Wow. You're in Bromley. Is that the one in south london, or by Bow?
Locally I buy a lot of salad, because it's the only non-cereal thing I can snack on. I can't wait until I get my own place again and have the room to store enough of my own food.
Wow. You're in Bromley. Is that the one in south london, or by Bow?
Locally I buy a lot of salad, because it's the only non-cereal thing I can snack on. I can't wait until I get my own place again and have the room to store enough of my own food.
I'm not sure if I'm the best person to answer this, or if this is the best example, but I have this week's (morrison's) shopping list right here:
Mango sorbet 1.45
Meat free mince 1.79
McCartney Rolls 0.99
Oven Chips 1.00 for 2
Living basil 0.69
Soya drink 0.65 x2
Spaghetti hoops 0.41 - BOGOF, couldn't resist
Orange juice 0.41
Cranberry drink 1.39
Organic courgettes 1.49
Redwoods Slices 0.89
Blueberries 1.99
Vine tomatoes 1.39
Red Onions 0.31
Avocado x 2 1.39
Black bean sauce 0.46
Baby spinach 1.29
Chick peas 0.42
New York Bagels 1.90 x 2 special offer
Comice pears (3) 0.80
Red pepper 0.66
Broccoli 0.32
Organic cucumber 0.99
Aubergine 0.99
Total - £25.10
With that lot, I have bagels for breakfast/sandwiches with redwood slices/salad, stuff for chickpea & spinach curry (already have rice), vegetable & chickpea cous cous (have cous cous), aubergine pasta sauce (yup, have pasta), black bean stir fry, pears to snack on, nice desserts (sorbet&blueberries), and spaghetti hoops on toast or chips/sausage roll/salad for easy food (in my defense I'm moving house and busy packing should be busy packing ).
seasonal vegetables and fruit, dried beans and pulses, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, vegetable oil to cook with and make salads with, cider vinegar, herb salt, fruit juice, vegetable stock, vegan cheese, tinned tomatoes, soya milk, tofu, vegan margarine, rice cakes. I also keep frozen veg in the freezer- sweetcorn, peas, green beans and spinach. Sometimes I use the stir fry frozen veg. Next shopping trip I am getting Udo's choice health oil, grafitti tofu terrine, fruity soya yoghurt.
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
Check out the "What Did You Buy Today" thread.
Peace, love, and happiness.
always fruit, veg, fruit leathers, water and juice but the rest depends on what menu i have planned for the week. then i only (mostly ) buy whats on the list and avoid extra cost or impulse buys.
i reckon i could live much more cheaply if i was only buying for myself. *mental note to self "make plans to sell rest of family on e-bay" )*
Sort of tough, chewy baked fruit things. Think you can make your own 100% fruit ones I believe.
For anyone interested: Stretch Island Fruit Leather
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
~John Wooden
I'm not in the UK, but regular items on my shopping list are:
hummus
guacamole
salad (eg, box of organic mixed leaves)
red peppers
green peppers
carrots
tomatoes
cucumbers
in season fruits
bread
flour tortillas
vegan waffles
fair trade organic coffee
cereal
soy milk
crackers
vegan chips
chocolate
energy bars
baked beans
BluEyze, you said you shop a lot more often. How often? I believe that to be a healthy vegan, you probably have to shop at least once a week, because that's the max that many fruits and veggies will last.
If you'd like to stock up on items that you don't have buy every week, I'd suggest lentils, different kinds of beans, various nuts and nut butters, rice, pasta, quinoa, cous-cous, nutritional yeast, and soy milk or almond milk that comes in cartons that don't need to be refrigerated until they're opened.
There are also vegan frozen meals, but they might be somewhat expensive if you're on a budget.
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
~John Wooden
Blueyze - Get yourself a few good cookbooks to give you an idea of what you might like to eat. Our favorite is "The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook" by Robin Robertson. Also check out the recipes thread on VF.
Standard shopping includes:
Salad stuff
Avocado
Ex. Firm Tofu
Salad Dressing
Watermelon, Bananas, Oranges, Grapes, etc.
Red & Orange peppers
Potatoes
Soy Milk
Soy Sour Cream
Soy Cheese (sometimes)
Onions
Garlic
Hummus
Pita Chips
Canned or fresh green beans and corn
French Fried Onions (for salads)
Black beans
Vegetarian Refried Beans
Salsa
Tortillas (flour and corn - we like Mexican)
Staples we always have on hand:
Soy Sauce
Veganaise
Flour (my family loves homemade bread)
I'm sure there's more but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.
