The reluctant vegan

[SleepForTheWeek]

I have been vegetarian most of my life, but rely (and love) on dairy - especially cheese!

I am bf my DD2 who is 12 weeks. She has suspected cows milk and egg allergies so have had to cut them out of diet.

So here I am, the reluctant vegan. I miss cheese terribly and proper milk in my tea!! I have been dairy free perhaps 8 weeks now and egg free for 2 weeks.

I have tried different milks and find KoKo original the leafs offensive. violife butter is not bad either.

Can anyone offer me some good quick meal ideas? I have a toddler too so not a lot of time (or money) to prepare fancy meals every day. Also live very rurally so not a lot of places to buy exotic foods!!

Thanks

Do you like Indian food? The component ingredients are not especially exotic (cauliflower, potato, onion, lentils etc) and spices could be bought in one trip to a bigger shop. Indian food is often accidentally vegan, which suits us!

Favourite meals in general are daal, tray-roasted aubergine, chickpeas and tomatoes, pasta with dairy-free pesto, jacket potatoes, beans on toast, broccoli and tahini bake, veggie chili, squash curry and lentils with spinach and potatoes. Let me know if you want recipes and I can sort something out!

Hi OP I am not a vegan but this thread just popped up on active and I was thinking you should try to think of this as a challenge and a way to expand your vegetarian repertoire. Hugh Fearnely Whittingstall, a famous meat lover, did a vegetarian challenge a couple of years ago. He felt he was relying too much on meat in a world where we should be eating less meat for environmental reasons even if you think it's ok ethically. He thought cutting out meat for an extended period would get him thinking more creatively instead of falling back on meat whenever he wanted a celebration meal or something rich and delicious. It worked for him and he said it changed his way of cooking for good. Even though he went back to eating meat he now has a much wider range of vegetarian dishes that he enjoys and that's made it easier to eat a lot less meat.

As a vegetarian you could apply the same logic to dairy which is another thing that can be bad for the environment if farmed intensively, we should all eat less but better quality even if you think it's ok from an animal welfare point of view.

So think of this as a challenge to stimulate your creativity and get you trying new things you might not otherwise try.

I find Oatly oat milk just fine.

@Ilikehappy yes that's a good way of looking at it - actually I was thinking of going vegan pre pregnancy due to the ethics of dairy farming but I just love cheese SO much!!

@LaContessaDiPlump thank you . I love Indian food, I just find I need more time to prep and cook etc which is difficult with a clingy toddler and needy baby! Dinner time is always stressful as it is 🙈

@Samsara123 I'll give that a go, thanks

Once you've had a few weeks off cheese I recommend the Tesco range of cheeses. It's definitely not as good as real cheese but I scarfed a big dollop of their coconut cream cheese on lentil and chickpea crackers this morning and it hit the spot somewhat!!

The mozzarella is not too bad in a toasty with plenty of pesto and sun dried tomatoes. Yum!

Try oatly oat milk, the barista version, it's a game changer for tea and coffee. I wouldn't drink milk now if you paid me, even the smell turns me. I do feel your pain with cheese though. I find all vegan cheeses rank.

@Submariner our Tesco here doesn't have cheese alternatives unfortunately.

@Dalphidol I'm have a look for that - hopefully I can find it here!

Zest vegan pesto is very good. Scalla? do an aubergine based on too. Which are easy to add to pasta. my local coop Tesco and health food shop post them. There is a powdered dairy free cheese sauce which is ok. obviously not as good as the real thing, but fine with veg pasta.
nutritional yeast flakes add a cheesey Ness sprinkled on top of meals.
Thai curry is fabulous. stir fry veg add paste and coconut milk. super fast and easy.
hummous and spinach sandwich is delicious
soya sausage casserole with mash
be careful with soya though as many who are intolerant to milk also have issues with soya
I found koko milk and sunflower pure the best substitutes
loads of Indian curry and Chinese options too

have a look at Vegusto too. they do some nut based cheese which is nice. just dont expect them to taste of cheese!
falafel and stuffed vine leaves are quick and easy too.

I use Alpro roasted almond or oat milk in my tea, it has taken some adjustment but now I'm perfectly happy with it.
Cheese has been a PITA for me (as a "Seagan") too. I could cry for it, taste wise, tbh. I really do miss it. However, I find Violife "cheddar" on top of a "buttered" and marmited jacobs cream cracker palatable, especially if I have it with chutney on top. Also, Sainsburys do a garlic and herb "cream cheese" that is actually quite nice.

So Oatley is the only good sub I've found for milk/cream in tea.
I have a plan to go vegan as an experiment next year (only for 1 month) & expect to live mostly on veg stir fries, nuts-seeds-fruit, bread & potatoes.
Are you taking vitamin supplements?

I'm not actually, I've got the healthy start vitamins though I should start taking again.

I fed DD1 until she was 2 but I can't see me lasting that long this time around with all these food restrictions!

Yeah, I partly want to try vegan for a month so then I can tell folk why I know it's silly & difficult.
I think you're supposed to take VitD tablets anyway, and then there's B12.

How confirmed is your DD;s sensitivity to what is in your milk? She would only be getting a tiny dose in your milk.

OP, I had a similar issue; was pescatarian and had to give up dairy and eggs. Also soy as if the (cows milk) protein in your milk is enough to be causing issues, then there's something like 80% chance soy will too. Koko made a good replacement for milk in my (sweet) cooking. Oatly in my savoury cooking. Buy an egg replacer online for things like baking bread. Also look into using things like chia seeds for egg replacer in things where it's needed as a thickener type thing. Some people use the liquid from chickpeas but i've never tried it. Mashed banana is a good replacement in cakes, pikelets, etc for eggs. Apple puree too, but i always had a banana to hand, and rarely apple puree!

Please please please can you also look at the EAT (enquiring about tolerance) study and discuss this with your allergy specialist (basically consider early weaning on risky foods), to see if there might be opportunity to avoid having to add other things to your DC's allergy list.... My DC2 was allergic to basically every one of my vegetarian protein sources. Outgrowing a lot, thankfully, but still ana to peanuts / tree nuts. DC3 I basically did what they did in the EAT study and is ok with everything (despite showing early signs of allergies, and a month of unpleasantness in the start, though nothing like what i had with DC2).

Lots of cheese alternatives around too - mozzaricella used to be good, lots of good nut ones too apparently. Google is your friend here.

I follow a blog called ohsheglows.com There are loads of good ideas on it.

Hugh fearnly Whittington new veg book is vegan I think or mostly so

".... ke vegetables the mainstay of our daily cooking. In this much-anticipated follow-up, Hugh delivers more irresistible recipes, and this time, takes things one step further. Fuelled by his passionate belief that plant foods should be the dominant force in our kitchens, Hugh has put cheese, butter, cream, eggs, and refined flour and sugar firmly to one side. Instead, he uses veg, fruit, wholegrains, nuts, seeds, spices and cold-pressed oils to explore the length and breadth of what can be achieved with natural, unprocessed plant foods. River Cottage Much More Veg! makes it clear that unadulterated ingredients are the very best building blocks for delicious and healthy meals.

In typical Hugh style, the recipes are easy, utterly foolproof and delicious. All but a handful are gluten-free, and at least half the dishes require 20 minutes (or less) hands-on work time.