Vegan Day 7 and 8. Same old, same old and MONEY!

I did intend to post the last couple of days, but as this diet has become routine, I am not sure if anyone really wants to see what I eat everyday. Boring! My cousin did ask me to talk about the money aspect of going vegan and I thought that is what I would do today. I actually asked my friend Shannon the same question and she thought it was more expensive initially because of the learning curve. You tend to buy more than you will need and it takes awhile to figure things out. I did make a trip to whole foods in which I bought a lot of the things I couldn't buy anywhere else:



I spent $60 and this also includes cookies for me and the kids. Picture here is:
vegan stick margarine
vegan tub margarine
vegan cheddar cheese
vegan mozzerella cheese
silken tofu
dates
unsweetened coconut
brown rice syrup
vegan cream cheese
vegan sour cream
coconut milk yogurt
strawberry soy yogurt
vital wheat gluten
avacado oil
vegan chocolate chips
one lara bar

Of the above, the only things that are gone are the lara bar and the coconut yogurt. The vegan chocolate chips and silken tofu are almost gone. Of the above I have not even opened the cheddar cheese, dates, cream cheese, and sour cream. With these staples, I seem to spend a little less than normal at the regular grocery store. Normal for my family is about $120/week, but the last two weeks have been under $100 (yipee!). On these trips I get a lot of produce, grains, nuts, milks, and beans. Even though you aren't buying meat, it still can get expensive. I have been trying to buy a blend of "premium" items like red and yellow bell peppers, pinapples, pisachios, and "non-premium items" like potatoes, oranges, dried beans, oatmeals. I'm not going to lie, the premium items almost make it easy. If you got to eat an avacado everyday, who wouldn't want to be vegan? But that isn't always practical, so it important to use both.

I will say that through this diet, it isn't my intention to replace meat or dairy. My intention is to starting eating a plant based diet. I haven't eaten any meat subsitutes, and only used cheese and milks in small amounts. I think much of the expense of a vegan diet would come by using your same old recipes, but with processed vegan replacements. By trying to find new recipes that feature lots of veggies, grains, and legumes, it really isn't that bad.