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

financially_gaga

Thanks for all the recipes guys, you're all fab!

Just a question - can you substitute soya milk for normal full fat milk in the recipes? Any milk is enough to make me green, but soya milk makes me heave just looking at the box.

Sorry to all those who swear by it, i tried, honest!

O.W.E.I

kim_ley wrote: »

Well I've been veggie since watching Jamie saves our bacon (the pig slaughter) so not that long but I haven't relapsed at all nor have I wanted to the thought of my once beloved bacon butty now only makes me want to cry!!! I've been thinking of going vegan so have been having the odd vegan meal here and there but I'm waiting until I've finished breastfeeding to go the whole hog. I'll be checking this thread all the time... Best of luck x

Ah, the eternal bacon sandwich question... along with cheese this always seems to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks.:eek:

You can buy Organic Vegan Rashers from health food shops, made by Redwood Foods they are yummy.

My OH loves them, and I've become a fan to the extent that our pre-match snack is almost always a 'bacon' sarnie with red sauce and mustard.
My excuse is it keeps out the cold (It always seems to be freezing at The Molineux!)...:D

Rashers are one of the very few pre-made foodstuffs I buy, but like almost everything else, if I could find a way to make them myself, I would!

O.W.E.I

twinklesmum wrote: »

I am horrified by the bee/honey debacle, although I always try to buy local/organic etc - are small-scale beekeepers mean to their bees? And if you use sugar/syrup instead, might there not be human rights issues involved in their production? I also have this worry about soya - as well as the health scares, isn't most soya mass-produced in America using very dodgy farming practices which are far more harmful to the land/environment long term? I think I would rather get some protein from organic eggs laid by 'happy hens' I know personally which in turn fertilise the soil to grow happy free-range carrots? (I'm sure someone will kick my !!! for saying that but Twinkle knows the agonies I go through trying to shop/produce food ethically/organically/economically).
We are, however, very proud of our Twinkle's new project - especially as her appetite for red meat used to horrify me (sorry sweetie :A )

Hi twinklesmum!

It can be extremly confusing. I know I've spent hours agonising over the most trivial problems.
Mrs OWEI will attest to the occasional scream from [strike]my shed[/strike] the kitchen as something else goes wrong, or ingredients have been changed by manufacturers...

I've always tried to go my own way to the level that I find acceptable, and sod what anybody else thinks.

There's nothing worse than a food fascist cornering you and giving you chapter and verse on why you should or should not eat anything.

It's your choice, your body and your life! (ooooh get me!):rotfl:

Doom_and_Gloom

twinklesmum wrote: »

I am horrified by the bee/honey debacle, although I always try to buy local/organic etc - are small-scale beekeepers mean to their bees? And if you use sugar/syrup instead, might there not be human rights issues involved in their production?

When it comes to bees I believe that all do some of the nasty practices. All bees are smoked when the beekeeper ‘collects’ honey. This is due to bees natural instincts to be afraid of fire. Smoke indicates fire so they collect what they can and can leave the hive for a time just in case. This is the distraction the beekeeper uses to ‘collect’ the honey. This smoke causes the bees a lot of distress because of the confusion etc. However if you do wish to consume honey that is your choice.

twinklesmum wrote: »

I also have this worry about soya - as well as the health scares, isn't most soya mass-produced in America using very dodgy farming practices which are far more harmful to the land/environment long term?

When 80% of the worlds soya bean production goes to animal feed I don’t think the 20% remaining going to humans is much of a problem considering, although it is a problem in its own right I agree. The 80% going to animals is obviously the big problem and that eventually makes the ‘meat’ on a meat eaters plate. People who eat ‘meat’ and other animal products do way more damage to the environment than the vegans who eat soya. I believe you could take a car and motorbike off the road and it is basically equal to going vegan (from what I remember but defiantly better to go vegan than getting a car off the road)! Basically eating animals and animal products easily does 4 times more damage to the environment than not eating them.
I personally don’t believe the health scares against soya as the east have been eating soya products for years and places like Japan and China have less cancer rates and usually live longer. However that in mind any one kind of food in too huge a quiantities is not really healthy.

twinklesmum wrote: »

I think I would rather get some protein from organic eggs laid by 'happy hens' I know personally which in turn fertilise the soil to grow happy free-range carrots? (I'm sure someone will kick my !!! for saying that but Twinkle knows the agonies I go through trying to shop/produce food ethically/organically/economically).
We are, however, very proud of our Twinkle's new project - especially as her appetite for red meat used to horrify me (sorry sweetie :A )

If you have your own hens then that is going to be better than factory kept hens. It is up to you if you wish to do that if you do want to eat eggs etc.
To be honest most peoples consumption of red meat horrifies me lol. My partner (an omni) eats so much beef for example that I’m surprised he can even function but that is another matter :rotfl: .

twinklesmum_2

thanks OWEI - I will have a go with your pancake recipe
wow d and g that's food for thought:o

Re the soya thing - I read (in The Independent I think) that Eastern diets use fermented soya (good) and wouldn't contemplate 'raw' as it affects absorption of some nutrients, something to do with Omega 6(?), and impotence in men (sorry guys - and girls). But I really love Alpro chocolate pud so please someone give me some solid scientific evidence that rubbishes that - where's the scientist with the soap-box? Could you climb back on it please?
On a lighter and more urgent note, I need to produce a vegan birthday cake in the next week or so and transport it up to Cardiff (don't mention to Twink;) )
The usual favourite here has always been carrot cake (made with veg/seed oil - so far so good), but smothered in frosting (butter and soft cheese).

