I'm going vegan! Advice needed

tigercubx

After quite a bit of research I've decided to go vegan mainly for health and weight loss reasons but also because I watched meet your meat and was disgusted.

I won't be eating eggs, meat, fish or dairy and will be trying to avoid wheat as well because I recently read wheat belly and was horrified lol. Just wondering if any one else on here is vegan or considering going vegan as I could do with some recipes and advice on staple foods which are cheap and vegan friendly.

I've got a few good recipes, like pineapple fried rice, veggie coconut curry, vegan bean burgers, veg soup, pad Thai etc but I've got a feeling that eating the same food over and over will get boring after a while! Also, is a vegan diet more expensive than a meat eaters diet because of how much veg and fruit they get through?

Any info on tofu would be good too, I can't cook it right and it's just a soggy mess!

applepad

I have started the 'overcoming Multiple Sclerosis ' diet which is Vegan and low sat fat, although fish is allowed. plus egg whites.

Do you have an aldi near by? They are cheap for fruit and veg.

I am going to use tinned beans and pulses as only me, looked at tinned chickpeas in Morrisons and they were 79p a tin, got some in home bargins today for 33p I think, half the price anyhow.

I have downloaded some Vegan apps, looked on BBC food website and got some books from the library.

Think it will cost less than eating meat, but like anything, watching were you shop will help. Dried fruit and nuts seem to be a lot cheaper in places like Lidl than say Holland and Barrett. The chickpea example shows how much prices differ.

Today have had
Muesli and soya milk
Apple and satsuma
Salad with tuna
Slice if HM tea loaf- dairy and fat free
Tea is going to be a Slimming world receive Italian bean stew.

Also got some bread in the bread maker but not sure if it will work as I have left out the milk powder.

tigercubx

Thanks for the reply I do have an Aldi near by but they don't seem to have any organic fruit and veg I only eat organic so I'm shopping mainly at tesco for fruit and veg then buying my beans and pulses wherever they're cheapest. Your tea sounds like its gonna be yummy! So far today I've had porridge made with almond milk and one banana, salad leaves filled with homemade humous (chickpeas, lemon juice and a tiny bit of oil), huge mixed salad with avocado, a green juice and I think I'm gonna have pineapple fried rice for tea!! x

elliethevegan

Hi there tigercubx,
Congrats on your decision!
I'm vegan too, I suggest buy happy herbivore her books are great and she features low cost recipes in there.
Basically go online and research all the supermarkets and what items are vegan, most of them are low cost.
I'd say vegan is SO MUCH CHEAPER, forget about tinned items from your diet like healthy vegetable soup and pulses make great addition to meals. My fiance and I always make 3 bean chillis with brown rice and they cost about £1 per serving max.
Let me know how you get on!

applepad

What about a veg box delivery? I used to get one from Riverford. I stopped it as I was working full time and did not cook from scratch as much as I could have. Thinking of starting it up again.

Humous sounds good, will make some later.

I have quite a sweet tooth, and think this will be the hardest bit for me.

Planning on berries and soya yog after tea.

Also thinking of getting a dehydrator, looked at banana chips in Home bargins but they had Palm oil in them, which I am not allowed. If I make my own then it will have nothing added. If I get it from Lakeland, I can always get my money back if I don't use it.

tigercubx

Thanks Ellie ill check those books out I love chilli so will look up the recipe for that lol. I have a REALLY sweet tooth as well Applepad, really struggle with cravings but I've found that dates really help, they taste just like toffee lol and are really healthy, a 1kg bag is around £8 on amazon and well worth it!! I've had a look online at different veg box companies but none deliver to my area, we have a farm shop near by so I might check out their produce when I get the time

Rummer

The most important thing is to be prepared as it can be hard to find vegan meals when out and about so I would strongly advise carrying a wee stash of appropriate snacks.

We bought certain base ingredients in bulk including rice, lentils (various), dried beans, couscous and many bases. Frozen fruit and veg was great to have as nothing was wasted and it allowed for greater variety. The fruit is great for smoothies.

Almond milk was one of our great finds and we still enjoy it now

There are a number of great online sites with oodles of info and there are also a number of vegan food blogs that are worth browsing through. On here in the OS board there are a number of threads for vegan meal ideas.

If you have a sweet tooth then it is well worth looking in Holland and Barret as they have chocolate and chewy sweeties that are suitable for vegans, including cola bottles and I am quite sure that you will find loads more online.

GreenFairy

The Veganomicon is one of my favourite cookbooks ever. Delicious recipes that even carnivores are happy to chow down on. Isa has another book called Appetite for Reduction that might be useful to you as well, as it focuses on things that are lower in fat, salt etc. I love her books because they use real ingredients, unlike a lot of vegan cookbooks that revolve around fake cream cheese and other junky substitutes which aren't great if you're watching your weight.

Tinks32

Im no vegan, but i adore the food:)
I have 2 books by Rose Elliot, i got them ages ago.. the titles are:
The bean book & Vegan Feasts

Shovel_Lad

Have you had a look at the Vegan Society's website?

http://www.vegansociety.com/

Bigmoney2

Depending on how far you are going with the Veganism, remember that medication in capsule form may be an animal derivative (gelatine capsules) and houshold product/cosmetics can also have animal derivatives (tallow) in as well.