Help me to be vegan

[PutYourHandUp]

Ok so I just had a bit of an epiphany eating meat : it tasted dead.

I've had this feeling previously. It makes me uncomfortable.

Also when I think about it even a little bit this extends to butter and milk etc, all those poor cows and calfs.

So I need to be vegan. I think. How do I do this? Instead of milk, drink plant milk? Yes? Instead of meat, eat lentils .. tofu?

Or is it a bit more full on than that?

I think I will miss blue cheese. Is there a nice-to -cows blue cheese?

Vegan or plant based? Vegan is more of a lifestyle - no leather, no animal products in your toiletries for example.

I think with meat replacement it's easier to build meals around vegetables, beans, grains, tofu if you like it, rather than eating how you normally would and trying to find a meat substitute. Curries, soups, Mexican, stirfries - super easy without meat. (A vegan hater will be along shortly to lecture you about UPF fake chicken nuggets.)

Next, dairy substitutes. You might want a couple of different plant milks on hand, for example I prefer soy in coffee and nut in smoothies. Most plant based dairy substitutes don't taste or act like dairy and you need time to get used to them. Vegan cheese is particularly awful - I suggest going high end/artisan with that and you might have more luck. Coconut yoghurt is actually pretty nice but not to cook with.

Finally, you need to give some though to nutrition. I'm not going to advise you, suggest you research if you're comfortable or see a dietician if not. You need to think about ensuring you have enough protein, and some vitamins and minerals which will be lacking if you're not careful. I have a protein shake everyday and take supplements, but am still careful to balance my meals.

Do you like Indian food? Most of it is naturally vegan before anyone knew what vegan was. So is a lot of Asian food.

Have a look at some vegan (and vegetarian) cookery books, maybe at the library, to see what you like the look of.

I have been vegetarian for over 35 years now and eat mostly plant-based these days. One of my favourite cookery books is The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer, which makes preparing a meal so straightforward. There are recipes tgere to suit all tastes. I have loads of cookery books, and often go back to basics with Rose Elliott's recipes for nut roasts and burgers etc.

Try oat milk first

Stay away from the cheese for a looonnnggggg time… it won’t go well. La fauxmangerie do good fake blue cheese when you are ready. In the mean time nutritional yeast is good for sprinkling on stuff to give a cheesyish flavour

take vitamins, with B12, we get our B12 via it being fed to animals, so you need to top up, at least until you get the hang of things nutrition wise

Post some of your favourite dishes and maybe people can help to veganize them for you.

Keep it simple initially

Are you anti-fake meat? I try and eat naturally where possible but do use these products and there are some really good fakes now.

Hope this helps!

Just everytime you buy something check the label

There’s a brand of vegan cheese called Kinda that does the most amazing blue cheese - tastes like… blue cheese!

I've been vegan for many years, so has my husband which makes it easier.
So no animal products at all. We don't use leather and it does work out more expensive, 'vegan' footwear is expensive and our car was more expensive, as we didn't want the leather seating, but wanted an good alternative, which was a palava.
Also, I became ill and was lacking vit d and b12. So I take supplements and got advice from a dietician. My levels still drop from time to time.
There is so much you can eat and delicious recipes everywhere.
Most importantly don't impose your views on anyone, it will make them anti vegan and you a person to avoid.

Depending on the sort of person you are, you might find this easier in stages. Start by cutting out meat and fish (relatively easy), then once you're used to that switch your milk (oat milk is a good option for the environment and it tastes fine), then eggs, and so on. It makes it a bit less overwhelming than having to make all the changes at once.

Never been easier to be a vegan so you are in luck!

There’s a brand of vegan cheese called Kinda that does the most amazing blue cheese - tastes like… blue cheese!

It's a bloody good thing that Kinda Co isn't in supermarkets otherwise I'd be completely broke and the size of a school. The farmhouse one is so bloody yummy.

Agree with this. Also middle eastern food (mezze etc - falafel, hoummous, pittas, tabboulea (sp?) and Mexican food (beans, veg, guacamole, salsa although obviously the cheese and sour cream will be harder to replicate - could try coconut or soy yogurt?). Or tapas (patatas bravas, chick peas and spinach, padron peppers, garlic mushrooms, b read). Lots of Thai food is vegan if yo don't use fish sauce. Or good old chips and beans. With or without vegan sausages.

