Grocery Info

Grocery Shopping as a Vegan

Last week, my grocery shopping list was sparse. I ditched pork, red meat, chicken and fish to embrace a vegan diet. It's not because I think it's cruel to kill animals. I love animals and find them precious and fascinating -- but also tasty. My aim was to lose a few pounds and nothing can help shed a quick five pounds like going vegan.

It's a good way to save a little money too during your trips to the supermarket. While buying an extensive supply of vegetables and fruits is expensive, not having to buy meat more than balances out the bill. To replace meat, I opted for legumes, of course. Throughout the week, I made bean soup, bean chili, and red beans to go over rice. I also cooked a variety of peas. Legumes are one of the most inexpensive ingredients that can provide a main course for families.

This vegan eating style has been something I've been aiming to try after I noticed in summer that former President Bill "Bubba Loves Big Macs" Clinton lost all his weight and claimed to experience lower cholesterol and improved heart health.

The first three days were incredible. My energy was abnormally high and I had mental clarity. By the fourth day, however, I began to miss meat intensely. With meat banned, I couldn't buy chicken or beef broths to flavor the soup or any of my vegetables. I found that I missed the taste and began craving meat too much.

By the fifth day, I had fallen off the wagon. I did lose the five pounds I wanted but threatened to gain it all back during subsequent days when I went on a meat-eating spree.

So, I can't vouch for vegan grocery shopping as a fail-proof weight loss method, but I can say it will save you a little money on groceries (well, until fall off the wagon.)

Shoppers ditching dried and packaged foods?

According to Market Watch, sales of dried and packaged goods are dipping, causing the stock of companies that supply these food items to go down. Kraft Foods, Heinz, Campbell Soup, and Treehouse Foods are some of the affected companies

Among the food items selling at a lower rate these days than in past years are: canned soup, hot cereals such as oatmeal and cream of wheat, and non-dairy creamers.

I am not surprised at this news. Soup, for which sales have reported declined nearly 9 percent, used to be an economical meal. These days, you might pay $2 to $4 for a can of soup that is barely satisfying for lunch. So much sodium has been added to soups that I avoid the canned varieties altogether. If you're home for the day, it doesn't take that long to get a pot of broth going, throw in some vegetables and make your own soup. It's actually cheaper if you consider how many servings you'll get.

I'm betting the hot cereal items that aren't not selling are the overly processed, quick-cooking packets. It's much cheaper to buy the generic simple oatmeal that hasn't been pre-cooked or put in special packages. It's better for you and lasts longer.

As for the plummeting sales of creamers, this is not a product necessity and clearly many people are deciding to buy essentials only.

Other items that customers are ignoring on the shelves include pickles, jellies, salad dressings, and drink mixes. Again, these are all incidentals. Savvy shoppers are clearly going for the main items necessary to make a meal. I generally make my own salad dressing from olive oil and vinegar. Drink mixes? LOL. Those haven't been worth buying for years.

I can only hope that with saved money, shoppers are trying to eat more healthily and buy more vegetables and fruits.

Should you shop at the Dollar Store to save money on groceries?

In addition to using coupons to cut food costs, many families are opting to buy a portion of their groceries at so-called dollar stores, such as the popular Dollar General.
These stores have contracts with manufacturers to take on packaged goods that are near their expiration dates (And sometimes past them!) They sell the goods at a severe discount, saving families often more than 40 percent of the retail costs.

I've been able to get a few good deals at dollar stores, on items such as boxed rice, canned soup, muffin mixes and spices. (If you go to the dollar store for nothing else, go for spices. You can get an 8 oz. bulk bottle of dried seasonings for less than the price of a 2 oz or 3 oz bottle from mainstream grocery stores.)

Not everything is a good buy, though. Dollar stores often have discounts of foods that aren’t necessary to buy anyway, such as candy, Jell-o, and pudding. Families with young children may appreciate these cheap snacks, but I find them a waste of money.

Don't enter a dollar store expecting to find anything fresh. I've never seen fresh vegetables in a dollar store. Occasionally, there might be bags of oranges and other slow-to-spoil fruit. While no fresh meat can obviously be found at dollar stores, I have seen canned meats, hot dogs and some packaged lunch meats.

Use the dollar store solely to stock up on boxed items, canned foods, and frozen goods -- such as pasta, crackers, pizza or ice cream treats. Variety is limited, however -- as is quantitty. So,the best strategy is to shop at the dollar store first so that you know what’s NOT available. Then, get the remaining items at the regular grocery store.