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Ohh, christy, you sound like such a fab cook!
Congrats m2mm! Skinny ***** probably won't be that helpful if you still want to have milk and cheese, it's very much a vegan book. I thought about buying it because I knew I could trust that information. I, very unfortunately, just gave away a great diet book, otherwise would have passed it on! I used information from Rosemary Stanton's cookbook that I have here - but almost every library has one of her books, and they're very good.
I think you need to make sure you're getting heaps of protein from varied sources, as well as plenty of fibre. I would say get a legume/pulse of some sort into you every single day. I did it by having baked beans for breakfast some days, or soups with lentils, or whatever. They're also high in iron, which you will need a lot of. I also ate heaps of dried fruit - organic dried apricots and dates as a snack, and sultanas on wheat or rice bran with soy in the morning were good options for me. Have something Vitamin C rich with your iron source to help you get the best out of the iron. Last week, my Hb levels measured at 139, which is good even for a meat eater, and I did that without supplements, so it can be done.
You'll also need heaps of calcium, while you're constructing all those extra bones in there! I think you're looking at 1200mg per day (Would have to check on that) so that's a lot of dairy products if you want to do it that way, and can mean a lot of saturated fat. Cannellini beans, almonds and tahini are all sources of calcium but you have to eat a fair bit of them every day, as well as your milk/soy intake. I supplemented, just to be sure. Your body will excrete any excess blood calcium, so don't worry about overdosing.
Omega 3 - for brains, can be absorbed from walnuts and flaxseeds/oil. (probably others, but this is what I used) Again, you need quite a lot to get enough, but it can be done. Flaxseed oil is too volatile to cook with, but you can throw a liberal dash over your meal after it has been cooked. Flaxseed can be tossed over your cereal or meal also, but it better absorbed if you grind it first (don't buy pre-ground, the oil goes rancid too quickly, then it tastes gross and is useless)
Iodine is also important for brains - iodised salt is an easy way to do it, although I don't always add salt to my meals, and often use things like soy or stock instead. Seaweed is a good source of iodine (but also contains bromine which inhibits iodine absorption) so I would have miso soup 2-3 times a week.
Make sure you are getting Vitamin B12 from somewhere - you can get it from eggs or animal flesh, but that's it (no other sources are confidently proven) To get enough from eggs, I'm not sure how often you need to eat them, but I think it's more than once a week. I take Thompson's supplement, it dissolves under your tongue and tastes pretty good.
And folate, of course.
(I could go on for a lot longer...)
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Hey m2mm, congratulations!
I have been vego for a few years now and my doctors can't tell by looking at a blood test. I have no deficiencies, in fact prior to becoming a vegetarian I was anaemic and I don't have that problem anymore!
My diet rules are that I always make sure I have 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day, and at least 1 serve of pulses, and always choose multigrain when possible - bread, cereal, pasta etc..
I know many meateaters that do not get anywhere near enough fruit and veg, I think their problem is that meat is always the centrepiece and everything else is just an afterthought. When you take meat out of the equation, you learn to become more creative and experimental with fruit and veg.
There are a variety of meat replacements which I eat a few times a week, they are all fortified in one way or another. I also eat vegemite all the time (because I love it), which has a good serve of vitamins in it, including folate.
It's really basic, but as long as you maintain a balanced and varied diet, your body will take care of itself, whether you eat meat or not.
Has anyone tried the new vegie delight gourmet sausages with rosemary, sage and parsley?? They are devine! So good with mashed potatoes..
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I put linseeds in everything I bake... I grind them in my spice grinder and chuck them in. Today we had pancakes for breakie with linseeds in them. I use wholemeal flour and linseeds and rice milk to make them. I do use eggs though for those vegans out there.... But my chickens lay eggs and we eat them.
I put linseeds in a few other things too like my daal curry or my vege puffs. It helps thicken the mix in the end :D
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Christy - they are some fab ideas! We vegans can use no-egg, it's so easy and just as good, as long as you're not trying to make meringues or anything! DH even made royal icing without egg yesterday, and it was perfect!
Also good in place of eggs is using a teaspoon of psyllium husk in two teaspoons water as sub for each egg. Leave to stand for 10 mins and it will go all gloopy. Alternatively, add dry psyllium to the wet mixture and stand it for 10 minutes. Makes getting cake mix out of the bowl SO easy! Also, full of fibre.
