8 Ways to Vegan Power Your Fridge
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I love housework almost as much as I love subzero temperatures. Which is to say, not so much.
This natural distaste for spending any time tidying (instead of romping in big earrings and rain slickers across an English countryside, you know) transfers over to Cheeky Kitchen. I always worry that I’ll bore you when I set about the work of chores.
We want recipes! We want food! Show us pictures with sprinkles!
You and me, baby.
However, the process of switching from a mainstream Western diet to that of a plant-based, family-friendly pantry and dinner menu does require a bit of maintenance. We can’t just have all fun and fluff, can we?
Of course we can. But that’s beside the point.
As I was preparing our kitchen to become a mostly vegan kitchen, one in which children would still gather and be fed addictable after-school snacks, I furiously scribbled down lists of new ingredients, items, and food that we’d need to hertofore and foreafter store in la casa.
To save you from having to jot a similar list down, I wanted to share a few of these items that made our transition to vegan eating significantly easier than it would have been with an understocked, underprepared pantry.
Following you will find 8 easy-to-obtain ingredients which I believer are the first step to transitioning your home to a less-animal and more-planty protein diet. The total cost for this entire list will ring you about $40, but keep in mind they will last you a while, too.
As the weeks move on, I’ll continue to offer up a few pantry list ideas. Changing the way you cook and the way you eat can seem daunting, but doing it a little at a time is actually quite doable. This weeks list will serve up substitutes for condiments you’re already using, and fill your fridge with a few fast snacks that will keep you on track when the hunger pangs hit. In my experience, there’s not a faster way to go back to your old habits than to stare blankly into a pantry full of stuff you don’t like. Who wouldn’t reach for a donut or box of crackers or handful of steak when such a situation arises?
So, the first step to packing your Frigidaire with some serious veganoploy is to start simple, get snacks, and keep it well stocked with the good stuff.
Here is the good stuff…
Michael Pollan, in his book “Food Rules,” sings praises to butter. I grew up with a grandma who always said “butter is better than margarine,” and in many cases, I believe it is. However, when you’re working on cutting animal-based fats from your diet, the quickest way to get a head start is to keep rounds of Earth Balance butter in your fridge. Available at most grocery and health food stores, Earth Balance Butter Spread with Olive Oil (my fave flavor) is made with expeller-pressed oils, is free of trans fats, and contains no artificial ingredients. It’s a great way to swap a little vegan into your diet without feeling like you’re giving up a thing.
Olive Oil spray isn’t just a great way to prep your pans for vegan baking, it’s also a great way to grill toast, coat veggies for roasting, and lightly sauce pasta without overdoing the fats.
Vegenaise is vegan mayonnaise for big ol’ wimps. No matter who in your family swears that they will never, ever, EVER eat vegan food has got another thing coming. This brand can be found in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods, and swaps right in for regular, egg-headed mayonnaise.
Silk soymilk–the kind in the carton, not the sort sitting on the shelf–is the first best way to wean your family off of cow’s milk. It tastes like candy, swaps in beautifully for regular milk on cereal, and pairs perfectly with a peanut butter sandwich or Homemade Vegan Blondies. One word of caution, I had a reader contact me a few weeks ago, mentioning some disconcerting news about the ingredients in Silk. And tonight, while reading Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, she also mentioned a preference for other plant-based milk like rice or almond milk. Apparently, her research shows a fairly hefty amount of processing involved in commercial soy milk production that you won’t find with other nut or rice-based milks.
Still, I think Silk is the ideal first step away from cow’s milk, and into the direction of vegan-worthy glasses of the white stuff.
So, let’s talk snacks. You need them. They need you. If you don’t have them, it’s easy to grab a candy bar or bag of chips. Grabbing such junk food not only throws off your nutritional intake for the day, it can also cause a massive spike in cravings, bloating, and general crabbiness. No, I am not talking out of experience because I ate a full bag of Cadbury Easter Eggs this weekend.
Yes I am.
To stave off those hunger pains in a healthy, plant-based protein way, I like keeping raw almond butter on hand. If raw is too much for you, go with the roasted almond butter and don’t fight the feeling any longer. Almond butter is typically more expensive than peanut butter, but it’s also generally lower in sugar and higher in rich, filling flavor. We keep it on hand for speedy snacks–whether slathered onto a slice of bread with all-fruit jam, or served straight off a spoon, it’s a perfect ingredient to have on hand for vegan-happy noshing.
You can make homemade hummus, but life can get so overwhelming sometimes. Which is why I try to keep at least two flavors of hummus in my fridge at all times. It’s high-protein, creamylicious, grab-and-go goodness makes a splendid vegan lunch (when slathered on a pita, carrot sticks, or bell pepper slices) or midnight snack.
