KATIE KOTEEN & KATE KASBEE of well vegan FRUGAL VEGAN Affordable, Easy & Delicious VEGAN COOKING Begin Reading Table of Contents About the Authors Copyright Page Thank you for buying this Page Street Publishing Co. ebook. To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters. Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy. DEDICATION To Amelia who eats everything and Taj who eats nothing. —Katie For my closest friends and family and their growing enthusiasm for green vegetables. —Kate Introduction Convinced going vegan is the fastest way to burn through your grocery budget? Think again. We have some super savvy tips and tricks for saving money and eating healthy. And, lucky for you, we’re willing to share. From batch cooking to freezing to buying in bulk to knowing where to shop and when, we’ll show you just how easy it is to follow a plant-based diet without breaking the bank. SMART SHOPPING MAKE A SHOPPING LIST You’ve heard it a million times, but it’s absolutely the foundation of smart shopping—make a list, make a list, make a list! Writing out a shopping list before you leave for the grocery store or farmers’ market will save you both time and money. When you have specific recipes in mind, you’ll only buy what you need and will be able to avoid making impulse purchases. Stick to the list. BUY FROM THE BULK BINS Americans throw away an unbelievable amount of uneaten food simply because it spoiled before we were able to eat it. When you buy in bulk, you can purchase as much or as little as you need. Items you can buy in bulk include rice, grains, flours, pasta, soup mixes, beans, cereals, trail mixes, nut butters, sweeteners, dried fruits, nuts and seeds, spices, salts and peppercorns. Buying spices in bulk is our absolute favorite. They’re guaranteed to be fresh and you can avoid investing too much money in something you’ll use way too little of. BUY GROCERIES ONLINE When it comes to food, we’re impulse shoppers. We go into the store for tofu and walk out with a giant salad, a bottle of organic wine and some fancy crackers we don’t need. A great way to avoid this superfluous fancy crackers we don’t need. A great way to avoid this superfluous shopping is by using a service like Thrive Market—imagine an online version of Costco meets Whole Foods. All your pantry items at a discount, delivered right to your door for free. No more impulse purchases! And if that isn’t enough, buying most of your pantry items online makes weekly shopping trips a breeze. Just a quick stop for fresh produce and a few odds and ends from the aisles. VISIT ETHNIC MARKETS When we want legit fresh tofu, we know just where to go. Our local Asian Market has the absolute freshest and best-priced tofu—it’s all about supply and demand. If you haven’t had (really) fresh tofu, it’s a treat worth seeking out. Some of the freshest produce and spices are tucked away in your local ethnic markets for far less than you would pay at the bigger stores. Think chilis, curries, mushrooms and spices. It’s a treasure trove of interesting and affordable items, just waiting to be discovered. BIG BOX STORES You might think that being vegan closes the door on big box discounts, like good old Costco. But think again! While you might not be able to hit up the snack bar—they’ve yet to offer a vegan option—you can totally make that membership count. In addition to loads of budget-friendly, organic produce, you can get great deals on pricey items like hemp seeds, cooking oils and nut butters. WATCH THE SALES DAYS AND FLIERS Almost every store has an online sales flier, and many include coupons. Before you make your list for the week, check ahead for what’s on sale and take advantage! For example, every Friday our local market has a different item from a different department on sale at an exceptionally low price. Even if you don’t make Friday your full-blown grocery- shopping day, you can still check the online sales flyer to see if you can score any goodies at a bargain. Just a few extra clicks before you head out can keep you on budget and eating well. FOLLOW YOUR LOCAL STORES ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SUBSCRIBE TO THEIR EMAIL LISTS If you’re like us, you need another email subscription about as much as you need a pet ferret. The only difference is that subscribing to your local supermarket’s email newsletter could actually help you be your local supermarket’s email newsletter could actually help you be your most frugal self. That was probably an Oprah-esque overstatement, but staying in the loop definitely has its advantages. If you spend more time on social media than email, opt to keep up with store specials via Facebook or Twitter. If there’s a bargain to be had, you’ll be there! BUY PRODUCE IN PEAK SEASON Buying in-season produce is not only delicious—it’s also easy on your wallet. Fresh and ripe usually means there’s a discount to keep that produce moving. Plan your meals with the season in mind and you’ll find you’re really making the most of peak freshness and excellent pricing. Fresh summer fruits freeze well for smoothies all year long. TOFU PRESSING If you’re new to tofu pressing, get cozy for a little read. Nothing complex, but the first go around takes a bit of explanation. The idea behind the press is to get as much water as possible