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

fernliebee

me again! In the free from aisle they sell vegan choc dippers (you know, little pot of choccy spread with bread sticks!) my shopping day treat!

Joyful25

Whoever questions a vegan diet has to visit this thread - there are techinically not enough days in the year to try all these great sounding recipes I think over the weekend I'm going to try a chocolate cake, and twinkle_star's quiche (I too bought some silken tofu and it's been sitting a bit neglected in the cupboard while I think of something useful/frugal to do with it).

Doom and Gloom mentioned smoothies on an earlier post, and one thing I have tried is frozen fruit. I've always avoided it because I thought it would not be good value for money and I don't particularly like buying packaged versions of goods which sit out on trays; however, Mr.S does Basics bags for £1 and they're pretty substantial, depending on your smoothie needs. So far there's berries and one with mixed fruit; I tend to make them up with Alpro yoghurt to make my own yog - add oats and chopped nuts for something more filling/breakfast. I also find it the easiest way to digest fruit - we don't have the greatest of relationships, which is a shame as I love fruit, but hey what can you do

(Obviously there are the ethics of buying fruit which isn't in season here and I still try and buy fresh fruit which is British, but my personal belief is that as a vegan, I think I'm doing enough ethically at the moment).

Am happy to list ready-made snacks/treats which could be on the cheap end of the scale and just handy to have as standbys or for emergency 'smash glass' moments when you're out and about, if anyone thinks it's useful. For example, Rich Teas are vegan and I wouldn't expect to pay more than 60/70p for a packet?

As for rice milk, I drank a lot of last year after switching from years of soya, but have switched back again to vary my diet - however, I prefer the taste of rice milk....

I have really got to get off of here before I geek it up too much x

twinkle_star_2

Hello all!

I'm so glad this thread is proving useful to so many people (and that its not just me scribbling all the hints down:p). It is lovely to know that there are others out there who are trying to be vegan in a non-vegan world :rotfl:

Good to hear people have been scouring the shops for vegan goodies! I have to say vegan bob the builder pasta for the babies is so cool! So far I've found that when I'm in need of a quick snack when I'm out and about then there are a fair number of mainstream biccies that are vegan friendly - rich teas, hobnobs and bourbons all included! Obviously check the packed for ingredient differences between brands. Also, for a tashy treat at home I like a cup of tea and a slice of toast (or two) spread with vegan chocolate spread. Not healthy but yummy:D.

Kim_ley - if you're already researching nutriton and vegan goodies for the baby then you're a supermum indeed! I'm sure you'll both have no worries when you decide to change over to veganism. Well done:T

Joyful25 - don't stop geeking its great! If you're trying smoothies then try adding a handful or two off some leafy greens to the banana & fruit. I know it sounds :eek: and before I decided to try new foods I wouldn't have touched it in a million years but its really quite good. You end up with a green smoothie which is mad-looking but the taste is completely masked by the other fruits. I usually do two bananas, a handful of spinach and some other fruit (plums, strawberries, etc). A great way of bumping up your daily intake of lots of vitmains and minerals. (My OH also likes to put in this mad dried algae supplement stuff which also makes everything green but is also, apparently, very nutritious:eek:).

Justamum

Joyful25 wrote: »

and not come across vegan naan anyway....

You can make your own! I did this last week (I found a recipe on the internet) and they were very yummy. If a recipe isn't actually vegan, it can always be veganised. My only brush with naans in the past was that they were a bit oily, but the ones I made weren't - I did garlic and coriander ones.

Justamum

Joyful25 wrote: »

I find dried soya mince (again from H&B) is much better value than the frozen goods (one packet lasts me ages, as opposed to a more expensive frozen pack which lasts only meal). Again, unless I tell MJ what it is, he often doesn't notice so it means we can have the same meal.

