Here is the Egg-Free Life guide to what ingredients to splurge on, and what to get on sale or store brand.
Splurge:
Buy good quality olive oil in bulk. You get a better deal if you buy a several month supply. You really will use it up.
Always buy the best meat. If you don't have the budget to buy the best meal all of the time, you can always do Meat on the Side and vegetarian meals most of the time, then make a meat dish when there's a sale at Whole Foods. You don't have to buy the best cut of meat, just the best quality, and we recommend Whole Foods and especially their grass-fed beef. Flat iron steak is the new hipster steak because it's less expensive and absolutely amazing for marinating and grilling. Thank you to the butcher who recommended it to me a few months ago :)
If you're baking, always go for unbleached flour. Bleached flour absorbs water differently. It will make a sticky dough. It's usually about a dollar difference in price to get the King Arthur unbleached white flour, so this one will not break the bank.
Nice bread. Our favorite is Trader Joe's baguettes. Beware of the days where they put the sesame ficelle in the same bread basket as the sesame-free baguettes if your sesame allergy is severe. They usually have one basket that is either all baguettes and/or all demi-baguettes, but sometimes the second display has the sesame loaves mixed in.
Lactaid brand milk. If you buy lactose-free milk that is not the Lactaid brand, it will spoil within a week or two. If you buy the Lactaid brand, it will stay fresh for a minimum of a month. No one wants to open the milk to discover it has spoiled. It's worth the extra dollar or 2 to know that your milk will always be fresh.
Lactaid brand vanilla ice cream. This ice cream is safe for lactose intolerant folks and egg and nut allergy folks, so it will please as many people as possible at your sundae party. Note that Lactaid brand does make butter pecan ice cream, but it is not processed in the same facility as the vanilla containers that I have purchased thus far.
On Sale, or buy the one that's the Best Deal Possible:
Buy all wine and Marsala wine at Trader Joe's, and you'll spend $5 or less per bottle. Recommended types for risotto and other cooking with wine recipes: Charles Shaw brand Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.
Butter - Stop and Shop brand is completely yummy. If you want to go a step up from that, I also love Kate's butter and the Trader Joe's store brand. But it is always sufficient to buy store brand butter.
Oil for frying and vegan baking - when making latkes or other fried potato projects, always buy the cheapest oil you can because you won't need it for taste, and you'll use a lot of it. Some vegan baking recipes such as carrot bread are also better with canola or vegetable oil because they impart much less flavor than the extra-virgin olive oil. Go for the flavorless oil in baking.
Now, get cooking! :)
Splurge:
Buy good quality olive oil in bulk. You get a better deal if you buy a several month supply. You really will use it up.
Always buy the best meat. If you don't have the budget to buy the best meal all of the time, you can always do Meat on the Side and vegetarian meals most of the time, then make a meat dish when there's a sale at Whole Foods. You don't have to buy the best cut of meat, just the best quality, and we recommend Whole Foods and especially their grass-fed beef. Flat iron steak is the new hipster steak because it's less expensive and absolutely amazing for marinating and grilling. Thank you to the butcher who recommended it to me a few months ago :)
If you're baking, always go for unbleached flour. Bleached flour absorbs water differently. It will make a sticky dough. It's usually about a dollar difference in price to get the King Arthur unbleached white flour, so this one will not break the bank.
Nice bread. Our favorite is Trader Joe's baguettes. Beware of the days where they put the sesame ficelle in the same bread basket as the sesame-free baguettes if your sesame allergy is severe. They usually have one basket that is either all baguettes and/or all demi-baguettes, but sometimes the second display has the sesame loaves mixed in.
Lactaid brand milk. If you buy lactose-free milk that is not the Lactaid brand, it will spoil within a week or two. If you buy the Lactaid brand, it will stay fresh for a minimum of a month. No one wants to open the milk to discover it has spoiled. It's worth the extra dollar or 2 to know that your milk will always be fresh.
Lactaid brand vanilla ice cream. This ice cream is safe for lactose intolerant folks and egg and nut allergy folks, so it will please as many people as possible at your sundae party. Note that Lactaid brand does make butter pecan ice cream, but it is not processed in the same facility as the vanilla containers that I have purchased thus far.
On Sale, or buy the one that's the Best Deal Possible:
Buy all wine and Marsala wine at Trader Joe's, and you'll spend $5 or less per bottle. Recommended types for risotto and other cooking with wine recipes: Charles Shaw brand Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.
Butter - Stop and Shop brand is completely yummy. If you want to go a step up from that, I also love Kate's butter and the Trader Joe's store brand. But it is always sufficient to buy store brand butter.
Oil for frying and vegan baking - when making latkes or other fried potato projects, always buy the cheapest oil you can because you won't need it for taste, and you'll use a lot of it. Some vegan baking recipes such as carrot bread are also better with canola or vegetable oil because they impart much less flavor than the extra-virgin olive oil. Go for the flavorless oil in baking.
Now, get cooking! :)