Top 10 Money Saving Tips for Going Vegan

At the request of my friend Liz and because I hear it so damn often, this will be a post about how to be vegan and save money. So often I hear people telling me, "Oh, I'd go vegan/vegetarian if it didn't cost so much, but it's so expensive I just can't do it." I want to laugh when I hear this. Are you kidding me? Switching to veganism is WAY cheaper than consuming meat, but only if you are a smart and conscious shopper. Sure, you can go to Whole Foods and purchase pre-made seitan, wheat balls, veggie burgers, polenta, etc. And yes, your shopping bill will be high. No doubt about it. But if you follow these few tips, you'll find you'll be saving money in no time!

Christi's Top 10 Tips for Saving $$ on a Vegan Diet:

1. Avoid fancy specialty items. They're packaging is enticing and their easy to use but they will jack your bill up, so be prepared. We do purchase Tofurkey deli slices on a regular basis and we'll often buy Field Roast. But we know they're more expensive and we can afford it right now. These aren't vital items to be a good vegan cook and you can totally make amazingly delicious food WITHOUT them. I promise :) You can also find recipes that tell you how to make them. Homemade seitan is far more cost-effective than pre-made store bought seitan. Homemade veggie burgers are way cheaper and you don't have to worry about egg whites being included.

2. Plan your meals in advance. Every Saturday I sit down with our cookbooks and pick out 4-5 meals for the week. I write out my shopping list based on these meals and I write down the meals, cookbooks, and page numbers and stick it to the fridge for the week. You're thinking, "I see how this would save time, but money?" But it does! By creating a shopping list around the things you plan to eat for the week, you won't be tempted or even need to purchase things that are not on your list (ALWAYS food shop with a list). You'll also find that you're buying the appropriate quantity of food for you and your family and you aren't wasting food by letting it go bad. If you find that food is still going bad, make smaller shopping trips.

3. The bulk aisle is your best friend (most of the time). For the most part, items in the bulk section will cost less than buying that fancy Bob's Red Mill's bag of polenta (we don't buy his products anymore and you shouldn't either!). Your bulk aisle will likely include polenta, flour, sugar, beans, spices, nuts, and many grains. But make sure that the cost is less. Last week, I wanted to buy a good amount of cranberries to use in my baking. I checked out the price per pound in the Whole Foods bulk section. In the same aisle they sell packaged bulk items, and the packaged cranberries cost less per pound. So goo thing I checked!

4. Beans, Beans, Beans. I know it's a pain in the ass to buy dry beans, but MAN do they cost less than canned. Seriously! So here's what you do...you buy your beans on the weekend and on Sunday afternoon, soak a big batch, boil them, drain them, and put them in tupperware and stick them in the freezer. You're set for a while if you do a good amount and a variety. Beans are an awesome source of protein and numerous vitamins - so eat 'em up!

5. Shop Local. Farmers Markets, road stands, local orchards are a fantastic way to save money. Check out some of my earlier posts with shots of all the food I've gotten for $10. It's incredible and it's fresh and local and so much better for you. Think about how far some of our food travels to get to us, how it's banged around, gets dirty....local food at the Farmers Market traveled up to an hour on the back of a truck and the person who grew that tomato is handing it to you. Fantastic! I don't know why you wouldn't shop there :)

6. Use substitutions in fancy recipes. So your mushroom risotto recipe uses morels which are like $5.99 for a small bag. Substitute! You don't have to use morels. The amazing thing about veggies is how versatile they are. You should use recipes as a guide and not feel tied to them. If your recipe calls for expensive mushrooms, substitute with criminis or white mushrooms and you'll save $3. You have a recipe that tells you to deglaze the pan with red wine but you don't have red wine or can't afford it, use veggie stock or water instead.

7. Choose your proteins wisely. Many people, when they first become vegetarian or vegan, feel that they need to buy meat substitutes to replace the protein they were getting from animal foods. Not true! There are many, many, MANY other sources of protein that, at times, have more protein than the meat subs. Here are some examples of protein content from plant food from Vegan for Life:

• 3 ounces of seitan = 22.5 grams 
• 1/3 cup of soy protein powder = 23 grams
• 1/2 cup of soy beans (edamame, if you will) = 14.3 grams
• 1/4 cup of peanuts = 8.6 grams
• 1/2 cup of firm tofu = 20 grams (firm has a higher protein content than soft)
• 1 cup of soy milk = 10 grams
• 1/2 cup of quinoa = 4 grams
• 1/2 cup of frozen spinach = 3.8 grams
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter = 8 grams

You don't need soy meat alternatives if you learn about nutrition and make smart choices throughout your day. If you understand the nutrition behind it, you'll save a great deal of money! I can't stress that enough - you really need to learn nutrition and make sure you're doing vegan right - you'll save money and ensure your health. Don't be a junk food vegan (french fries and Oreos). 

