Way to go Newski! Good question. But actually, veganism can (and should) be a very inexpensive diet. It's the expensive, pre-packaged vegan products that kill us (vegan burgers, vegan cheese, vegan mayo). What I did was to avoid these products entirely. Instead, figure out how to make your own burgers & cheese substitutes. Get to know your Oriental grocer. You'll find tons of cheap, creative & yummolicious ideas there.
Its hard as hell to find stuff at grocery stores.... Ironically, Im good friends with the people who run the oriental grocer but don't go there because I shop with everyone else in my family (sort of a social thing. Yeah, I still live at home. Mooching until college ends)
As a vegan in college with no money ... I understand. But, it IS possible! Here's half of how I do it: A $20 rice cooker from K-Mart, and a $5 bag of jasmine rice from Wegmans. I can make that $5 bag last for over a HUNDRED meals of rice! It's friggin' HUGE! Then, just buy some soy sauce; Kikkoman's is really good, but strangely, I prefer Bragg's soy sauce. It has a bunch of amino acids in it that are supposed to help you out, but it also tastes better. You'd be suprised when you look in the mirror and you aren't Asian yet. You can also buy huge bags of potatoes for $2 each or so. Big help. Then, just look for common products that are vegan. Salads, sandwiches, iced teas and sodas, chips, pretzels, certain kinds of ramen ... and get this ... Wegman's artificially-flavoured butter popcorn is vegan; it contains NO butter and NO animal-derived products, including lactose and anything in butter. It's all totally artificial. And tastes good too. Now that's what I call capitalism at its finest!
Man, I eat too much damn rice already. I'm going to die from all my rice eating. (you know what sucks is im also an extremely fussy eater...) Oh, and I don't mean to offend, but whats this I hear about not eating potatos?
check out the vegan websites ....do a little googling for recipes.....make sure you get enough calories by adding extra olive oil
What did you hear about not eating potatoes? Yeah, stay away from packaged foods. When I first went vegan, I gained more weight than before and I think it was because my body was unable to properly digest alot of that processed stuff. Rice, vegetables, beans, tofu, and legumes are all really cheap. Look up ways of combining these foods to make sure you get all the proper nutrients.
it really isnt that expensive, all your doing is buying different foods, not like exclusive rareities or anything like that. fresh fruits and veggies are mad cheap though,unless their organic in which case they might be a little more but way worth it imo... and those are what is best for you health-wise probably...dont sweat calories, theres like a large number of calories per gram of fat which is how food packages measure it and most people,even vegans and veggies, have too large of percentage of fat in their diet. i just keep it simple though, im not big on toffutti cheese boca burgers or anything like that which i guess could see getting kinda pricey, give me a slice or 2 of whole wheat bread or an organic orange and im set..
Apparently some vegans won't eat potatoes because they have eyes.... arg.... Never gonna stop me from eating potatoes. I live off of those.
people that wont eat potatoes because they have eyes are not vegans, theyre just mentalists. yeah man, vegan is easy cheap...GO FOR IT!
read deeper into this forum, too. We all like to talk alot and threads get pushed down pretty quickly. here is a great resource for vegan on a budget. Don't forget the FAQ on the first page of the vegitarian forum, too. http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56852&highlight=budget
and Hikky, get some brown rice... it tastes SOOOOO much better. I add just a bit more water, maybe 4 oz, to the cooker.
that would be a joke, believe it or not SOME veg*ans have a sense of humor. The others regard it as an animal product. (blink) (runs)
It's something about potatoes, tomatoes, paprika beeibg in the same family as the tobacco plant and containing something thats not good for you. I'm not totally sure. But that's about health, not veganism...
