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

SolicitorMidlands

Hi everyone,

Sorry to but in and hope you don't mind. I have been a vegetarian since I was 4 and decided to go vegan about 18 months ago but have fallen off the wagon a few times so to speak - chocolate being the reason on each occasion!

I cook cottage pie at the weekends sometimes and take portions to work with me during the week. So cheap to make as well.

I find that Sainsburys mark their foods really clearly with what is suitable for vegans - wish the other supermarkets would follow!

suep

Hi SolicitorM, I dont think it matters too much, your eating habits are your own. I would probably have fallen of the wagon too for the same reason if there wasnt a Montesumers cocolate shop in town, they do quite a few dark vegan chocolates and they are all clearly marked too. If you havn't got one near you they do sell online, expensive but yummy.

I like Sainsburys too, we only go there now and then though as its not as cheap as Mr A

Cat72

suep wrote: »

Has anyone else got the book 'Vegan Cupcakes take over the world ' ? I brought it last week because of all the rave reviews but its an American book, which I sort of guessed anyway. I've seen a set of cup measures online, would they be the same as the American cup measurements ?
I've looked at online conversion charts, but they are a bit confusing.
Also if anyones got the book and tried making a few of the recipes, did you get all the ingredients ?

I have it but to be honest got fed up trying to get the ingredients from places and converting. For instance they mention confectioners sugar ,canola oil and shortening.
I got my cup measures cheap in tesco or you can try Asda too.

For anyone who is a cook I found that many of the DR Oetkers products are vegan their buttercream vegan icing is gorgeous ! Also some supercook products are vegan too. You can order supercook online, as I found it difficult to track down the vegan products in some stores ( although some asda's have them ).

Supercook vegan products-
Real Choc Mini Flakes
Sugar Strands
Hundreds and Thousands
Jelly Diamonds
Tangy Fruity Millions
Regalice ( ready to roll icing )
Buttercream icing (but reciepe keeps changing so best to check, as sometimes its not vegan -confusing !)

Murrell

Cat72 wrote: »

I have it but to be honest got fed up trying to get the ingredients from places and converting. For instance they mention confectioners sugar ,canola oil and shortening.
I got my cup measures cheap in tesco or you can try Asda too.

For anyone who is a cook I found that many of the DR Oetkers products are vegan their buttercream vegan icing is gorgeous ! Also some supercook products are vegan too. You can order supercook online, as I found it difficult to track down the vegan products in some stores ( although some asda's have them ).

Supercook vegan products-
Real Choc Mini Flakes
Sugar Strands
Hundreds and Thousands
Jelly Diamonds
Tangy Fruity Millions
Regalice ( ready to roll icing )
Buttercream icing (but reciepe keeps changing so best to check, as sometimes its not vegan -confusing !)

Have you got this list from supercook? Because recently I contacted them for a vegan list, hoping there jelly diamonds were vegan and they were not. In fact non of the above (apart from icing) were on the list as far as I remember. There chocolate lattice leaf shapes were, but I don't think I kept the list. Perhaps I will contact them again, as I need decorations for a upcoming birthday cake. Can be confusing when companies keep changing ingredients!

Sandra
x

twinkle_star_2

Cat72 wrote: »

I have it but to be honest got fed up trying to get the ingredients from places and converting. For instance they mention confectioners sugar ,canola oil and shortening.
I got my cup measures cheap in tesco or you can try Asda too.

Hi Cat,

What problems have you had with converting? I have found that the cup measures you get here seem to work out fine. Got mine in Tesco for about £1! Also the random ingredients tend to be something really easy to buy but with an american name:

canola oil = rapeseed oil (which i have also substituted for other plain vegetable/sunflower oils without any probs)

confectioners sugar = icing sugar

shortening = well, shortening. Like the white fat you use in pastry. TREX is good.

Hope that helped!

Cat72

Supercook were bought over by Dr oetker last year.Dr oetker products are very often vegan and you can find them on various vegan sites .
Some of the older stock may not be vegan so it is best just to check the ingredients but although some of the products dont have vegan stickers on them the ingredients are vegan. Again just check .
I have thier animal shapes and have just double checked the ingredients and they are vegan- rice flour, vegetable oil, gum tragacanth .
ORGRAN do great muffin and cake mixes .Also humdinger dairy free buttons and whizzers chocolate eggs are great for decorating cakes too. I have found these in my local sainsburys.

Aldis were selling some of the buttercream icing and also had vegan chocolate sprinkles of a different make.
I have also found some vegan products in LIDLS but again its a case of trial and error. They dont list their products are vegan- probably because a lot of them are german but a lot of their chocolate products are
-yum.

TWINKLE STAR- yes I have those cups too its just that I prefer to work with british measurements. I just wasnt that keen on that book as I found it contains a huge amount of ingredients which made it quite expensive.
I read all the rave reviews and then was disappointed when I got it and felt I had wasted my money, as it isnt a cheap book.
Just I prefer the reciepes that are posted on here and free on other web sites.

Joyful25

Just a short one as on lunch-break but looking like some good posts and hello to dig4

Kim_ley hope you get to the bottom of whatever seems to be wrong, and remember anything do to avoid animal exploitation is a step in the right direction and it sounds like despite everything going on, it's still important to you which is really cool.

