I'm dad to 3 and stepdad to 2. My partner, the gerbils, and I are vegan. Four of the kids and the dogs are vegetarian. One of the kids, my dad, my stepmother, the fish, and the cats are omnivorous. I think that's everyone.
Upstairs where my partner, the kids, the dogs, fish, gerbils, and I live, I'm the primary cook, probably because I like cooking, and I get hungry first. Or maybe it's because my partner doesn't think to eat until her blood sugar is too far gone to remember how to cook.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Food Shopping, Broke Vegan Style
I find that coupons are almost never helpful when our dietary choices and other restrictions are taken into account. We eat so little from the middle of the grocery store that I couldn't even tell you which aisle has potato chips.
The key thing is that we cook almost all our meals from scratch. I make triple batches of freezable things, like chili, because I take evening courses, and I'm not here to cook. My partner is exhausted by the time she gets home from work and school, and it seems only reasonable that food be easy for her to figure out.
What stores/food sources work for us:
Costco
I'd make the list of what we buy, but most of it is on this other blogger's post:
http://dailykale.com/2012/02/15/a-surprising-organic-and-vegan-shopping-haven-costco/
I go there 3 times a month, easily. It's close to the homeschool enrichment center, and I just work it in when I'm not trying to cram in a grad school assignment during the kids' classes. In non-organics, we also find nuts, more produce, amazing tortillas (they're uncooked - you throw them on the griddle for 30 seconds each side), and more.
Kroger markdowns
We live in the country. Vegan foods aren't high-turnover items at the local grocery stores. We hit two of them regularly - the one near the house, and the one on the way home from the university. On really lucky trips, I've picked up 10-20 blocks of tempeh and packages of seitan for $0.25-$0.99 each, depending on who did the markdowns.
Trader Joe's
The trick here is not looking at the convenience foods, and that's most of them. We fall under the spell, yes, but we try to stick to the real food. We get: more nuts, tempeh, tofu, cheap wine for date nights at home, fruit leathers for Picky Eater (I admit I haven't attempted homemade yet), dried fruits, frozen edamame, gluten-free noodles (for my dad), and, yeah, something fun, like Veggie Pakoras.
Indo-Pak Grocery
Ours has tons of fun food. Interesting legumes (read: not brown lentils), cheap. Interesting flours (read: not just wheat) cheap. Cheap spices. Coconut oil. Crazy produce markdowns - usually things like 15 zucchini that needed to be used yesterday for 99 cents - good enough for muffins. Mangos! During Ramadan, a whole box of mangoes was free with a $50 purchase. We got a lot of tofu that day, because their price is as good as anyone else's, and we used 3-4 blocks a weeks.
Like Trader Joes, there are some fabulous temptations.
Something Better Natural Foods
They're a really great vegan cooperative, and they deliver to our area. We get nutritional yeast, organic brown rice, Braggs, organic popcorn, instant refried beans (another favorite convenience food), oats, sucanat. These are huge quantities, and we end up with a year's worth, so we only have to order once a year.
CSA Share
We used to trade labor for a share, but now we pay for it, because with 2 of us in grad school full time, we don't have the time to add another part time job in.
It's worth it. Supporting our local farmer friend, eating amazing fresh food, and having to be creative when we have a veggie we never met before or a bumper eggplant year is a great exercise.
Veggie Garden
The truth is, we could do more here. But we grow about 80 -100 lbs of sweet potatoes (the dogs' favorite treat), blueberries, raspberries, muscadines, strawberries, tomatoes, chard, and herbs this year.
Foraging
No, I'm not crazy. Lambs' quarters, dandelions, blackberries, and wild onion all volunteer in our yard, and we don't spray, so it's there for the eating. We've also been known to harvest an abandoned apple tree.
The key thing is that we cook almost all our meals from scratch. I make triple batches of freezable things, like chili, because I take evening courses, and I'm not here to cook. My partner is exhausted by the time she gets home from work and school, and it seems only reasonable that food be easy for her to figure out.
What stores/food sources work for us:
Costco
I'd make the list of what we buy, but most of it is on this other blogger's post:
http://dailykale.com/2012/02/15/a-surprising-organic-and-vegan-shopping-haven-costco/
I go there 3 times a month, easily. It's close to the homeschool enrichment center, and I just work it in when I'm not trying to cram in a grad school assignment during the kids' classes. In non-organics, we also find nuts, more produce, amazing tortillas (they're uncooked - you throw them on the griddle for 30 seconds each side), and more.
Kroger markdowns
We live in the country. Vegan foods aren't high-turnover items at the local grocery stores. We hit two of them regularly - the one near the house, and the one on the way home from the university. On really lucky trips, I've picked up 10-20 blocks of tempeh and packages of seitan for $0.25-$0.99 each, depending on who did the markdowns.
Trader Joe's
The trick here is not looking at the convenience foods, and that's most of them. We fall under the spell, yes, but we try to stick to the real food. We get: more nuts, tempeh, tofu, cheap wine for date nights at home, fruit leathers for Picky Eater (I admit I haven't attempted homemade yet), dried fruits, frozen edamame, gluten-free noodles (for my dad), and, yeah, something fun, like Veggie Pakoras.
