Foods that you keep on a regular basis: your shopping list

[fiamma]

Speaking of flour, chickpea flour (gram flour) and buckwheat flour are both good for making eggless crepes. Gram flour also makes wicked onion bhajees - little deepfried onion nuggets with Indian spices... mmmm!

[Bonobo]

Thanks for the replies! I am not too stressed about it as I do know the basics (especially after searching through this forum) but it is still really helpful to get an idea from indiviual people! :D :D You guys are great!

Really I am just an obsessive list maker who likes to plan out everything as much as I can... and pre-writing my shopping list and menu for the week is something I am bound to end up doing! :o

[Bic]

I would like to add that reading the labels for "obviously vegan" products (ie. seeds, beans, soy-whatever, etc.) when buying is important too. Just last week I was buying kindey beans to make chili and picked up a can that upon closer inspection listed pork in the ingredients. (I opted for a different brand - these sorts of things you run into a lot. Don't let them discourage you.)

[Bonobo]

Yeah good advice Bic... I remember going shopping in America (after I had gone vegetarian) and went to get some dried beans and found they had some kind of meat product in them :eek:

How can they even get away with putting animals in anything and everything!? :mad:

[Wildflower]

Hello all - what brand of omega 3's do you use? Is it available in the US or online? I am wanting to start taking this, and am looking for a good brand derived from algae. thanks.

[fiamma]

I guess the thing to remember is that you don't need lots of "speciality foods" or ready meals to have a good vegan diet, although they do save time and are good to have on hand. Although preparing stuff from scratch using fresh and natural ingredients takes longer, your body will thank you for it! Making stuff like soups and stews in big batches and freezing them is a great time saver too.

[i<3tofu]

my stapels change all of the time, basically its whatever is on sale/ cheap/ easily. i used to just have bread & jam for breakfast, pb & flax sandwich and some fruit/ veggies for lunch, and for dinner eiteher a heavy chilli or fried tofu with pasta and a peanut sauce....but i live with my omni family who dont unstand vegan, to stop them from worrying ive started eating ALOT like its christmas every day, but im gonna try and get back to my old staples cause i felt alot healthier then

[Woodsie]

Hi Bonobo ... one of the things I have a stock of in my storecupboard is soy cream .... I often add a tablespoon to soups and bean casseroles to give a nice creamy texture. I buy the boxed longlife variety and once opened seems to last longer than the fresh. I also keep some frozen veggie burgers on hand all the time that I can stick in a roll with some salad if I don't have anything much in the house to make for dinner (usually towards the end of the week). Just keep a wide variety of everything so you can be creative with meals... I also busy some fresh herbs each week, like coriander, mint etc that make salads, stirfries etc. very tasty. Good luck!

[Bic]

Vitamin B12 is the only thing I feel a vegan has to actively seek out. I simply take a multi-vitamin daily (with a meal) and don't worry about it, but it can also be found in (some) nutritional yeast and "Grape Nuts" and other fortified cereals.

It can also be found in some brands of soymilk at high levels, as well as energy drinks. My supermarket's brand of soymilk has 50% of one's daily B12 in every serving (1 cup) which I only noticed just yesterday!
I used to drink XS Energy a lot, which if I recall had a ridiculous amount of B12 (4900%!) in it.

[Fifty9]

Don't rely on a singular source of protein, spOOki, mix it up a bit! Animal protein is a "complete protein" (it contains all the essential amino acids). Most plant proteins are not, ...

This is not true. All starches and vegetables contain ALL of the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts to meet RDA - they are complete proteins.

/edit

It should also be noted that Essential Fatty Acids (i.e. Omega-3, etc) are synthesized by plants, not animals.

[Woodsie]

I put a few days' worth of food into Fitday and find I'm low on vitamin D .. any tips? This is especially important for me as I am at high risk of osteoporosis.

[Fifty9]

^ Do you spend any time in the sunlight?

[Woodsie]

I don't like the heat so avoid being outside when it's hot but I try to walk every day for 40 mins or so.

[sp00ki]

I just read this:
http://www.newstarget.com/003069.html
very interesting; i haven't looked into any of the "points" made, but it's certainly an interesting starting point-- may address some of your vitamin D questions.

