Top vegan food blogger offers affordable advice
Looking to reduce the animal products in your diet? Ever wanted to try cooking vegan? Are you on a tight food budget? Then this is the piece for you!
I talked with Laura Wright, vegan food blogger and author of an accessible vegan cookbook coming out in March 2017 with Penguin Canada. Wright lives in the Niagara region, and her amazing vegan food blog, the First Mess, has turned heads across the country. Here are some of Wright’s top tips on how to cook vegan for cheap.
Go home-cooked: Wright’s first tip is to base as many meals as you can on whole grains and pulses you’ve cooked yourself, as opposed to buying cans of beans and other pre-cooked options.
“The savings of cooking from dry are significant,” Wright said, noting that extra portions can be frozen to save time down the road. “If you can base as many meals as you can on whole-grain cooked pulses and vegetables, it goes a long way.”
Acan of cooked beans can cost anywhere from $2 to $4; buying dry beans and cooking them yourself can get you considerably more food for the same price.
Save, save, save: Wright suggested saving the water that pulses and grains are cooked in, then freezing it in Ziploc bags to use as a delicious veggie broth.
“Vegetable stock finds its way into a lot of vegan cooking,” Wright said. “Plus, the broth you make yourself will always taste better — and it’s significantly cheaper.”
Tip: Onion and carrot scraps can also be saved and thrown into broth for added flavour.
Plan ahead: One of Wright’s top tips is focusing on meal planning. There are ways to spend a lot of money on a vegan diet, Wright added, but if you’re smart and plan, it’s easy to save money by eliminating meat.
“I won’t snack on something like an expensive boxed cracker if I know I have lots of premade meal options in the fridge,” she said.
Tip: Cook extra portions of each food group for every meal (for example grains, veggies and a protein source) and whip them out when hunger strikes.
Consider a Costco membership: Wright aims to eat local as much as she can, but as a vegan that can be challenging when winter arrives. Enter Costco, which Wright says is “amazing” for saving money on foods such as produce, hummus and nut butters.
“I know you pay for the membership at Costco, but if you are cooking your own meals and not eating out a lot, the savings are pretty significant,” she said. “Just be focused enough to know what you need, and not overbuy or waste food.”
A basic Costco membership costs $55 a year, but if used regularly, savings can top 10 to 15 per cent per grocery bill.
Buy frozen: If you’re looking to save money in vegan cooking, frozen foods can be a great way to go.
“Frozen foods like berries are picked at their peak, flash-frozen and a lot of the nutrients are still in place,” Wright said, noting that Costco is also a great place to buy bulk frozen foods.
Tip: Try using frozen berries in smoothies or frozen greens in vegan lasagna.
Make it yourself: If you have the time to cook foods such a granola from scratch, it can save you a bundle compared to buying the prepackaged versions.
“I see packages of organic granola cost more than $8 a bag — but it’s just oats with a few nuts, a sweetener and a bit of oil to tie it together,” Wright said.
Tip: Buy bulk food ingredients such oats, nuts and grains at discount stores such as Bulk Barn to save even more.
Join a CSA: If you plan to be consuming large amounts of produce, Wright recommends joining a Community Supported Agriculture farm. Typically run during the summer, a CSA has you pay a set fee at the beginning of the season. Then a selection of produce is delivered to you each week.
“In peak season, the amount you receive is impossible to buy at a grocery store for the same price,” Wright said. “If you’re adventurous and not picky about what you’re going to get in your membership, it’s a great option to save money.”
Tip: Check out the Ontario CSA farm delivery website for all your local options.