I've never been a big fan of soya mince - until I found the frozen type, and that's the only one I use now. The Tesco frozen mince is vegan (and they have a few other things which are vegan too - nut burgers are one, but a couple of chicken lookalikes, which freak me out a bit :eek:)

kim_ley

twinkle_star wrote: »

Joyful25 - don't stop geeking its great! If you're trying smoothies then try adding a handful or two off some leafy greens to the banana & fruit. I know it sounds :eek: and before I decided to try new foods I wouldn't have touched it in a million years but its really quite good. You end up with a green smoothie which is mad-looking but the taste is completely masked by the other fruits. I usually do two bananas, a handful of spinach and some other fruit (plums, strawberries, etc). A great way of bumping up your daily intake of lots of vitmains and minerals. (My OH also likes to put in this mad dried algae supplement stuff which also makes everything green but is also, apparently, very nutritious:eek:).

MINT... it's fantastic in smoothies :T

twinkle_star wrote: »

Good to hear people have been scouring the shops for vegan goodies! I have to say vegan bob the builder pasta for the babies is so cool!
Kim_ley - if you're already researching nutriton and vegan goodies for the baby then you're a supermum indeed! I'm sure you'll both have no worries when you decide to change over to veganism. Well done:T

I have a two year old who is doing veggie with me and very soon i'll be veganising :rotfl: him and he loves bob :T

a great tip is to cut things into fun shapes... I make falafel etc... patties then use cookie cutters and I must say they go down much better much quicker and he actually looks forward to the next
x

EDIT i'm not forcing it on my son if any one thinks this... when he is old enough to make his own decisions if he came and said mummy can i have some eggs chicken or whatever that would be fine by me. just as im sure it is with most people when their kids come home and say mum i want to be veggie/vegan

kim_ley

oh and twinks without sounding stupid :S could you tell me what Knowledge = Power = Energy = Matter = Mass. A library is just a genteel black hole that can read. means

Joyful25

Aah, thanks twinkle_star and Justamum! :beer:
I never thought of putting leafy greens in smoothies (am such a stickler for not mixing sweet with savoury, like sultanas in curry - my own personal weird food thing) so am going to try that this weekend. I've been having the H&B vegan tablets but I really want to get all my vits and mins naturally so that's definately a great tip.

I prefer the taste of frozen soya mince, but I've gone down the route of seeing how much I can get for my money (and I guess also trying to use more cupboard space than freezer space).

Incidentally, soya mince and LM vege sausages are the only fake meat products I've had. I don't yet know if I'll subscribe to the 'I don't agree with eating animals, so why would I eat something that tastes or looks like it' point of view - perhaps to take it to it's logical conclusion we'd never use any substitutes if were were concerned about using something which represented what we're against (if that makes sense), so perhaps fake meats can't be knocked. Hmmmm :think:

Bourbons! Of course, forgot to mention those (and they're 100 times more exciting than rich teas, which are useless dunked in coffee). Mmmmm, chocolate spread. Think that will go well with vegan pancakes to make authentic Parisian crepes? I feel an excuse for making food coming on

kim_ley

dont think this has been mentioned http://veganeatsandtreats.blogspot.com/

and www.montezumas.co.uk do lots of vegan treats not really os prices but like i said TREATS search vegan in their box.

Moondance

Dark chocolate almond praline truffle.

Dobie

I've been vegan for about 3 years & have been more healthy than at any other time in my life. I realise it won't suit everyone but it seems to suit me.

At home I find it easy to have a nutritious, varied diet. It's only eating out where it can be difficult. I LIKE salad & chips or jacket potato but it can get a bit boring! I always take vegan mayo with me in case that's all there is for me to eat so at least I get dressing with my salad.

A couple of thoughts;

This is my favourite vegan recipe site - parsleysoup.co.uk - her cakes are particularly yummy.My non vegan colleagues particularly like the chocolate cake & can't believe it's vegan.

Also, some of you might find it useful to know that original Bisto powder (not the granules) is vegan.

Alpro soya custard is much nicer than dairy versions in my opinion.