Vegan for dummies! Help please

[toomanyshoes]

So i'm taking the plunge, I really want to get healthier.

I think I'll be more veganish than full on vegan though.

I want to swap out the majority on my meals/foods but still be able to treat myself from time to time.

So any sites, tips, recipes, foods, things I have to try? Hit me with it all PLEASE!

Also how do you cope cooking for meat eaters in the house (DH, DS and DD)?

[Sopdet]

Personally I'd not do it, we're omnivores so should consume some meat, maybe reduce the amount of meat and only have it once or twice a week, fish maybe once a night.

I'd probably go check out a uni library, one that has nutrition & dietician type subjects, have a look at the type of books in the nutrition section. There should be a variety of books that tell you about good nutrition etc. Like what types of foods will give you similar protein to meat.

Your biggest issue will be making sure you get your RDIs of essential nutrients, carbs, proteins etc.

Why not do it for the whole family, reduce the amount of meats you all eat. In this household there is only organic, grainfed, non steroided meats, only consumed twice a week, fresh fish once, maybe twice a week and the rest of the time there is a vegetable heavy meal.

Hope this helps.

[*Ash*]

Hi!
Good on you! We are a vegan family.
I have found the vegfamily website useful. Also, whyveg.com/recipes
Also, check out the vegetarian chatter thread on BB. Audax has a blog - she is an awesome cook (I hope she pops in).

What kinds of meals do you eat at the moment? If you give me some examples, I can tell you how to make them vegan and yummy.

I don't really buy cookbooks anymore- there are so many vegan recipes online. I just google if I am looking for anything in particular. You can also check out the Vegan/Vegetarian Society in your state(if you don't have one in your state, google NSW Vegan Society).
There is a book called Vegan for Dummies! It is very comprehensive.

All the best. I am happy to answer any questions that you have.

[toomanyshoes]

We've already reduced the meat intake for the whole family.

While I appreciate your input this is something I want to do for myself. And as I said, veganish. I don't plan to limit myself 100% and will eat something if I feel like it but I would like to limit my animal fat intake and it's also a part of becoming more aware of what I eat and where it comes from, how its raise, killed and so on.

I was more interested in sites for recipes and so on.

[toomanyshoes]

Hi!
Good on you! We are a vegan family.
I have found the vegfamily website useful. Also, whyveg.com/recipes
Also, check out the vegetarian chatter thread on BB. Audax has a blog - she is an awesome cook (I hope she pops in).

What kinds of meals do you eat at the moment? If you give me some examples, I can tell you how to make them vegan and yummy.

I don't really buy cookbooks anymore- there are so many vegan recipes online. I just google if I am looking for anything in particular. You can also check out the Vegan/Vegetarian Society in your state(if you don't have one in your state, google NSW Vegan Society).
There is a book called Vegan for Dummies! It is very comprehensive.

All the best. I am happy to answer any questions that you have.

Thanks hun I'll look into those.

[Sibbie]

Hiya

I'm veggo, was veganish for a while there, at the moment my diet sucks though (just being super lazy and eating junk )

I went (pardon the pun) cold turkey with meat. It took ages for me to make the final decision not to eat meat... I always knew it was something I wanted to do, was just a matter of actually doing it. I was veganish for a while (I called it 'vegan at home' lol creative, I know.) just because it was too hard to be vegan all the time.

I've kinda got it easy because it's just me, I can just not cook what I don't want to eat. My suggestion would be to start small by increasing the veggies & grains you do eat now, and start cutting back on meat. Have a few 'meat free' days, dabble with it. Google recipes, try them, figure out what you like. I personally don't like meat substitutes... I just use beans & legumes in the place of meat in my 'meat' dishes (eg burritos).

As long as you make sure you are eating a varied diet you shouldn't have much to worry about wrt vitamins etc. You can get a vegan multivitamin if you're worried.

