How can I be an affordable vegan?

[TheRealMrsH]

I am all about my decision to go vegan. The only thing is I am struggling as far as finding affordable foods. I can't really afford to go to a wholefoods or and organic grocer or really any of those "fancy" places to find my vegan foods. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on shopping vegan at Wal-Mart. We usually don't have much for groceries per month, maybe $200 tops, and I feel like it's all gone far too soon and the food only lasts a couple weeks. Any ideas?

 

[kibbleforlola]

Two words: rice and beans. Easy, can be bought in bulk, and stores well. As for fresh fruits and veg, shop sells.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Stay away from frozen meals and specialty vegan items. Rice and beans are good, as mentioned. So is pasta. Tofu is versatile, and inexpensive, and I think some Walmarts carry soymilk, if you like that. They are also carrying produce now. Costco is another good place to get lots of bulk foods, and they usually have a pretty good produce section. Any fruits you buy in bulk and can't eat before they spoil and be frozen and used in smoothies, and veggies can be frozen too, or made into soups and stews before freezing. Look for farmers' markets too.

 

[TheRealMrsH]

Two words: rice and beans. Easy, can be bought in bulk, and stores well. As for fresh fruits and veg, shop sells.

I never thought about that. I get burned out on most things easily so I try not to make the same thing too often. But i could mix it up with rice and beans.

 

[TheRealMrsH]

Stay away from frozen meals and specialty vegan items. Rice and beans are good, as mentioned. So is pasta. Tofu is versatile, and inexpensive, and I think some Walmarts carry soymilk, if you like that. They are also carrying produce now. Costco is another good place to get lots of bulk foods, and they usually have a pretty good produce section. Any fruits you buy in bulk and can't eat before they spoil and be frozen and used in smoothies, and veggies can be frozen too, or made into soups and stews before freezing. Look for farmers' markets too.

I do a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. My husband works at our local Wal-Mart so we get a discount on produce. Is there an alternative to tofu? I have a hard time cooking it and I don't think it tastes very good. I'm not a huge fan of soymilk but isn't almond milk just as good? I do make a lot of pasta. Is there any good cheese substitutes? I'm willing to venture to a different grocery store to find some items. The soy cheese they have at our Wal-Mart kinda tastes like crap. I have this thing with textures. >_<

 

[Pickle Juice]

Yes almond milk is good too. I've never seen any at Walmart though. I can't think of any tofu alternatives. You don't need to eat it though. I don't know of any good vegan cheeses that are inexpensive. I can't think of any good vegan cheeses period, except a few cream cheese alternatives.

 

[thefadedone]

Almond milk is amazing! The brand Almond Breeze even offers a money back guarantee on their website in case you don't like it. They will also give you coupons when you sign up for their newsletter. Walmart.com has coupons on their website too and some are for vegan friendly items.

There's so many different ways you could prepare rice & beans that are cheap and delicious. Some examples:
refried beans
bean burritos
tacos
bean burgers (mix 1 can beans, 1/3 cup instant oatmeal, couple of tablespoons of mustard and ketchup, spices. Shape into patties and then fry or bake.)
chili
bean salads, bean sandwich spreads
bean stews or veggie curries over rice

There's also a ton of things you could do with pasta and instead of "meat substitutes" you could add beans like lentils to pasta sauce to make it hearty and thick.
Chickpeas are great in pasta salads and mashed into hummus.

Daiya cheese seems to be the most loved vegan cheese, but it's hard to find if you don't have a health food store or a store like Whole Foods. Plus it's pretty expensive.

ETA: Just remembered that Walmart stopped carrying Almond Breeze. They do still sell Silk's Almond Milk which is pretty good as well. You could also find coupons on Silk's website.

 

[TheRealMrsH]

Yes almond milk is good too. I've never seen any at Walmart though. I can't think of any tofu alternatives. You don't need to eat it though. I don't know of any good vegan cheeses that are inexpensive. I can't think of any good vegan cheeses period, except a few cream cheese alternatives.

I like Silk PureAlmond. and cream cheese alternatives? Go on. xD

 

[TheRealMrsH]

BTW thanks for all the tips! I think after a couple months it'll get easier. I'm really hoping, too, that I can share this with my future children. I read about all the benefits of raising vegan/vegetarian kids. It's something I'm definitely going to want for them.

 

[Mel]

My Walmart doesn't carry produce. In fact my Walmart is really crap when it comes to vegan selections. They have soymilk and just your basic pasta, rice and beans stuff, but no tofu and certainly no fruits and veg. At one point they had some meatless burgers and meatballs, but they stopped selling them, even though someone (Me!) was obviously buying them.

I really prefer our regular grocery stores. We have Superstore and Sobeys here (I'm in Canada, not sure where you're from), and I find that they have a great selection of veg*n stuff. It's not always cheap, but there are often sales. I understand that you'd like to find stuff where you get the discounts though.

All that to say that I can't really suggest anything good from Walmart, since there's nothing good at ours.

