Caveman-inspired Diet and Green Smoothies

I've been experimenting a lot recently. One of the things that I was experimenting with were my eating habits. For over two years I had gone to restaurants for lunch. I had also been eating bread for over two decades. I got bored of that food and started looking for meals that:

• have good nutritional values,
• are healthy and natural,
• take almost no time to prepare,
• are reasonably tasty,
• are affordable on a student budget :-)

After searching for a while I found the paleo diet. I decided to give it a try and cook for myself. That was a huge step cause my cooking skills were rather poor. Anyways, the basic idea of the paleo diet is simple: whatever was good for your ancestors before agricultural revolution (from 2.5 million to 10 000 years ago), is good for you. You should eat whatever your ancestors hunted or gathered (those who made a mistake died and were not your ancestors :-) ). Assumptions of the diet sound totally reasonable to me. I took it as a starting point and adjusted to my needs and lifestyle.

So how is life on the paleo diet? I think it's great now. At the beginning the food that I made tasted pretty bad. I didn't know what tastes go well each other. After 2-3 weeks of experiments I got to a meal plan that I really enjoy! First, I did a little research and carefully selected food items that contain the highest nutritional value on a given budget. I used websites like NutritionData, WHFoods, or Wikipedia. Here is a list of things that I buy:

• Fish and meat: fresh salmon, smoked salmon, cod, haddock, herring, chicken breast, turkey breast, beef.
• Vegetables: carrots, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, romaine lettuce, collard greens, kale, spinach, dulse (sea vegetable), basil, mint.
• Fruits: blueberry, kiwi, grapefruit, orange, banana, blackberry, strawberry, apple, mango, pineapple, avocado, lemon, lime, cucumber, red peppers, tomatoes (yeah, the last three are not vegetables :-) ).
• Nuts: walnuts (but pecans and almonds are also good).
• Legumes: red beans, bean medley, falafel (made from chickpeas).
• Other: almond milk, eggs, cocoa, honey, dark chocolate.

Breakfast

Every breakfast includes leaves of romaine lettuce, nuts, carrots, and some other vegetable or fruit (e.g., cucumber, red pepper, tomato). All the veggies and fruits are raw. Also, each morning I make green smoothies (described later). Six times a week breakfast includes a boiled egg. Twice a week it includes smoked salmon, and twice a week herring. Total time: (includes preparing, eating, and cleaning up): 30 minutes.

Lunch/Dinner

I typically sauté fish/meat with spinach. I add dulse instead of salt to make the food salty. Avocado goes well with chicken and turkey breast. What I like about sautéing is that I haven't used any oil for several weeks. It's totally possible :-) At times, I bake fresh salmon as it contains a lot of fat and does not require extra oil. Each lunch/dinner includes a lot of fish or meat, otherwise I would be hungry. It also includes boiled vegetables (e.g., Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli) and/or legumes. I use microwave instead of boiling the green veggies. I also add some spices to taste (e.g. curry goes well with poultry). Total time: 40 minutes.

Supper

Supper is very lightweight. It includes nuts, carrots, and fruits (e.g., kiwi, orange, strawberry, apple, pineapple, blueberry, banana, blackberry). Total time: 10 minutes.

Green Smoothies

Green smoothie is a smoothie made with green leafy vegetables. It sounds odd, but those leafy vegetables provide tons of vitamins. They are not so tasty on their own, so it's better to mix with fruits or nuts and to make a smoothie! You can also add raw eggs or avocados to make them even more smooth. Yep, you need a blender to make smoothies. I recently bought one for $10, which was a great investment. I confess that when I started making green smoothies, they tasted awful. Here are some good recipes that I encourage you to try:

1. collard greens, kale, mint, glass of almond milk, lots of blueberries.
2. collard greens, kale, mint, glass of almond milk, blackberries, strawberries.
3. collard greens, kale, mint, glass of almond milk, mango.
4. collard greens, kale, mint, glass of almond milk, pineapple.
5. collard greens, kale, mint, glass of almond milk, watermelon.
6. collard greens, kale, mint, glass of almond milk, apple.
7. collard greens, kale, mint, grapefruit, lemon/lime, lemon/lime zest, kiwi, banana.
8. collard greens, kale, mint, grapefruit, lemon/lime, lemon/lime zest, mango.
9. collard greens, kale, mint, grapefruit, lemon/lime, lemon/lime zest, pineapple.
10. collard greens, kale, mint, grapefruit, lemon/lime, lemon/lime zest, watermelon.
11. collard greens, kale, mint, grapefruit, lemon/lime, lemon/lime zest, orange, banana.
    
