What I ate today for vegans

[PartTimeDomesticGoddess]

Shiny new thread

Today has been
L: grapes, 2 plums, sticky rice traybake with butternut, cashews and broccoli
S: handful of pistachios
D: potato and violife feta bake with cherry tomatoes, beetroot and Bombay carrot salad

Yesterday:
L: a new dip from the makers of bitchin sauce, wasn’t a fan, dipped some tomatoes, broccoli and celery in it
D: pasta with beyond sausages, roasted mushrooms, peppers, onions and carrots and a sauce of capers, olives, olive oil and lemon juice
S: 2 banana and courgette muffins

fantasmasgoria1

Not really. You just need to stop eating cheese. Some people find an alternative they like after a period without dairy cheese but of you go straight from dairy to non it'll likely all taste like garbage. I promise you you won't miss it as much as you think though, I used to be a proper cheese monster but you just get used to it.

D: The courgette fritters weren't a howling sucess. I think I didn't squeeze enough water out...they tasted AMAZING but just a bit too soft.

@fantasmasgoria1 absolutely agree with everything @Hangingover says about cheese. The only one that DH (pescatarian who eats quite a lot of cheese) likes is violife cream cheese. I also like their feta a lot. There are small sellers of artisan type cheeses, usually made from nuts and I like some of those (especially the blue ones)

Yes, i agree. I think you need a good 6 months off dairy cheese before even attempting any vegan cheese.
I tend just to avoid it. I do sometimes use violife grated in pasta with soya milk and Engivita for a cheesy pasta.
And recently I have found Mexicana which is the only cheese i will eat on oatcakes.

I like the soft cheeses though.

And yes, you get some delicious artisan ones (at artisan prices ) at vegan markets.
It's also possible to make them.

But ...you do need to let go of cheese first. And it's not as bad as you think. It's like any craving, it passes.

B. Aldi blueberry yoghurt, flaked almonds, cherries.
L. Pot 'o kale soup.
D. Home made thai curry with tofu and veggies. Wholemeal rice.

B - rosemary sausages and hash browns (it's my standby breakfast!).

L - five bean burger plus roll and salad (again, standby lunch - we batch prep the burgers and freeze, so they are super easy).

D - peanut butter and butternut squash dhal with spinach and sticky rice. Which is my favourite meal ever. Not a huge amount of protein in it though (hence the morning standby sausages!).

Snacks - slice of toast with flora and jam, glass of prosecco.

@fantasmasgoria1

I am vegetarian. The thing that stops me being vegan is cheese. I have tried violife and I really disliked the taste. Is there any other vegan cheese that actually tastes good? I absolutely love alpro caramel, vanilla and chocolate desserts and yoghurt. Jackfruit is a favourite. Sorry I guess I'm just looking for different product recommendations!

Oh God I miss cheese. It's the one thing I REALLY miss.

However, it does get easier. If you decide to take the plunge then my advice is:

• Forget about cheese for at least 6 months.
• Save yourself piles of cash by not buying loads of vegan versions - the overwhelming majority are rank. They smell and taste awful.
• After 6 months, get yourself some Violife cheddar - the block, not the ready-grated. I wouldn't do cheese on toast with it, but it's OK on a veggie burger or over pasta.

Honestly, the person that cracks decent vegan cheese is going to make a frigging fortune.

I jest but only slightly

Today has been

B: spiced porridge with sultanas, seeds and oat milk
L: wholemeal wrap, slightly warmed and spread thickly with aubergine meze, filled with roasted frozen med veg and nooch before wrapping
S: couple of handfuls of salted peanuts, pear, 2 plums
D: chickpea and sweet potato Buddha bowl, mostly this recipe (yum) followed by a vegan magnum

minimalistbaker.com/sweet-potato-chickpea-buddha-bowl/#wprm-recipe-container-35619

Agree with all cheese comments

Yes I agree with the cheese comments too ., my problem is i can't eat coconut (it bloats me) and the number of calories in the yoghurt WOW Violife is made with coconut. I do miss goat's cheese and I occasionally succumb when faced with beautiful fresh organic and soft cream cheese from very kindly treated goats!!!

. I have made almond soft cheese though and with plenty of garlic and chives, dried wasabi etc. it was nice.

B. apple, soaked dried apricots and linseeds, homemade grape juice smoothie.
L. Large green salad with tahini and olive oil on ryvita.
S. Walnuts, dates, peaches.

Breathmiller When I began giving up sugar and sweeteners. (craving marzipan!!) I made some amazing date and ground almond raw biscuit type little cakes. I noticed that as long as I didn't overeat . They satisfied that need!!