You are not required to complete the task of repairing the world, neither are you free to abstain from it.
--Pirke Avot
These are my essentials;
Tinned tomatoes
Garlic
Onion
Assorted tinned beans
Rice
Pasta
I try to keep veggie burgers in the freezer and jarred pasta sauce for quicky meals.
Peace, love, and happiness.
-Fresh Veggies: (baby carrots, dark leafies, bell peppers, cucumbers)
-Fruits: Apples, bananas, oranges
-Light extra firm tofu (the aseptically (sp?) packaged kind)
-Nonfat or light soymilk
-Frozen veggies
-Hummus
-beans
-granola bars (maybe once a month)
-Soy fro yo!!
-cereal (maybe once a month)
-veggie burgers (maybe once a month)
I always have on hand (they last me a long time): oatmeal, brown rice, grains like quinoa, bread (in the freezer), nut butters
Kale
Spinach
Red delicious apples
Gala apples
Mushrooms
Oranges
Frozen broccoli
Lentils
Raisins
Bananas
Red grapes
Almonds
V8
Peanuts
Extra firm tofu
Silken tofu
Strawberries
Blueberries
Zucchini
Carrots
Brown rice
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Black olives
Regular olives
Pickles & marinated jarred veggies
Different types of pretzels
Ketchup
Mustard
Soy sauce
Newman's Own sesame ginger dressing
Seaweed
Luna bars
Clif bars
Think organic bars
Gardenburger "Riblets"
Boca vegan burger
Morningstar Chik'n strips
Smartdogs
Roma tomatoes
Avocado
Assorted frozen veggies
Tomato sauce
Russet potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Pistachios
Sunflower seeds
Plain, vanilla, and chocolate soymilk
Creamy peanut butter
Semi-sweet chocolate chips (my store-brand is vegan, yay)
Van's waffles
Apple butter
Maple syrup
Whole-wheat flaxseed bread
Whole-wheat spaghetti, macaroni & penne
Young coconuts
Plums
Miso soup mix
Dried split peas
Dried red beans
Dried garbanzos
Dried black beans
Instant oatmeal
All I can think of right now.
I go grocery shopping all the time! I swear, several times a week, i can't even keep up to post it all in the What Did you Buy today Thread - but check that thread out, I really like to see what others buy and prices!
things I buy regularly (i am in the US)
red peppers
avacados
green onions
tomatoes
spinach
brocolli
mushrooms
garlic
potatoes
bananas, limes and lemons (we have those all year here)
in season fruits - now is blueberries, peaches, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, apricots, plums
soymilk
dairy free margarine - Smart Balance Light w/flax oil and Earth Balance
whole wheat bread
black refried beans and black bean soup (always have on hand)
chick peas (always have on hand)
kidney beans (always have on hand)
Salt Free Diced canned tomatoes (always have on hand)
Pasta Sauce (always have on hand)
Pasta - whole wheat spagetti, penne, cavatappi (always have on hand)
whole wheat pastry flour
herbs - dried and fresh like basil, cilantro (corriander) and rosemary
extra firm tofu
silken tofu
olives - green, black, kalamata, garlic stuffed
and sometimes i buy fake meats like tofurky products (smoked tofurky slices and keilbasa and itallian sausages), LightLife Smart Bacon and Sausage links and Fantastic Foods dehydrated tvp mixes - Taco Filling, Sloppy Joes, Chilli and Boca chickn nuggets.
tortillas
pico de gallo
tortilla chips
potato chips
chocolate chips
And I always have staples like 10 different mustards, ketchup, salad dressing, flour, sugar (brown and white) organic fair trade coffee, tea, vinegar (white, cider, balsamic), salt, peppercorns, tahinni, peanutbutter, jam, maple syrup, etc.
Since my last post on here (xwitchymagicx) my diet has changed a lot so I'll make a new list:
Brown Rice
Soya Milk
Butter
Main Vegetables (mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, spinach, cucumber, potatos)
Frozen Vegetables (peas, broccoli, onion)
Soya Chunks
Variety of Herbs and Spices
Nori Flakes (seaweed stuff)
Vegetable Stocks
Gluten Free Brown Seeded Rolls
Rasperry and Vanilla Soya Yogurts
Legumes (butterbeans, chickpeas, pinto beans, kidney beans)
Gluten Free Soya Sauce
Variety of nuts and seeds
Green tea
Hummus
Then, I just buy any extras I need.
Me to, there just so expensive though I can't.
I apologize if this has been answered in another thread (i'm sure it has, but i didn't have much luck searching for it...).
