How many vegans on board?

savvy

arran_m wrote: »

pure cheese alternatives?


anyone used the slices or spread, i thought they were dire. bit of a shame seeing that their sunflower and soya speads are so good. not sure that i could even use the cream cheese as a frosting

Yeah they weren't the best! I've just had the Redwoods cheese selection.......not too bad especially the blue cheese one melted on jacket spuds, the smoked one was nice melted in a wrap, oh and the spicy one worked quite well in a toasted sandwich

Murrell

Aged 16 to 25 in 2011, and interested in vegetarian/vegan cooking? Then the
Vegan Venture Cookery Course may be of interest to you. This is a free
one-day course in vegan cookery run by the Vegetarian Society's Cordon Vert
Cookery School (http://www.cordonvert.co.uk/) in Altrincham, Cheshire. It
is funded by the Vegetarian Charity (http://www.vegetariancharity.org.uk/),
in memory of Maxwell Lee. For full details of how to apply, please see...
http://www.vegetariancharity.org.uk/vegan-venture-cookery-course/

Hope this helps someone
Sandra
x

evilsheep

Hey there. I've been vegan for a few years now, and was vegetarian for c.20 years prior to that (some of that was pescetarian though ). I can't abide the hippy-dippy, hemp-wearing, dreadlock-dangling, hemp-wearing breed of vegan (generalise? me? never ), and LOVE it when people express surprise that hard-drinking, smoking, chip-eating, pizza-express bolting lil' ol' me is vegan. A number of friends and acquaintances have adopted several vegan products (some have even 'turned' vegan) as a result of discovering that it's perfectly possible to shop at Tesco & Asda and adapt a meat-eating lifestyle to veganism.

On the coffee subject, I find Tesco own-brand sweetened soya milk (in the blue carton) never curdles, but I always heat it up in the microwave before adding to coffee (never instant, always VERY strong cafetiere type), and it's fine cold in tea. I couldn't stand soya milk for some time after giving up cow juice, but after a while my taste-buds must've adapted, as now I love it with cereal, coffee, whatever. I found Oatly the nearest to dairy milk when I started out though (careful though, not all Oatly is vegan any more - check ingredients).

Face facts, there is no 'proper' vegan alternative to dairy cheese, with the possible exception of ricotta which can be sort of cobbled out of tofu and herbs (recipe to follow, when I find it). I was a cheese addict (seriously, I could happily eat a whole largest-size Dominos pizza and pizza bread in one sitting, two nights running), and experienced near-delusional cravings for about a week after quitting dairy. However, it was 100% worth it as since then I've had no sinus problems, far less colds, no stomach cramps, and general feel less ... clogged.

Aha, found the cheesey lasagna recipe. I found it on t'internet a while ago, sorry can't remember where!

[FONT=&quot]Easy Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
[/FONT][FONT=&quot](printer-friendly version)[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. water
2 26-oz jars of spaghetti sauce (or your favorite pasta sauce)
9 lasagna noodles (regular lasagna noodles, uncooked)
Soy Parmesan (optional)
Sliced black olives (optional) [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Filling:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 lb tofu (firm, reduced-fat recommended–not silken!)
1 tsp. salt (optional)
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (adds a cheesy taste)
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary, crushed
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Saut! the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat in the 2 tbsp. water until tender; cover between stirring to keep them from drying out. Remove from heat and add the spaghetti sauce.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Place the tofu and thawed spinach in the food processor and process briefly. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth. (You may do this without a food processor by using a potato masher on the tofu.)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Spread half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×12-inch pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, using three dry noodles and leaving a little space in between them. Spread half of the tofu mixture on the noodles (I drop it by spoonfuls and then spread it). Cover with another layer of 3 noodles and then spread the remaining tofu mixture over them. Top with a final layer of noodles, and pour the remaining sauce over this. Cover the dish tightly with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with soy Parmesan and sliced black olives if you want. The lasagna will cut better if you allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Makes about 9 servings. Nutritional breakdown will change depending on the exact ingredients you use. Using regular (not light) tofu and Classico Mushroom & Ripe Olive Pasta Sauce (with 60 calories and 1 gram of fat per 1/2 cup) and no optional ingredients, one serving provides 453 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (10% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 83g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 546mg Sodium; 9g Fiber. Weight Watchers Flex Points: 9.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Also, although it's past Christmas now, Viva's Veggie Christmas Guide has some fantastic tips and recipes.

I've also used Daniel Field Hair Water Colours for hair and found them great! Make sure you only buy from his own website though as the Daniel Field colours found in some pharmacies and supermarkets are not vegan.