8. Waste not - make stock. We're getting back into soup season and I cannot stress enough how silly it is to buy veggie stock. Seriously - don't make me come over there to give you a swift kick in the pants. Here's the trick - as you're cooking throughout the week, keep a large tupperware container in your fridge and add any veggie odds and ends - carrot peels, onion ends, avocado skins, kale stems  - you name it, if it's veg, throw it in! Then, at the end of the week, throw all the ends into a big pot with a little olive oil and saute them. Once the veggies are warmed and smelling good, add water, a bay leaf, some fresh ground pepper and 1-2 tsp of soy sauce or Braggs. Cover the pot; bring it up to a boil and then simmer for a few hours. After you turn it off, allow it to cool so you can work with it and strain the liquid into a pitcher or large container you can store in the fridge. Squeeze the veggies to get excess liquid out (it's crazy how much liquid they hold). And now you've got stock for the week to make soups, cook rice and other grains, use in sautés, etc. If you have a composter, throw the veg in. Sadly, we don't have one, but at least we're getting as much food as we can out of the veggies we buy. 

9. Make your own snacks. Snack foods are so tempting to buy. If you're dieting right, you know you need a snack or two throughout your day, but snack foods like granola bars, veg chips, trail mix, etc. can get really pricey. So make your own! Make a nice big batch of granola bars - there are tons of great recipes on VegWeb and there's a great one on The Vegan Stoner. Make your own trail mix by purchasing a some nuts, seeds and raisins or cranberries in the bulk section and then just mix them together. Ta-da! Trail mix. Make your own veg chips - you've got an oven! If you buy kale chips, I will smack you. They are SO much cheaper to make at home and you can do fun things like add a good amount of cayenne pepper and sea salt or coconut...Google kale chip recipes and you'll find tons of combinations. 

10. Set a take-out/dine-out limit. This rule applies to all diets but it's easier when you're vegan because there are less dining options to begin with! Set a rule for your household limiting the number of times you eat out or order take out. Our rule is 2 times per month and we seriously save a good chunk of change. It's hard to stick to this rule when you've got a lot of friends pulling you in all different directions, wanting to dine with you. Don't fret - just suggest small dinner parties at your houses. The setting is more intimate, you can actually hear what people are saying, and there is something so satisfying about cooking for the people you love. In other cities, there are a lot more dining-out options for vegans than in Portland, Maine, but you should still limit your meals out. Think about it, often times the bill for a dinner for 2 is equal to your week's food shopping trip. And you only get one meal out of it. If you don't believe that it will help you save money, start tracking how much you spend, not only on eating out, but record every time you purchase a latte and how much it cost you. It's so easy to drop a few bucks here and there, but then when you track it and look back at your months expenses, you'll be shocked to discover that you've spent maybe $50 on coffee. $50?! That's a food shopping trip providing food for a week! 

So all of these tips are awesome, but maybe they don't answer the question at large - is veganism cheaper than being an omnivore? Well, let's look at the cost of ground beef, pork chops, and chicken.

Average cost of ground beef, per pound, in August 2011 = $3.21
Pork chops, bone in per pound, in August 2011 = $3.65
Chicken, boneless per pound, in August 2011 = $3.25
Tofu, with a price that rarely fluctuates, 14 ounces = $1.69 (365 extra firm tofu)

Ok so, a pound is 16 ounces, so the beef is 20 cents an ounce, the pork is 23 cents, and chicken is 20 cents.  Tofu is 12 cents an ounce. Maybe you don't think that's very much, but it all adds up! And these prices on meat are averages, the region you live in and store you're shopping at can cause major fluctuations. As I noted above, the price of tofu very rarely fluctuates and so we always know how much we're going to spend.

