New Vegan & in college
Posted by MMSpringer on Dec 30, 2010 · Member since Dec 2010 · 1 posts
I have been a vegetarian for a little over half a year now. I ignorantly assumed that dairy and egg products were fine to eat, until I actually did my research. Now I'm starting a vegan life style & I'm currently in college. So any tips on living vegan on a budget would help.
Also on finding supermarkets locally that sell vegan dairy substitutes.
Thank you guys so much!:)
Best cheese = Daiya
Best milk = Silk
Best butter = Earth Balance
(these are just my opinions, though)
Soy products are great, but beware of the ones that use GMO soybeans. (genetically modified) A lot of products are starting to list NON-GMO on their packaging, so that helps.
A great documentary to check out (if you have Netflix you can find it there) is Food, Inc. It is the one that helped me decide to go full-on vegan. Also, try Change Your Diet, Change Your Life by Vegan-Gal, you can find her at Vegan-gal.com and she gets into the nutrional side of veganism.
Best of luck to you! You have made a great choice for yourself as well as for the animals!
i agree with kellymichelle, except that i love almond milk so much more than soy.
Welcome to VegWeb! Good luck to you!
Welcome! & Congrats on healthy changes! :)
Do you live in a dorm, or do you have basic kitchen access? For me, the best budgeting help is to buy staples in bulk & make stuff from scratch, but that's more tricky with dorm living... with a microwave, hotplate, & blender, though, you can still make a whole lot of cheap vegan stuff: pasta, smoothies, sauces, hummus, cashew cheez, oatmeal, couscous, instant brown rice, quinoa... carrots, onions, potatoes, & firm types of apples keep well without refrigeration, & are very versatile & inexpensive... there's also canned beans & chickpeas, canned tomatoes & salsa, raisins, peanut butter, peanuts (read labels! I've found gelatin in some brands, grr!), sunflower seeds, graham crackers (read the labels here, too! many have nonvegan stuff), pretzels, crackers, etc... When I'm traveling & don't have good kitchen access, 2 of my favorite things are agave/peanut butter spread (on vegan rolls/ bagels/ graham crackers) and nooch spread (nutritional yeast, olive or walnut oil, Bragg's or soy sauce, dash of hot sauce/ dash of red wine vinegar, & water to make a spreadable consistency), on tortilla rollups/ as dip for pretzels or crackers... both these are pretty cheap/ pretty tasty/ pretty nutritious, & don't need refrigeration. A basic bread machine and crock pot are really helpful tools also-- maybe you could hint for these as birthday presents or something!--flour & yeast are much cheaper than vegan bread from Whole Foods (or whatever), and crocks are great for cooking (supercheap!) potatoes & dried beans/ lentils/ chickpeas/ split peas/ etc...
Anyway--glad you've found VegWeb, early in your transition to vegan eating... it's a great resource! glad you're here!
Welcome to VW! As a fellow college student, I share your pain.
I ended up moving off campus to take better control of my diet. Do you live in dorms, or have access to a kitchen?
I found that while I was still in the dorms, the chefs in dining halls were fairly accomodating. Go right to them, not management and explain your diet. They may just go out of their way to help!
I am newbie in this forum and glad to join
Based on your profile, there's a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods nearby.
TJ's is a much better value. It will have unsweetened vanilla almond milk (excellent schtuff). TJ's also has a really good price on agave syrup (the raw kind tastes best). They have a little in the way of vegan fake meats, depending on your cravings during the transition. I think they have vegan chicken nuggets in the freezer section and Tofurky Italian Sausage in the refrigerator section. They also have Eggless Egg Salad, which is pretty good if you like tofu.
Shop at TJ's first and then go to Whole Foods / Earth Fare to buy things you can't find at TJ's.
Whole Foods / Earth Fare: If you want to make something that's creamy and savory, you'll likely need plain unsweetened milk (I think almond tastes best). Each Whole Foods buys items independently, so the prices are high (no volume chain discount that gets passed on to us). I'd also check out Earth Fare. I'd bet they have similar prices. The small health food stores have equivalent prices to Whole Foods and I like shopping at locally owned businesses.
Here's a site that has recipes and video cooking demonstrations -> Everyday Dish
I am also wanting to go vegan. I am new to this site. But I have been vegetarian for 5 years. My husband is not.
But there is a question that I have That my husband is concern about. I am nursing (breast feeding) my 6month old and my husband thinks it will be bad for the baby if I go vegan right now, because she or I might not get the right amount nutrition.
Has anyone on this forums ever had problems with nursing well being vegan? I eat very well, but I don't take any vitamens. Never needed to.
Thanks, and I love this web site it has so many good recipes.
I am also wanting to go vegan. I am new to this site. But I have been vegetarian for 5 years. My husband is not.
But there is a question that I have That my husband is concern about. I am nursing (breast feeding) my 6month old and my husband thinks it will be bad for the baby if I go vegan right now, because she or I might not get the right amount nutrition.
Has anyone on this forums ever had problems with nursing well being vegan? I eat very well, but I don't take any vitamens. Never needed to.
Thanks, and I love this web site it has so many good recipes.
I think you should totally ask this question in the 'Stroller Derby' forum... I know there are folks here that have combined the two (nursing & planteating) very successfully... more of the folks who know the relevant info you're looking for would see it there. Here's one viewpoint, from a source I respect: http://vegrd.vegan.com/pages/article.php?id=922... Just do some independent research and (unless your hubby's a nutritionist!) take his opinion with a grain of salt-- it's very likely that he has no idea about what the nutritional requirements for a nursing infant or mother actually are-- so go to sources who do. That'd be my approach, anyway... best of luck on your research & culinary adventures!
contrats and good luck on your transition. i'm a college student too, but no longer in a dorm, so i can cook again ((thank God))!
The microwave was seriously my best friend when i was dorming. Peta has a great cookbook for quick, easy meals, aimed towards college students:
http://www.peta2.com/cookbook/
Most of the recipes are simple. Best wishes!
Heya, a quick tip if you're looking for a meal to subsist on as you continue to diversify and learn about your new diet - Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice is a pretty good value for the ~$2 I get it for - if you have access to stovetop cooking. Peanut butter is another simple, cheap staple. If you haven't gotten into hummus yet, you may want to - especially if you can make it yourself (it's truly easy and there are tons of recipes for it here, but you could buy some from the store to try it out for yourself.)
I'll cause a little chaos and toss rice milk in the pot of suggestions for milk, as it is my personal favorite. I also enjoy some canola oil based margarine by Canoleo (http://www.sbamerica.com/Canoleo/canoleo.htm as my preferred butter substitute - I felt that Earth Balance tasted pretty chemical-ish.
I'll also suggest staying on top of a daily multivitamin especially now as you're figuring out more than ever what you can eat and what you need to eat, as a good buffer.
Hope this helps!