out of the tofu so it will soak up other flavors. You’ll want to get a jumpstart on the pressing and soaking, because it can take a bit of time. But that time is almost entirely hands off, and you will be rewarded with extra tasty tofu. So here’s an overview of the tofu press stack: towel, tofu, towel, cutting board, heavy stuff. Drain the tofu. Grab more than a few paper towels or a few clean dish towels. Place the towels on the counter: four layers of paper towel or fold the dish towel a few times to layer it up. Then place the tofu on the towels, followed by more towels and a cutting board. We like to use canned items to weight the board. Then just leave it to sit for about 30 to 60 minutes. BATCH COOKING AND FREEZING How much time do you spend in the kitchen every day? Between cooking dinner at night, making breakfast for yourself in the morning and packing a lunch to take to school or work, the answer is probably: way too much time. Most of us are on the go nonstop from the moment we wake up until our heads hit the pillow at night. Any time that can be salvaged should be used for fun stuff. Like catching up on your favorite TV show, enjoying a glass of wine and reading a book or playing outside. Not slicing and dicing vegetables and getting lost in a sea of dirty dishes. Not slicing and dicing vegetables and getting lost in a sea of dirty dishes. Batch cooking is a not-so-secret phenomenon that makes maintaining a plant-based diet a breeze. You can eat healthy, delicious, inexpensive meals every day of the week while drastically reducing your time in the kitchen. Never again will a wilted bunch of broccoli (ahem, money) be tossed in the compost heap, because it’s getting chopped and going right into the freezer. Just prep your meals for the week on one day; so instead of chopping onions Monday night, Tuesday night and again on Thursday night—you get it done in one shot! Spending a couple of hours (maximum) in the kitchen on one day a week beats the heck out of spending an hour in the kitchen every day of the week. Once you get the flow of all the prep work, freezing is your next best friend in the time-saver department. One of the best things you can do to avoid eating out is kill the unplanned trips to the grocery store and plan your portion sizes. Yes, regulating portion sizes is a fantastic way to stay on budget and keep it slim. Plan your portion sizes and freeze the rest in perfectly portioned containers. All the conveniences of frozen meals like Lean Cuisine, but healthier and cheaper. Better yet, doubling a recipe takes just a fraction of the extra time it would take to make it twice. So when enchilada sauce is on sale, stock up and make a bunch! Make Friday night freezer night. If this is all way too much to wrap your head around, not to worry. You can start small. Consider your schedule, and determine what day of the week you’re most pressed for time. By planning ahead and cooking your meals just for that day, you’re guaranteed a few extra hours to get all of your to-dos done while ensuring you sneak a few healthy meals in. BATCH COOKING AND FREEZING PRO TIPS • Take advantage of coupons and promotions at the grocery store. Is a local quality grocery store like Whole Foods having a massive sale on organic tomatoes? Buy as many as you can and make a huge batch of pasta sauce. Use half for dinner and freeze the rest. • Label and date every bag and container before putting it in the freezer. After a few days or even weeks have passed, you may forget what that mysterious sauce is. Most things keep 3 to 6 months in the freezer. • Cool items to room temperature before you freeze them, but don’t leave • Cool items to room temperature before you freeze them, but don’t leave anything out longer than two hours to prevent bacteria growth. • For foods that need to be baked, use containers that can go from the freezer straight to the oven, like foil containers with lids. • Use a food processor for chopping onions. A few quick pulses is much more efficient than cutting the tearjerkers by hand. • Slightly undercook your vegetables before you freeze them. This will prevent them from getting mushy when you reheat them at mealtime. • It costs less to run a full freezer. Pack it in and if you don’t have enough to fill it up, freeze big bottles of water. OTHER THINGS YOU CAN FREEZE • Nuts and seeds: Buy in bulk and freeze what you won’t use within a few weeks. • Avocados: Slice them, pit or no pit (it doesn’t seem to make a difference), and add a quick brush of lime juice to keep them nice and green. • Bread: Sandwich bread, buns, breadcrumbs and baguettes. To serve frozen baguettes, wrap them in foil and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 400°F (204°C), depending on the size of your baguette. • Baked goods: Muffins, pancakes, waffles and cookies. • Fruit: Great for fruit that’s about to be too ripe. Freeze it for use in smoothies or muffins later. • Soups: Make lunch-size portions to pull out of the freezer the night before. • Vegetables: Chopped onions, carrots, celery and bell peppers; all perfect for making soups. • Wine: Use ice cube trays and drop it in your next recipes. • Homemade garden burgers THESE RECIPES FREEZE WELL • Pineapple Scones • Biscuits and Gravy • Zucchini Banana Bread Muffins • Creamiest Pinto Beans