That said, as we know I'm not a hard core fundamental vegetarian/vegan, I'm a moderate. You certainly don't HAVE to part with your mayonnaise and ketchup, but I'd highly recommend it. There are many brands that are vegetarian/vegan friendly.
I took a vegetarian sushi class (yes, I will post how to make) and that is the first time I ever tried "Vegginase". Vegetarian mayo. I thought it would be nasty but to my delight-it actually tasted amazingly good and like 'real' mayo. Here's a link to it and other vegan products, like cheese: Vegan dairy products
I know that there must be ketchup brands without sugar (Dr. Joel Fuhrman's website sells some, actually) and so on.
I'm not going to lie-building up a new pantry will cost a bit. BUT-since you are saving so much not buying meat and dairy and expensive oils, it won't take long and it is SO worth it. The other thing too, is that most the condiments used in vegetarian/vegan cooking have their own health benefits. It's essentially supplementing your meals with additional nutrients at the same time adding flavor and depth. That's a winning combination.
The old condiments of ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, steak sauce, horseradish sauce, jellies, miracle whip, creamy salad dressings, oils, sugary stir fry sauces, imitation maple syrup, processed honey-needs to go. It's nothing but empty calories, unnecessary sugars and corn syrups, a shit ton of salt, and added preservatives. I'm going to do a separate post on spices alone, but for now, the change in your fridge and pantry needs to happen.
Butter: It has to go. Yes, there is a vegan butter called "Melt". Melt Vegan Spread You can find it in any grocery store. Is it good? YES. It really really is. However it is made with coconut oil, so if you are eliminating oils then you should not use or use quite sparingly.
Then there are Butter Buds. This is sprinkle on. It is made with real butter. But its so little the butter, unlike a huge dollop you'd usually use-that it seems to impart taste rather than the evil artery clogging stuff. Butter Buds
(For the record, I have both in the house when those 'butter' cravings hit. Which thankfully isn't often.)
Do you have to give up things like honey and maple syrup? Nope. Just replace with the NATURAL STUFF. 100% MAPLE SYRUP. No Log Cabin or Aunt Jemima. RAW local honey, not the stuff in the bear. Again, it costs more upfront. But you will use sparingly, and both have health properties in them that their fake pseudo cousins do not.
For me, it just tastes really good and makes great salad dressings without oil. Speaking of Bragg's, there is also their Amino Acid sauce. It's a soy sauce, low sodium, no gluten, with the addition of 16 amino acids for health. It's a bit "earthier" that regular soy sauce so many Vegans use it as a sub for fish sauce in Thai and Asian dishes. I have some balsamic vinegar, and some honey balsamic vinegar. There is plain rice vinegar and seasoned rice vinegar. Rice vinegars are used often in Asian cooking and has a milder taste than white vinegar. And of course red wine vinegar. Raw honey and hot sauces.....including Sriracha.
Not pictured is soy sauce, fish sauce, gyoza sauce, worchesthire. These contain either too much salt, sugar or fish for the purist. For me-I use them. They add flavor. They impart, imo, very little to the over-all diet in terms of ill-effect. I say that they are apart of my 10% leeway on my diet, because I have always been a sauce person and a condiment person and spice and flavor in my foods is everything to me. Some things can't really be replaced. Like Giardinara. You basically can't even find it outside of Chicago. Its a relish of sorts....cauliflower, carrots, peppers, celery in a vinegar or oil. It's an Italian condiment and in Chicago is mostly used to top Italian Beef sandwiches. It comes mild or hot, and in New Orleans giardinara is used on Muffuletta sandwiches. In any event, it's a fantastic relish and even though some are used with olive oil-I will still eat it. Sparingly as I don't eat it often, but it sure adds a kick to many foods, including an Italian Minestrone soup. Yum!!!
Now, as far as staples go-again, going thru your pantry you may end up like a counter where I had pictured the typical SAD diet. That counter would also include white regular flour, white, brown and powdered sugars, spices with added sugars and salts, lots of spaghetti, and many canned goods with sugars. Many canned 'convient' food like ready-made soups or ravioli type things. Canned fish and canned meats-hashes, hams, Spams, chicken, etc. It's all got to go.
You want to replace with veggies, rice and beans and grains. There are many flour substitutes and I can get into those later, so you can still bake and make breads and muffins and biscuits-just not with Bisquick and other such mixes. Veggies should be low sodium but really, you are only getting canned veggies that you can't really get frozen-like artichoke hearts, or baby corn, or bamboo shoots, or Mandarin oranges. Otherwise, frozen veggies for convenience are far more nutritious and have virtually no salt in comparison.
You want to have a variety of beans on hand, however bags of beans-while takes longer to prepare since you have to pre-soak-are more economical. For those nights of being too tired to cook, a can of beans rinsed is totally acceptable. Cans of different tomatoes-stewed, diced, roasted, pureed.....but again, look out for the additional sugar. Sometimes that takes some label reading-Hunt's makes some no salt-no sugar added tomatoes in their 'all natural' line and Ragu has a no sugar tomato sauce-and if you shop higher end stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, they are easy enough to find.
