The Vegan Quiche

[LentilAsAnything]

Hi

Thought I'd start a thread for the vegans and wannabe vegans.
Anyone here!?

Old thread here.

Linzer, could you heat the milk before adding it to the coffee?

Cantaloupe Yes, I did think of trying that next time - definitely an option for when I'm at home. Not quite as easy when we go to cafes etc. though (which we do quite a lot). If only I didn't like coffee so much!

Ironing Meant to say that the pie chart is the other way round for me. I spent quite a while today trying to find out whether a restaurant I'm going to for a hen night back in the UK in a few weeks' time has vegan dishes - they weren't particularly helpful when I e-mailed them and just said I should talk to the manager on the night (we're supposed to be choosing our meals beforehand as a large group of us are going). Luckily the person organising it phoned them up and they've said they'll do something off menu for me, but I felt a bit guilty about the extra work I caused her.

Hi Linzer, DD has just turned 2 and hasn't noticed what her Dad eats yet! I persuaded my mum to let me go veggie when I was about 10 (vegan 13 years later), so figured that I'd start the other way around with DD.

All the non dairy milk talk has been really interesting!

I need something that tastes right in my redbush tea (I gave up caffeine before Christmas). Perhaps I will just need to re educate my tastes (and try some other soya milks) as I'm reluctant to get hooked on something harder to get hold of or more expensive. At least I did like the soya milk in hot chocolate.

I'm a little concerned that if I don't get to like soya milk more I'll ennd up drinking much more herbal teas, and compromise the amount of calcium I get.

I have seen rice milk around, tried (and didn't like) almond milk, and have never seen oat milk.I wonder which is the healthiest (eg whether oat milk has the same cholestrol reducing qualities as porridge oats....)

Thanks for the links OhTheIroning -I was taken by the statement that it takes 16 lbs of grain to make 1 lb of beef, particularly.

Thanks for the mylk summary, Thants.
I also like to mix them up, so have half soya, with half hemp, on our cereal. I find some of the nut ones too flavoursome for cereal, but half and halved with soya, and it's not as noticeable.

TBW, welcome re links.
I have never put mylk in my red bush tea. I treat it like a herbal tea that doesn't require mylk. Didn't even consider adding it!

LT, ok, yes, restaurants can be tricky. I guess I have forgotten, as we don't eat out much, and when we do, it's usually just DH, DS and me so we choose somewhere easy like Pizza Express, or an Indian, which always cater really well for vegans.

Kat, I feel like I am putting you on the spot, please don't feel interrogated, and if you do, please feel free to ignore! But how do you square giving your daughter dairy when you know about the dairy industry, and the health impact of dairy, and the environmental issues?

www.theveganwoman.com/going-vegan-as-a-family/ Recent article with tips for going vegan as a family, for you new vegans who may want to get the little ones on board at some stage!

Anyone here with vegan children?

Ironing If I was starting all over again I'd definitely at least try to bring the DC up as vegans, but it's a little more difficult now that they're older. I wanted to try a dairy-free diet with DS to see if it would help his dermatitis (which comes and goes), but he wasn't at all taken with the rice milk I gave him. Having said all that, they always have a vegan main meal and often a vegan tea too.

Kat It's definitely easier if you start before they realise what everyone else around them is eating and get used to the taste of certain foods! We ate very little meat when I was growing up so it was very easy for me to become a vegetarian, but I've always eaten quite a lot of dairy so I'm finding the transition to veganism much more difficult.

Latest milk update: I decided to mix coconut and oat milks today, as I thought the creaminess of the coconut might counteract the wateriness of the oat milk. Well, it did; it looked more or less like "normal" coffee (a little darker, perhaps) but I didn't like the taste. The smell of coconut in the coffee was actually quite nice but once again, I had to throw the entire cup away (it had a weird aftertaste too).

I totally understand that, LT, it is easier to start them vegan from the off!

