Seven days now with NO MEAT !!

[Pool Hall Ace]

I am sooo happy! I have wanted to go vegetarian for a long time. Since my meat-eating husband gave me the shaft recently, I thought it was as good of a time as any!

I really love the Morningstar Farms veggie bacon strips, chik'n nuggets, and black bean veggie burgers. I made some tacos with Lightlife smart ground.

I also downloaded the Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating from Vegan Outreach and Vegetarian Starter Kit from Mercy for Animals. Today when I was taken out to lunch, I enjoyed some Kung Pao Tofu.

My goals are to lose weight, lower my cholesterol, and clear my conscience.

One thing I am concerned about is finding good vegan cheese. I tried Vegan Gourmet cheese alternative and found it rather "meh." Is vegan cheese an acquired taste, or can anyone recommend some other brands?

[Ignis]

1. Congrats! And sympathy on the vegan cheese.

Most of the vegan cheeses that are readily available in grocery stores SUCK. :) Try going to foodfight.com or veganessentials.com and check out their extensive selection of vegan products--including palatable cheese alternatives.

One thing you can do is use other "creamy" alternatives like vegan aioli to add a bit of last-minute flavor and mouth-feel (i.e., fat) to your dishes like pasta that your mouth tells you NEED cheese.

Welcome, congrats again, and here's wishing you a long, happy, cruelty-free life! :)

[Pool Hall Ace]

2. Wow, I've never even heard of aioli.

I looked it up, though, and it seems to be a good alternative to mayonnaise. That's good, because I have *never* been able to handle mayonnaise. The smell of it just makes me nauseous.

I have also recently switched to soy milk over cow's milk. About a month ago, I was treated for an acute upper respiratory infection. It took a while to go away, but after that, I couldn't handle regular milk (even nonfat) anymore. It made me gag!

And thanks for the websites, I will bookmark them, but I believe you mean foodfightgrocery.com. :)

[Ignis]

5. Wildwood makes a Garlic Aioli that rocks.

I use it (probably far too much) on anything that needs a little creaminess. It's not cheap at ~$5/jar, but a little goes a long way, and it's full of flavor.

Also, you can make your own creamy/cheesy dip/spread/thingie by starting with soft tofu, some fresh veggies and herbs, roasted garlic heads, nutritional yeast, etc., and blending the crap out of it. I often make a habanero-onion tofu dip for parties that makes people rave...and sweat profusely. :)

Cannellini (Italian white beans) also make a great base for dips/spreads. Try making hummus with half garbanzos and half cannellini: it's creamier and "nuttier" than regular hummus, and stands up well to adding bold flavors.

Let the great experiment begin! ;)

[LeftyMom]

3. Chezleey and Teese are both really good.

Scheese tends to get mixed reactions, people either really like it or really don't, especially the smoked flavors. I hear overwhelmingly positive, gushing reviews about Daiya, but it's very new and even harder to find than the others. I haven't tried it yet personally, but I can vouch for Cheezely and Teese (not the cheddar Teese though, if you want cheddar get the Cheezely.)

[Ignis]

6. I'll second Teese. It restored my faith in vegan pizza. (nt)

[handmade34]

4. congratulations PoolHallAce

I am using my 1000th post because this is a great day for you. Don't give up: you'll feel better and you are doing a good thing for the earth. Many things will be an acquired taste and hopefully you will learn to love all the wonderful fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, etc. that are so delicious. If you eat out, try Chili's QuesadillaExplosion with a black bean burger on it instead of chicken. Yum



http://www.letsactnow.org/In-Balance-With-Nature/

[Pool Hall Ace]

7. Thanks so much, and thanks for the link! :)

I'm working on digging myself out of a low point in my life, and improving my diet is a good place to start.

There is so much contradictory information out there, but I'm sure everyone here is familiar with it. I had always heard that vegetarians run the risk of developing anemia because they do not consume red meat. Well, I have been told I was anemic at more than one doctor visit, and I used to eat plenty of red meat!

[flvegan]

8. Sweeeeet! Congrats on the change!

I think you'll come to find that it's no more difficult to be a veggie than a meat eater, and it's far better for you in comparison.

[nankerphelge]

9. Congrats!

[CrispyQ]

10. Congrats on your first step!

It just gets easier.

I have tried the Vegan Gourmet cheeses & you are right - they are 'meh.' I haven't tried any others - my HFS doesn't carry them. I've thought about springing for shipping some of the cheezes Lefty's Mom recommends, but I haven't done it yet.

IMO, a very respectable replacement for ricotta is one pound of tofu, finely crumbled, with a generous batch of pesto mixed in. (I use Vegan with a Vengeance pesto recipe.) We use this in lasagna, shells, & once I mixed a bunch of cooked penne pasta into the tofu ricotta, threw it into a baking dish & baked for about 30 minutes. It was delish, even without any sauce on it!

I also have what I think is a very respectable vegan parm. I have made this with a variety of nuts & have decided my favorite nut to use is pecans & if you take the time to toast them first, it will be worth it. Walnuts are similar & almonds are good, too. I find that cashews have a naturally sweet flavor that you don't really want in a parm. So toast 2-3 cups of pecans. Let cool. Put nuts & 2-3 cups of nutritional yeast flakes into a food processor. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1-2 tablespoons of onion granules & 1 tablespoon of garlic granules. Process into a fine powder. Store in jars in the fridge. This makes quite a bit. You can play around with the nut-to-NY flake ratio. I like a little more nut than flake. ;)

There are some new burgers called Sunshine burgers. Both my HFS & my regular grocery carry them. I like that they are not soy based, since I eat so much soy. They are also not as highly processed as Morningstar & Boca. I chop the Southwest flavored ones up & use in tacos.

I would kill for some good Kung Pao Tofu! There is a Chinese restaurant just around the corner & I ordered KPT. The tofu was decent, the sauce was pretty good, but the only veggie they put in was zucchini! No kidding! It was tofu & zucchini in KP sauce. I don't even like zucchini. x(

Good luck on your journey! Post back & let us know how it's going & if you come up with some tasty treats!