Vegan-Vegan friendly MNetters- the new thread-sign in here!

[anyabanya]

Hi Vegan and vegan-friendly MNetters!

Just wanted to know if anyone was out there and wanted to form a support thread- to talk about food/ veganism, 'stuff' in general.

I am late 30s, have been an on and off vegan for about 6 years, and after a hiatus of about 9 months or so am back 'on'. I adore cooking with a passion, and love reading food blogs and vegan food blogs.

I would very much like to exchange thoughts/tips/frustrations with anyone else out there!

[WhatWouldVegansDo]

Hi, NGV. There are lots of vegan cheeses on the market now, when I went vegan 13 years ago I don't remember seeing any, so you must have been in a barren cheeseless wilderness 20 years ago! :)
I like Cheezly and Vegusto, Vegusto do an awesome cheese sauce for cauliflower cheese/mac cheese/lasagne etc.

Egg-wise, I haven't tried it, but this is quite new out: www.thevegg.com/.

For quick tasty meals we have roasted veg, stirfry rice, pizza, pasta, burgers, sausages and chips, jacket potatoes with chilli or beans or houmous (or all!), soup, fajitas, pastry stuff, ratatouille, um, stuff like that? I also like to make a big lasagne sometimes as it lasts two or three days so I dot have to cook again for a day or two.

[NotGeoffVader]

Thanks for the tips, Vegans - I will check out the stocks when I go to H&B next. Pizza is an easy one for me to do, and pasta. I love jacket potatoes too but don't have a microwave, so I think I'm going to have to get organised and plan meals!

[WhatWouldVegansDo]

No worries! I think Vegusto has to be ordered online, it isn't in many shops yet.
We don't have a microwave either. We usually bake a few small potatoes instead of one large one per person so they are done faster, and then there are extra skins too, yum!

[Climbingpenguin]

[VeganBody]

I agree with PoppyBoo, when you finally ditch the last of the dairy it is truly amazing how your body changes.

I guess the other thing you can do is the 90:10 rule (not for me, just trying to persuade dh) which is basically once a week you have a non vegan meal.

Lots of recipe ideas for everyday veganism here:

//www.veganbody.net

[WhatWouldSantaDo]

Where is everyone!?

Hope you are all set for Christmas. My Vegusto order is on its way, and I've ordered some marshmallows from Alternative Stores, so we are all set! I need to make my own marshmallows, but I haven't got a mixer, and we are trying to reduce the stuff in our home! Also trying to reduce sugar anyway!

[emilyelizabethmary]

Hi everybody,

I would really appreciate it if you could fill in a questionnaire regarding vegan food availability within the big four supermarkets, as primary research for my dissertation.

The link below will direct you to the questionnaire.

docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHU2ZGV4OGpBeFFXY2FQY3lwOXZYblE6MQ#gid=0

Thank you so much for your time.

[MillyMollyMandy78]

Hi everyone, can I join you? I've been vegan for about 10 months so still a newbie. Anyone here overweight? I feel like the only overweight vegan in the world. My husband lost weight when he started, but i'm still about one and a half stone overweight - actually gained 3lbs since the new year!

[LexiLexi]

Hi everyone, can I join too, please?

MillyMolly, we're expecting our first baby in June so I feel the size of a house have put on a bit of weight. You may need some adjustment to find the right foods to suit you. When I first became vegan I tended to fill up on carbs, adding more protein and sticking to whole grains has helped me. A couple of ideas are adding red lentils in a tomato pasta sauce (tasty and filling too), also we make our own smoothies and add some ground nuts, such as almonds for extra protein/creamy texture

I noticed a few people posting above about the benefits of ditching the dairy. About 6 months after becoming vegan I noticed that the dark circles from under my eyes disappeared and my hair and nails became much stronger and thicker (was veggie for years before) though not sure why. Has anyone had a similar experience? Or know why this happens!

[LentilAsAnything]

Hi! I was WhatWouldVegansDo/WhatWouldSantaDo.
Welcome, new people. This thread is a bit neglected, and I didn't see any updates until now.
Milly, I am sure you will get to your weight goal in good time. Best not to rush, IMHO! Are you exercising much?

Lexi, I never suffered from dark circles under my eyes, but I did feel so much better in general when I gave up dairy. And the more I read about it, the more I believe it is actually far more detrimental to our health than it is good. Dairy actually leaches calcium from our bones, so giving it up should indeed make us feel better.

[PleaseLetsGoToSleep]

Just signing in as well please if that's ok. This thread is great, it's given me some good tips and lots of reassurance. I'm glad to know there are other vegans on mumsnet, I don't know any in RL!
Although it's only been about 6 months, I also feel so much better after ditching the dairy.

[LentilAsAnything]

More than ok! Hello and welcome. It's a bit quiet, this thread, but if we bump it more, maybe everyone will come back!
Glad you feel better for giving up dairy, I did too!
I see a fair few vegans around MN that haven't signed up here. Maybe you know some in RL and you don't know it! :)

Happy Earth Day!

[multitask]

I'm vegan not sure if I've signed in there before or not. Our 20 year old daughter is vegetarian but getting more vegan by the day, 15 year old son is about 70% there but not putting any pressure on him, my OH eats what I put in front of him and apart from the odd thing is pretty much vegan. My 80yr old mother has gone nearly vegan but can't give up her butter! I know this all sounds a pit patchy and not in the true spirit of veganism but it's all progress.

I myself love being vegan and never set out to convert anyone, I don't preach but it seems setting an example has worked better than any nagging they are free to follow me or do there own thing. Since becoming a vegan just over a year ago I have lost six stone in weight. Embarassed to say that this was absolutely necessary and now I am a very healthy weight with a normal BMI, cholestrol & BP, why oh why didn't I do this sooner?

[LentilAsAnything]

Wow, multi, six stone, that's great! Well done!
Were you vegetarian beforehand? Were your children raised vegetarian?

[MillyMollyMandy78]

Hi everyone!
Multi - six stone is an amazing achievement!
Lentil & Lexi - thanks for your replies re weight loss. Things have been really manic for me in the last month and I completely forgot about being on this thread! Don't usually just ignore replies like that! I definately need to focus on a more healthy lifestyle. I do very little exercise, and our evening meals tend to be quite carb heavy. I know what to do - just need to focus and do it!

[Misfit13]

Hello,
I've been vegetarian/vegan/almost vegan for 30 years. Currently have DS1, 19y, who was raised vegetarian and is now vegan and DS2, 3y, who has eggs but no cow milk and doesn't like cheese.
Am struggling with family meals as DS1 will not eat anything he considers 'spicy', mushrooms or most 'one-pot meals'. This rules out curries, chile, stir fries. He will eat soup, tho. Also, he is often out at meal times. so I do something simple for DS1. who prefers grazing, anyway and I frequently go without just because I can't be bothered to cook just for me (DS1 will then come in and wolf down half a loaf of sandwiches/toast, a family pack of cereal and 3 bananas (as he is too lazy/hungry to make anything decent).
Oh, and nuts, most pulses and onions give me terrible wind/cramps, so I tend to live on toast and marmite and fruit.
We need inspiration!

[LentilAsAnything]

Oops, this thread fell off my Threads I'm On!

I've just started a new thread for us here - hope you don't mind. This one was getting long and unwieldy!

MMM78, how is the diet going? Have you watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead? Very good documentary about an overweight guy who juices for a few weeks, and the results are outstanding. Worth a watch, very inspirational.

Misfit, I think you just need to knuckle down and cook for yourself, you can't live on air! Or do the juicing/smoothly thing. Come join the new thread, we'll thrash out some ideas!