If you haven’t yet hopped on board the Ezekiel train, it’s high time you found this beautiful brand. The company started with a basic Ezekiel 4:9 bread, which was formed from the ingredients recorded in a verse of the Bible. Upon combining the ingredients, it was discovered that the final bread created a complete protein. I love the bread, but when I happened upon their gorgeous Ezekiel pita pockets, I was a sold woman. In Colorado, I find them in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. They cost less than $2 and make a perfect canvas for almond butter and jelly, hummus, or dinner soup dipping. We always keep several bags on hand to make healthy snacking thatmucheasier.
Basic Vegan Shopping List #1
Starters and snacks. Here are a few first-time vegan foods to begin stocking in your pantry and fridge. Swapping them in for your regular condiments and snacks can make a huge difference in your diet, and prepare you family for a few new foods which support a plant-based diet.
Ingredients:
-Earth Balance Butter with Olive Oil
-Organic Nonstick Olive Oil Spray
-Vegenaise, original
-Silk Soymilk, original
-Raw Almond Butter
-All-fruit, No-Sugar Jam
-Hummus
-Ezekiel 4:9 Pita PocketsDirections:
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Linda on March 1, 2012 at 5:20 am
I haven’t even read your post yet, but I saw the picture of Crofter’s jam and had to tell you we’re addicted to their organic blueberry jam. Oh, my! Pure heaven to me! Happy today:-)
Skye on March 1, 2012 at 10:41 am
This is such a useful list! I do love your recipes, but I also love accessible tips for a plant-based diet. Crofter’s is indeed super yummy. I’m jealous of your Ezekiel pitas, though! I don’t think my local Whole Foods stores sell those, and the Ezekiel regular bread and tortillas are always in the frozen section. Fine for me since I don’t eat a lot of bread and it stays fresh that way, but sort of annoying to have to toast it.
Darn you for reminding me it’s Cadbury egg season! I don’t like most candy but those are my one vice!
Katie on March 1, 2012 at 11:28 am
My husband and I have been losing weight and we’ve found that there are vegan and veggie products that help significantly with calorie counting. We’re partial to almond milk instead of soy but eliminating regular cow’s milk is a biggie because it has cut down on the amount of cereal we eat–a huge factor in our diets when we started measuring portions.
When I do eat bread, I also love the Ezekiel sandwich bread, the blue bag. So many nuts and seeds!
Kristen @ junkyardwhimsy.com on March 1, 2012 at 11:33 am
have you seen this as well?
Forks Over Knives Presents: The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue
Rana on March 1, 2012 at 12:16 pm
I guess this is it, isn’t it? Something just clicked with me and it all makes sense RIGHT NOW. Just like that. We need to make every bite count; every meal, every snack and every treat. Greatly reducing the sugars, eliminating the processed, more raw, more whole, more real. I just friggin’ got it. That’s it. I’m feeling like I’m having a revelation or something. Wow. I’m so doing this. I can’t be concerned with the cost, hopefully by making each bite count, less money will be spent on the bites that don’t count, freeing up money to make the best bites possible, possible. Ha! Oh wow, this feels good.
On another note, I just pulled my last chunk of vegan blondies out of the freezer after pining over them all morning on my walk in the woods with my kids and they are DELISH. There’s a highly addictive quality to them, I think it’s the great coconut milk I chose. HOLY. I may have found my new treat without a cup of butter and 4 eggs.
Thank you. Keep it comin’, I’m ready now.
Kait on March 1, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I never put two and two together re: the Ezekiel bread. Bahaha I feel equally foolish and amazed at the same time!
I absolutely love almond milk…I think it tastes smoother and richer than soy milk personally. Just FYI. If you aremore skim milk people than rice is the way to go! I’d wait, of course, on the other types like hemp, flax, etc until your pallate adjusts more. Or never…since they’re more expensive. Whatever you’d like really! :)
Kait replied: — March 1st, 2012 @ 1:52 pm
PS I love almond butter and make my own bi-weekly. Costco almonds + my food processor = homemade almond butter on the cheap!
Winston on March 1, 2012 at 5:33 pm
My brother an I have wheat, dairy and egg allergies. We found two brands that we LOVE: Sammi’s Gluten, dairy & egg free breads are excellent toasted. Also Rudi’s breads taste awesome toasted (though they have eggs). Both have fantastic flavor and are not crumbly like some of the other breads.
Cathy on March 2, 2012 at 8:33 am
Excellent tips! I just gave up milk for a week and already can’t bear the thought of it… I have found soya milk a great alternative, but will try out other milk alternatives soon. By the way, cashew butter is tasty too!
