What do vegans eat?

Doom_and_Gloom

Fruits, salad veg, vegetables, pulses, nuts, seeds are the must.
Soya/rice/nut milks - most of the shop bought have added calcium, vit D, B2 and B12. You can make plant milks but shop bought is easier and as stated contains added vits for those that want to make sure/can't be bothered to do so another way.
Soya yogurts are good and again most have added calcium, vit D, B2 and B12.
Tofu is versitile but some people do not like it - saying that my omni partner has been known to eat my tofu!
Fortified breakfasts can be good. Mr S wheat biscuits are vegan and have added iron, B1, B2, folic acid and niacin.
I have a few vegan cook books. I would let her look for ones she likes but the internet is full of vegan recipes so you don't need books.


Easy recipes would be

• stir fried tofu with veg and rice
• veg fajitas with salad, guacamole and salsa (using tofu or beans)
• shepherdless pie (lentils are great to use instead of tvp)
• veg curry/chilli with rice
• qunioa/couscous salad
• Beans on toast/jacket with yeast extract

Veganism can be really cheap - my partner spends a lot more on milk, cheese, eggs and meat than I do on pulses, tofu, bought plant milks etc. I do not rely on meat alternatives (vegan sasages/burgers etc) as they are not very nutritious, I don't see tofu as an alternative.

shandyclover

Thanks for all the input, certainly helps. We actually already buy alot of these ingredients as we really only eat meat 2x a week. I will just have to add nuts and seeds, soya milk, dairy free marg etc. Can you get soya cheese?

DD19 has been a veggie for several years now, so being a vegan might stick. I really have no problem with her going vegan though I am having a hard time listening to the self righteous ranting of our cruelty toward animals while she herself makes very little effort. Quite often we are eating vegan food 'accidently' (ie. tonight we had thai green curry with tofu, stir fried veg and rice. I purposely checked the thai green curry past had not achovies like some do have) However I have made it known our menu will not revolve around her, so she will have to put her campaign into action by actually cooking for herself if need be.

Justamum

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Why?

Because I remember being nineteen myself. I recall being tediously idealistic and expected my family to be unquestioningly sympathetic if not fellow-travellers, most especially when it meant someone else was having to bust a gut to please me adn my latest fad rather than going to all the effort myself.

In my opinion being a healthy vegan demands some basic understanding of nutrition, skills in the kitchen, and sometimes forward-planning. Not all if these are necessarily traits and skills I would expect a busy 19 year-old to enjoy learning if they don't have them already.

I'd be willing to wager a fiver that it turns out to be a flash-in-the-pan

I became a vegetarian when I was 20 - admittedly a year older than the OP's daughter. I'd wanted to be vegetarian since I was 12 but my mum refused to cook anything different, so I had visions of being starved! Silly really as I know she wouldn't have done. I was still living at home when I stopped eating meat. I was vegetarian from then until I was 36, when I became a vegan. I've been vegan for nearly 13 years. It's not hard at all. You don't need a degree in nutrition to do it.

rachbc

daska wrote: »

probably because she's not even vegetarian at the moment. most vegans (and ex-vegans cos I know more of them) that I know got there via vegetarianism and most didn't stick it for long so there's a good chance she won't.

Isn't the first line of the OP's post 'my vegetarian daughter has decided to go vegan'?

Justamum

shandyclover wrote: »

Can you get soya cheese?

Yes you can, but it's not particularly nice. It's ok if it's cooked on a pizza or something, but not just replaced like for like in a sandwich. It's the same with soya yogurts - some of them are utterly disgusting. Alpro yogurts are very nice though.

If your daughter has milk in tea and coffee the best soya milk for that is Alpro original soya milk - not the light one, but the one with the dark orangey bottom half of the carton. All other soya milk curdles in hot drinks. For all cooking and for putting in tea I just use the Tesco value soya.

Swedish glace ice-cream is delicious - in my opinion and the opinion of my vegetarian but non-vegan children - it's nicer than dairy ice cream.

Alison_Funnell

shandyclover wrote: »

Thanks for all the input, certainly helps. We actually already buy alot of these ingredients as we really only eat meat 2x a week. I will just have to add nuts and seeds, soya milk, dairy free marg etc. Can you get soya cheese?

DD19 has been a veggie for several years now, so being a vegan might stick. I really have no problem with her going vegan though I am having a hard time listening to the self righteous ranting of our cruelty toward animals while she herself makes very little effort. Quite often we are eating vegan food 'accidently' (ie. tonight we had thai green curry with tofu, stir fried veg and rice. I purposely checked the thai green curry past had not achovies like some do have) However I have made it known our menu will not revolve around her, so she will have to put her campaign into action by actually cooking for herself if need be.