It's a lot easier to be vegan if you consider that sort of food as normal day to day food than if you try to eat a British/French 'meat and two veg' type meals then look to swap the meat for a vegan alternative. Although there's a lot to be said for a traditional roast with veg and a vegan roast - there's a huge range in supermarkets and many are quite nice. I've heard good things about the Aldi chicken style vegan roast and there's a nut roast mix that's widely available in a small loaf tin shaped box.

I moved to plant based last week and have been using the this isn't range when I needed a meat type thing other than that stews have been beans lentils etc. I have vegan butter which is lurpak I think. Alpro yoghurt gluten free croissants elmdale cream, vegan mayo oat milk and Ben and Jerry's ice-cream. It ain't so bad.

I’m not vegan but eat a lot of vegan meals.

I use a tin of coconut milk or coconut cream to add creaminess to dishes and organic almond milk in coffee but still have one morning tea with cows milk.

I find YouTube really useful if I want to make a sauce from cashew nuts or how to use nutritional yeast. I find it easier to watch someone demonstrate, then have a go myself.

I'm not vegan but cook for vegan DD1 when she's home from uni. She went vegan gradually - went pescatarian age about 12, gave up dairy and eggs in sixth form, then gave up fish when she left home. Made it a bit easier for us to adjust. She also cooks for herself when I fancy meat.
Its fairly easy to make vegan curries, chillis, pasta dishes etc. There are good recipes for lentil based shepherds pie. Warm salads work well with roast veg. She adds nuts or tofu for protein. Lunches can be trickier, especially if taking packed lunch, but salads and pasta salads work well. Otherwise things like houmous, falafel, marmite, or peanut butter in sandwiches.
She's not a fan of fake meat, but some vegans really like it. DD2 is pescatarian and loves birds eye fake chicken dippers, which are vegan.

A piece of advice I was given was to write down four dishes you already eat that are vegan, things like beans and baked potato, four dishes you already eat and how you could make them vegan, so for example, chilli and rice but substitute beans or soy mince for the meat, and four easy vegan recipes you'd like to try. That gives you a list of twelve meals to get you started.

Like others have said, you might find it easier and more sustainable to make a stepped change rather than all in one go (much as some vegans would say it's all or nothing, 'flexitarian' diets are becoming much more common and understood, so long as you aren't loudly boasting about your new vegan diet while chowing down a hamburger or snaffling all the vegan sarnies at a buffet whilst also glugging a diary latte, you won't go too far wrong). So yes, from a welfare/environment point of view probably the best thing you can do initially is follow a largely plant based diet i.e. cut out red meat, eat poultry or fish no more than a few times a week and start to base your meals around vegetables, pulses/beans/lentils or other plant-based proteins likes tofu. Then if that goes well and you are comfortable with veggie/vegan cooking and recipes, reduce and then eliminate the chicken and fish meals.

There are some good plant-based substitutes for milk, cream, butter, mayonnaise and chocolate/ice cream/biscuits/sweet treats now. For milk you'll need to try a few as tastes vary and it depends a bit what you mainly use milk for, e.g. I think the oat milks are best for coffee personally, whereas almond or soy milk is nicer in coffee, the oat milks are slightly thicker and creamier esp the barista style ones, the soy and especially almond taste thinner and sweeter to me. Eggs and cheese remain the challenge for me around eating entirely plant-based, there are substitutes for egg white like aqua faba and you can make a reasonable approximation of a scrambled egg from tofu, but there's pretty much nothing than can replace a fried or poached egg, also most vegan cheese esp the kind sold in supermarkets is still a poor imitation (there are some nicer ones you can get from independent suppliers and delis but these do tend to be expensive). As others say, if you do want to go fully plant based as opposed to just cutting right down, the best thing to do re cheese is go cold turkey for a few months, avoid all cheesy things entirely (eat Asian type foods which naturally wouldn't include cheese or dairy) then gradually start to have vegan cheese as needed....