I hope you find the perfect mylk/mylk combo soon! :)

Sorry I haven't been around for a while

I know Quorn isn't vegan - I don't eat it (since starting Veganuary I mean). But I see it as a better option than meat for my family at this moment in time. DH doesn't want to cut out eggs or dairy but is more than happy to eat a vegetarian diet. Which seems like a compromise to me so I buy the Quorn for him and the DCs. I do myself something else, for example tonight they had Quorn fillets topped with pesto and sundried tomatoes for tea all wrapped in puff pastry. I had roasted veg with sundried tomatoes in my pastry.

WRT eating out, I have so far been asked if tofu is ok for me to eat, been given egg in a 'vegan' dish and been asked if they can cook in vegetable oil. They really just don't get it round here!

There is a vegan version of mince though, it's in Tesco. I bet they wouldn't notice if it was Quorn or not.

I do tend to stick to places I know will cater for us. Wagamamas staff are well-trained to know what's vegan, Pizza Express is good, and Indian, Chinese, Thai, etc. I have found typical Brit food is rubbish, pub food is awful (always has been, IMO). But in general, I don't eat out much.

No Wagamamas round here!

I'm not a pizza lover so stay clear of pizza places and my 'vegan' egg dish was from a Thai place! Ironically the people happiest to cater for me where the local pub and an Indian takeaway (but asked me if veg oil was ok )

I get the Morrison's vegan mince and it's fine, but don't think the 'chicken' stuff is that good.

I'm glad I came across this thread - hi all!

I'm really interested in becoming vegan myself. I don't eat fish or eggs at all and the only meats I eat are chicken and occasionally pork.

It just seems like a huge jump from eating near to vegan, so going vegetarian first seems a better option.

I'll look into this further, research online etc, but any tips would be great.

There's no Wagamamas here either, nor a Pizza Express.

Welcome, sublime. I don't think it's a huge jump to go from eating meat to vegan. Meat and dairy are just two items. There is loads more variety in the fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and pulses that grow on this planet. I don't support vegetarianism, in that the impact of increased consumption of dairy products is devastating for the earth, and the animals. In many ways, the dairy industry is more cruel than the meat industry (of course, they do support each other). But. If it takes going vegetarian as a first step towards veganism, it is better than not taking any step towards that end goal. IMO.

Maybe see the links I posted upthread on Sunday. I can also post some Facebook groups I am on, that I find very enlightening. Not full of corpse and slaughter horrors, just lots of discussion to make you think.

Hi Sublime

I just noticed the typo in my last post . I am somewhat of a pedant so can only blame tiredness for that.

I too don't see it as much of a leap Sublime. I thought I would really miss cheese but I don't. If you like hot drinks the key is to find a milk alternative you like.

What sort of meals do you normally eat? There are so many options with vegan food. I have just cooked a big root veg and chickpea curry, samosas and bhajis to take to a friend's tonight. Will probably make a coconut and spinach dhal too. All completely dairy free.

All I will say is that although you say you don't eat eggs, there are eggs (and milk) in a hell of a lot of stuff you wouldn't have imagined. It is a good way of starting to find out just exactly what you're putting into your body when you start to check labels!

I've just watched Vegucated on netflix.

Christ.

In sainsburys, what's the best non dairy milk for tea?

Everyone likes different tbh. I find sweetened soya fine - which has the added bonus of being cheap as chips

My Indian feast went down a storm last night. My friend said it was delicious, filling and she didn't miss the meat at all. Result!

Hemp milk is lovely, I think its name is 'Good Hemp' - £1.49 in Tesco. Blue carton. It is unsweetened but has a nice creamy texture. I don't know what it is like compared to cows milk as I've never tasted the latter.

I am vegan with 2 vegan grown up kids still at home, my mum and I were vegetarian when I was a kid. We eat together as a family, we eat a lot of lentils and veg, lentils are so cheap, delicious and versatile, lentil lasagne, soups, I make a mean lentil pie with yummy wholemeal pastry, last night I made green lentil and kale soup with wholemeal garlic bread, I just ate the leftover soup for breakfast with some raw spinach chucked in the bowl-yummy.
Has anyone watched 'Food Matters' on Netflix? It is really good.