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Hi mum2missm I think the other girls have given you heaps of great info! I also like to add red lentils to almost everything, and they are great to thicken up sauces in curries & stews etc. 'Fresh' LSA really is wonderful to add to everything right before serving, stirfry, salads, on top of mashed potato etc. I love to have a smoothie in the morning, organic oat or rice milk, fresh LSA & flaxseed oil, natural flavour whey powder, a tablespoon of oats to thicken if you want, ice and banana or berries etc When I was pg I also had Floradix everyday for extra iron and I took a Vit B & folate complex supplement along with a a general multi :)
I just had my aunty & uncle over for lunch and I wanted to share my fav winter veg stew recipe
1 large onion sliced length ways
6 whole garlic cloves peeled
1 handful of green beans sliced into ??s
1 large potato cut into large chunks
2 medium carrots cut into large chunks
1 can of sliced (or diced) tomatoes
1 can of 4 bean mix of soak & cook your won fresh (you could also use chick peas)
500ml vegetable stock
? cup of red lentils
? packet of taco seasoning
1 tablespoon of yellow curry powder
Salt & lemon pepper
I cook the onion for about 5 mins in olive oil, than add tomato and then everything else. I bring it to the boil and than simmer until thickened stirring occasionally :p
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Congratulations Mum2mm, that's wonderful news. I have every faith that you can grow a healthy baby without meat and that you will find it easy to do so...
I am happy to lend you my copy of 'Skinny B -Bun In the Oven', PM your address and I will post it to you. You can borrow it for as long as you need it. I can also email you an article that I wrote for a vegan mag that gives info on what to eat to meet all your nutritional requirements (just let me know what email address you would like it sent to).
You have been given some great advice here already, I would just emphasise the importance of taking a B12 supplement. Also, I took a vegan DHA (highly purified omega3) capsule once a day while pregnant.
My DH and I are also a fan of green smoothies (they are popular with raw foodists). There are many combos, we like:
*banana (very ripe, at least 2)
*1/2 cup frozen or fresh berries (we usually use frozen raspberries, for convenience)
*freshly squeezed orange juice (3 or 4 oranges)
*At least 2 big handfuls of leafy greens (we usually use english spinach or cos lettuce, and sometimes add herbs like mint or parsley).
* filtered water
We have a very powerful blender so there are no chunky bits! The secret to making it sweet and yummy is to use very ripe bananas. Green smoothies are so good for you, and you can have your days quota of greens out of the way by the end of breakfast! I get a real buzz after having mine.
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Oh, Ally, green smoothie sounds so yum. We have about a thousand cos lettuces in our vegie patch right now, but blender is busted! I have owned it since I first moved out of home, and it has seen a lot of share house ****tails parties, among other things, so will have to get into them when I have a new one! What sort do you have?
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Hi SB, it's a Vitasmooth Power Mill Blender. I did a raw food preparation course in West End last year. This is the blender that the 'presenters' used for all the demos. It was pretty pricey, but we love it. You can make nut butters in it too. I ordered it online after coming home from the course. We use it every day. It has a 2 year warranty.
(Am I starting to sound like a salesperson?!).
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Sell away. I'm a childess yuppie, who has spent very little on kitchenware over the years. Can justify. How much are we talking?
I live near West End, raw food prep course sounds ace! I wouldn't do all raw, but I'd like to do some more stuff.
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Mum2missm - I have had 2 meat free pregnancies and BF both girls (DD1 to 14m and DD2 still going) so I have absolute faith you can do it!
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Alisha your smoothie does sound YUM... I also like to add mung beans or cucumber or any fresh sprouts that I am growing in the kitchen :p
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ohhh I've got a kitchen aide blender..... I'm in lurve with it!
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SB, our blender cost approx $600 incl. postage (but hey, it has a 2 horsepower motor!). The course was run by a couple called Anand and Runi. They live in Northern NSW, but do courses all over the place. I just had a look at their web site, rawpower, and their next course in West End is in October.
There is a great web site that lists different green smoothie recipes.
In summer, DH and I try to eat at least 50% raw and there are some weeks where we would eat up to about 75% raw. I find it easy to eat raw food when the weather is really hot. We also have a 9 tray food dehydrator. We don't use it as much in winter, as I prefer cooked food when the weather is cold. Actually, we have a few different things in our dehydrator at the moment- apple; pineapple; a mix that will become herb crackers after about 12 more hours of drying, and 11 tiny pie bases that I will add chocolate sauce to tomorrow morning (the choc sauce is made out of raw cocoa powder, and the pie bases are made out of flaxseed, almonds, oats and dried apricots).