Here's some additional reading if you want more info:

MSN: Go vegetarian to save money
20 Something Finance: Frugality through Vegetarianism - How to Save $2-$3K per Year & the Planet by Moving Away from a Meat - Based Diet
Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson

Lemon and Ginger Tofu with Beautiful Sauce

On Thursday night we tried a VegWeb recipe posted by "carltelefunk" from the UK - Lemon and Ginger Tofu with Beautiful Sauce. The results - fantastico! But we made a few changes.

First - I don't know about you, but I don't have time to think about marinating my tofu for several hours before I cook. It's just not happening with my busy schedule. So first, I started by cutting my tofu block into 8 rectangles and towel drying them (wrap them in paper towels and press). Then I cut each rectangle in half, and then in half again, but at an angle so that I had triangles. Next, I heated up a non-stick skillet (MUST be non-stick!!) and threw in the tofu pieces, allowing them to sizzle. I took a spatula and pressed on the pieces, which allows more water to release and sizzle in the pan. Then I flipped the pieces and let them brown on the other side.

After I had the tofu ready, I removed it from the pan and put the marinade from the recipe into the same pan. I allowed the sauce to come up to a simmer and then stirred in the 6 Tbsp of coconut milk. Then, rather than using composing the plate and pouring the sauce on top as the recipe suggests, I tossed in the tofu and allowed it to simmer for a while. I added in veggies - baby bok choy from the Portland Farmer's Market, yellow bell pepper, and broccoli - and allowed it to cook a while longer so that the flavors combined. Then I served the mix on top of jasmine rice.

It was really really yummy and if I make it again, I'm definitely doing it this way instead of the way the recipe instructs. The only big change I'd make to the sauce is to swap out lemon juice for lime juice. Although it was really good, I feel like lime juice tends to be a little less harsh and will blend in more.

I took leftovers for lunch the other day, in addition to a salad with some local Ariel's hummus and some cantaloupe.

And by the way, friends, you'll notice something new beneath my blog posts - a reaction section. Please take a sec to give me some feedback about my posts! As always, thanks for reading!

Vegan Lunch Time!

Spicy Bean Burger, Sauteed Fiddleheads from the Portland Farmers Market, Mom's Mango Chutney, and Kosher Dill Spears



Lunchtime WIN!

Spicy Noodles With Shitake Mushrooms And Mustard Greens

I knew tonight was going to be a hectic one, so as I was leaving work I jumped onto VegWeb to find a quick and easy recipe for dinner. Ta Da - Spicy Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms and Mustard Greens. We made a bunch of modifications, listen closely:

-Much less rice noodles because 10.5 ounces is A LOT!

-Sans green onions just because we didn't have any

-Dandelion Greens instead of Mustard Greens because Whole Foods didn't have mustard ones

-Serrano chilies because WF didn't have the Thai chilies

-Braggs instead of soy sauce

-Vegan Mushroom Sauce 

-Asian Garlic Chili Paste instead of Sweet Chili Sauce

-No mint leaves

-Added veggies: edamame and broccoli

-Added seitan 

We made it with more liquid so that it was more like a soup and it came out really well - nice and spicy. My fiance didn't like the greens, I of course loved them. I love the slightly bitter taste of them paired with the spice and the sweetness of the carrots. 

I was perusing on of my newest favorite blogs, Vegansaurus, which led me to the blog The Vegan Stoner. This blog is fantastic - all simple, yummy looking recipes with beautiful photos and adorable doodles. The creators are currently working on a cookbook and I'm super excited to see it. We will certainly be trying some of their recipes in the next few weeks! 

Yoga Soup

I simply adore VegWeb and their awesome Facebook page which is updated with recipe highlights several times a week. Often times, when I'm stuck for a recipe, I jump right to the VegWeb Facebook page and check out their latest highlights. The one that most recently caught my attention was a recipe posting for Yoga Soup by VegWeb member "mishkalee." Just look at the recipe's comments section and it's quickly apparent that it's a favorite among many.

I made the soup on Friday night because my fiance teaches a night adult photography course and doesn't get home until 9:30 and I was tired and not feeling great and just wanted something quick and fairly easy. I made a few adjustments to the recipe, adding chopped crimini mushrooms, green onion, collard greens, broccoli, and sesame seeds, and excluding lime juice. I also used our homemade veggie stock rather than a veg bullion. The soup was ridiculously easy to make - I mean, just throw all the stuff in a pot and cook - and it tasted delicious, more like something I'd spent at least an hour on.