I have just ordered 'Animal free shopper' as I thought it may be helpful.Hoping it'll give me some insight into what's out there.

I have a question, and I have deliberated on whether to ask it - I shall go ahead though, and hope that I don't sound confrontational as that's really not my intention at all.

I keep my own chickens.I know they are well kept,free range, and are rescue chooks.You can probably guess what's coming now - but what would be the reasons against eating their eggs?

Really interested in hearing people's views!

Oh and I am getting used to soya milk - I decided that it was just a case of allowing my taste to adjust, much as when I gave up sugar in coffee!

Hello everyone!

I'm very pleased to find this community of vegans! I'm looking forward to learning a lot - and contributing, as well.

I've been vegan for getting on for 10 years now, and I was a veggie before that - and very happy I am, too!

I've learned a lot over the past 10 years - and I'm learning all the time. My most important lesson was to discover you do not need eggs in cooking - ever! But there are many other discoveries I'd like to share with you.

One of the most joyful was finding out that a combination of Pateole mushroom spread and vegan pesto delivers the same flavour hit that I used to get with a cheese and tomato pizza.

It also works as a stuffing in field mushrooms - which is what I had with my roast dinner tonight. Spread the Pateole inside the mushroom, cover it with pesto, then sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. 30 minutes at 200C - and it's gorgeous. I have it with a spicy tomato sauce while my wife has her chicken and gravy.

My main interests, though are breadmaking and teaching - I have a blog where I post my bread recipes and relate my adventures. The recipes are mainly vegan, but the odd bit of cheese creeps in here and there - obviously my students are not vegan.

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Welcome, new people, and thanks for the bump, Breadandwine.

TBW, here is some reading on vegans not eating eggs, even if from happy free chickens in their own yard: www.peta2.com/boards/topic/could-i-still-be-considered-vegan-if-i-eat-my-own-chickens-eggs/

LentilHearted, yeah, seen Food Matters. Netflix carries some really great films and documentaries, we watched a lot of the vegany ones when we first subscribed.

figgy, never tasted cows' milk? Wow, lucky you! Were you raised vegan?

hello all - Breadandwine pointed me in your direction

I'm not vegan or even strictly vegetarian but heading in that direction after watching most of the already mentioned films so kind of learning as I go. I live in LA which makes converting to veganism very easy (even hole in the wall Mexican places are used to vegans!) and have been able to go out to eat at vegan specific places - we even tried vegan sushi which was amazing!

My major "downfall" at the moment is tea in milk - so very interested to read all your responses. I can get loads of dairy free milk alternatives but none of them work in tea for me at all. I only have one cup of tea a day so it's a bit annoying. I don't miss butter or cheese as generally American dairy products taste crap compared to UK anyway so I was already pretty much weaned off them before starting to implement a more conscious change.

I'm mainly baking vegan now and when I do eat meat or eggs it's always bought from the farmer who sells at our farmer's market whose welfare standards are incredibly high in life and death (he does all his own slaughtering as well) - I've been to the farm and seen it for myself so I trust his products and it's very expensive so rare for me to buy from him anyway.

My major concern is I don't consume soy products seeing as the soy industry is having a massive negative impact on the planet, and I don't like the idea of swapping meat for processed foods (so I don't eat tofu, quorn, "fake meat" products) and this means I don't get any of the fortified vegan products. I also don't eat quinoa because of the unethical nature of it being farmed for the wealthy west and leaving indigenous Peruvians starving.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

So this leaves me a) probably needing to take multivitamins and b) basically constantly guilty as it seems pretty obvious now that unless you grow and rear your own food yourself, most food products are in danger of exploiting someone or something somewhere. Just wondered what you all thought before I totally tie myself up in knots!!