Yes you can get soya type cheeses. All depends on the shopping in your area. We have a great wholefoods store in town for a few decades so items like that have been easy for me to obtain.

Nampla, worcestershire sauce etc are fish including sauces. But your daughter will soon learn what items are available and which she prefers. Hope she enjoys being vegan.

Piggybanker

Hi. I eat a vegan diet, but have not managed to adopt the whole vegan lifestyle including clothes, shoes, toiletries etc etc.

I'm surprised that beans were not mentioned earlier. They are my staple. I make a huge batch of as many beans as I can find, lots of veg and tinned toms with garlic/chilli/whatever. Frozen in batches it is a quick and easy meal with rice/pasta/jacket.

Tofu is very versatile - I make vegan quiche with silken tofu and a bit of soya milk blended together. With plenty onion and garlic, and then mushroom & whatever else it is lovely.

Risotto can be good - it doesn't need parmesan. Veggie haggis is vegan and very tasty. Can be eaten in a whole load of ways - in a wrap, stuffed in pepper - not just with tatties and neeps.

At home I have no problem at all. When out for lunch I rely on jacket and beans or take houmous and pitta or a peanut butter sandwich with me - it's not possible to just pick up a supermarket sandwich. Home made soup is good in a flask or to reheat if facilities allow.

For dinner out, Pizza Express can be vegan: Dough balls with oil not butter, and Funghi de Bosco pizza without cheese (it doesn't need it, trust me).

Most types of Jus-Roll pastry are vegan.
Pure spread is good for spreading and baking. The sunflower one is better than the soya one imho.

I have soya milk and yogurts but have not felt the need for cheese substitute - and I loved cheese!

You may already know, but quorn products are not vegan. The best supermarket for labelling is Sainsbury's.

Does she know lots of wines are not vegan ;-) Sains & Co-Op label vegan wines though so all's not lost.

Sorry, I seem to have got carried away. Good luck to her though, and I hope you'll be surprised at how easy it is to fit into the whole family's meal plan.

PS - Cashew nut butter is disappointing. Not a patch on peanut butter.

Doom_and_Gloom

shandyclover wrote: »

Thanks for all the input, certainly helps. We actually already buy alot of these ingredients as we really only eat meat 2x a week. I will just have to add nuts and seeds, soya milk, dairy free marg etc. Can you get soya cheese?

DD19 has been a veggie for several years now, so being a vegan might stick. I really have no problem with her going vegan though I am having a hard time listening to the self righteous ranting of our cruelty toward animals while she herself makes very little effort. Quite often we are eating vegan food 'accidently' (ie. tonight we had thai green curry with tofu, stir fried veg and rice. I purposely checked the thai green curry past had not achovies like some do have) However I have made it known our menu will not revolve around her, so she will have to put her campaign into action by actually cooking for herself if need be.

You can get soya cheese yes but they are not very good even on vegan pizza IMO. They taste very processed and not that nice to me but some vegans like/love them. There are a few different brands you should be able to find. They are not cheap mind.
I do however like the vegan cream cheeses that you can get. Tofutti do some that are so good that my partner has in the past had the whole tub sans a pat or 2 that managed to have first :mad:. Again these are not cheap.

By the way some pasts have dairy in them so do be careful about that. Honey is another non vegan ingredient that gets into things that would otherwise be vegan.

Piggybanker - I mentioned pulses. Beans are pulses so they were mentioned. I even stated about beans on toast/jackets with yeast extract.

OP - I hope your daughter has thought about chocolates and sweets if she eats them. You can get vegan chocolate rather easy but some sweets that you would think are vegan are not.

How far is she taking veganism? Just diet or the lifestyle as it should be? Sorry if you take this the wrong way but veganism is about a lifestyle and not just a diet.

daska

rachbc wrote: »

Isn't the first line of the OP's post 'my vegetarian daughter has decided to go vegan'?

oops, yes LOL, I got sidetracked by the list of non-veg, veg and vegan that the OP said she would be cooking for. Note to self - check opening post twice!

BitterAndTwisted

Justamum wrote: »

You don't need a degree in nutrition to do it.

I don't think anyone said that you do, although I believe I was the only one who mentioned that they thought it was important to have a basic understanding of nutrition and the importance of food-combining. I stand by that completely. It would be a good idea for the rest of us to have some as well. I've known lazy-bones vegans who, although they were principled and let you kn ow how mighty proud they were of it, seemed to exist pretty much solely on chips, baked beans and crisps. Unless someone else was doing the cooking