Transitioning from vegetarian to vegan?

[naturesflow]

Originally Posted by dreamer-rags

Honestly... help! I've been a vegetarian for many years and dairy tends to make me feel ill, so going vegan is the obvious choice for me... but veganism just tends to be so (I hate to say this) inconvenient. :( Now please don't take me as lazy, I've put a lot of care into my diet, but it's hard to find a substantial and enjoyable vegan meal when the day is in full swing.

Does anyone have any suggestions? What was it like for you when you were first starting out on a vegan diet? If you guys have any quick meal suggestions that would also be appreciated!

Prep is important for me to have little things on hand. So I spend a day making things that feed me for the week.

Like one day, I might make lentil burgers and little raw cacao balls to have as a fast food snack on the run on days I am too busy, or I make a double batch of something if I know the next day I am going to not have time to cook or prepare. So my leftovers becomes my lunch or dinner.
You could make pizzas with cauliflower bases or spelt flour and olive oil, then add whatever you eat and feel like as a topping. Cashew cheese is another alternative to cheese, but you do have to put in some time for prepping to free up those days you want freed up... Smoothies made with almond milk for on the run eating. I sometimes make one up and take with me when going to yoga, when I don't need heavy food or life is too busy to prepare something more substantial. I have lots of greens on hand to top up my food choices. I just toss them in all together and you have a meal on the run.
Rice cakes with tahini is another one of my fast foods. Or rice cakes with banana and cinnamon and raw honey. Easy to pack and have out with friends in cafes where you don't want to eat the food there.

I take my own food everywhere I can and often just enjoy a coffee without missing out in socializing with others. Where I live I am lucky that food and cafes are a big affair, so we have so many café's now doing vegan, gf, raw and vegetarian as choices.
I find that with conscious eating, you do have to put a little time and effort into the creations. So I understand if you don't have time, how easy it could be to want faster choices, but my learning has been prepping is what saves you time. Just have to find the time to dedicate to that space to get more things made before hand.

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by naturesflow

.... Cashew cheese is another alternative to cheese, but you do have to put in some time for prepping to free up those days you want freed up... Smoothies made with almond milk for on the run eating...........

And the lovely thing about Cashew cheese is that it freezes beautifully! I tried a recipe that called for 2.5 cups of dry cashews so it made such a large batch that I decided to try freezing some to see what the thawed texture is like and it was as good as when I first made it.

As for your smoothies, maybe because almond milk has such an enormous water footprint (17x as much as cows milk), you could use So Delicious coconut milk instead. That company states that their product is sourced from 'farms' that don't use abused macaque monkey's to pick the coconuts. So you'd be using less water which believe me, our environment is growing short of, and you wouldn't be betraying your philosophy of 'do no harm' to animals.


https://mykindcloset.com/2015/09/21/...nimal-cruelty/

[naturesflow]

Originally Posted by Debrah

And the lovely thing about Cashew cheese is that it freezes beautifully! I tried a recipe that called for 2.5 cups of dry cashews so it made such a large batch that I decided to try freezing some to see what the thawed texture is like and it was as good as when I first made it.

Very nice. I cant eat a lot of cashews myself, as I find they make my sinus flair up. But that sounds like a great way to keep a batch on hand.

As for your smoothies, maybe because almond milk has such an enormous water footprint (17x as much as cows milk), you could use So Delicious coconut milk instead. That company states that their product is sourced from 'farms' that don't use abused macaque monkey's to pick the coconuts. So you'd be using less water which believe me, our environment is growing short of, and you wouldn't be betraying your philosophy of 'do no harm' to animals.

Thanks for the tip. I do make my own almond milk but your right it does require water for soaking and water to make up. I haven't tried coconut milk, but thankyou for the link.

https://mykindcloset.com/2015/09/21/...nimal-cruelty/

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by naturesflow

Very nice. I cant eat a lot of cashews myself, as I find they make my sinus flair up. But that sounds like a great way to keep a batch on hand.





Thanks for the tip. I do make my own almond milk but your right it does require water for soaking and water to make up. I haven't tried coconut milk, but thankyou for the link.

Maybe you could try a spread like that with walnuts. Then you'd get the benefit of the omega 3's that those have. I would try the following seasonings:

2.5 cups soaked walnuts
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
pinch salt
1 tbsp dried parsley.

Blend the whole thing and add just a teeny bit of water if it's too stiff. But I found that the cashew mix I made was actually a better spread when I didn't use the extra water.

When I was talking about almonds 'water footprint' I was referring more to how much water it takes to grow almonds. Apparently they are a very thirsty tree. But after looking into it, I'm not so sure that it's actually 17x as much water as cows milk. I think it may be a bit lower than that (I need to read more about it to be sure) but almonds still produce less GHG's.

[Alice_1]

Your transition to veganism must be conscious. Do you understand that an additional source of vitamins and minerals will be needed?

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by Alice_1

Your transition to veganism must be conscious. Do you understand that an additional source of vitamins and minerals will be needed?

If you have a balanced diet I don't think you'll need much more than a B12 and in the winter, Vitamin D. That's all I take. Oh and I also take a kelp for the iodine. Good for the thyroid.