"Products"
Posted by Anonymous on Jun 26, 2007 · Member since Dec 1969 · 11789 posts
Being a new veggie I was wondering if anyone could so suggest CHEAP alternatives to various foods and your favorites. This is kinda wierd my first post ever yay me!
P.S. Also how come no one reviews anything in the products tab on the top of the page?
P.P.S Is any one else who is like... addicted to this website
thanks anyone else have super duper suggestions so i can "comparison shop"
brownie stars to you pretty in punk
a better question is: who isn't addicted?
what stores do you have around you? i do the majority of my shopping at trader joe's which is relatively cheap but i am not very into their produce section (i hate that it is all prepackaged). I eat a lot of nuts/tofu/seitan(homemade b/c otherwise it is VERY expensive)/beans(again, homemade is cheapest)/tempeh for my protein sources. most of the meat analogs are costly but occasionally i get tofurkey or veggie dogs from trader joe's. Other than soy milk i don't really both substituting dairy. the cheeses all suck (i make my own 'sauce' sometimes... ). you can get some ok yogurt, for a while i was buying the big cartons of silk plain. ummm... i make my own hummus which is cheap and tasty. Pasta, cous cous, rice and quinoua are good grains.
i also eat a lot of sandwiches and cereal.. usually my grocery bill isn't too bad.. i'm on a college budget.
im from ct and shop at tjs and whole foods
thanks
If "cheap" is important, you should avoid packaged, processed food. It's also healthier and you can control exactly what goes into it. Try to make your own burger-type things from beans or mushrooms and multi-purpose nutritional yeast/cashew cheese (try Dragonfly's). This site is a great help for making whatever you want from scratch. You shouldn't worry too much about replacing what you used to eat, trying new whole foods is one of the most exciting and rewarding things you can do. Good luck :}
Welcome!
Soy milk: Make it with my Soyabella machine with dried soybeans from a local HFS (No Whole Foods around here). Definitely saves money! Plus you can make rice milk and raw nut milks (if you're into that sort of thing).
Butter: Earth Balance (Though you can use Smart Balance Light for a lot of things. There's a thread or two on this...)
Meat analogues: I don't go out of my way to eat these, but I will admit that I pick up that stuff when it goes on sale for those days that I'm too moody to cook. Gardenburger tastes the best, I think.
TV Dinners: Yeah, I don't eat these too often either. Amy's are pretty good, though a bit pricey. Definitely check a HFS as they almost never seem to go on sale at regular supermarkets.
Cheese: I'm technically lacto-ovo, but I rarely eat the stuff as I am lactose intolerant (So why am I still lacto-ovo? *sigh* Don't ask). I actually kind of like Follow Your Heart Mozzarella, though not everyone cares for it. I haven't tried Dragonfly's cheese yet, but I've been meaning to - I've heard it's fabulous.
Yogurt: I like Silk Best, and I don't mind Whole Soy Co. I can't stand the Stoneyfield O'soy. I haven't tried making yogurt yet, but I've read that it's easy to do.
Egg Subs: Tofu for scrambled "eggs." Ground flax seeds (from HFS bulk section) and the good ol' baking soda/baking powder/vinegar combo for baked goods.
Ethnic markets are good places for some beans (Indian and Middle Eastern Markets), rice, soy sauce, and specialty items (rose water, vegetarian oyster sauce, different kinds of miso, etc.). I'm not sure what Whole Foods prices are like, but around these parts the food co-op and the farmers market are the best places to get produce. Nuts are pretty reasonable from HFS bulk bins.
Good luck!
Being a new veggie I was wondering if anyone could so suggest CHEAP alternatives to various foods and your favorites. This is kinda wierd my first post ever yay me!
P.S. Also how come no one reviews anything in the products tab on the top of the page?
P.P.S Is any one else who is like... addicted to this website
You might want to join Transitional Veggie yahoo group as well so you can look at the resources for beginning veggies that we are trying to accumulate so you don't have to search all over the web for them. I am **not** suggesting that you not post here at vegweb. Most of our members are also part of vegweb too. I just think and hope that you'll enjoy it there, too
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transitioning_veggie/
Soy milk: Make it with my Soyabella machine with dried soybeans from a local HFS (No Whole Foods around here). Definitely saves money! Plus you can make rice milk and raw nut milks (if you're into that sort of thing).
You have a Soyabella! Maybe you could add your experiences to this thread to help out those of us who are still on the fence: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=15443.0
Yogurt: I like Silk Best, and I don't mind Whole Soy Co. I can't stand the Stoneyfield O'soy. I haven't tried making yogurt yet, but I've read that it's easy to do.
Good luck!
Thanks for the warm welcome Issaspiders and everyone else I have to agree I tried the O'soy and I can't stand it thats why I posted for some help