[Mahk]

This is not true. All starches and vegetables contain ALL of the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts to meet RDA - they are complete proteins.

My mistake. I was using 1980's prevalent scientific thought.:) Seems things have changed since then. It seems many if not most vegetables proteins are indeed complete protein sources after all. Back then it was thought that soybeans, buckwheat, and a few others were the only complete vegetable proteins. Thanks for the education. Eating a variety of vegetables is still probably a good idea though.

Also, as a trivia question: "What is the one animal protein which is not a complete protein?

Answer: gelatin.

[Fifty9]

The studies done for human amino acid requirements were published during the 1950's. The misinformation exists because these greatly important and relevant papers are conveniently ignored by certain organizations that put themselves in-charge of writing dietary guidelines. Not to mention people who are just too lazy to research their topic before publishing their own health guidelines.

[Smoothie]

i try to eat whatever i feel like, and then take my supplyments (I use VEG1 from vegan society and eat flaxseed oil in smoothies, and add ground flaxseed to my baking, whenever possible..) - it works well for me, and i've been a vegan for 2 1/2 year now. i think the code really is to eat varied and healthy, and snask on fruits, veggies and nuts. always carry some healthy snacks in the house, so you don't get carried away:)

i enjoy having the "vegan nutrition chart" on my kitchen wall, so i can see what i need to eat, in order to get a bit of all the things i need every day.

[Achilles]

One thing I've noticed since registering here is that there are a slew of vegan foods mentioned which I have never once even heard of. One of the biggest challenges I'm facing right now is that what I eat is limited because there any many delicious foods out there that I am not aware exist.

For example - hummus. This is something I had never heard of until I came here. I tried it and it is incredible.

So, to help us new vegans out, post some vegan foods which you think most omnivores would have never heard of. I'll edit it into this post with a link to it's description on Wikipedia.

Vegan Food List for Beginners:
Hummus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummus)
Quinoa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa)
Tempeh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh)
Falafel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel)
Dal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal)

[flutterby]

Have a look at the What did you eat for the first time today?, http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4833 and What foods do you love now, but never bought when you were omni?, http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14478 threads for ideas Achilles. ;)

[RedWellies]

Quinoa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa)

[Achilles]

Have a look at the What did you eat for the first time today?, http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4833 and What foods do you love now, but never bought when you were omni?, http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14478 threads for ideas Achilles. ;)

Thanks : )


Quinoa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa)

Sounds good, I've never heard of that. Keep them coming. I'll try to keep this updated so there is a regimented list of foods for beginners like me.

[fiamma]

Tempeh, I love tempeh.

But veganism IMO isn't about others prescribing you a list of foods to eat!
There is LOADS of info on this forum (try the threads flutterby suggested), and all the recipe threads, cookbooks and Internet recipe sites like Vegweb and Allrecipes. Or try hunting around your local healthfood store.

[Korn]

Yes... any list over a restricted amount of meals would maybe just give the impression that vegans suffer from a limited selection of things we can eat, while most vegans seem to eat more, not less varied food as vegans than they did before.

There's an overwhelming 8000+ books popping up at amazon.com when searching for the word vegan (many of them are cookbooks), so I understand that it can be difficult to know where to start.


But veganism IMO isn't about others prescribing you a list of foods to eat!
Sure, and from what I've seen on this site, there's stuff some vegans eat often that other vegans haven't even tasted - for example, quinoa and tempeh may be essential in some vegans' diet, while others (like me) happen to practically never eat quinoa or tempeh. There are so many vegan options that it may be hard to find a pattern re. what most vegans eats most often... maybe this is a good excuse for creating another poll? :)


Here are some suggestions (in addition to the threads flutterby mentioned):

Favourite vegan sandwich filling/bread spread? (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532)
Favorite vegan breakfast? (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6)
Favourite vegan food (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4019)
Vegan dinner ideas (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=598)
Food you eat really often? (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=451)

We also have a recipe-area, with special sections for Italian, Indian/Asian, and Mexican food, plus other subforums about soups, sweets and bean/legume based food. Enjoy! :)

[Digital Ghost]

Falafel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel

[yum]

soya yogurt with cranberry wheats
raspberries
soya choc dessert (alpro)
:p