The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Eating for Kids - M.s.j., Dana Villamagna [51]
This goes for frozen items, too. Many freezer-friendly veg products such as meat substitutes, potato products, frozen ice-cream alternatives, premade vegan kids’ and adults’ meals, frozen fruits for smoothies, and frozen veggies have long freezer lives. Stock up during sales.
Buy Produce In-Season, Local, and Organic
Veggies in season are almost always cheaper. Fruits from a farm in your home state will be much cheaper (and potentially more likely organic) than those flown in from Spain.
Also, consider buying organic when you can. According to the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides,the fruits and vegetables with the worst pesticide coverage are, in this order: peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes (imported), carrots, and pears. If you can, buy these in organic forms. The foods with the lowest use of pesticides are onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, mangoes, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, cabbages, eggplants, papayas, watermelons, broccoli, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.
Do It Yourself
Before you toss premade vegan foods and snacks in your shopping cart, think about what you can substitute or make at home for less dough.
For example, make simple home fries rather than buying frozen french fries. Veggie burgers and other meat analogs can get expensive. Homemade lentil burgers that you can make, freeze, and heat up are more economical—and contain no additives. If you have a garden, homemade salsa from your own tomatoes will likely be much cheaper than the store-bought kind.
Vegan Vocab
Vegan families vary widely on how much they consume meat analogs—plant-based foods that closely resemble animal-based counterparts—such as veggie bacon, burgers, sausages, and hot dogs. Typically soy-based, most are highly processed and some brands, including most Morningstar Farms products, contain milk or eggs. On the upside, truly vegan meat analogs offer a great animal-free way for kids to eat usually meat-based socially mainstream foods.
Check Prices and Coupons
Don’t assume prices will be better on some items in one store than the other. Health food stores may be cheaper on some staples, and mainstream grocers may have better prices on some health specialty items. Keep a little pocket notebook with you to record prices, and you won’t be fooled.
Most coupons in mainstream Sunday newspapers or coupon websites don’t apply to vegan foods. But many health food stores’ own coupon books contain great deals on vegan-relevant staples. And the websites of vegan food companies often have great coupons you can use at any store.
That’s So Vegan
Check around online to find sites that offer coupons and other specials. Here are some good places to start: Silk (www.silksoymilk.com/specialoffers.aspx), Rice Dream and others (www.tastethedream.com), Tofurkey (www.tofurky.com), and WildWood Organics (www.pulmuonewildwood.com/promo.asp).
Pick Your Splurges
What items can you skimp on, and what can’t be compromised? In our Italian home, quality canned and jarred tomato products are a must. The cheaper brands taste too acidic. On busy weeks, you may choose to splurge for the premade hummus and a few night’s worth of premade frozen vegan meals, but forgo prepackaged snacks like crackers, cookies, and ice cream and instead provide your kids fruits and veggies and peanut butter at snack time.
Some vegan kid favorites are maple syrup, tahini, vegan ice-cream treats, and premade vegan kids’ meals, but these can be quite expensive. If you do buy these items, space them out so you don’t need