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 Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 5:46 pm
I've been vegetarian for awhile now but all of the sudden my moms says we can't afford vegetarian meals anymore. We can get vegtables and eveyrthing but the soy and tofu foods in our budget anymore. Things like Boca Etc. Do you know of any cheaper meat substitutes that i can suggest to my family?
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:11 pm
Will you find me a blue rose? I can't help you there, but I thought vegetarian foods were supposed to be cheaper then actual meat.
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:21 am
Fruits. Vegetables. Beans. Grains. Add a vitamin B12 supplement in there (also cheap!) and you have all the nutrients you could ever want.
Soymilk and tofu may or may not be cheap where you live, but if they're not, try an Asian market (watch out for added sugars in the soymilk!). They've generally got that stuff cheap.
You don't need anything but those four things I listed to be a glowing picture of health (that'd be a vegan diet, so watch your B12!). If you want a meat substitute, try making your own seitan. Bean burgers are crazy awesome, too, even if they're not really meaty. TVP is generally sold by the pound, and I like that in chili and stuff.
Being vegetarian is way cheap, unless you buy a bunch of overprocessed substitutes. So don't; that s**t's bad for you anyway.
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 2:38 pm
its sickening, but ... anything good for you is usually expensive. especially if you live at the bottom of mississippi. =(
when it comes to tofu, i buy it myself. =) i have a big family and its hard for mom to afford everything.
thank God for jobs.
- heart life, go veg
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:45 pm
well you don't have to have tofu and meat substitutes, just eat veggies and fruits and it'll be cheaper than eating meat ^^
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:42 pm
ChaoticConsonance Fruits. Vegetables. Beans. Grains. Add a vitamin B12 supplement in there (also cheap!) and you have all the nutrients you could ever want. Soymilk and tofu may or may not be cheap where you live, but if they're not, try an Asian market (watch out for added sugars in the soymilk!). They've generally got that stuff cheap. You don't need anything but those four things I listed to be a glowing picture of health (that'd be a vegan diet, so watch your B12!). If you want a meat substitute, try making your own seitan. Bean burgers are crazy awesome, too, even if they're not really meaty. TVP is generally sold by the pound, and I like that in chili and stuff. Being vegetarian is way cheap, unless you buy a bunch of overprocessed substitutes. So don't; that s**t's bad for you anyway.
Seconded.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:46 pm
Unfortunately, healthy foods - especially vegetarian stuff - can be expensive. It depends the brands you go for though. They don't sell Boca in my local stores anymore, but Schneider's Oh Natural products are really good, and decently priced. I don't like the "burgers" and "meatballs" myself (too greasy-like), but the Chick'n nuggets and burgers are AWESOME! You get like 4 or 5 burgers or 20 nuggets on a bag, and they're $5-$6 a bag, depending the store.
If you guys are really tight for budget, stick to your vegetables, meatless pastas, and such until things calm down.
Luckily for me, I have my own job too and never make my parents buy veggie stuff. They buy veggie burgers, etc a lot though so they can easily make a meal for all of us, when I'm not working anyway....
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:23 pm
2Cool4Meat I've been vegetarian for awhile now but all of the sudden my moms says we can't afford vegetarian meals anymore. We can get vegtables and eveyrthing but the soy and tofu foods in our budget anymore. Things like Boca Etc. Do you know of any cheaper meat substitutes that i can suggest to my family? Try to find a good meat substitute recipe that you like. Make a batch and freeze it. You can get TSP (textured vegetable/soy protien) from the store along with many other ingredients. You pay more for conveinience so think of that when you purchase your premade veggie patties or anyother product. As mentioned above, processed foods can be bad for you unless used in moderation. Just because you can say it is vegetarian doesn't always make it healthy. Stick with simple and fresh for most foods. Learning good meal planning and budgeting helps. When you prepare foods at home you can learn how to store and reuse ingredients for other meals. There are a lot of vegetarian foods that are pretty cheap. Beans for example, would have to be one of the cheapest things I can think of. I would much rather have beans with a meal than meat substitutes. Good luck and I hope this helps!
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Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:22 am
And I thought meat would be more expensive...
Tofu isn't usually that expensive, especially if you eat it in moderation and save what you don't eat for later meals. Don't forget also that those frozen veggie burgers aren't the only options out there. There's hummus, beans, TVP, and other yummy stuff that can be vegetarian, but give you some variety in taste and cost, while still giving you the same nutritional value.