Although I don't actually know the nutritional facts for this soup, I think it must be low in fat and in calories. The only thing that bumps up the calories/fat is the veggie potstickers. The potstickers certainly aren't required, but they did add some nice flavor and texture to the soup. I threw 6 into the pot and each of us had 2 in our bowls, but really it didn't add that much. I think this soup will become our go-to recipe for those nights when we're just too tired to think about cooking or we're in a rush. And the great thing is, you can keep playing with it every time you make it by making subtle changes to create new flavors.

Should we serve...pasta?

Tonight my fiance and I have invited his mother to dinner to tell her we're engaged. My family already knows because the live 9 hours away, but my fiance wanted to wait until we got the ring to tell his mom, and well, here we are!

Now, as you may or may not have figured out, we like to cook. And his mom isn't close minded when it comes to food, though it does sound like she's not especially open to eating a meal made from meat substitutes (i.e. Tofurkey, seitan, veggie burgers, etc.). We sat on the couch around midnight looking through VeganYumYum and VegWeb trying to find inspiration. I found that we kept leaning toward pasta dishes, which is what she normally serves us when we visit her house. I think pasta tends to be a default vegan dish. It's easy and filling and doesn't have to involve cheese or dairy. We were leaning heavy towards VeganYumYum's Pistachio Arugala Pesto with Penne and Sauteed Brocolini, when I turned to him and said, "We need to show her that vegan dishes are more versatile and cook something other than pasta."

He remembered when I had made him stuffed peppers when we first starting dating and we agreed this would be a more interesting dinner choice and would show his mom that we don't just eat pasta! My stuffed peppers incorporate quinoa, TVP, salsa, sauteed veggies and bread crumbs. They're really yummy. In addition, we're going to make a nice big herb salad and I'm going to try baking a Mediterranean olive loaf from The Joy of Vegan Baking. For dessert, I'm going to test out a new From Scratch & Sniff cupcake idea - ginger cupcakes with bosk pear filling, dipped in chocolate ganache, topped with vanilla icing. Yum!

I've got a full day of cooking ahead of me so I'd better hop to it. I'll share my stuffed pepper recipe later; I don't normally measure the ingredients so I'll pay attention when I make it today and try to give you some more exact instructions!

Wing it and see what happens!

So I had this container of wheatberries just sitting in my fridge, staring at my every time I open the door, begging me to use them in some exciting way. I was tempted to safely turn to one of my cookbooks or VegWeb, but as I stared into the fridge, just one shelf down from the wheatberries, inspiration was staring me in the face.

There on the middle shelf of our fridge sat a beautiful, round, plump eggplant. I thought, "Now I can work with this!" I rolled my sleeves up and got to work on a beautiful Eggplant-Wheatberry Salad (recipe below). I just ate a helping of said salad for lunch and it was wonderfully refreshing. The contrast of the soft eggplant with the chewy wheatberries was a wonderful combination and the spices I'd sauteed the eggplant in gave the salad an Indian flavor without the spice. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Eggplant Wheatberry Salad with Indian Spices
1 1/2 cups wheatberries
1 eggplant, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 English cucumber
1/2 red pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
~2-3 Tbsp brown rice vinegar
~1/2 cup sesame oil
~1 Tbsp Asian chili paste
~1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
~1 Tbsp cumin
~2 Tbsp turmeric
salt & pepper

*Note: I did not measure anything in this recipe so these are all guestimates.


Saute the eggplant with olive oil, cumin, turmeric, and salt until nice and soft, 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, toss wheatberries, cucumber, pepper, and cucumber. Add eggplant after it's cooled off a little.

In a small bowl, whisk together sesame oil, vinegar, chili paste, brown sugar and some salt. Taste and adjust to your liking. Add to the salad, tossing to coat.

Tastes best if you let it sit over night so that all of the flavors mix and the eggplant marinates a bit in the juices.



P.S. If you're interested in hearing more about my vegan baking excursions, check out the blog for my baking service, From Scratch & Sniff, which is now 100% vegan!

Meat out!

This has been a week of vegan victories! On Tuesday night we invited our favorite vegan couple to dinner to try out VegWeb's General Tao's Tofu - Delish! The tofu came out surprisingly well and was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle and the sauce was wonderfully sweet and spicy.

