Going vegan......old style?!

Justamum · 9 February 2009 at 3:01PM

twinkle_star wrote: »

I was going to do mash potato with small piece of veg (peas, sweetcorn, carrot, broccoli etc) mixed in but wasn't sure if just mashed potato would stick it all together enough (I used to put an egg in to bind it). May give it whirl without the egg and see what happens.

Just thought - why not add a bit of flour - potato cakes are just potato and flour and they hold together really well.

Justamum · 9 February 2009 at 3:03PM

twinkle_star wrote: »

Hi justamum. Glad to be of inspiration! Hope you note my edits before this evening (marmite & spices!).

I might add some vecon instead so I don't get that 'marmitey' taste.

lesley1960 · 9 February 2009 at 3:14PM

twinkle_star wrote: »

Hi justamum. Glad to be of inspiration! Hope you note my edits before this evening (marmite & spices!).

Hi Lesley1960, as I've only just made the transition from meat-eater to vegan I haven't done too much research into the ethical background of all the products I eat (yet!). I'm hoping to steer clear of the big bads (nestle is the obvious one) but otherwise I'm still rather clueless. I'm hoping to eventually be as ethical as possible in everything that I buy but its a slow process!

P.S. Just did a quick google of marmite and it turns out the animal testing thing is becasue their parent company is Unilever which also does soaps and things (and may test on animals - couldn't find confirmation on this). Hmmm...

It is a bit of a minefield isnt it?

the one thing that did surprise me was honey isnt vegan because the bees are farmed , the devils advocate in me would say vegetables are farmed lol .( pest control? ) . I do think alot of manufactored vegan food might have a conflict of interests , much the same as findus ( for arguments sake ) making vegetarian food alongside meat eaters food

i am meat eater , but can understand the vegans choice much more the i understand the vegetarian choice , because tbh thats neither one thing or another .

twinkle_star_2 · 9 February 2009 at 4:35PM

Lesley1960 The honey thing suprised me at first as I always pictured honey coming from bees sat in one hive in a field somewhere but then I looked into it....

. It isn't very nice and I thinks its easy enough to make the swap to just plain syrup (you can even make nice flavoured syrups yourself like weezls cinnamon syrup).

If you can guaruntee that your honey comes from a nice ethical beekeeper who simply manages his swarm and ensures they have plenty of honey of their own and doesn't prevent swarming then i, personally, think it would be fine (although strict vegans would say otherwise). But since most of my honey was coming from the supermarket I'm going to stick with avoiding it.

justamum - thanks for the tip re: flour. I shall have to give the vegetable nuggets another go now!:j

frugalmumof4 - thanks for the link. I LOVE ginger biscuits and gingerbread so I shall have to make some of those soon!

boodle - thanks!

redmandarin · 9 February 2009 at 11:31PM

lolabug wrote: »

I often make pizza and put small daps of tofutti cream cheese all over the top instead of cheezly. The cream cheese goes slightly crispy on the outside and all melty when you bite.

Vegan cheese takes a while to get used to but I rather like chedder style cheezly 'raw'..most other brands of hard vegan cheese are pretty vile though in my opinion.

Thanks lolabug, that's brilliant!

I need all the alternative cheese info I can get (to save having to spend a fortune making expensive mistakes)! The one's I've tasted, so far, have been horrible!

Please does anyone know of a milk alternative that looks acceptable in coffee - and won't curdle or taste yuk?

redmandarin · 10 February 2009 at 12:06AM

lesley1960 wrote: »

It is a bit of a minefield isnt it?

the one thing that did surprise me was honey isnt vegan because the bees are farmed , the devils advocate in me would say vegetables are farmed lol .( pest control? ) . I do think alot of manufactored vegan food might have a conflict of interests , much the same as findus ( for arguments sake ) making vegetarian food alongside meat eaters food

i am meat eater , but can understand the vegans choice much more the i understand the vegetarian choice , because tbh thats neither one thing or another .

