VEGANS!!! Heeeeeelp!

[SpeedyGonzalez]

I need your food advice.

I need to cut out dairy completely, as I'm bfing and my DD is allergic to milk. I am rather cut up over the fact that my fave dark chocolate is produced in a factory that handles milk products, and also the lovely German waffles I've been eating apparently contain milk products too. So I'm in mourning.

I am also avoiding soya, so all ice creams (and apparently sorbets) are off the cards. What about booze - doesn't wine contain rennet? God, what a summer I have ahead of me. Expensive, and so far, treat free. But I refuse to be broken.

What sweet treats can I eat? And, while you're at it, is there such a thing as vegan butter/ margarine? Any brands that you'd recommend? Is vegan cheese actually edible?

Heeeeeeelp!

Firstly, sorbets should be fine. Just check the ingredients. They very rarely contain dairy. I have found that they sometimes contain egg though. (Is there a reason for avoiding soya? The soya ice creams are lovely)

Spread - Tesco and Sainsbury's sell PURE spread which is dairy free.

I have tried the vegan cheese but, if you are used to normal cheese, I dont think you will like it.

My DD is allergic to dairy and egg so I have found a few treats for her. Tesco bourbon biscuits, Jacobs Fig rolls, hob nobs... I am sure there are more. She does have things that state "factory handles milk" and she is fine. It is just their cover all.

Wine - just check ingredients. I really didn't think there was rennet in wine.

Thanks, PFV! Apparently sorbets are often made in ice-cream factories, so there's a risk of cross-'contamination'.

I LOVE Swedish glace ice-cream (esp their raspberry flavour), but, as a long-terms soya user, I am now concerned that soya milk products have been shown to significantly affect fertility. They're a Western invention, and as such are not fermented long enough to deplete soya of the hormone-like phytoestrogens, which naturally occur in soya, and can upset our hormonal balance. So if you're eating Eastern soya stuff (miso, etc), it's fine as it's fermented for months and so the hormone thing isn't a problem. But soya milk/ butter/ ice-cream, etc, could have a detrimental hormonal impact. Now, I've finished having babies, but I don't want to risk it for DD while I'm bfing her (can't bear to think if I've already damaged DS's chances of conceiving, from when I bfed him and then fed him soya milk for 2 yrs ).

Unfortunately wine (like bread) doesn't list all the ingredients. Am not sure that it actually is rennet which is included...maybe I'll just cut it out for a while and see what happens (fingers crossed).

Thanks so much!

That is interesting Speedy. I have heard about the infertility problems but that it was mainly boys that would be affected. My DD has had soya milk for 4 years now so I hope I haven't done the wrong thing.

Back to you - maybe you could make some wine. And if you ever need some cake recipes, I have collected a few nice ones along the way for DD

Go to a shop that sells kosher food (Jewish). We can't eat milk things after meat things so many products are milk free. You should be able to get "cream" and non-dairy creamer for coffee, also sorbets will be milk free. You should be looking for the word PARVE which means there will be no milk or meat products within the food.

Speedy, this is a handy little book to have - The Animal Free Shopper

I've just looked up in a book I'm reading the bit about soy formula - there's not been much research on it but a 2001 study found little evidence of long-term health impact. It concludes more research is necessary, and people should be cautious about feeding children under 6 months soy formula, but if there had been a drastic health impact, the study would probably have picked it up. In the US 1/4 of formula sold is soy based!

"if there had been a drastic health impact, the study would probably have picked it up" - that's only my take on it by the way, which I wasn't clear about.

This is the study www.ontcm.com/dotnetnuke/NewsEvents/tabid/639/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2052/Study-Finds-Soy -Formula-Ok.aspx

Make your own sorbet? Lots of recipes here that don't contain egg. You don't need an ice cream maker - just put the stuff in a container in the freezer and stir every couple of hours.

Loads of vegan blogs out there with all sorts of recipe ideas, too.

Cheese substitute - I can get blocks of tofu that's been pre-marinated and is ready to eat - there's a basil one and a sesame one both of which I really like as an alternative to cheese - as they are 'eastern' shouldn't be a problem with the soy side of things.

If you really miss ice-cream, freeze chunks of fruit (mango, pineapple etc) and then blend up in a food processor with a small dollop of vegan yoghurt (or a bit of rice milk might work).

I've been doing this loads recently (with regular yoghurt, admittedly) and it comes out as a sort of fruit ice-cream, exactly the right texture and really delicious. And you don't have to do any of that stirring nonsense.

Holland and Barrett have a new range of sweets out that are suitable for vegans.

As for your soya fears, hope this allays them: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/01/anti-soya-brigade-ignore-scaremongering.

Know it's just anecdotal, but my DH has been vegan for ten years (as have I), unconcerned about soya, and we conceived the first time we tried.

go to goodness direct

they sell vegan ice cream and sorbet and plenty of other stuff

you can buy dairy-free marg from most of the main supermarkets (m&s is my fave though)

vegan cheese is vile

i can highly recommend the cookbooks vegan with a vengeance, vegan cookies invade your cookie jar and vegan cupcakes take over the world

if anyone is interested i can post my recipe for chocolate cheese-less cake? i kind of make it up as I go along, but it normally turns out very well

I like vegan cheese! The spreads are better than I remember dairy spreads being. The solid cheese isn't great just by the slice, but a little sprinkled on pizza, in fajitas - perfectly fine. Cheese slices are good in a vegan bacon toasted sandwich. Though it was so long between giving up dairy and using vegan cheeses, that maybe I've forgotten what dairy cheese tastes like.

Hi,

Cheezly is good when melted. Homemade pizzas are popular with us, with lots of 'Mozarella Cheezly'. Althought they contain soya.

There are SO many things you can eat! I'm tired otherwise I'd start a massive list.

Did you know that Vitalite margarine's vegan? There are many other brands too, that have already been mentioned.

Join Viva's Wine Club for booze: viva.org.uk/wineshop/index.php Many supermarket's own brand wine is labelled as vegan. Co-op's particularly good.

A dairy-free life will be great for you!

B

Ahhh, thanks so much one and all. So many great tips here (also I'd completely forgotten about booja chocs - thanks for the reminder via your MN name, Booj! )

Didn't know that about kosher food, so thanks pip!

Abfab, we have also drunk soya for years and are scarily fertile, especially considering our ages. But it's the developmental effect which I'm more concerned about, not how soy affects old duffers like DH and I. Will read that Grauniad article, though, cheers for that.

Once again thanks to you all, please excuse the pun but there's lots of food for thought.

Oh. And I'd love to see your choc cake recipe, Yesterday!

If any mums wish to take vegan/vegetarian supplements there is company called Cytoplan who I discovered recently, they sell a good range of vegetarian & vegan food state minerals & vitamins, I found it difficult to buy vegetarian vitamins elsewhere, the website is www.cytoplan.co.uk they even cater for children and small adults.