Veganism

[tknaps]

First off, a happy new year to all of you!

I've decided to try going vegan for the first month of 2006, and will be blogging the whole expereince here: http://dietarytrials.blogspot.com/

If any of you have any (pardon the sarcasm ) "great" vegan dishes I could try out, good websites with vegan dishes, or anything else vegan-related I'd be happy to hear about it! (I'm not too interested in all the substitute stuff by the way).

 

[QSis]

Protein is an important part of every diet, for nutrition and to help make you "full".

I was looking up vegan chili recipes for you, because I thought of dried beans, and found a website with a million recipes. You know, some of the "veggie burgers" are quite good, and would be excellent in a chili!

Good luck on your adventure!

Here's the website http://vegweb.com/recipes/

Lee

 

[scott123]

Get a jar of thai peanut satay sauce and a lb. of extra firm tofu. Slice the tofu into 3/4" slices and toss in a bag with the jar of sauce. If you have time, leave it in the fridge for a bit, or... just bake right away. 275 f. for 1.5 to 2 hours. You don't want to brown it, just dry the heck out of it. The drier it gets the meatier it gets.

I wouldn't be too judgemental of the substitute stuff. In theory, it would be great to cook everything yourself and utilize as little processed food as possible. In reality, though, you'd spend most of the day cooking. Vegan food doesn't sit in your stomach long. In order not to be ravenously hungry, you're going to have eat more frequently than 3 times a day. A lot more. You know how a deer eats pretty much all the time, all day long? Well, for the next month, if you want any sense of comfort, that's going to be you.

The substitute stuff gives you high quality relatively slow digesting protein and can be ready in minutes. I don't know what brands you have available to you in norway, but boca burgers and nuggets are pretty good.

 

[DampCharcoal]

Morningstar Farms is also a good source of meatless products. scott123, long time, where have you been?

 

[Robo410]

vegetarian cuisine gets a bad name from caseroles and loaves attempting to immitate meat. Use good fresh ingedients and explore cuisines rich in vegetable dishes (ie Asian or Mediterranian) and you will do fine.

I had a wonderful lazagna with butternut squash and nuts...no cheese, no meat, no butter. It was what it was and it was wonderful. DO the same thing with spinach and roasted tomatoes.

looking forward to reading your adventures

 

[shannon in KS]

Good luck Scott! I find myself naturally doing the same thing you are. Your body knows when it needs a break. I often wonder if kids who don't want to eat their meat are sometimes inherently knowing of something we have been taught to do otherwise. My daughter just this evening, goes first for the corn and salad, and wants more, but the pork chop is untouched. I am not too picky with her, she eats almost any veggies she can get her little hands on. But it is very challenging in a public school system. Well, I will quit rambling. I am very passionate about this subject, but it is not mainstream where I live, so you are made to feel the bad person! (shame on you not giving your child milk- how will she ever get her calcium?!?!) I won't get started on companies yanking their own chain and selling their products through guilt! Way to go on your decision! Vegetarian Times website has a lot of good recipes on their site. I subscribe to the magazine and love it. I will post a few other of my fav links if I can hunt them down!

Cool fact: the lead singer of Coldplay is this year's sexiest vegetarian! Carrie Underwood is the female!

Best of luck!!!!!

 

[Piccolina]

Though it's called vegetaranism (and veganism) don't forget about fruit! It will be a huge help to you if you are used to eating desserts with animal products in them. They are also power-houses of vitamins and (I find) great sources of energy, regardless of if you're a meat eater or not.

Carob makes a very decent chocolate subsitute, though it doesn't melt all that well. If you get the powdered carob you can whip up a carob version of "hot chocolate", which is actually pretty tasty.

Though not all soy products are designed equally (or taste equally good!) there are some good brands of soy milk and other soy dairy products out there. I like rice milk, such as the brand RIce Dream. They make awesome (albeit very $$) "ice creams" and other frozen desserts, though I'm not 100% if they are vegan, or just vegetarian.

I'd really utalize this month to explore and "play with" the wide range or grains and rices that are available in most all healthfood stores (and some large super markets). Don't forget about nuts (I love just eating dried fruit and nuts together as a fairly healthy, and instantly quick snack) and herbs. Herbs are a must for anyone who cooks, but they really come into there own when you are no longer cooking with meat, animal fats and dairy products.

Best of luck to you Tknaps, I'll be checking in on your blog through out the month


(BTY, a while back I added a smattering of vegetarian/vegan recipe sites to the DC links section. Just do a keyword search with either "vegan" or "vegetarian" and you'll find the ones that I've posted there.)

 

[scott123]

Scott123, long time, where have you been?

I'm doing great! How are you? Work has been busy, but I still check in every once in a while

 

[tknaps]

Thanks for all the tips and encouragement! Will definitely make a stab or two at making my own veggieburgers.

Fruit is definitely not forgotten, I spend half my days eating apples, bananas etc. as well as munching down pistachios and cashews Natural sources of protein seems to mostly consist of beans, peanuts and peas so I try to get a fair bit of that into my diet as well.