I have finally moved into my new house :j:beer::T:rotfl::eek::cool: so once we're settled I'll be back to being a foodie again!! Have just had a jacket with tofu filling (marinanted in a balsamic vinegar and garlic dressing thing - bit boring and wish I'd bought in some chickpeas or beans to go int it, but never mind); keep making tortillas with grilled veg filling and humous spread, very nice.

spag bol tonight, Vegan Friend coming round who will hopefully appreciate it. AND had a good old fashioned 'fry up' the other day, LM sausages, mushrooms, beans and hash browns, followed by Swedish Glace. Mmmmmm.

frogga my hubbie has given up saying I should have been vegetarian rather than vegan, now he sees I eat every day and I eat well (which was his main concern). His mum still says vegan in that neighbour over the garden fence tone (and it's: 'with you being vegan' like it's a serious condition, lol) but she's interested in it, and my lovely mum and sister have completely let me get on with it (sis made great Rocky Road-style brownies for Easter).

I've been to a couple of house parties recently where I was catered for - I honestly don't expect it being in the minority, and as I've said somewhere on here before, it helps my group of friends already had a vegan in our ranks before me.

Just persevere - like anything, if you don't cram veganism down people's throat they could take it on board a bit more, but there'll always be people who aren't willing to understand (there are people who may not agree with you, but at least understand why you're doing it - my dad's a good example; would rather die than have soya milk, but is supportive) so you have to shrug your shoulders.

Am adopting 16 fish tonight - food is such a big part of veganism, but I also am passionate about looking after animals who might otherwise not find a good home or a home at all. Whether they'll get on with the tadpoles is another thing! It's also money saving as they're free!!

Doom_and_Gloom

BilberryCharlotte wrote: »

I hope D & G will let us know what she thinks about her Redwood `gifts`

Well I finished the last of the produce my sister got me a few days ago.
The fishless fingers were okay, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them if I had the money but every now and then I wouldn't say no if someone offered .
The organic brussels style pate was nice in a sandwich with sweet corn but again I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it.
The organic ham style slices I had with houmous, sweet corn and cucumber the same as above regards to buying them etc.
All in all they were fine and nice for a change, however if like me you aren't overly keen on processed foods don't be surprised if you like them but can still taste the processed-ness (not a real word but meh ) of them.

I'm trying to keep eating healthy foods while I'm worrying a hospital visit soon to determine for certain what is wrong with my back (these hospital visits have been going on for ages now and they think it is diastematomyelia with a hydromyelic cavity which from what I've found out is rather rare to have :rolleyes:. Just to make sure they want to send me for a CT scan now even after the x-ray and MRI scans I've had :mad: ). It’s all to easy to just eat a lot of bread, chips, crisps or something of the like when worrying which is a reason I‘m trying to keep as raw as I can as it keeps me away from those kinds of foods (odd as I don‘t like processed foods much as I‘ve stated before ).

Kim_ley I do hope you are okay. I know it's horrible when you are waiting on hospital staff, doctors etc to tell you what is goin on. If you need someone to talk to then most of the people on this site are very understanding and will be there for you. Hope all is well.

D&G

BilberryCharlotte

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

Well I finished the last of the produce my sister got me a few days ago.
The fishless fingers were okay, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them if I had the money but every now and then I wouldn't say no if someone offered .
The organic brussels style pate was nice in a sandwich with sweet corn but again I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it.
The organic ham style slices I had with houmous, sweet corn and cucumber the same as above regards to buying them etc.
All in all they were fine and nice for a change, however if like me you aren't overly keen on processed foods don't be surprised if you like them but can still taste the processed-ness (not a real word but meh ) of them.

I'm trying to keep eating healthy foods while I'm worrying a hospital visit soon to determine for certain what is wrong with my back (these hospital visits have been going on for ages now and they think it is diastematomyelia with a hydromyelic cavity which from what I've found out is rather rare to have :rolleyes:. Just to make sure they want to send me for a CT scan now even after the x-ray and MRI scans I've had :mad: ). It’s all to easy to just eat a lot of bread, chips, crisps or something of the like when worrying which is a reason I‘m trying to keep as raw as I can as it keeps me away from those kinds of foods (odd as I don‘t like processed foods much as I‘ve stated before ).

Kim_ley I do hope you are okay. I know it's horrible when you are waiting on hospital staff, doctors etc to tell you what is goin on. If you need someone to talk to then most of the people on this site are very understanding and will be there for you. Hope all is well.

D&G

Thanks D & G, interesting to hear your verdict. We are still working our way through the Redwood things. We have liked all the cheezly varieties we have tried so far, but my son thought the ham slices tasted a bit chemically, I put it in a sandwich with some salad and found it quite palatable.

I was thinking of trying the fishless products, I do sometimes crave battered haddock & chips.

Sorry to hear you are having some health probs, hopefully you and kim-ley will be right as rain in no time.

Murrell

Cat72 wrote: »

Supercook were bought over by Dr oetker last year.Dr oetker products are very often vegan and you can find them on various vegan sites .
Some of the older stock may not be vegan so it is best just to check the ingredients but although some of the products dont have vegan stickers on them the ingredients are vegan. Again just check .
I have thier animal shapes and have just double checked the ingredients and they are vegan- rice flour, vegetable oil, gum tragacanth .
ORGRAN do great muffin and cake mixes .Also humdinger dairy free buttons and whizzers chocolate eggs are great for decorating cakes too. I have found these in my local sainsburys.

Aldis were selling some of the buttercream icing and also had vegan chocolate sprinkles of a different make.
I have also found some vegan products in LIDLS but again its a case of trial and error. They dont list their products are vegan- probably because a lot of them are german but a lot of their chocolate products are
-yum.

I guess I will wait for the new stock in shops. I looked at both Sugar Strands and Hundreds and Thousands today, but they both contain carmine (you may also know it as Cochineal or E120) and the h & t also had another non vegan ingredient, can't remember what now. They are both listed in the animal free shopper book, so either they used to be vegan or the new stock is not in shops yet. I will check around to see if I can find any vegan stock.

Sandra
x