Alicia Silverstone's book 'the kind diet' is pretty good, nice amount if information without being overwhelming. There are plenty of brilliant sites around too if you just google away.

I'm sure more of the vegans/vegetarians will pop in here and help you out there's a few threads in the vegetarian recipe section too that might help.

[luna moth]

Oh hey!

My blog is very neglected at the moment, but trying my best to get it fully active again. Meanwhile, there's a neat little collection of recipes already up there.

I definitely recommend reading up on how to get your RDIs of everything. Protein is a big one, a lot of folk kind of fail that. We aim for at least 7 legume/pulse/bean meals a week, and one with some sort of tofu or tempeh, and the rest of our protein comes from grains, seeds, nuts etc.

A fully vegan diet has no vitamin B12, so you will need to supplement. If you are still eating eggs or some meat (I don't know what you mean by vegan-ish) you might be OK, but you don't get B12 from dairy.

Hit me up if you have any questions at all - more than happy to help you out.

[toomanyshoes]

By veganish I just mean aiming for most days to be vegan but allowing myself something if I feel like it from time to time.

Thanks for the replies, lots to start looking at

[toomanyshoes]

Do I treat veggie "mince" like normal mince? Can I freeze it? Do I need to fry/brown it first?

Also can I freeze chickpeas/kidney beans/etc after they have been cooked in a sauce?

(currently working on a spicy chili/taco mix)

Also can I use the veggie mince in the slow cooker? Put it in at the start or near the end? can I over cook it?

[Pandora]

Yep, you can freeze them after cooking.

There are a lot more vegan resources that there used to be. I was vegan for 6 years but I never really ate tvp or veggie mince as such, but tofu and tempeh all the time.

Lots of Asian and Indian dishes are vegan or can be easily adapted to be vegan.

[krystals]

check out the Post Punk Kitchen as well, she even has a recipe for cheesecake! (as long as you're not allergic to nuts, it's terrific!)

[toomanyshoes]

thanks ladies!

I'm sooooooo nervous lol going to cook a batch of vegan chili tomorrow, my own recipe...scary!

[*Ash*]

thanks ladies!

I'm sooooooo nervous lol going to cook a batch of vegan chili tomorrow, my own recipe...scary!

great! I look forward to hearing about it.

[luna moth]

Veggie mince.. depends what kind. If cooking from dry, put it in early. The earlier the better, to get rid of that cardboard flavour. If it's canned Casserole Mince, put it in late. I love that stuff. It's wacky, it shouldn't be food, it's a bit of a sometimes thing for us, but I love it when we have it.

Yes you can freeze stuff after it has been cooked in a sauce. Bean purees and hommus freeze quite well too.

Enjoy!

[toomanyshoes]

Veggie mince.. depends what kind. If cooking from dry, put it in early. The earlier the better, to get rid of that cardboard flavour. If it's canned Casserole Mince, put it in late. I love that stuff. It's wacky, it shouldn't be food, it's a bit of a sometimes thing for us, but I love it when we have it.

Yes you can freeze stuff after it has been cooked in a sauce. Bean purees and hommus freeze quite well too.

Enjoy!

Ummm it was just in a packet in the cold section of the super market, only 300g's going into the chili mix. It will mostly be lentils and kidney beans. Wanted to give it a try.

Also is there are a vegan alternative to sour cream? Or does it suck? lol

[*Ash*]

Tofutti do a sour cream and a cream cheese- you can buy the cream cheese in the cheese spread fridge section of Coles and Woolies. I've only ever seen Tofutti sour cream in health food shops or an online store called the cruelty free shop.

[Pandora]

Ooh and tofutti cuties, yum!

[luna moth]

Ooh and tofutti cuties, yum!

Shut UP! They are so hard to get up here. Last time we were in Melbs, DH and I bought a box at that shop on Flinders street and ate them all ourselves in one hit.

TMS - if you cut animal fat cold turkey for six weeks, then go back to something like cream, you will be amazed at how disgusting it tastes.