We made a few modifications - we added a heaping spoonful of Asian Chili Paste to the sauce (we like spicy!) and instead of just serving it with steamed broccoli (boooooring), we sauteed bok choy, broccoli, bell pepper, and onion in the wok and then mixed all of it together with the tofu and sauce. We served it hot over brown rice - yummers!

For dessert, my friends sampled my two newly veganized cookies - Awesome Crunch and Ginger Snap - for my baking service, From Scratch & Sniff. I got some great feedback and was even told that my peanut butter cookie base for Awesome Crunch is delish, by a non-peanut-butter-cookie-liker! FS&S will soon be a completely vegan baking service - watch out for it, friends, it's gonna be great!

On Sunday, we're going with the same couple over to the Pepperclub for the Maine Vegan Meet Out Group's celebration of National Meat Out! The Pepperclub has a 4 course meal at $22 planned for us and we're very excited to make some new friends and try new foods!

All in all, this has been a great week and on top of it all, the weather outside is beautiful today! Huzzah!

Hurrrry! Make some curry!

Lately we've been eating a lot of curry dishes...um, yum. I was surfing Facebook and VegWeb highlighted a recipe for Curry Salad that sounded intriguing so I prepared it two nights ago. I gotta tell you friends, this recipe is a ten star winner! It takes a bit of time to prepare, so don't be in a hurry and keep in mind it'll take you more than one day.

Wheat berries are the second ingredient on the list. Wheat berries? I'd had them in various prepared salads from Whole Foods and other eateries in the past, but I had never prepared them, nor did I even know what they are! So wheat berries are the entire wheat kernel (except for the hull), comprised of the bran, germ, and endosperm. To prepare them, it's best to let them soak in water over night, just as you would dried beans. For this recipe, all we did was soak them over night and use them raw like that instead of cooking them. They have a crunchy, hard texture, almost like a seed, but add wonderful texture to salad, and are packed with fiber, protein, and numerous vitamins.

I was a bit skeptical when the salad called for vegan mayo and yogurt. I HATE normal mayo and am still trying to train myself into realizing that Veganaise is NOT mayonnaise. My eyes see the white, gooey, mixture and immediately think it's mayo (which I sarcastically name "the Satan's semen"). And soy yogurt? I've just never been a fan. BUT - when both of these ingredients combine with Dijon mustard, sugar, curry and chili powder, turmeric, paprika, ginger, salt and pepper....whoa nellie! It's a winner!

We didn't add in the raisins because I'm not the biggest fan and we added two carrots for texture, flavor and well because we recently bought a 5 lbs bag and need to use carrots in everything we cook!

In summary - try this recipe! It's awesome and healthy!

What a crock!

Sunday - I looked at my calendar for this week and felt anxious. A stressful work week, several after work obligations, etc. Something I've learned as I've embarked on this vegan journey is that I cannot just "wing-it" for dinner. I need a plan in place. Whether it's a recipe from our coveted Vegan on the Cheap, something we've made up in the past, or homemade pizza, I need a plan. So I looked at our busiest nights and the nights I thought, "Wow, I am not going to want to come home to cook" and I remembered my faithful old crock pot.

Now I had always thought that crock pots were for cooking meat balls, or sausage, or chili, or beefy stew. But low-and-behold, Vegan on the Cheap's got an entire slow-cooker section and just do a search on "slow cooker" on VegWeb and the possibilities are endless!

My yellow and maroon crock pot, handed down to my from my grandmother, was sitting below a shelf on our kitchen floor collecting dust. This old girl may not be new and flashy with all of the nicer amenities like a timer or alarm, but I knew she'd get the job done. I set my alarm for 6:20am the next day, hopped out of bed and threw a bunch of veggies into the deep marroon basin - onion, carrots, black beans, kale - some spices - cumin, salt, pepper, paprika - 5 cups of homemade veggie stock, and set the dial to low.

9 hours later, I'm greeted at the front door by a hungry crying kitty and an amazing aroma filling every space of our apartment. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to come home to the smell of food that's been cooking all day and know that all you'll need to do is wash the dishes. Exhausted from a long day at work, my boyfriend and I grabbed bowls and ate the hearty stew like Black Beans & Kale Soup while watching LOST in bed. A perfect end to a tiring day.