Newbie vegan shopping - weekly essentials?

[CupOhTea]

Hello!

I’ve decided today that I am not buying any more animal products for myself. I will eat what I’ve got in already, but when I do my next shop, next week, it would be good to have an idea of what to have in?

Any guidance much appreciated .

B12 supplements
One pot dishes are perfect eg butter bean or chick pea tomato and vegetable sauces, with couscous etc, soups etc. I use olive oil.
Tins of chick peas, kidney beans, butter beans , cannelin beans, tomatoes, lentils. Tesco and suma are good.
Buy or make Hoummus.

If you join Veganuary they will send you daily emails with bite-sized bits of info and three easy recipes. That was the perfect format for me.

Thanks for all of this! I am just making a veg packed curry for our dinner later. I still have a lot of stuff to use up, but I feel a lot more confident planning some vegan meals now .

Oatly Barista milk is the best for coffee, but because I'm the only one drinking it, I never get through a carton before it starts to separate in the coffee after a week or so.
£1.80 a carton is expensive, but i suppose its still cheaper than having a single Starbucks.

Made a damned delicious tofu in spicy peanut sauce in the slow cooker. Dh ate loads .

I’ve got a pretty good list for next week too. Thanks again everyone!

Why aren’t you having wheat? Calories? Is that why you’re going vegan? I’d be wary of cutting too much.

I lived on hummus when I had a vegan diet. Nuts. I have a sweet tooth so also had a lot of vegan chocolate - Vego bars are amazing but expensive. Lizi’s choc granola great.

I am coeliac and try to cook healthily from scratch, which led me to the Oh She Glows website - she does great plant-based food (she is vegan but doesn’t feed her kids 100% vegan so has taken a lot of grief online and now just describes herself as plant based I think is the right way to describe it.) she does a great easy curry, chili, nut loaf, sweet stuff and this which I really loved:

ohsheglows.com/2017/11/10/cheesy-lentil-bolognese-casserole-celebrating-9-years/

She does a lot of cashew cream and cauliflower/yeast creamy sauces etc.

I avoid too much wheat (not always successfully) for medical reasons. But tbh, I think I’m probably fine to have it now. Pasta isn’t my favourite thing anyway. If I’m having wheat, I’d probably go for some amazing bread.

I’m going vegan for ethical reasons. I really don’t expect to lose weight by going vegan.

Ah thanks for that clarification re vegan vs plant based! I’ll make sure not to call myself vegan in public.

Or at all!

That’s cool and your business but helps narrow down recommendations :)

Black bean chilli is always good so I stock up on black beans if ever on offer.

Ooh don’t think it’s a snub from me, I’m not vegan but trying to be inspired to be more plant-based for the sake of the planet plus think we’ve gone more than far enough with intensive animal farming.

I think she got a REALLY hard time though, as have other gurus, for ever straying off the path. Veganism has some very passionate (not to say aggressive at the extreme) advocates, and when between her and her non-vegan DH they decided they would bring up their DC somewhere in the middle with the right to choose, it made some online warriors very angry. Hence the ‘plant-based’labelling.

Yeah, I’ll steer clear of that whole hornet’s nest then... plant based is probably more accurate.

@CupOhTea ooo recipe for the tofu in peanut sauce would be nice sounds amazing and I need more vegan slow cooker recipes.

No worries! I’ll post when I get home .

Tofu with spicy peanut sauce:

675g extra-firm tofu (I didn’t use this much and was fine - I used a pack of Tofoo & a half pack I had in my freezer)
85g smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp rice vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 chillis (I used flakes)
350g spinach leaves (I forgot to add these, although I had them 🤦‍♀️)

• slice tofu into 2.5cm chunks and dry with kitchen roll
• fry in batches in vegetable oil (I used olive)
• mix sesame oil, ginger, chilli, garlic, soy, sugar, vinegar, peanut butter, lime juice in slow cooker, then add tofu and stir
• cook on low for four hours, adding spinach 15 mins before the end

That tofu with spicy peanut sauce looks delicious - I don’t have a slow cooker but will try it on the hob on a low heat and see what happens

@Nydj

Yeah, I bet that would work just as well, if not better.

The 4 hours cooking time might be a bit annoying for some people, as you can’t exactly go out to work and come home to a cooked meal like you can with some slow cooker recipes... I imagine it would be quite quick on the stove.

Hi. I became vegan in January after 30 years of being a veggie.
Fortunately, lots of what I like (jacket potatoes, ratatouille) is vegan.

The M&S plant range pizza has helped with the cheese withdrawal. I tried a Waitrose vegan pizza and it was disgusting. I also bought a cream cheese recommended (Veola?) But didn't like it.

Now I have hummus, guacamole (check the label though as some contain milk and I was also told avacadoes aren't strictly vegan ) peanut butter - none of which are slimming!

I swear by Oatly Barista too.

I used Vitalite for a while but have since discovered M&S vegan sunflower spread.

I struggled over this half term with sweets and chocolate so bought some vegan brownies and cupcakes.

I have found buying vegan products is expensive. The same £2.50 vegan pesto is inly £1 for the same non vegan version. The cupcakes were double.

I think if you can steer clear of those 'fakes' it won't be as costly.

I do struggle with snacks a bit so buy olives, crackers (check as some contain dairy). I really miss cheese, if anybody has some top tips.

Now trying to sort my toiletries. I headed for the Body Shop until.I realised it was closed!

I am now replacing toothpaste, soap, deodorant, perfume, makeup etc with Superdrug versions, though defeats the object when my hairdresser uses dye/spray most probably tested on animals. Or the Nurofen for my headache...or my cat food pouches - but I'm trying!

Also got reasonably priced vegan footwear from M&S.

the avocados aren't vegan thing is a myth if you look into it :)
I thoroughly recommend Nutcrafter cheese. Expensive but delicious and you only need a small bit to get a cheese fix

Great thread!

Well done and welcome! Thanks for the peanut tofu recipe looks yum :)

My shopping list is usually:

Rice
Pasta
Couscous
Cereal
Almond and oat milk
Flora buttery or naturli
Peanut butter
Pistachios
Seeded bread
Oat cakes
Red Lentils
Baked beans
Kidney beans
Chick peas
Mushrooms
Peppers
Sweet corn
Peas
Broccoli or kale
Salad
Tinned tomatoes
Chips
Sweet potato chips
McCain frozen baked potatoes
Bananas
Apples
Strawberries when in season
Soya cream
Lloyd grossman pasta sauce
Mexican Chilli sauce
Sweet chilli sauce
Curry paste
Humous
Vegan mayo
Soy sauce
Vinegar
Maggi
Salt/ pepper/ herbs
Stock cubes
Nakd bars
Vegan Quorn chunks or similar
Vivera steak/ squeaky bean nuggets or similar
Vegan pizza
Violife or similar
Vegan magnums or Ben and Jerry’s or jam tarts or Freaks of nature sticky toffee pudding or Bourbon biscuits- some kind of treat food

That will do me a month with a fruit/ veg/ bread top up.