HELP!!!!

O.W.E.I

Try this for a Carrot cake:

225 g Carrots finely grated
1 Lemon juice and rind
110 g Brown Sugar
110 g Sunflower Oil
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Baking Powder
225 g Self-Raising Flour
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Oil
225 g Icing Sugar

Method:


1.Mix Carrots, lemon rind and juice in big bowl, add sugar, oil and cinnamon.
2.Sift flour and baking powder thoroughly, add to mix.
3.Put in loaf tin and bake at 180 c for 40-50 minutes, cool on a wire rack.
4.Mix icing sugar, vanilla, lemon and oil and spread over cold cake.

It's quite substantial!



I tried this one a couple of weeks ago - totally yummy and reminiscent of one of those chocolate mini roll type thingies from the 70s

Chocolate Orange Cake

The Recipe is from The Cake Scoffer by Ronny - A winner!

Ingredients:

285 g White self raising flour
170 g Brown Sugar
30 gCocoa powder
2 Tsp Baking Powder
180 ml water
100 ml sunflower oil

Juice 1 orange
1 Tbsp Cocoa powder
125 g Icing Sugar

Method:

• Put oil, water and sugar in a pan and warm gently until sugar dissolved
• Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa and add to liquid
• Put in greased tin and bake at 190 c for 30 minutes (may need longer) Cool on a wire rack.
• Mix icing sugar, cocoa and orange and spread over cold cake.

Have a look at this for more inspiration:

http://www.vegansociety.com/food/recipes/cakes.php

BTW - can someone please tell me how to post a link and change the name???

Ta!

frugalmumof4

O.W.E.I- Those cake recipes you gave sound great, thankyou for sharing! I have the chocolate one cooking in the oven now, I have used doves farm gluten free flour in it,so im hoping it will be successful! it smells delicious.
Going to make your carrot cake for the weekend!

For rice pudding lovers, you can still make great rice pudding using soya milk, i usually flavour it with vanilla or cinnamon. Have one cooking away in the slow cooker at the moment, trying to resist lifting the lid off! This will be my first experiment with rice pudding using our home made soya milk. It certainly smells yummy!

I discovered soya yogurts in lidls today, they are available in 3 flavours. 99p for 4. called soywell.

O.W.E.I

Blimey Frugal, that was quick!!!

Please let me know how you get on with the gluten free flour.

Can you email me a slice please?...lol!

twinkle_star_2

Oooh. Carrot cake sounds nice:T. Birthday goodness ahoy!

On an unrelated note I think its time for more nutritional geeking:D

I've been reading up about iron today because as I am of the female persuasion I require more of it than my my OH. According to the FSA's Manual of Nutrition a healthy adult body contains around 3-4g of iron but you are recommended to consume between 8.7g (males) and 14.8g (females) each day as only about 20% or less is absorbed.

Plant-based sources of iron tend to be less well absorbed than animal-based ones but can still provide a perfectly adequate supply. Also, low levels of vitamin C will derease your absorbtion of iron as will tannins in tea. So, drink up plenty of orange juice:D

Interestingly the FSA also state that about 50% of iron in the average British diet comes from cereals and only 14% from meat so it shouldn't be too worrying to replace that 14% with other iron sources.

Here are few nice sources of iron (taken from the vegan society website - here).

Examples of amounts of foods providing 2mg iron

Pistachios - 14g
Roasted cashews - 32g
Whole lentils - 57g
Boiled chickpeas - 95g
Wholemeal bread - 74g
Sesame seeds/tahini - 19g
Dried apricots - 59g
Spinach - 125g


Thus, a woman would need to eat about 8 of any of these portions and a man only needs 4. So a sandwich made with wholemeal bread, hummous (chickpeas & tahini) & salad using baby spinach would be a super iron-filled lunch :T

I may have one now!

O.W.E.I

twinkle_star wrote: »

Pistachios - 14g
Roasted cashews - 32g
Whole lentils - 57g
Boiled chickpeas - 95g
Wholemeal bread - 74g
Sesame seeds/tahini - 19g
Dried apricots - 59g
Spinach - 125g

Hmmmm, sounds like a splendid mid-morning snack to me!:D