Being #Vegan in the Philippines Doesn't Have to be Expensive
1.Turmeric fried rice, fresh tomatoes, mung bean sprouts, and plant-based vegan tapa for brunch.
My brunch costs only around PHP50.00 (US$1.00). The most expensive item in this Vegan bowl is the Vegan Meat-free Tapa, which sells for PHP151.00 (around US$3.00) online thru resellers. I don't eat the whole pack in one sitting because it is very tasty that I get tired of the taste. So, I divide it into three or five meals, depending on the other ingredients I have on hand and the meal that I want to prepare. Tomatoes are around PHP5.00 (US$0.10) each retail, while the mung bean sprouts are PHP30.00 (US$0.60) a kilo. Fresh raw mung bean sprouts are the best. I love the taste, and the flavors come out when I chew it through and through. Dare I say that this is affordable to the common people - the masa - as they are locally called. It is simple enough to prepare and cheap enough that I don't see any reason for people who want to try the #plant-based diet in this lifetime.
2.Heavy Snacks, on the other hand, is a plant-based unMeat burger from 7-11.
This un-Meat burger cost only PHP89.00 (roughly US$1.78). It is tasty, filling, but most of all it is available in the local 7-11 convenience stores. This makes my life easier because I still get to enjoy the taste and satisfaction of regular everyday food that I used to eat before I became a #vegetarian.
Life is good. Even with the difficulties and challenges we face everyday, we can still find happiness in simple things and these everyday pleasures can help brighten up your day at a small expense.
That said, my food for the whole day would probably cost around PHP250.00 (around US$5.00). If I wanted to, I can really go cheap and cook everything from scratch and buy the ingredients from the wholesale farmers market nearby. But, I'm feeling lazy today and just wanted to enjoy life and relax a bit without doing much of anything else. LOL
To end, I remember the days when nobody knew what a vegetarian or vegan was. When I go to restaurants and food stalls, I always get that perplexed look from sales staff, which really says something about how far the plant-based movement have reached in our country. Hopefully, more people buy vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based options in groceries, sari-sari stores, and restaurants to help bring more awareness and push the big companies to explore the alternative health food market.
That's it for now. Thanks for dropping by. Love and peace everyone.
*i own all the photos.
