurant supply stores that don’t have a membership fee requirement.

Last Words

Unless you are a carb-phobic carnivore, food inflation in an obese world isn’t the worst problem to have. As a society, we have been spending too much on food for decades. Not because the price was high, but because we were buying calories well beyond our caloric needs.

At my peak, I was 222 pounds. Today I’m 40 pounds lighter. By supporting my ideal weight, I’m spending less on food every day. But you don’t need to be overweight to adopt a Peasant Diet and you don’t need to make every meal Peasant.

Yesterday for lunch I mixed lentils with quinoa and added some broth. Then I chopped some veggies and mushrooms up and tossed them into the mix. I set the Instant Pot to 5 minutes at high pressure. Then I added some sprouts, spices, and hot sauce. I had enough for 4 meals. My estimate is that each meal was about $2.

My lentil+quinoa leftovers. I also added garlic, onions, red peppers, corn, and mushroom powder. Before serving this I’ll add some hot sauce and sprouts.

Do you have a favorite meal that is nutritious and cheap?