Skye on March 2, 2012 at 8:56 am
I forgot to mention that my favorite vegan milks are Edensoy extra vanilla soymilk, Tempt hempmilk and Good Karma flaxmilk! Soy, however, is the only vegan milk I’ve found that has as much protein as cow’s milk.
Also- my fave chocolate chips are Enjoy Life brand, which I think Brooke has mentioned before. Amazing and they are vegan and free of the top 8 food allergens!
aly on March 4, 2012 at 10:15 am
Oh I’m so glad I stumbled across your blog. I’m a mom to two young boys and I’m also trying to move us to a more vegan lifestyle. My partner and I have been vegetarians for many years (and we were both vegan for a long time in our late teens/early 20s) but we’re suckers for cheese and ice cream. We do Pacific unsweetened vanilla almond milk and Rice dream original rice milk in lieu of soy or cow’s milk though we’re not straight milk drinkers. We mainly use it in cereals and smoothies. I used to drinks lots of Silk but became concerned about consuming too much soy after reading too much conflicting info on the effects of soy on the body. Do you have any thoughts on that, especially in regards to soy and growing children’s bodies?
Brooke replied: — March 4th, 2012 @ 4:10 pm
Hi Aly-
Thanks for your comment!
My general thoughts regarding Soy Milk and children is my general feeling toward eating…”too much of a good thing isn’t a good thing.” If soy milk become a crutch, a way to indulge in creamy goodness, while avoiding broccoli and mushrooms and nuts and beans, and all the other things that offer calcium and nutrients in a plant-based diet, then I can see how soy milk consumption could begin to reflect many of the adverse effects we’ve been warned about by researchers.
If, however, your kids are drinking down soy milk, almond milk, rice milk…even cows milk…not too much, and not all the time, in addition to eating a highly nutritious plant-based diet, you’re probably gonna turn out some kids that are significantly more healthy (and more capable of navigating a world full of good eating options) than you would otherwise.
Happy Eating!
britt on March 8, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Hi Brooke. We’ve been trying to eat one of your vegan meals and one vegetarian meal a week. Baby steps.
But I’m trying to be open minded and review both side of every argument. I was wondering if you’ve read this article or others like it? http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/#more-1487
It made me feel better about eating some dairy, fish and meat bought from our loving ranching neighbors.
Thank you for your vegan recipes. Yours are the best out there!
Brooke replied: — March 8th, 2012 @ 6:59 pm
Hi Britt,
One of the reasons we are transitioning to a “mostly vegan” diet is because I find it’s too easy to get away from plant-based food when meat is on the table. So, while I always allow my children to choose non-vegan food when we’re invited to dinner or go out to a restaurant, for me, having a plant-based diet focus in my home at dinnertime helps me remember to limit those other foods to “special” occasions. Which is exactly what I think meat should be…an occasional part of a plant-based diet.
Michael Pollan suggests eating small fish, like anchovies and sardines, as well as small portions of humanely raised, grass-fed beef and similarly cared for chicken. I’m always on board with most of Pollan’s research, and definitely believe moderation in all things (and LOTS of organic plants, beans, and greens) is the way to go!
Happy Eating!
Apron Appeal on March 14, 2012 at 5:22 am
Now if I could only figure out how to do all that without soy, legumes/lentils & nuts I’m set.
Brooke replied: — March 15th, 2012 @ 10:32 pm
Coconut milk? Quinoa? Sunflower seeds?
liz on March 15, 2012 at 9:09 am
I’m not vegan, but I like vegan foods and usually eat vegetarian in my apartment…bc I live alone I find that I don’t keep dairy products in the house, but I do like to have some sort of ‘milk’ around for baking etc. You should try Silk coconut milk or the So Delicious version. For me the texture of almond/soy milk feels kind of chalky for some reason and they both have tastes…for me the coconut milk is the closest in texture to skim milk and doesn’t leave an aftertaste or really have much taste at all if you get the unsweetened original version. I like to use the vanilla sweetened version to make coconut milk chia seed pudding…all I need to add is cinnamon and it’s done :)
Cindy on June 1, 2012 at 3:46 pm
My family loves almond milk, and we get the cinnamon ezekiel bread. Yummy
thanks for the list
Bethany on June 4, 2012 at 7:23 am
You are a vegetarian-trying-to-go-vegan girls dream ! I am LOVING your recipes and am thrilled to have found you. Please keep it up… you are turning into my go-to girl!!! Also, I recently bought Ellen Degeneres’s cook’s book – Vegan Cooking for Carnivores – that too is a great rescource. Thanks so much – can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next!
Christian Friborg on November 20, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Once a month I try to buy organic products from Healthy Options. They’ve got good selections. But buying in farms is still a lot better.