Making your own tomato sauces and tomatoes is more sophomore/junior level type stuff than my blog will get into, but that option always exists as well. There truly isn't anything that comes in a can, that you can't make homemade at home. Especially refried beans which are easy to make without the lard and oils, too.
I like to jar everything so I can readily see it, and the bonus of putting dry goods into glass and metal is that it keeps them bug and moisture free which is always a bonus, especially in warmer climates.( You can find a lot of cool jars and canning jars at Goodwills and garage sales, but I typically recycle jars)
I don't have a bunch of 'snacks'. I've never been much of a 'snacker'. That said, beware of the snack aisles trying to seduce you with 'veggie chips' or 'baked' or 'all natural'. Snacks are bullshit. Every single one of them is processed, none of them are inherently 'healthy' for you. Sure some may impart fiber but over-all they all are pretty bad for us, and even the healthier end ones contain some oils.
Here's case in point:
Crackers on the left, the "hummuz". Label says All natural and baked, made with real garbanzo (chik) peas. Certified gluten-free, and verified non-GMO. Sounds good, right? Crackers made from chik peas, same thing Hummus is made from. But read the label. They contain: Milk protein, palm and/or olive oil, sugar, corn flour, milk cream and salt. Salt, sugar and oil-what the SOS heart healthy 'diet' says to avoid.
On the right, with 'Mary's Gone Crackers'-None of that bs. You simply have organic everything-brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds, sesame seeds, vinegar and tamari (soy). And incidentally, they taste awesome.
In theory-a potato chip is healthier than the cracker on the left, because a potato chip is simply dehydrated potato, oil and salt. There is no milk or sugar in potato chips. So the cracker on the left-not only has milk and sugar, but also has oil and salt so you would be better off with a bag of potato chips.
This is why reading labels matters so much, you can't go by the packaging or 'apperances.' I don't know when the hell as a species we are going to figure that lesson out because it's so true in ALL arenas of life, seriously.
In any event, you can replace white flour spaghetti with gluten-free spaghetti (tastes pretty good, actually)-with rice noodles, with quinoa spaghetti but if you're not gluten-sensitive (and you probably really aren't) then whole wheat can give you some additional nutrients to your pasta. Sub those powdered potatoes for a bag of the real thing.
You'll also want to ditch the chicken broths and bouillons-bouillons contain too much sodium, however, a jar of 'better than boullion' in the fridge is the exception. A little goes a long way and it just taste superior to a block of bouillon or bouillon 'crystals.' Avoid the new flavored broths like the plague.
Be mindful that even vegan veggie broth commercially is made with oils and additional sweetener. For me, when I chop veggies, I save the ends and the left overs and the leaves and store in a big baggie. At the end of the week, I make my own veggie broth to keep. I will post that recipe as well. But again-sometimes we are lazy, tired or sick so to have a few 'convinece' options on the side can't hurt. So a jar of 'vegetable' Better than Boullion' in the fridge or even a few cans of commercial veggie broth can't hurt in those pinch.
What about pickles and jam and jelly and olives and chili sauces and all that other great stuff? Again-read your labels. Yes, most pickles are 'pickled'. That means sodium. Vinegar. You do have to be mindful of the acidity of vinegar foods so if you have a sensitive stomach you will have to moderate yourself. Some pickles-like my favorite bread and butter pickles are now processed with high fructose corn syrup. Some jellies are made 'all fruit' with no additional sugars.
Sometimes you get lucky and big brand names have adjusted to not include HFCS but they do use sugar. And do not be tricked into 'light sugar' or 'sugar free' because you may be trading sugar for aspartame or a fake sweetener such as sorbitol and those imo, are even worse than any sugar product. Ideally, you want things naturally sweetened.
Stevia is a plant-based sweetener. Agave is very popular but it's actually as bad for us as table sugar in terms of how our body processes it. You CAN train your taste buds to not want sugar. Your body can detox from it. When those sugar cravings hit-raisins or fruit can substitute, and unsweetened applesauce and date juice has been used in cooking and baking forever by vegans.
I don't go into great depth and education with this stuff because there is just SO much information out there already. All I can do is direct people what NOT to do. Don't eat white cane sugar, don't eat sugar substitutes, be very careful of agave sweetener, and use natural sweetener like maple and molasses and honey in their raw natural states and sparingly if you must use sugar at all. As for the how's and whys, I invite you to research the Internet just like I have, talk to people who are living sugar-free, talk to those with aspartame poisoning. Listen to people who's lives have changed miraculously and whose health has improved 1000% by making even moderate modifications to the typical SAD diet, much less eliminating the worst (SOS.) Make conscious choices based on all sides of the coin and reach your own conclusions. Critically think it out. If you don't like something I'm doing-don't do it. If you have suggestions/tips/ideas/ knowledge-share it. But no fundamental soap boxing here, please. No vegan panty bunching allowed. This isn't a purist blog, thanks. :)
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