Grocery Shopping Tips

Hi all, and first off, congrats on making the vegan pledge!! I promise that as difficult as it may seem in the beginning, it gets MUCH easier. so hang in there!
I want to start off quickly introducing myself; my name is Katie, and I've been vegan for a bit over 2 years, and was vegetarian for several years before that. I was a vegan coach last year so I'm familiar with the program, but wasn't able to fit it into my schedule this year since we're expecting our first little plant-based baby in just a few weeks :) I wanted to remain a resource though, so feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!

I'll try not to make this too wordy, but I want to be thorough, so stick with me!

I saw that a lot of you were struggling with grocery shopping, which I completely understand, so I wanted to hopefully help out a bit with that. It would be so much easier if there was an all-vegan grocery store, or even just aisle, so you could turn a blind eye to all of the other things that no longer fit your lifestyle choices, but if you go in with a good game plan then it can have some of the same effect. While it can be fun to wander a grocery store and explore once in awhile, the nest advice I can give you is that when you're there to actually buy, PLAN AHEAD! Know what you need, have an idea of where to find it, and ignore everything else; vegan or not, it's not on your list. This is also key if you're on a budget.
We've found that Wegmans makes this incredibly easy. Not only do they have some of the best prices for healthy/organic options, as well as a wide selection, they also label their store brand products that are vegan with a 'V', which makes life so much easier, especially in the beginning when label-reading is a daunting and exhausting task! Even better, if you go online to their website, you can add products to your shopping list online, complete with price and the ability to read ingredients and reviews ahead of time. You can then print out your completed list or pull it up on your phone when you go to the store, and it even divides the list according to the aisle the products are in so that you can get in and out with minimal distraction. Discovering this tool was a complete game changer for our family, both budget and time wise. No one wants to spend 10 minutes reading a single label in a crowded grocery store just to discover 'whey' as the last ingredient.
(Side note: Sometimes I'd find myself laboring through a label, and when I finally got to the end I'd discover it was vegan, but that left me thinking- if there are that many unfamiliar ingredients do I really want to put this in my body anyway? So this can help encourage you to stick to products with fewer, more familiar ingredients that may actually nourish your body!)

Wegmans is our go-to for the majority of our shopping, but we do also frequent Aldi and Trader Joe's. I'm sure most of you have been in a Trader Joe's by now, so I won't spend a lot of time on them, but if you've never been to Aldi or you feel like there's a stigma attached to it, I want to stop you right there! Aldi has cleaned up a lot in the past few years from what I've heard some used to be like, and a lot of the items are the same brand as Trader Joe's, just a different cheaper label. I don't know how we kept ourselves in produce before discovering Aldi. Every Wednesday, they announce new produce specials for the week, and the prices are looooow. Since becoming pregnant I've tried to steer more towards organic produce, but sometimes their specials do include organic and locally grown produce as well as conventionally grown. There aren't a lot of options in Aldi stores, there's usually one brand choice for each food, but that can also help keep you from becoming overwhelmed.

We keep running lists of the items we buy at each store and the prices, to make grocery planning easier for us. (We don't do this for Wegmans since it's all online anyway). I wanted to share some of these with you to give you an idea of what you can find at these stores, and how much you can expect to spend.

Aldi: **their produce prices change constantly so most aren't included

·         Frozen organic blueberries: $2.99

·         Frozen organic strawberries: $2.69

·         1/2 gallon Almond Milk: $2.49

·         14.5 oz Diced tomatoes: $0.59

·         Pumpkin puree: $0.89

·         Tomato sauce: $0.25

·         Natural peanut butter: $1.69

·         Organic salsa: $1.99

·         Cauliflower: $2.29

·         Yellow onions: $1.79

·         Limes: $0.25/ each

·         Onion powder/ all spices: $0.99

·         Pure maple syrup: $3.99

·         Nature's Path Love Crunch granola: $2.99

·         Oats: $2.29

·         Pita chips: $1.99

·         Mangoes: $0.99

·         Organic baby spinach/ spring mix: $2.49

Trader Joes:

·         Bananas: $0.19/ each

·         Medjool dates: $4.49

·         Tempeh: $1.99

·         Vegan mozzarella: $3.49

·         Pizza dough: $1.19

·         Ciabatta rolls (4 pack): $1.99

·         French Baguette: $1.59

·         Dark chocolate bars (3 pack): $1.79

·         Ridge cut chips: $2.99

·         Soy ice cream: $3.29

·         Cream 'cheese': $2.49

·         Cultured coconut milk (yogurt): $1.49

·         Hash browns: $1.99

·         Soy creamer: $1.49

·         Whole grain tortillas: $2.29

·         D'Anjou pears: $0.69/ each

·         4 count Avocados: $2.99

·         Tomatoes on the vine: $2.29

·         Organic tomatoes on the vine: $3.99

·         2 lb Clementines: $3.29

·         3 lb Fuji: $2.79

·         Mandarin Chk'n: $2.99

·         Frozen Waffles: $1.99

·         Coconut chips: $1.99

·         Whole grain pretzel sticks: $1.99

·         Whole wheat fiber bread: $2.99

·         Kale (10 oz): $1.99

·         Organic whole wheat fusilli pasta: $1.39

 I know this was a long post, so if you have any additional questions please don't hesitate to ask! We are one of those weird families that enjoys grocery shopping, and loves to talk about it :)