Oh and as you say yeast flakes and marmite \Meridian yeast extract are a good cheese substitute in mac n cheese. They also are high in B12. If you think you need more protein.

The date and almond flour biscuits sound lovely. Do you have a recipe?
I used to love home made date bliss balls with almonds in. Maybe i should do them again.

Just to chip in on the cheese front and say I don't like any of the vegan ones either. I was originally vegan in the 90s but kept caving because of cheese and it took me until 2018 to realise I just had to go for it and forget about evil and delicious dairy products.

ppeatfruit I made the beetroot and black bean dip for lunch, it was totally gorgeous and such a pretty colour! 3/5 of my family liked it so that was a hit.

Oh that's good to know BeneathTheMilkyTwilight (A very poetic user name by the way!)

They couldn't be easier Breath It's just ground almonds, not almond flour though I suppose you could use it. a third dates and some lemon juice (only if they're too dry) and rice flour for the board which you use to shape them. I just mashed them altogether ,but you could use a blender, though they are sticky and would end up getting wasted. Then shape with your hands or put into those little sweet papers and place on a tin. Wrap well then freeze or keep in the fridge. Great for Christmas treats!

on the blender! Roll them out in whatever shape you like

ooops sorry for the typo!

Yesterday:
S: pineapple nice cream, kimchi
D: lentil soup with kimchi siracha and a peach

Although to be fair I miss eggs more than cheese.

I really, really miss chocolate (I don't like dark chocolate).

DH and I decided to give being FT vegan a go for a year - we're now 11 months in. I'm fine without meat and fish - I was veggie years ago so no issue with that. But giving up dairy and eggs has been really tough, and I'm really torn by it. On one hand I really want to eat cheese and butter and eggs again. Eggs I'm reasonably comfortable with because there is a proper free range small holding up the road from me. I know the hens are free range because they're in the fields when I drive past! But dairy's the kicker because there's no getting away from the calving aspect...

One thing I did look at was ethical milk - as in properly no-slaughter ethical milk. There's a Hare Krishna commune that does this - and if bull calves are born then they are put to use when grown, as oxen on the farm. There's a massive waiting list though

Thanks ppeat

Today:
B - 2x crumpets with peanut butter, banana and blueberries
L - chickpea and spinach dhal with lime pickle. Pineapple
D - Mushroom stir fry. Almonds, dark choc and strawberries
S - sweet and salty popcorn

Can I weigh in on cheese and other subs?
Sheesh cream cheese is lovely (they also seem to supply Asda and used to do Tesco but don't seem to now?)
Applewood smoked vegan cheese. OooooohMG so good - actual cheese toasties!
My egg on toast sub is smashed avocado on toast with lemon juice, black pepper and Himalayan black salt (had some of this from B&M bargains last year)
For anyone missing milk chocolate Vego hazelnut chocolate is pure perfection!

@Submariner where can I find the Vego chocolate?

Most health food shops - I normally go to Revital but Holland and Barrett stock it too. It's pricey, but worth it!

Tappering you might also like to try the Galaxy vegan chocolates, Ritter sport marzipan chocolate (it's dark but doesn't taste it), Green and Blacks velvet sea salt chocolate, Nomo chocolate, Goupies chocolate, Fellow Creatures chocolate, or Pico chocolate. I am a chocolate fan and also prefer milk chocolate and I enjoy all of the above! If you get online supermarket deliveries, just search vegan chocolate and see what comes up. You might be surprised by the choice. I also heard Lindt are bringing out a vegan Lindt ball in time for Christmas!

Another chocolate suggestion are fry's chocolate creams. I've always eaten those, even though I don't like dark chocolate (I do occasionally eat it now, but rarely). The original are available, but they also do fruit cream bars (strawberry, raspberry and orange). I've bought them on eBay but have been told you can also get them in Poundland and maybe b&m or similar

B: overnight oats with nectarine, blueberries, seeds, oat milk and soya yogurt
L: pineapple, chickpea/spinach/tomato curry and naan bread
S: pear
D: allplants super green risotto with beetroot and tomato. The risotto was ok. I can't work out why I thought it was only ok though 🤷‍♀️

I'd be excited about a vegan Lindt ball though!!

Asda have a delicious free from chocolate at the moment . A biggish bar with raspberry and something else on it. It was lovely. There may have been q sea salt/toffee type one too which I haven't tried. Felt like a really nice special treat chocolate bar.

Marks and Spencers used to do some garudja type like a soft hazelnut praline bar but i havent seen it for a while