Vegan Grocery Shopping

The Challenge

Grocery shopping for any new style of eating can be a challenge. Why? Lots of reasons. We like what we know. We shop hungry. We're unsure of cost. We don't know where to start.

The Solution

You need a game plan.

1. Get used to the unknown. This space can be beautiful if you allow it to harbor your creativity. Buy weird veggies. Try things you didn't like before. Pair it with things you already love. Check out Pinterest! Ask a friends for ideas.

2. Eat before you go shopping! Shop with a coffee/water/hot tea. Shopping while sipping will keep you from feeling overly-drawn to the junk food isle.

3. Prepare to under-spend. We're so used to thinking that eating healthier options is going to be super expensive. I used to spend anywhere between $100-$145 on a week's worth of groceries. Now, our delicious, healthy groceries equals about $60-$70. Depending on if I buy extra things like kombucha or multiple vegan chocolates or wine, or how many day's worth I'm getting. (We save a LOT of money by having a venison-stocked freezer.) That's about a tad less than $10 per day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks!

4. Start small. Don't be afraid to take two trips to the store the first week. You'll get a better feel for what you eat during the week. What you don't use, don't waste! Freeze it for future use.

Below is what I typically end up getting for seven day's worth of groceries, for two people.

Sample Grocery List

Spaghetti Squash

Acorn Squash

Yellow Zucchini

Green Zucchini

Long Carrots

Asparagus

Spinach

Tomatoes

Cucumber 

Onion

Red Potatoes x 2

Portobello Caps x 4

Small Mushrooms

Celery

Avocado

Sprouts

Basil

Cuties x 2

Pineapple

Bunch of Bananas x 2

Apple x 2

Lemon

Lime

Ginger Root

Daiya Shredded "Cheddar Cheese"

Loaf of Vegan Bakery Bread 

Almond Milk

Chocolate Almond Milk

Bag of Frozen Mixed Berries
Tofu

Vegan Asian Rice Noodles

Vegan Spaghetti

Vegan Chocolate

Pecans

Pine Nuts

Hummus

Quinoa

Can of Black Beans

Can or Corn

This list covers breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, and leftovers for a full week. Later on I'll be posting some recipes and photos that go with the sample grocery list. Stay tuned!

Disclaimer:

1. Plan on eating more frequently than you would have before. This won't necessarily mean planning multiple, fancy meals throughout the day. You will exhaust yourself. This just means, make larger quantities. For example, plan on making at least one meal a week a huge pot of soup. This doubles as your lunch, or even another night's dinner. Also, plan on healthy-snacking a lot.

2. There are a few vegan things I ALWAYS have on hand, so I don't include these in the above grocery list. Plan on having easy items like Amino Acids (soy sauce), pre-pressed garlic in olive oil, extra virgin / first cold pressed olive oil from Italy, sun-dried tomatoes,  oats, and vanilla. I also keep curry powder, sesame seeds and sesame oil on hand.

xo