I use Liz Earle's excellent moisturiser, and used Arbonne before then (trickier to get hold of though), both of which I found better than Lush's vegan varieties. I've recently discovered that Superdrug has excellent vegan labelling, and displays the BUAV symbol so I think I might be sampling their stock next!

One thing I have yet to find is a decent vegan mascara (I can tell you that Lavera's is rubbish, sadly). Best eyeshadow so far I can find if Urban Decay (check website for which ones - not all are vegan). Urban Decay also have the 'Vegan Pallette' containing 6 vegan eyeshadows, but unfortunately since it was released they discovered that an ingredient in the eyeshadow primer was not vegan - still, the shadows are vegan!

Sorry for the ridiculously lenghty post, I've been chugging Co-Op Organic Cava (marked vegan, natch) for the best part of the day. Perhaps I'll return soon when sober and 1) apologise & 2) bore the heck out of y'all some more.

Season's greetings fellow animal respecters!

evilsheep

evilsheep wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Easy Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
[/FONT][FONT=&quot](printer-friendly version)[/FONT]

Aha, didn't realise I'd copied the link over to my vegan recipe documents file - it's from the fat-free-vega website, which is AMAZING.

sleepymy

A friend of mine has created this site for make-up http://www.crueltyfreeface.com/ many of the products can be found this side of the pond too. I've just got the blinc mascara tester and it's great. I need to put it on before my eye shadow though because it makes my lashes so long I have little black splats all over my face if I blink before it dries If you buy the little tester they give you a 20% discount code for the full sized item.

As for the cheese, I have a bit of an addiction with nutritional yeast atm. I slather toast with vitalite then sprinkle with nooch & grill until it starts to bubble, top with tomatoes or avocado or make into a toastie with redwoods or tempeh rashers, really hits the spot

evilsheep

sleepmy, that site is awesome, well done to your friend!! UNE Beauty (available in Superdrug, Boots etc) is cruelty-free, but some products contain beeswax and I have no idea about other animal-derived ingredients. Their website does list full ingredients for each product though, so it's probably possible to work it out.

Thanks for the Blinc recommendation, and I've found a stockist here - So Special - who seem to offer it at a discounted price. Those tester sizes sound ideal for carrying around/travel pack though. Sounds like the idea mascara for me, as my lashes are pretty weedy and I just can't get the hang of falsies (and I have the fear of them falling off and flailing about my face without me noticing).

I'm a fan of Nutrional Yeast too, especially in cheese sauces. Still, nothing vegan compares to the bubbly gooey Domino's cheese, but I'm fine with that! The thought of eating anything dairy again makes me want to hurl ....

Vaila

savvy wrote: »

Yeah they weren't the best! I've just had the Redwoods cheese selection.......not too bad especially the blue cheese one melted on jacket spuds, the smoked one was nice melted in a wrap, oh and the spicy one worked quite well in a toasted sandwich

ive been shopping with redwoods for a few years now, ive been vegan for most of my life so dont really have a memory of meat and dairy, but plenty of non vegans have happily eaten their products
i love the vegi deli fish fingers and their pepperoni

im amazed how accesable vegan products are now compared to say 5 years ago, ie vegan cheeses that can now be bought in major supermarkets compared to having to search in pokey health food shops

regarding soya milk having switched from alpro soya to tesco value long life i have noticed no difference that i couldnt tolerate, and its far more mse

hope you all had a wonderful veggie xmas (even if that did include pizza and chips lol)

im amazed some people dont think vegans can live on chocolate sandwiches and other junk foods .they dont all eat home grown alfalfa sprouts you know (even if i do)

popxcore

I too have found that the majority of supermarket own brand soymilks are not necessarily worse than alpro plus they're usually at least half the price

sleepymy

Alpro is from sustainable sources though, it's why many vegans prefer to use it. Intensive farming for cheap soy (mainly for animal feed) is part of the deforestation problem.

Evilsheep, Melliser has a book out too, I've heard the macaroni cheese recipe is excellent.

Murrell

sleepymy wrote: »

Alpro is from sustainable sources though, it's why many vegans prefer to use it. Intensive farming for cheap soy (mainly for animal feed) is part of the deforestation problem.

Unfortunately they have been bought out by a large dairy company. So in buying provamel we are supporting them!! Its not easy been a ethical vegan, is it. I am not saying you shouldn't buy it, I am just giving this information in case you want to avoid them. I have just got a job as a ethical purchasing officer for a new vegan cafe/shop that opens up next week and its not easy deciding what to buy, I am so please that ethical consumer give there guides online a few months after they are released, this has made my job easier!

I have just got the new edition of the animal free shoppper and for information the coop jam donuts are listed (but not the custard ones). If you want me to look anything up I can do.

Sandra