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:37 am
ChaoticConsonance Fruits. Vegetables. Beans. Grains. Add a vitamin B12 supplement in there (also cheap!) and you have all the nutrients you could ever want. Soymilk and tofu may or may not be cheap where you live, but if they're not, try an Asian market (watch out for added sugars in the soymilk!). They've generally got that stuff cheap. You don't need anything but those four things I listed to be a glowing picture of health (that'd be a vegan diet, so watch your B12!). If you want a meat substitute, try making your own seitan. Bean burgers are crazy awesome, too, even if they're not really meaty. TVP is generally sold by the pound, and I like that in chili and stuff. Being vegetarian is way cheap, unless you buy a bunch of overprocessed substitutes. So don't; that s**t's bad for you anyway. quoted for truth You can buy dried soybeans in bulk for less than a dollar a pound. You can use them to make soymilk AND tofu. http://soy.bryandeno.com/http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~hansen/recip/tofu.html A great meat substitute is seitan http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/HowToSeitan.htm
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:58 pm
definately hit up the asian markets for your food, they have a huge selection of vegetable and vegetable products for much cheaper than a normal grocery store. also try farmer markets, they sell for a lower price than stores and youll know where your food is coming from.
as for the tofu and boca, try simply cutting down on it. i eat very little of both, and the money saved went to a rice cooker to help me make food for the week. get creative thats the key. i make about a dozen japanese rice balls a week and eat them for lunches and stuff (rice being dirt cheap and all).
also for the tofu matter, asian grocery stores are cheaper, but if your willing to try to cut it out and save that money and they sell tofu makers (like rice cookers) that make tofu and soy milk.
Also, if your mother pushes more, talk about you "learning" to budget ( i did this for a while) ask how much she is spending on your food each month and let you handle that to buy your own groceries so that one you understand the money being spent and how you can reduce the cost.
ALSO for the boca products like that patties, you can easily make your own.
take the veggies you like (mushrooms are especially good for this) some
egg and bread crumbs, cut up the veggies really fine, combine with egg
and bread crumbs and make into patties and cook like you normally
would a boca patty. this save money and lets you perfect them to your
own taste.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 6:35 pm
You can make bean burgers from scratch instead of buying veggie products premade.
If you make things yourself they're really inexpensive, much healthier and tastier too. You can make a whole bunch and freeze them for later.
Here's a recipe I found that may help you. Its a recipe for meatless burgers and contains no tofu.
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 cups old fashioned oats
12 oz. mushrooms, chopped*
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
* If you don't like mushrooms, you could leave them out and use 12 ounces of beans.
1. Bring 4 cups water, celery, onion, soy sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper to a boil in a pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 mins. Stir in oats, mushrooms (or beans), and flour and cook 5 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl and chill.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Shape mixture into patties, and bake on a prepared baking sheet for 15 minutes. Flip and bake 10 minutes more. Cool.
3. Heat grill to medium high heat. Place foil on grill and coat with cooking spray. Grill burgers on foil for 7 minutes per side. Serve with your favorite toppings.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:01 pm
ChaoticConsonance Fruits. Vegetables. Beans. Grains. Add a vitamin B12 supplement in there (also cheap!) and you have all the nutrients you could ever want. Soymilk and tofu may or may not be cheap where you live, but if they're not, try an Asian market (watch out for added sugars in the soymilk!). They've generally got that stuff cheap. You don't need anything but those four things I listed to be a glowing picture of health (that'd be a vegan diet, so watch your B12!). If you want a meat substitute, try making your own seitan. Bean burgers are crazy awesome, too, even if they're not really meaty. TVP is generally sold by the pound, and I like that in chili and stuff. Being vegetarian is way cheap, unless you buy a bunch of overprocessed substitutes. So don't; that s**t's bad for you anyway. Agreed.
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Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:04 am
Ditto on the Asian Market.
And Tofu is cheap at the Asian Markets - often half the price of the cheapest chain grocers. I'm no expert, but I've heard in Asia tofu is often eaten in addition to meat because it is cheap. "Normal" grocery stores can charge out the wazoo because uninformed veg*ns like us are more than willing to pay a bit extra to avoid contributing to the consumer demand for unnecessary cruelty.
Also, lentils are cheap and full of protein, so that's a good staple to have.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:54 am
BEANS! The magical fruit! They're really cheap, especially when you buy them in bulk. They're also great for us veg*ns, so maybe that can save you. My mum makes veggie burgers out of old cookbooks. I've taken to them quite well. I think they're a lot better than Boca Burger or any frozen processed crap.
The Bulk section can be a very wonderful thing. You can save money and garbage there. Just remember to eat everything!
Also, fruits and vegetables are usually much cheaper. Try looking for items on sale -- that might help too.
Hope I helped! >.<
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