Is there any sort of vegan "rule of thumb" list for getting essentials that aren't typically found in plants and veggies? i've already taken note of b-12 and omega-3... are there any other important vitamins/minerals/etc that i might be inadvertently missing? I want to make sure i cover all my bases when molding my new eating habits.
Hay spOOki, As a long-term vegan, I'd say that there is no rule of thumb list - provided you eat plenty of fruits, veggies, nuts, legumes, and a spoonful of flaxseed oil, etc. That way you won't miss out on anything. One thing I will say though, is that although there are heaps and heaps of books around, one book that is essential and first class reading, is The China Study by Dr T Colin Campbell. You will read it and keep it as a reference for all time. Website at http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html
Eve
Make sure to get enough iodine. I really like the book "Becoming Vegan". It has a lot of health information and is just a really good book on veganism.
Yay! I just bought this book today randomly. I'm past the beginning phase but it seemed to have a lot of good nutritional information that was worth having around.. glad to know its worth the money
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, but eating groupings such as beans and rice (perhaps the most classic), bread and peanut butter, etc. give the same results. Originally it was thought that you needed to do this in the same meal. It now seems eating a variety throughout the week is just as good. Learn new foods that you can barely pronounce (or me spell!) such as tempeh, seitan, tofu, tahini, hummus, dahl, texturized vegetable protein, as well as traditional nuts, seeds, beans, legumes (pulses), grains, soy/nut milk, and others. 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.
Hey all
I was just curious... when you go grocery shopping, what are some of the main things, that as a vegan, you couldn't live without?
When I make the change in a week or so and go shopping, it would be great to have a better idea of what might be useful to have in the kitchen (ie. nutritional yeast - I had never heard of it until I read posts on this forum!)
Have a great day
Bonobo
Hi Bonobo, and welcome
Some of my staples are canned beans - I know dried are better but having canned means you can whip up hummus or a bean pate in no time.
Tahini and good quality nut butters. Tahini for the aforementioned bean pates, nut butters for sauces and spreading on bread and so on.
Good quality olive oil.
Some tofu and tempeh.
Seeds - pumpkin, sunflower and sesame. And flax - get a coffee grinder if you don't already have one to grind them up. Also nuts.
And soy sauce, a must.
Fresh ginger, lemons and garlic.
Miso.
That should be enough to get you started
I try to have frozen and canned veggies ( I buy fresh all the time but in case I am stuck its handy)
theyre good for making stir fries, soups and the like.
I usually have some tofu or soy mince in case I want something more substantial , and I usuauly have some quinoa or noodles.
I also try to have veggie stock and some dressings handy.
Its a good idea to have staples I agree... then you cannot go wrong!
Have a look at the 'waht did you eat today' thread
I don't think my staples differ much from an omni kitchen really -
Flour (strong for bread, plain and wholemeal, self-raising),
Pasta
Rice
Cereals (boxed and oats for porridge)
Jam, marmalade and preserves
Sugar (white unbleached, and some variant on brown)
Pickles
Olives
Cooking oil (sunflower and corn)
Olive Oil
Canned tomatoes
Canned baked beans
Canned soups in case of emergency laziness
Jarred pasta sauce and curry sauce
Chilli and soya sauce bottles
Dried fruit for cake making and snacking
Chocolate!! (I can't believe nobody mentioned that yet )
Condiments and herbs
Vanilla and peppermint essences
In the freezer I always have peas and sweetcorn and indian snacks like samosas and pakoras. Usually some kind of potato product such as oven chips or rosti.
I guess since I went vegan I may have added the following:
Boxed longlife silken tofu - handy if you want to whip up a quick white sauce or chocolate pudding or something.
I always had nuts and I don't really eat any more of them since I went vegan but I now store them in the freezer so they don't go rancid as quickly.
I also have flax seeds which I store in the freezer and add to fruit smoothies.
Hope that's helpful, I have a feeling it was just me rambling on about food
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!
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! 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!
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.)
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
How can they even get away with putting animals in anything and everything!?
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Quinoa
Tempeh
Falafel
Dal
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.
"Do what you can with what you have where you are."
- Theodore Roosevelt
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.
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.
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?But veganism IMO isn't about others prescribing you a list of foods to eat!
Here are some suggestions (in addition to the threads flutterby mentioned):
Favourite vegan sandwich filling/bread spread?
Favorite vegan breakfast?
Favourite vegan food
Vegan dinner ideas
Food you eat really often?
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!
I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.
soya yogurt with cranberry wheats
raspberries
soya choc dessert (alpro)
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