Grocery Shopping as a new Vegan

[katmorr]

Hi everyone, newbie vegan here! I was wondering if anyone has any tips for grocery shopping as a new vegan. I'm a college student so buying fresh food all the time is a lot of work, but any processed food has a lot of ingredients that I don't always understand. Anyone had a similar experience or have any advice for me?

 

[Lou]

I used to go grocery shopping multiple times a week. The lockdown got me gong just once a week.
although I thought I was pretty good at meal planning, Covid honed my skills.

Meal planning is an art and a science. I've got some reading materials that I can send your way if you are interested.

A lot of vegan chefs have actually made vegan shopping lists. You just check off the things you need. I've never found these things too useful. But as a new vegan it might be a good jump start. So many staples and pantry things to stock up on. Again, if you are interested I can send you some.

What I learned to do is before hitting the grocery store was to plan out every meal for the week. After making my plan I would check my recipes and make my shopping list.

another good time saver is bulk food prep. a lot of my recipes are for 4- 6 servings anyway so I would have lots of leftovers that I could freeze. But I went a step further and even did bulk food prep for PB sandwiches and salads.

 

[silva]

Canned chili beans like Joan of Arc, or Bushs-they come either mild or hot. I could eat these cold from the can
Some grains, you can find pre-cooked brown rice, or blends in most stores
Frozen vegetables are as good as fresh. I thaw and just heat in the microwave, or stir fry over high heat
Edamame--shelled are convenient to add to salads or veggies and grains, and complete a meal.
Edamame in the shell are wonderful snacks
I cook grains for the week, like farro, whole oats, brown (or white) rice, or barley. I'll add some edamame and frozen broccoli for a work lunch and just heat a minute or so. I keep packets of soy sauce and duck sauce from Chinese restaurants to dress, or a favorite salad dressing
Fat free refried beans are vegan (regular often have lard), and hummus, are great choices to spread on pitas or tortillas and add fresh chopped veggies. Or have with tortilla chips or those veggie straw chips.
Potatoes, both white or sweet, are great to cook in the microwave and top with your favorites. I like a sweet potato with chili beans and hot sauce, side of greens
Dark leafy greens are easily had precut and washed. You can just cook those in the microwave, although I'm adverse to undercooked stems!
Nut butters. nuts, seeds, dried fruit, frozen berries

You don't say what your facilities are like, so I'm going by dorm room standards, where you just have a microwave, maybe blender?

If you go to Aldi or Trader Joes I;ll have a ton of ideas!

 

[silva]

^The above is spam!
Edit: spammer was removed so my comment is moot!

 

[feather]

^The above is spam!

All three posts? How do you know? I'm sure you have ways of knowing, IP addresses or something. What put you onto it?

 

[silva]

All three posts? How do you know? I'm sure you have ways of knowing, IP addresses or something. What put you onto

It's since been removed, but it's the way it's presented as a how to. If you click on it it's generally a couple paragraphs of info, followed by a link to submit your email info. It's a way for people to get emails to spam
I've moderated another forum and can smell them!

 

[feather]

@silva, you can smell them. Covid hasn't lessened your smeller in any way!

Today we picked up our dry goods order from Azure Standard (US based), they drop ship by semi truck to community centers, churches, gathering places. 10 or so people or more order large orders and if there is enough stuff, they'll drop ship it to a community location. Everyone meets the semi truck and driver, helps unload the food, puts the food in everyone's vehicles. We picked up 263 lbs of oats, beans, and raisins this time. The rest of the food buying is from the pantry of canned goods I can in the basement, the bags in the freezer, the dehydrated fruits and veggies in jars, and the garden and produce department at the grocery store.

 

[David3]

Hi everyone, newbie vegan here! I was wondering if anyone has any tips for grocery shopping as a new vegan. I'm a college student so buying fresh food all the time is a lot of work, but any processed food has a lot of ingredients that I don't always understand. Anyone had a similar experience or have any advice for me?

.
Hi katmorr,

Vegan nutrition is based around:

• Beans, lentils, tofu, or other protein-rich foods
• Whole grain foods (rice, pasta, bread, cereal), potatoes, and other starchy foods
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Smaller amounts of oily foods (nuts, seeds, peanut butter, avocados)

Of these food types, only the fresh vegetables, fruits, and tofu are really perishable (and so need to be purchased frequently). The other items (beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds) can stay fresh for weeks or months, especially if kept in the refrigerator.

Also, certain vegetables and fruits are available frozen, and can be kept in the freezer. Kale, mustard greens, spinach, broccoli, carrots, corn, cauliflower, and certain berries can all be purchased frozen. Frozen vegetables may not be that tasty for salads, but they can work great in cooked dishes (soups, stews, stir-fries).

When I got my first apartment, I didn't have much money, and all I bought were lentils, brown rice, spaghetti, bread, onions, mustard greens, carrots, peanut butter, and occasionally fruit. My only condiments were soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and pasta sauce. A little monotonous, but shopping was fast, easy and cheap.

If you have a "Trader Joe's" market near you, they are a vegan's best friend! They sell beans (dried and canned), tofu, whole wheat spaghetti, canned vegan soups, veg "meats", veg "milk", vegan ice cream, a good variety of vegetables, hummus, various nut butters, and so much more, all at low prices. They also sell cruelty-free vegan toothpaste, soap, detergent, and personal care items, also at low prices.