Indo-Pak Grocery
Ours has tons of fun food. Interesting legumes (read: not brown lentils), cheap. Interesting flours (read: not just wheat) cheap. Cheap spices. Coconut oil. Crazy produce markdowns - usually things like 15 zucchini that needed to be used yesterday for 99 cents - good enough for muffins. Mangos! During Ramadan, a whole box of mangoes was free with a $50 purchase. We got a lot of tofu that day, because their price is as good as anyone else's, and we used 3-4 blocks a weeks.
Like Trader Joes, there are some fabulous temptations.
Something Better Natural Foods
They're a really great vegan cooperative, and they deliver to our area. We get nutritional yeast, organic brown rice, Braggs, organic popcorn, instant refried beans (another favorite convenience food), oats, sucanat. These are huge quantities, and we end up with a year's worth, so we only have to order once a year.
CSA Share
We used to trade labor for a share, but now we pay for it, because with 2 of us in grad school full time, we don't have the time to add another part time job in.
It's worth it. Supporting our local farmer friend, eating amazing fresh food, and having to be creative when we have a veggie we never met before or a bumper eggplant year is a great exercise.
Veggie Garden
The truth is, we could do more here. But we grow about 80 -100 lbs of sweet potatoes (the dogs' favorite treat), blueberries, raspberries, muscadines, strawberries, tomatoes, chard, and herbs this year.
Foraging
No, I'm not crazy. Lambs' quarters, dandelions, blackberries, and wild onion all volunteer in our yard, and we don't spray, so it's there for the eating. We've also been known to harvest an abandoned apple tree.
Leftover Bread Crust Pumpkin French Toast Muffins
Actually, I didn't use pumpkin. I had butternut squash on hand from the CSA, and in an effort to never waste those beautiful and precious veggies, even the ones we don't love, I made this today, after the uncrustable affair.
The basic idea:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil up 24 muffin tins.
Crusts and ends from 3 loaves of bread that have been uncrustabled, chopped into 1" pieces. It filled a large bowl.
Chop a cup or two of nuts, if you like, and toss them in there with the bread.
Can of Pumpkin or equivalent (we had 2 cups cooked butternut squash)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Oats, powderized in food processor or blender.
2 tsp Flax meal, ground
2 cups non-Dairy Milk
1/2 cup Coconut oil, or a neutral oil
1/2 cup Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar.
Throw all but the bread and nuts in the blender and whir it up. Pour over the bread and nuts, and mix in thoroughly with clean hands. Fill muffin tins with mixture and bake 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden and crunchy. Serve with a little maple syrup - like normal french toast, it's not terribly sweet.
I plan to freeze the extras for easy breakfasts.
Uncrustables, cheaper and better
The two of our five kids who attend the local school qualify for reduced lunch. We could feed them for close to nothing, and they sometimes do want the school food (they always choose vegetarian options). But that doesn't work for them every day. Picky Eater would prefer to eat nothing over the options they offer most days, and Little Dude sometimes just would rather have a thermos of lentil soup.
Last night, I went on an uncrustable frenzy. We don't have a press thingy. We did have clearance whole wheat bread that cost 50 cents a loaf, however. And that great Kirkland PB and a ton of overpriced organic jellies that I got on clearance a few months ago. They're usually too rich for our blood.
The way to make uncrustables without a press is to cut out two circles with a wide-mouth canning jar ring. Put a wee dollop of pb in the middle of each circle, and spread it to about 1/2" from the edges. Dollop of jelly in the middle. If the bread is dry (like my day old bread was), moisten one edge with a little water before assembling the sandwich. Press the edges together, all the way around, with a fork.
The kids are vegetarian, not vegan, so I made them some with cheese in the middle, too. American cheese is supposed to freeze well. We'll see. I made a small batch. If Daiya wedges ever go on sale crazy cheap, I'll use them, because even the non-vegan kids like Daiya wedges.
Pics next time I make them, if I remember.
Last night, I went on an uncrustable frenzy. We don't have a press thingy. We did have clearance whole wheat bread that cost 50 cents a loaf, however. And that great Kirkland PB and a ton of overpriced organic jellies that I got on clearance a few months ago. They're usually too rich for our blood.
The way to make uncrustables without a press is to cut out two circles with a wide-mouth canning jar ring. Put a wee dollop of pb in the middle of each circle, and spread it to about 1/2" from the edges. Dollop of jelly in the middle. If the bread is dry (like my day old bread was), moisten one edge with a little water before assembling the sandwich. Press the edges together, all the way around, with a fork.
The kids are vegetarian, not vegan, so I made them some with cheese in the middle, too. American cheese is supposed to freeze well. We'll see. I made a small batch. If Daiya wedges ever go on sale crazy cheap, I'll use them, because even the non-vegan kids like Daiya wedges.
Pics next time I make them, if I remember.
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