Cheap groceries: Vegetarians

Finding decent vegetarian and vegan fast food can be a major pain in Statesboro. But if you enjoy cooking even the least bit, you'll be able to find plenty to eat in town. For students on a tight budget, even Walmart has a variety of veg*an products. I honestly can't stand shopping at Walmart for several reasons, but I too am on a very tight budget, so I find myself there more often than not. I'm actually pretty surprised at the amount of products they do offer.

Vegetarians:
As a vegetarian, some ingredients you'll want to scan labels for include the obvious: anything with some kind of animal flavoring (companies seem to love to brag about the "real" chicken or whatever flavoring in their products, so you shouldn't have to look hard for those kinds of things). When I first gave up meat I was disappointed to see that the only Ramen noodles not flavored with real animal ingredients was the "Oriental." If you're not a big fan of the Oriental flavored Ramen, just save those packets for other uses (great for flavoring on a vegetable stir-fry!). I save the seasoning packets for my roommate to use and then I flavor the Ramen noodles with other sauces, like peanut sauce or butter and garlic.

If you're a strict vegetarian, you should definitely also look out for gelatin, which is in many products, including things like Jello (gelatin is made from crushed bone and skin mostly). Another ingredient to avoid is casein, which is found in most cheese and some dairy products (casein is made from cow stomach mostly). I'm finding that companies tend to put things like anchovies and other seafood flavorings in their dressings and sauces, so be sure not to miss those kinds of obvious ingredients that may be hidden in seemingly-vegetarian products. Bacon is another ingredient that's also found its way into dressings and other products. The good news is, Walmart sells cheap products - that means many of the "bacon bits" and dressings that claim to contain bacon bits may not actually be made with meat. Check the label!

If you're a veggie burger kind of person, you'll be surprised to find a pretty decent selection of Morningstar Farms and Boca brand products in the last freezer section isle in the front of the store. They even offer things like veggie quesadillas, spinach bites and other quick veggie snacks. Note: if you're a vegetarian who avoids eggs, read every label very closely. Eggs are a common ingredient in veggie burgers.

Click the photo above to visit Boca's Web site.

Also, check out some of the great recipes they offer.


Click the above image to view Morningstar Farm's site.
Search through their products online and even find recipes here.