The One-Liner:
Think plant-based eating is too expensive? I’m shutting that myth down with real strategies from my own life; from my days as a single mom to navigating inflation today.

What I’m Covering Today:

My Story: Two very different seasons of budget-conscious eating (single mom years vs. today’s economy) and what they taught me about real, nourishing food.

The Myth: You don’t need expensive specialty products. Plant-based eating is about whole foods, which are historically the cheapest items in the store.

The Four Pillars of Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Eating:

Pillar 1: The Affordable Pantry

• Stock up on beans, lentils, rice, and oats (pennies per serving).
• Buy spices from bulk bins.
• A little nutritional yeast goes a long way.

Pillar 2: Make Friends with Frozen

• Frozen fruits and veggies are often more nutritious than fresh (flash-frozen at peak ripeness).
• They’re cheaper and eliminate waste.

Pillar 3: Shop Farmers Markets Strategically

• Go at the end of the day for discounts.
• Ask for "seconds" (cosmetically imperfect produce sold at a steep discount).
• Buy what’s in season.

Pillar 4: Meal Prep to Prevent Waste

• Cook once, eat thrice (batch cook beans, rice, and roasted veggies).
• Use the "three ways method" with one ingredient (e.g., sweet potatoes).
• Save vegetable scraps to make free stock.

The Game Changer: The Kitchen Audit

• What it is: Taking inventory of everything in your pantry, fridge, and freezer before you shop.
• Why it works: The biggest budget killer is wasted food. This helps you use what you have first.
• Your Challenge This Week: Do a kitchen audit. Shop your own kitchen before you hit the store.

Resources & Next Steps:

• Share your Kitchen Audit results: Plant-BasedCurious.com
• Next Episode: Living Plant-Based Without Perfection (with Molly Patrick): A follow-up conversation about her plant-based lifestyle, meal plans, recipes and more.
• Rate & Review: If this episode helped you, please rate and review the show. It helps other curious folks find us.

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

Ever feel like sugar and refined carbs have a strange hold on you? You’re not alone, and it’s not just a lack of willpower. In this week’s incredibly clarifying conversation, I sit down with Lewis Bertus, PA-C, to unravel the real reason so many of us struggle—and how to break free for good.

Lewis shares a genius analogy that finally made "carbohydrates" make perfect sense to me. He asks: "If you could only carry a limited weight in currency, would you fill your pockets with heavy coins… or lighter, more valuable dollars?"

Suddenly, the cycle of craving "coin carbs" (like sugar and white bread) and struggling with "dollar carbs" (like sweet potatoes and brown rice) becomes brilliantly clear. We dive deep into:

• Why sugar addiction isn't a moral failure, but a physiological response to the "coins" we’re feeding our body.
• How to identify and satisfy your body’s true energy needs with "dollar" foods, so the cravings for "coins" naturally fade.
• Practical, compassionate steps to reset your palate, stabilize your energy, and make food freedom feel simple and sustainable.

If you’re tired of the guilt-shame cycle with sugar and refined foods, this conversation is your new starting point. Lewis offers the logical, empathetic framework I wish I had years ago.

Listen to discover how to break the addiction to "coin carbs" and invest in lasting energy and health.

Lewis Bertus's Website: https://www.lewisbertus.com

Social Media Links:
Facebook.com/lewisbertusdiabetes180
Instagram.com/diabetes_reversal_coach/
Youtube.com/@lewisbertus

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Support the show

"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

What if I told you the grass is literally screaming when you mow it? Or that a forest shares an underground internet made of fungi? Or that the key to healing chronic illness could be growing on a tree in your backyard?

In this mind-blowing episode of Plant Based Curious, I sit down with plant biologist, fungi evangelist, and host of the Flora Funga Podcast, (KK) Kaitlyn Kuehn. KK has a gift for making complex science feel like a thrilling discovery—a skill born from her own profound journey using fungi to heal her rheumatoid arthritis when conventional medicine fell short.

We dive deep into the wood-wide web—the astonishing fungal network that allows trees to communicate, share resources, and send distress signals. KK explains how this hidden collaboration beneath our feet is the true foundation of life on land.

But this conversation gets personal. KK opens up about the frustrating diagnosis process, the elimination diet that revealed her triggers (even some so-called "health foods"), and how incorporating medicinal mushrooms like reishi became a cornerstone of managing her inflammation. Her story is a powerful testament to becoming your own health advocate.

We also tackle the hard questions about our food system. Driving through the "strawberry capital" of Florida, KK witnessed the chemical reality behind perfect-looking produce, sparking a crucial discussion on pesticides, soil health, and what we’re really consuming when we don't ask where our food comes from.

This conversation changed how I see everything from my backyard to my plate. It’s a passionate call to recognize the genius of the natural world—a world that is far more connected, intelligent, and healing than we’ve been led to believe.

Tune in to get your "mushroom eyes" and see the world anew.

Listen to Plant Based Curious on: [Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.]
Connect with KK: Flora Funga Podcast on all platforms @florafungapodcast
Visit: plantbasedcurious.com

Episode Quote: "Nature always wins." – KK

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Support the show

"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."