Planning on moving to veganism

[SouthWestmom]

So, am committed vegetarian - no gelatine, cochineal etc as are dc. I am beginning to dislike dairy and am thinking of moving to veganism. I don't eat egg, unless it's a small ingredient part of something else and I think this is what I need to do first. I've bought various 'milks' to try with cereal and tea, but any tips or suggestions? Especially for snacks?

[SouthWestmom]

Eek - not veganism for dc. Just me.

[DeathstarDame]

I'm vegetarian too, have been for 6 years and am also toying with the idea of being vegan. Holland and Barret do some great alternatives that are similar to Quorn and some really nice vegan cheeses too in a variety of flavours.

Tesco, Asda and Morrisons all have their own dairy free ranges including snacks. For yogurt type things I personally love the Alpro dessert yogurts but they do fruit ones too.

I found YouTube extremely helpful, it is surprising how much is vegan. I've found some videos with vegan Aldi hauls and was shocked at a lot of their junk food (biscuits etc.) being dairy free.

[DeathstarDame]

You may find this helpful :)

www.peta.org.uk/blog/44-accidentally-vegan-snack-foods/

[BrandNewAndImproved]

Coconut oil for everything, I'm not a vegan or a veggie but I go through lots of periods of veganism and being veggie.

It works for everything, jacket potatoes, rice, pasta, on toast. I love it.

[DeliveredByKiki]

Start following oh she glows and get her book, best blogger for vegan food out there

[LikeABadSethRogenMovie]

The Skinny Bitch books are vegan too. Their website has a host of tips to get you started.

[SouthWestmom]

Thank all, what do on do with coconut oil? Is that in place of butter? Sounds like there is some good stuff out there already to start me off.

[cdtaylornats]

You can use avocado as a Butter substitute in recipes

[Trenzalor]

Best thing I ever did food wise. The Vegan Society is a great resource - why not try their pledge where they give you a mentor for advice. I found having someone to ask very handy when I made the move.

[Trenzalor]

Oo and aquafaba replaces eggs in baking (the water drained off a tin of chick peas). You can even make meringues! (There are lots of good Facebook groups for this and other recipes).

[SouthWestmom]

Trenzakor, that's interesting - health?
I just feel that the thought of dairy makes me feel a bit icky. Loads of milk or gooey cheese, and I loved the vegan stir fry I did yesterday with tofu.
At the moment I don't want/ cant cope with committing fully so I'm not going to be checking for milk powder etc yet. As a veggie I do exclude all dead animal product, incl shellac so I will get there.
I'm a bit worried about calories - how do people keep them up? I love fruit and veg but can see me needing some high calorie fillers.

[DeliveredByKiki]

I'm not 100% vegan but prob about 90% at the moment - baking vegan is great once you get the hang of it, avocado and banana and flax as butter and egg subs work really well and give extra doses of nutrients and vitamins AND high calorie!

I've not lost an ounce of weight due to going majoritively vegan, lots of yummy dressings on salads help, and I still eat tons of carbs (DH makes our bread which is vegan and too delicious to refuse) but I rarely never use meat substitutes, everything is generally plants rather than trying to replicate meat

[SouthWestmom]

That's interesting. I really like tofu but am going off quorn. I remember all the Sosmix and bean feast and wonder if they'd be any good.
My mum is refusing to mention it in front of the children, clearly terrified they will all copy me! Like I'm so cool they give up coco pops!