    
    

Sweet Smoothie 

I'm a big fan of chocolate and honey. Once a week I make a sweet smoothie to appreciate the taste of sugar. This is how it goes: glass of almond milk, cocoa, honey, dark chocolate, banana.

If you are into paleo diet or have any opinion about it, I would be glad to hear that. I'm always looking for new recipes!

Tips on Hunting for Cheap Flights

Original Photo by ArchDevil

The post on getting a free flight to Costa Rica received a lot of attention. It's clear to me that many readers of this blog are interested in cheap flights. Recently I was looking for cheap flights to Brazil and Europe. I learned a lot and want to share some of the observations. I know that those tips are very effective. How effective? A year ago I visited USA, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Ukraine for the cost of a direct flight from Toronto to Warsaw. This year I'll pay even much less for visiting Portugal, Spain, Poland,  France, and then going back to Canada. Update: I recently booked transatlantic flights: Toronto → Glasgow and Lisbon → Toronto for $273 in total! (a typical transatlantic return flight is 2-3 times more expensive) Convinced?

• Searching for flights takes time. This is the key requirement. If you want to find a flight in a great price, you'll have to do your homework and search multiple websites. Depending on how much $$$ you make per hour, it may be worth or not worth it. I'm a student so whenever I can save some money, I'm happy.
• Your location and destination matter. Check out local airlines and deals. For example, if you are in Europe, you can fly from Barcelona to Rome for $30 (final price) with low-cost airlines. Similar deals are probably possible in other parts of the world, but Europe is pretty much unbeatable. Having said that, if you fly to Europe, get the cheapest flight to anywhere in Europe and then travel by low-costs inside. Update: if you fly between Toronto and Europe checkout Air Transat and Sunwing. They offer increadibly cheap flights!
• Fly with low-cost airlines. Deals offered by low-cost airlines can be found only on their websites. You buy tickets directly from those airlines and there is no point in searching elsewhere. Find out where those airlines fly. I typically check airport information on Wikipedia to see what airlines go to places of my interest. Update: you can use WhichBudget, flycheapo, skyscanner, and Fly4free (Polish) to search for destinations of low-cost airlines.
• Check out multiple websites. If you cannot fly with low-cost airlines, check out traditional airlines on search engines like Kayak, Cheapoair, Expedia, and others. Compare prices with those shown on airlines' websites. You'll see that each website offers different price. Search with flexible dates and check nearby airports. Recently I've been playing with Matrix Airfare Search that can search for flights to/from multiple airports at once! Update: checkout Google Flights. Although limited (includes only certain airports), it is a fantastic website for analyzing how prices change over the year. Click the calendar icon.
• Take advantage of travel agents. These days people tell you to book flights online. Generally, it's a good idea but take a look at the deals offered by local travel agents. For example, Flight Centre has the Lowest Airfare Guarantee policy. It means that if you find a flight and their price is not lower, they'll match the price and will offer you a $20 voucher. You think that $20 is nothing. Sure, it's not much but it's enough to fly with low-costs in Europe! Also, if you make travel agents match the price several times, the $20 multiplies. Update: a lot depends on the agent who sells you the ticket. Bargain and ask for student discounts whenever possible (even if it's against their official policy).
• Monitor prices. Did you know that the price of a ticket depends on when you book it? Monitor prices for a week or two to see when it's best time book a ticket. How important is it? Well, I was looking for a flight from Paris to Toronto. One day it was $417, while the other day it was almost $600!
• Sign up for crowdsourced deals. There are more people who look for deals and are glad to share them. A great example for Toronto area is the YYZ deals blog. Recently they found out how to fly to Europe for $338 (final price). Update: as Tanjina pointed out in the comment, discount coupons are also useful. For example, check out wantacode.
• Get an ISIC card. International Student Identity Card can help you save money on food, air, train tickets, etc. In Canada it is offered by Travel Cuts and they have nice discounts (> 10%) if you have the card.
• Travel off the season. This is probably the most common tip, but it totally makes sense. Find out when the season starts and ends for a given destination. For example, in Europe it is typically from June to August. In Caribbean it is from December to May. If you fly to Europe during the season, you are almost guaranteed to pay twice as much as off the season. Update: as Justin suggested, if possible, avoid flying during holidays. Prices are much higher than usually.
• Take advantage of different currencies. Generally, it is best to use the currency of your credit card (to avoid possible exchange fees). Sometimes, however, it pays off to switch the currency. A year ago I saved $30 on switching from Canadian dollar to Icelandic krona when booking transatlantic flights between Europe and USA.
• Find more websites with travel tips. This blog post is by no means complete. Google for more tips and share them with others!