VeganMoFo IV: Open Late Nite

Let me give it to you straight: I have a love/hate relationship with Ralph's.  I inevitably end up pissed beyond belief while walking through the store.  Most of their prices are obscene.  This is not an exaggeration.  There are products in the store that are easily 3 or 4 dollars more than everywhere else.  I think it's completely bogus to charge people so much for food.  So, I mostly hate the place.

Then, it calls to me like a siren in the middle of the night.  Actually, last night it called to Era.  I went along because late night shopping is one of my favorite things to do.  Here's a budget tip: shop late night or early morning.  Here are a few reasons why:

1. Less people equals less traffic.
2. Less traffic equals more time to thoroughly look at items and see what's on sale.
3. These are often the times that new things are stocked and stuff gets added to clearance.  Score!

My love of grocery clearance is never changing.  Sometimes we hit the jackpot and get faux meats for cheap. Here's what remains from the haul we got last month:

yeah, boyee!

Last night, there was nothing in the way of veggie meats.  However, the freezer section was looking AWESOME!  There was a lot of 2 for $5 going on.  I think the pot pie was $2.50.  I know the eggplant stuff was for sure.  The vegan drumsticks...I just wanted those suckas.  I wrote my name on the eggplant stuff because Era got the vegetarian version and I didn't want him to accidentally take mine in the morning.  Hee hee.

with so much greatness in the freezy freeze, it's kinda nice being snoop d-o-double g

A quick review on the Yours Truly.  The chocolate shell and cookie crumbs are seriously good.  Really dark and not too, too sweet.  The vanilla ice cream is almost caramel-flavored.  Then, I got to the cone.  It's a soggy, chewy, hot mess!  C'mon, Tofutti!  I was totally feeling the vibe of being a middle schooler inhaling drumsticks on the daily when I got to that cone.  No crunch at all!  Even that last bit of cone with the chocolate is supposed to be the best part, but I was super underwhelmed.  I love the new direction veganism is going (and I'd still buy these), but I really hope they do something about the cone.  Next, I have to try the flower ice cream that I've heard so much about.

Back to the issue.  My favorite thing about clearance grocery shopping is the bread.  Wanna watch the price of artisinal bread drop by 66 percent?  Go visit the clearance of a store with a bakery.

sourdough bread, sweet baguette, sourdough baguette, and multi grain baguette

The sourdough bread was $2 marked down from $6!  The baguettes were only 99 cents!  The bread is at a perfect state for making French toast or using in dressing/stuffing.  And super great for toasting!  All it takes to find bread this cheap is a look through ingredients and a mean eye for that clearance cart.

And with all the money you save on deals, you might be able to try something completely new and different.  On the Ralph's trip we did last month I got some Kosher chips.  I really wasn't feeling them because they were too crunchy for my teeth and the flavor was lacking.  They were still pretty adorable though.

Hopefully, I've planted the seed to wander around stores in the wee hours of the night!  It's great fun, and you might even find a bargain or two!

Tomorrow...I will be veganizing an omni monstrosity of EPIC proportions.  Muahahahahaha.