WHAT IS IN MY VEGAN CUPBOARD?

I have been meaning to write this post ever since I started my blog back in September, but due to me never having a full cupboard at university and now I am back home for summer, I decided to finally take advantage of my cupboards at home and give you a boujee vegan food haul.

I remember a few years ago, I was thinking about going vegan, but I had absolutely no idea where to begin. My first vegan food shop was daunting and expensive, but after buying the staples (sriracha, free from mayo, peanut butter), it’s really just about building on what you already have. Whether you are a transitioning vegan, interested in what a vegan might have in their cupboards, or just plain nosey, I hope this haul helps you when you next go food shopping. Now, judge away!

FRUIT

This food haul has absolutely no coherence and the reason I am starting with fruit is simply due to the fact it was the first thing I saw in my kitchen. This is all the fruit I have at the moment; apples, (lots of) grapes, oranges, pears and bananas.

Bananas are definitely my favourite fruit, as I have them with everything including porridge, pancakes, smoothies and one of my favourite breakfast foods, peanut butter on toast.

The only downside of fruit is that it does go out of date pretty quickly and if it isn’t in season it can be expensive. However, if you are as greedy as me, you will have no problem with eating it all in a week.

SALAD

These are all the salad bits I had in my fridge this week. My salad stuff tends to stay the same, as I always buy avocados, spinach, peppers and cucumber. My mum also stocks up on celery, lettuce, spring onions and tomatoes.

I never really buy tomatoes, as I only like them in pastas and with avocado on toast, but every time I have them at home, I always wonder why I never stock them in my own fridge.

My mum buys spinach and lettuce, however I just buy spinach as I use spinach in EVERYTHING and have never found anything lettuce can do that spinach cannot.

VEG

For veg, I have broccoli, (two heads, I eat A LOT of broccoli), cauliflower, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, asparagus and aubergine. When buying veg, I always think what I need to make a good old roast dinner and buy around that.

If aubergine is on offer, I will buy one, just so I can make my infamous aubergine katsu curry that I obsessively feature on my Instagram. You can find the recipe for it here.

SPREADS

My spreads are pretty simple. For my toast in the mornings I have strawberry jam, my Granny’s homemade damson jam and some Vitalite dairy free butter. I accidentally bought the coconut one once and I am not a fan of coconut so I just use this one for baking and the sunflower one for my toast.

I also have four (!!!) type of peanut butter. Two of the ASDA smooth and crunchy and two of the meridian smooth and crunchy. This is completely unnecessary and one peanut butter would do just fine.

I am always stocked up on hummus as I have it on literally everything. My favourite thing to have hummus with is a falafel and avocado wrap. Delicious!

TINS/SAUCES

If you follow my Instagram, (emeatsvegan), you will know that I am obsessed with baked beans, so I always make sure I am stocked up on those. Heinz recently announced that their no added sugar/salt collection now contains some form of animal product, which is disappointing, so always make sure you are buying the original!

I also have some water chestnuts and bamboo shoots to make a stir fry. I buy them in tins because they tend to last longer.

I always keep a tin of coconut milk in the cupboard in case I want to make a curry.

For sauce, I usually have a few curry sauces to choose from. This week I have a Balti and a Madras sauce, which are accidently vegan. I also love Uncle Ben’s Medium Curry sauce; however, I didn’t buy any this week.

I also always make sure I keep some chopped tomatoes in the cupboard, as these always come in handy, whether you are making a bolognese or tacos.

COOKING OILS

I tend to cook with coconut oil, unless I have guests round who do not like coconut oil, (my boyfriend), in which case I will use vegetable oil. I also have some olive oil, which is nice for pasta dishes and some sesame oil.

NUTS/SEEDS

Here are my array of nuts and seeds.

I tend to snack on almond nuts and cacao nibs and then use sesame seeds for cooking. Pumpkin seeds are also great for smoothie bowls.

WHOLE FOODS

For my whole foods, I have every type of pasta you can think of from spaghetti to penne to rigatoni. I also have some udon noodles, which I prefer over rice noodles, as they tend to last longer and are easier to cook.

I am also stocked up on porridge oats as I love having porridge for breakfast in the mornings. I also have some granola in my cupboards in case I do not fancy porridge.

FROZEN

My frozen section changes all the time, as it depends on what my nearest supermarket has in stock.

I am a massive fan of Linda McCartney Foods, as you can probably tell from this picture. My favourites from her collection are her sausages, her shredded hoisin duck and her mushroom and spinach bites. Also pictured here is her pulled chicken and mini chorizo cocktail sausages.

The duck and the pulled chicken are great for wraps and stir frys and are relatively easy to cook, making them the perfect lunch meal.

I love having the mushroom bites with a roast dinner as they go amazingly with gravy.

I also have the gosh! butternut, tomato and basil sausages here and some frozen peas. I have just realised how many fake sausages I have in my freezer and I am not mentally taking a note that I do not need to buy sausages any time soon.

SPICES

Spices do not need much of an explanation as you can see for yourself what I season my food with. You should know, however, that I have black pepper on EVERYTHING.

CONDIMENTS

I always douse my food in free from mayo and usually some sriracha, however, my mum has a different hot sauce, (they both do the same thing). I also love using soy sauce when I’m frying rice and it goes great with Linda McCartney’s shredded duck.

SNACKS

I do not tend to snack much at home, as we always have so much food in that I fill up on my meals and leave snacking for when I am lazy at uni.

When I do snack, I tend to have a bag of pom bears, as they are my favourite crisps. I have also been loving alpro yoghurts lately, however, they can be pretty expensive.

So that was what was in my vegan cupboards. This was just a bit of fun and if you have more or less than I do then great! I hope this has provided some of you with an insight into what vegans actually buy on a weekly food shop.

Emma xx