Here is a nicely-written vegan nutrition guide, from the Vegan Society: Nutrition overview

 

[Lou]

Of these food types, only the fresh vegetables, fruits, and tofu are really perishable (and so need to be purchased frequently). The other items (beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds) can stay fresh for weeks or months, especially if kept in the refrigerator.

Tofu can be frozen too. Cut it up in serving sizes first and then just defrost what you need.
Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, mangos, pineapple can be bought, cut up and frozen. great for smoothies on hot summer days.
Beans, lentils, rice can be cooked in larger quantities and then split up and can be stored in the frig too.

 

[Tomas]

There's really so much food you can buy that is good for vegans that you can keep for a long time. caaned beans of all varieties, rice, pastas, food you can freeze,...
As you are a college student I can understand not wanting or being able to spend all your time in the kitchen but you can use the weekend for some food prep and buying fresh veggies and freezing them. Really, in my case anyway, most of my diet is dependant on fresh veggies en fruits and a vegan spaghetti saus for instance can be made very quickly, very inexpensively and very healthily. You just need some onions, some canned diced tomatoes, some garlic, some oil and perhaps mushrooms and sweet pepper or something like that. MAke a whole bunch at a time and freeze what is left in the freezer. That eliminated several days of cooking in the next weeks.
If you have a blender you can make easy breakfast smoothies like frozen berries of any variety + almond milk or oat milk + chia seeds + half a frozen banana + water. This is always a great start of the day and literally takes less than 5 muinutes of your time...
I guess I'm just saying you should be creative and try to make dishes with as little ingredients possible. Easy 5 or 6 ingredient recipes make for far less work and are possible in a vegan diet. The freezer is your friend by the way. Defintely stock up on nuts, beans, lentils, rice, pasta, ... things that last and try to add some fresh fruits and veggies in your diet. A healthy diet will go a long way in helping you be in top condition for your studies.

 

[LoreD]

This Youtube channel is geared toward college students:

 

[Hog]

Some people at Vegan Forums have concerns about my unbalanced diet.

I love peanut butter sandwiches. It is cheap and fast. I eat three peanut butter sandwiches a day.

They have a vegan food section at Fry’s Grocery Store.

 

[500channelsurfer]

I found cooking time devotion to be more of a planning issue than grocery shopping when I became vegetarian and now vegan. You have to think, will you be making one meal at a time, or devote three hours 2-3 times a week to cook great recipes with lots of leftovers for all your other meals?

I used health food stores to discover new vegan products and get more and more food organic. The other posts above are very good.

If you live in a college town you'll likely have a good health food store for the college-healthy and hippie-professor types. Bulk food stores are also very good for a lot of people.

Personally, I am fastidious about refrigerator management so I am able to have lots of good fresh produce all the time and don't waste food or let it go bad, while shopping only 1-2 times per week and doing a nice recipe 2-3 times per week with enough leftovers for all my other meals. But then again, I live in a neighbourhood with three grocery stores and two health food stores all easy walking distance.

 

[Danielle]

Health food stores are nice but you can find all you need at a Walmart too, maybe not all you want.
They do have vegan alternatives just not everything.
Nothing like going to Whole Foods and being in vegan heaven.

 

[David3]

Trader Joe's and Aldi. Low prices on lots of vegan things.

 

[Danielle]

I actually do miss Trader Joes.. Aldis not so much. I think my favorite store was Pete's market. Its like a whole foods + walmart combined. I liked it because it meant food and soda can be bought at the same store. I don't like organic sodas, I like my coke and dr pepper
Trader Joe's came out with a lot of vegan products since I left to Mississippi.
Most of the time me and mom got our food from Amazon fresh. Unless we felt like making a Walmart trip at 3am, or just like getting outside

 

[Lou]

I don't like organic sodas, I like my coke and dr pepper

Do they have Zevia in Mississippi?
Since I quit drinking beer I allow myself a Ginger Beer. Zevia makes a good good ginger root beer. Zero calorie sweetened with Stevia. They make versions of Coke and Dr. Pepper too.

 

[silva]

Do they have Zevia in Mississippi?
Since I quit drinking beer I allow myself a Ginger Beer. Zevia makes a good good ginger root beer. Zero calorie sweetened with Stevia. They make versions of Coke and Dr. Pepper too.

I thought that stuff was incredibly nasty! I can't do stevia at all--I even had a plant I hated
I do love Nicola though. It's from La Croix, just flavored sparkling, no sweetener.

 

[Lou]

I thought that stuff was incredibly nasty! I can't do stevia at all--I even had a plant I hated
I do love Nicola though. It's from La Croix, just flavored sparkling, no sweetener.

I'll have to try Nicola. I don't think I have seen it but I don't usually look at the La Croix flavors. I've had a couple - none of the ones I tried were terrific.
Sometimes I take 8 oz of oj and 8 oz of pineapple juice and add 12 oz of seltzer water. Kind of high in calories but I use the TJ's fortified OJ and it turns out to be pretty high in a few minerals and vitamins.

 

[GiaP]

Hi everyone,

Not sure if this is the right place to post so apologies if not.

I am looking to buy my son that has recently turned Vegan some snacks on thevegancompany.co.uk and just want see if anyone has used them before?

Are they legit?

Thank you in advance