 

[Wolfie]

Squallmart, I mean Walmart, here carries almond milk. I think it's way better than soy.

Dried beans are cheap, come in many varieties, and are so easy to make into soups which freeze well. Not exactly a summer food for most people but I eat bean soup in the summer.

Peanut butter sandwiches are also cheap.

I agree with you eating the same stuff day after day gets old. I end up burnt out when I do this, then splurge and buy food out and spend way too much.

 

[mlp]

If you have Aldi's where you live, they carry almond milk at a good price. With your husband's employee discount at Walmart, though, I don't know which would be cheaper.

If you have any Asian markets in your area, they are good places to shop for spices, rice, different grains, tofu, etc., inexpensively. (And yes, it took me years before I liked tofu - there are tricks to preparing it. But there's also no rule that vegetarians need to eat tofu. )

What kinds of foods do you like to eat?

 

[TheRealMrsH]

If you have Aldi's where you live, they carry almond milk at a good price. With your husband's employee discount at Walmart, though, I don't know which would be cheaper.

If you have any Asian markets in your area, they are good places to shop for spices, rice, different grains, tofu, etc., inexpensively. (And yes, it took me years before I liked tofu - there are tricks to preparing it. But there's also no rule that vegetarians need to eat tofu. )

What kinds of foods do you like to eat?

We do have an Aldi's but it's in a different town than where I work. So I'm not near it often. We don't get the discount on regular groceries but it makes up for it with the produce. That's why I buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies.

As for your question. I will try pretty much anything at least once. That's how I discovered I hate tofu cooked but love it in smoothies. I like a lot of fresh steamed veggies. And rice. And pasta. And, well, just about everything. It just depends on what I'm in the mood for. I know I'll miss some foods. But sometimes you can't fake the real stuff like cheese and hot dogs (I tried the fake ones and about lost it. Nasty.) But I know substitutions cam be made to ensure I get my nutrients.

 

[Wolfie]

If you want any of my bean soup recipes let me know. One is 16 bean and one is black bean soup so they taste totally different. I also have soup recipes with barley and lentils. Also a great recipe for black bean and sweet potato burritos.

 

[das_nut]

Beans. Lentils.

If you can find it, vegan hummus mix tends to be cheap.

Tofu isn't badly priced compared to meat. Seitan can or cannot be expensive, it depends on the place.

 

[SummerRain]

Everyone else has great suggestions - I'd save faux meat/cheese products and ready-meals for occasional treats, and cook from scratch using cheap vegetables (depends on your area, but here carrots, potatoes, brocolli, cabbage, peas, etc are all cheap, aubergine, okra, green beans, etc are all quite expensive) beans (if you buy dried and cook them it's much cheaper as well, rather than tinned), rice, lentils (again if you buy dried they're very cheap, versatile and good for you) and pasta type foods.

If you're not used to cooking a lot from scratch, I'd recommend cooking a big batch of foods and freezing them - especially beans and soups (which can be really cheap, tasty and good for you!) which freeze really well. Pasta, rice and cous cous salads can be made and kept in the fridge to eat throughout the week for lunches. Also if you have any leftovers, put them in tubs and freeze them or keep them for lunch tomorrow !

I'd also make my own cakes and things like that, as finding vegan baked goods can be both hard and expensive - but baking your own very cheap! Cake actually freezes well, I was surprised at that, and you could even make a big batch of cookie dough and freeze that - I've never tried it but I've seen it in shops so it must work. The nice thing about freezing everything is that you can make big batches without eating the same food for ages, you can just wait until you fancy it

 

[cornsail]

You don't have to eat organic.

You could try cream of wheat. Oatmeal. Dal (if you can find it -- there are quite a few different types). Grits. Bananas/apples/oranges. Rice milk. Almond butter. If you feel brave you can make your own bread, hummus, pancakes and so on. Oils are very cheap per calorie, so if you add oil to things you could get by on less veggies or pasta or whatever.

 

[Lord Snot]

^ Agreed, really no need to spend the extra on organic.

Cheap staples: potatoes, rice, lentils (dals) and beans, if you get dried it works out cheaper

With fruit, only buy what's on offer or going cheap. That means forgoing stuff that is out of season or very exotic, but saves a lot of money.

Produce, grains and beans are among the cheapest foods, what racks up our shopping bills is convenience foods. The most important thing on a budget is cooking from scratch and cooking in bulk so you make several portions at a time.

 

[beancounter]

A good tofu alternative is tempeh.

Too " exotic" for Wal mart , but a few mainsteam supermarkets carry it.

A single package is about $2 which can feed two people for one meal.

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

 

[Digger]

I buy a lot of frozen vegetables, which often have similar nutrition as fresh and can be incredibly cheap as well. I stock up when they are on sale for around a buck a bag. When you consider that you're only paying for the usable portion, a dollar for a pound of vegetables is a great buy, and there's no waste because you only take out what you need and keep the rest frozen.