A quick question from someone new to it all

Hello all,

If there is a more appropriate place for this thread please move it. So I am about three days into vegan eating and am struggling to keep myself fed honestly. So I had a few questions, other than the produce isle is there anything in a Wal-Mart that I can eat? Like quick type stuff as some days I am on the go non stop. There is a Whole-Foods about 20 minutes from me but I can't afford to shop there very often.

Also I picked up a bag of the Enjoy Life brand Plentils, lentil chips, the bag does not say vegan but it does say dairy, egg, fish, and shellfish free. The only listed ingredients are lentil powder, potato starch, safflower oil, salt, and tumeric. So I thought I should be good to go on these but I want to make sure there wasn't something hidden like what seems to be the case with many other foods. So does anyone know for sure if these are vegan as I really liked them.

Is there a primer on this out there somewhere? The switch has been a little overwhelming thus far.

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Walking Circles

other than the produce isle is there anything in a Wal-Mart that I can eat?

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Hi!

Supermarkets are actually full of vegan products. In addition to all the vegetables and fruits, there are usually lots of baked stuff, nuts, snacks of all kinds like eg fruit bars or tortilla chips, spices, typical vegan ingredients for making your own food (pasta, taco shells, soy sauce, coconut milk, rice, dried/pre-cooked chick peas, lentils, beans etc and much more). Over the last few years a lot of almost-ready-dinners have also popped up, like eg. packages which contains all you need to make a Mexican, Indian or Thai meal like eg a Chicken Curry - where all non-vegans need to do is to add the chicken... and we can simply add something else instead. If you are on the go and want a fast/small meal, there are also many cheap options around: I have only been to one cafe/restaurant in my life which couldn't serve something vegan (even if vegan options aren't always printed on the menu).

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Also I picked up a bag of the Enjoy Life brand Plentils, lentil chips, the bag does not say vegan but it does say dairy, egg, fish, and shellfish free. The only listed ingredients are lentil powder, potato starch, safflower oil, salt, and tumeric.

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I don't know anything about this particular product, but if animal products aren't listed, one can usually simply trust that there are no animal products in there. There are people who have intolerance or allergies against egg and dairy products, and it's quite important for food companies not to get sued about hidden ingredients. If something, at least in theory, may contain traces of eg milk, this is written on the ingredients list, but it's impossible to be a "perfect" vegan, so don't let such messages make you feel that it's difficult to find vegan products. Please check this thread: Are you a Self Exhausting Microgram-Oriented Vegan?

Here's another thread for you:
Quick & easy vegan food

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Is there a primer on this out there somewhere?

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We have lots of threads which should be interesting for you, like eg this one: Foods that you keep on a regular basis: your shopping list

Good luck! Since you are a vegetarian and not a vegan, you can't post in the main areas, but let us know if you change your mind about the vegan/vegetarian thing... :-)

Tacos are quick and easy. Refried beans, tortilla wraps, salsa or taco sauce + tomato, lettuce.
Maybe wal mart doesn't sell vegan substitutes (not sure about in the states but here in Canada, they do not!) but whole foods might be a good place to go pick up some vegan cream cheese, sour cream, cheese (daiya) and then get the cheaper staples at walmart, like bagels and bread, veggies etc.
If you love pasta with parmesan cheese, guess what, there's a brilliant substitute I figured out lately - blend some fresh garlic with almonds and nutritional yeast in a food processor. Yum. Pasta is filling and gives you energy too!

Hey Walking Circles, I'm not sure if the Walmarts in your area are the same, but here in FL they have (very few) meat substitutes around the produce area. Several of their breads seem vegan too. Here, in the frozen area they have a part where they started selling Gardein meat substitutes as well as other things, like Amy's rice and bean burritos. Sometimes in the asian food area they'll have veggie spring rolls. Canned beans, Near East couscous and similar things. Most cereals in Walmart will have mystery vitamin D, the hardest thing to avoid in cereals.

Are there any other supermarkets in your area? Walmart, while adding more, is quite lacking. I also shop at Publix, and I've also seen a few vegan options at Target. At a big supermarket like Publix you might find more options, a couple of frozen meal options, frozen sides, and stuff like Tofurky deli slices and Daiya cheese. Cooking in bulk and storing for later works best for my girlfriend and I, like a giant pot of pasta and eating it with a bunch of random stuff; stir fry, nut. yeast sauce, plain pasta sauce, etc.

Walking circles, first of all, great to hear that you are now trying out the healthy and compassionate vegan way of life!

My question to you is - how good are your cooking skills?

Basically you simply need vegetables, rice, noodles, some cooking utensils and a recipe book (can be found online) to get access to delicious, healthy and also cheap vegan food.

Best regards,
Andy