A look into my adventures of learning how to budget shop for healthy vegan groceries.
After my refrigerator fiasco of last week (BTW: I got a new fridge out of the deal, score!) I had to throw out a bunch of my food. Normally I don’t mind tossing things that I didn’t love or whatever, but now that I’m buying almost all of my own groceries, it kinda hurts to have to waste so much, especially not by choice. I just didn’t want to risk getting sick! However, I was excited to do a big restock of my fridge and freezer. Yeah, I get excited over grocery trips. Lame, maybe, but I don’t care! Anyways, I went on a couple shopping trips this weekend while I was at home and my dad was nice enough to buy a few things for me so I won’t be counting those things in my budget list, but I am pumped to try them. I got my first ever kabocha squash and after hearing so many amazing things about them I am roasting mine ASAP, and I also got a chocolate raspberry Raw Revolution bar that sounds so good.
Pantry staples.
Whole Foods
This is all the stuff I bought for myself to restock my fridge, freezer and pantry. I missed a few things, but I’ll be making a trip back next weekend for some extras. (*=organic)
What I Got: kale*, garnet yams*, black grapes*, black figs*, brussel sprouts, baby carrots*, Jazz apples, bulk nutritional yeast (nooooooch!), raisins*, unsweetened vanilla almond milk*, sprouted tofu*, bulk maple almonds (ob-sessed), garbanzo beans*, virgin unrefined coconut oil*, harissa hummus, pineapple upside down Larabar, frozen sweet potato puffs, kelp noodles, NadaMoo! mint chocolate coconut milk ice cream, dry roasted edamame, pumpkin puree in a box*, Justin’s vanilla almond butter squeeze packs, olive bar olives, black bean dip, fresh guacamole, hot sauce dressing (ummm, yes please), Truvia
Fridge and freezer stuff.
What It Cost Me: $81.84 (pretty good for having some higher priced items in there)
Verdict: So glad it came in under $100. I had to do a bunch of restocking since my fridge was basically empty, but I got a bunch of things that will last me a while like the nooch, coconut oil, hummus and sweet potato puffs. I only spent over $5 on 3 items, which is a great way to save money. Those more expensive items add up!
Produce (minus apples and yams).
Now I’m all restocked and ready to go for another week here at my apartment! I’ll be doing some meal prep throughout the week and will hopefully come back sometime with some recipes for you to try out. Tonight I’m making socca pizza for the first time…with a twist!
How much produce do you buy every week? What’s your favorite dip/dressing?
almostveggirlie 
restocking is so necessary but always expensive. health comes first though! what I tell myself all the time
Exactly! I don’t mind having to spend so much if I remind myself that I need to do it for my health.
AMEN!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t agree more Alex!
I want to find Nadamoo, but it isn’t in the shops near me! How do you like it?
I wish I could send it to you but I don’t think it would make it 😛 I really love it though, it’s the best vegan ice cream I’ve tried because it’s so creamy but yet light at the same time and the flavors are really prominent.
Hi Ashley! I haven’t commented in sooo long but I still really enjoy reading your blog. Congrats on the college tv position! The video you shared was really great and I think you’re perfect for the job. I love raw revolution bars! The chocolate raspberry flavor is really tasty, so great choice. 🙂
I’m so glad you’re still a reader 😀 And good to know about the bars, I’m so excited to try it now!
I missed the fridge post… but sorry you had to throw so much out. I actually don’t like throwing things out. If I don’t like it, okay, I try to give things away, at least when I worked I put things on the breakroom table where it was free for all… but, if the food spoiled that’s a different story! Definitely not something to risk with fridge problems. When we moved we had to restock and that was pricey- I mean buying all new condiments, etc.
not sure what sweet potato puffs are but that sounds tasty!
Yeah, I definitely prefer giving things away if I don’t like them but it’s hard when you have to live without a fridge for a few days and have to throw things out that you liked.
The puffs are like tater tots and they’re really good!
$81 dollars is such a great deal for everything you got! Yams and kale are definitely staples we have in common!:)
I was struggling for a few days not having my kale!
Stocking up on good food can be soooo expensive, but you can’t really put a price on good health. I know the things that make me feel my best, and I don’t mind forking over a little extra money for them because I’m happier when I’m healthier, and getting things done in life is just so much easier as a result.
It’s amazing what good quality, healthy food can do. I just feel so much better when I eat that way, and I know it’s cheaper in the long run than going for cheap junk.
I hate throwing food out as well–but food poisoning can be VERY dangerous!! I got what we THINK was Salmonella a couple years ago, and it gave me the worst stomach pains/nausea that I have ever felt in my life…We usually buy quite a lot of produce every week; some of our staples are bananas, apples, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, romaine lettuce, and spinach (or kale) for my green smoothies:) My favorite dip/dressing is probably hummus, though I also love mustard, guacamole, and peanut sauce. I have never tried sprouted tofu before–does it have a dramatically different taste than regular tofu?
Oh no, food poisoning is no fun!
The sprouted tofu tastes pretty much the same as regular, but it’s just a lot firmer, which I prefer.
That is a pretty good shopping trip, especially for what you bought! Throwing out food is always so sad but necessary.
It really is sad, especially when you really like the thing you had to toss!
I think I would cry while doing it and be really dramatic.