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mum2missm I'm at work so don't have it on hand but will be home by lunch time if you still need it then... dh makes it (not me) and he doesn't soak the lentils though, he got the recipe from an Indian cooking class a few years back along with a YUMMY chutney which I make (and he doesn't) :lol: I tend to maily use red lentils when I cook with them because they soften up really quickly and make everything thicken up :) I thnk his dahl has yellow or brown? Sorry, that's not very much help is it!
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Dahl Curry or Soup
(3-5 people, cooking time 70 minutes)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup yellow split peas (do not pre soak)
1/2 cup red lentils (do not pre soak)
1/2 cup mung dhal (do not pre soak)
Up to 2.5 litres of water
1/2 tablespoon turmeric powder
Pinch of salt
150 ml of ghee (50 ml to cook, 100 ml to fry)
1 large onion sliced
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 teaspoons cumin powder
500 g mixed vegetable (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander (to cook and for garnish)
6-8 fresh curry leaves (12-16 if dried)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
METHOD
In a large saucepan mix all the lentils (split peas, red lentils, mung dhal) and wash thoroughly with hands (repeat 2-3 times). Add 2 litres of water, turmeric, salt and bring to the boil.
Add 50 ml of ghee, half of the sliced onion, 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic, chilli flakes, cumin powder and cook for about 30 mins on medium heat with the saucepan half covered (stir occasionally and add water if too thick).
Add the mixed vegetables and half of the fresh coriander and cook for a further 20 minutes (add water if dhal is too thick).
In a frypan heat 100 ml of ghee then add curry leaves, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, stir, then add the remaining onion and cook on medium heat until onion is golden brown stirring as required. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.
Add the contents of the frypan to the lentils then put some dhal into frypan and stir briefly then put it back into saucepan (this gets additional flavour from frypan). Mix well, and garnish with the rest of the fresh coriander. Serve hot as soup, or with basmati rice or Roti bread.
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Tomato Chutney
(Cooking time 25 minutes)
INGREDIENTS
50 ml cooking oil
6 fresh curry leaves
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
4-6 dried chillies
1 large finely sliced onion
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cans peeled tomatoes
Salt to taste (1-2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1/2 cup fresh coriander (finely chopped)
METHOD
In a frypan heat the oil then add curry leaves, cumin seed, mustard seed, dried chillies, sliced onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, mix well and cook for a minute then add turmeric powder, stir, then add tomatoes and salt and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes (stirring occasionally). Add garam masala, sugar, coriander and cook for a couple more minutes.
NB: Tomato Chutney can be kept in fridge for up to 2 weeks and served as an accompaniment or as a relish. Serve hot or cold.
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Far out, I dont log on for almost two weeks and it literally takes me almost an hour to catch up on you lot!
Congrats Mum2missm! Throughout my pregnancy all my family gave me crap about how we were going to have a skinny baby because we are vego... 8lb6 showed them! You can easily have a healthy pregnancy without eating dead animals.
Crack up about the Mum not getting any solids, I think it was Cherished??(welcome back by the way :))
Dinner tonight was crapola pasta with a jar thrown in, very nutritious, not.
Snugglybean, Im into making a brown rice risotto. My DP hated brown rice too but he quite likes this meal. I just make the rice as per usual in the rice cooker, but in a fry pan I do garlic, onion, zucchini, sweet potato, mushies you could add whatever, fry them up good and well. Then add tin of tomatos to which I then do coriander,paprika,oregano and whatever other herbs then once its simmered a bit chuck in the rice then salt pepper and grated(vegan) cheese. Made it for lunch today, tasty!
Brown rice and roast veg salad.
Roast 2 spanish onion, 1 or 2 capsicum, 1 sweet potato,2 zucchini etc
Cook about 4 cups brown rice and cool.
To rice add aprox 3 tbsp oli oil and 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
Add about 10 kalamata olives chopped
Mix in cooled vegies and add a bag of rocket before serving.
More of a summer meal but I like to serve it with turkish and its delish on the side of a bbq meal.
Hope everyone is well*
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What is your best vegan cheesecake recipe? I want to make one for my mums group but have to blow them away - before I tell them it is vegan. he he. Actually even though Rocky is big for meat eaters they are all great and try to bring something vegetarian to meet ups (except I am on a diet - eek!).
So back to the point - awesome cheesecake recipes - one that most people seem to like.
Love you guys!
I made a beautiful orange spiced cake (vegan) for playgroup today so hopefully it will go down well (but at 15g of fat per slice I won't be having any :(). I used my grannys old lemon cake recipe and substituted the 'no egg', soy milk and nuttelex and added a dash of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Yum yum!