I think that the problem with honey is that bees are killed or injured during the process of collecting the honey!

I'm a veggie (by the Vegetarian Society's definition - someone who does not eat meat, fish, poultry or any slaughterhouse by-product) however, I think that vegans have the right idea (and the moral highground:rotfl: ) and I wish to become one - which is why I'm gaining as much information as possible from this thread!

lesley1960 - I think I get what you're trying to say about vegetarians, but it's important to bear in mind that whilst their dietary habits may not be as virtuous as those of vegans, vegetarians (that is real ones, not those who claim to be vegetarian, but eat fish!:rotfl:) still have a valuable ethical and moral contribution to make!

Plus, for some people, vegetarianism is (or may become) a stepping stone to veganism!

Doom_and_Gloom · 10 February 2009 at 12:13AM

"Homemade Yogurt
1 pint (570ml) soya milk
1 tbsp live soya yoghurt e.g. Sojasun
1. Gently bring the soya milk to the boil and allow it to cool so it is lukewarm.
2. Add the yogurt and leave overnight in a flask in the airing cupboard or other warm place. It should be ready by the morning.
3. Use a tablespoon of the homemade yoghurt as a starter culture for the next batch. Each subsequent batch will be thicker. Add fruit or other flavouring to taste."
I believe this is from the vegan society but i may be wrong. I copied a lot of things like this years ago now for help with keeping costs down.
You could also use a yogurt maker instead of a flask as that would most likely make it easier.

Doom_and_Gloom · 10 February 2009 at 12:26AM

redmandarin wrote: »

I think that the problem with honey is that bees are killed or injured during the process of collecting the honey!

Yes bees are routinely killed as the production of more bees from the queen bee goes down after a year or two and is therefore uneconomical. As a vegan I can't see why people would kill something living for economical gain. I see it as rather selfish. Bees go through routine examination and handling, artificial feeding regimes, drug and pesticide treatment, genetic manipulation, artificial insemination, transportation (by air, rail and road) and slaughter. The queen bees in the different hives often have their wings clipped off so they can not swarm. Swarming is a bees natural way of reproduction and is also used as a way to increase the population of species and survival mechanism. People see bees all around them and think they are free but at the end of the day they always return to where their queen is and to where the bee keeper essentially steals their honey (bee movie explains that it’s not right to steal their honey. Yes it’s a child’s movie

but rather honest on that)

redmandarin wrote: »

Plus, for some people, vegetarianism is (or may become) a stepping stone to veganism!

I know for me it certainly was yes and I do hope it can be for all those that go veggie but it is in the end the persons choice and i do respect that even if i don't agree with them on a personal level :rotfl: .

bluemoon_3 · 10 February 2009 at 12:29AM

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

"Homemade Yogurt
I believe this is from the vegan society but i may be wrong. I copied a lot of things like this years ago now for help with keeping costs down.
You could also use a yogurt maker instead of a flask as that would most likely make it easier.

You don't even need to boil the soymillk. I make a couple of litres of soy yoghurt a week (in a Lakeland yoghurt maker), using the previous batch as a starter. I use a 1ltr UHT carton of sweetened, fortified soymilk and just pour it in as is.

Also, a little hint - you can freeze the soy yoghurt in ice cube trays to use as starters if you don't always have a batch on the go. I've defrosted the cubes in the microwave a few times and it still works!

Most supermarkets sell the 500ml cartons of Alpro plain soya yoghurt and that works as a starter.

Justamum · 10 February 2009 at 8:43AM

redmandarin wrote: »

Plus, for some people, vegetarianism is (or may become) a stepping stone to veganism!

I think that happens for a great deal of vegans. I was vegetarian for 20 years before becoming vegan, and have been vegan for 5. I did try becoming vegan a couple of times during the 20 years, but it all seemed to be nuts, and brown food! (I have a cook book from many years ago with loads of colour pictures, but everything is brown - not particularly appetising!)

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Going vegan......old style?!

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