My Basic Vegan Shopping List…

The hardest part of going Vegan is changing long established habits.

Before my vegan days, my shopping trip would move with the layout of my local shopping market: dairy products, frozen meats and produce, pastas, etc.

Now I make a bee-line for the fruits and veg section.

Here’s a typical list of vegan food that I now buy:

Carbo and Protein

• 4-5 tins of beans (I love Broad Beans)
• a bag of potatoes (sweet potatoes add a nice twist)
• 1 x basmati rice (it makes me feel decadent)
• soya mince
• nuts (lots of them – pistachios are my current fav)

Vegetables

• 2 x containers of olives (I like them piquant)
• 5x avocados (These are really great for peckish days, leave them in the sun to ripen)
• half a cabbage
• 3 x Green leaves (any, but butter lettuce is yummy)
• 3 x Zucchini
• 1 x each red and yellow pepper (I don’t like green pepper all that much)
• 20 x tomatoes
• 5 x onions
• 1x clove of Garlic
• 2 x aubergines
• 2 x cucumbers
• carrots
• celery

Fruit

• 10 x Bananas (Many for my breakfast with peanut butter, see below)
• 2 x small Papaya
• 2 x Mango (these are so lush, I feel naughty eating them )
• 3 x Apples
• 1 x lemon

(I particularly enjoy these, but also any other seasonal fruit)

Condiments

• Soya Sauce
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Peanut butter (I eat about one jar every week – my quick-fix breakfast is a banana with peanut butter smeared on it! Yummy!)
• Honey (I eat it. I feel no animal cruelty is involved in it’s making and it’s incredibly healthy!)

Treats

• Sorbet for the summer
• A vegan chocolate spread
• Crisps made without milk protein or whey
• 100% Fruit juice (I’ve sworn off coffee, so this is a must in the morning)
• Vegan wine and beer

What are your favourite vegan groceries? What did I leave off the list?

Non-Vegan Products (that you’d not suspect)…

The number of products that use animal products one way or another, makes me realise how factory farms have become such a norm!

Here’s a list of products that you might be surprised to find use animal products:

1. E471

This is an emulsifier made generally from hard fat, such as pork lard or beef dripping.

It’s used in soooo many food products, very often in chips, such as those beloved Pringles, and ice creams.

Sweet Banana Frost-Bite Recipe

A sweet recipe for bitter times

Being Vegan is hardest when things are not going perfectly.

This is when every addictive and dependent bone in my body screams for ice cream, chocolate, cakes… the list really does go on.

But it’s important to remember at these moments that bad things get better, and hanging onto your chosen life style is often the one thing that can get you through the rough times.

But… if the call for ice cream still makes your teeth ache, here’s a great substitute recipe: