New vegan

JrNationQueen88

I just cut out all animal products (meat, dairy, etc.) from my diet three days ago.

I've tried Gardein for "chicken" which is pretty good, but I'm more or less having an issue with dairy products (for easy & convenient pre packaged items). I've heard Daiya is pretty good, but it's expensive (and tastes like buttered popcorn).

Does anyone have any suggestions for a better cheese alternative, and advice for being vegan in general? Any help will be much appreciated.


In case anyone is interested in the "why" aspect: I've decided to go this lifestyle route due to a hybrid of animal welfare concerns, and the fact it's a healthier way to live (there's a LOT of high BP, cholesterol, diabetes, etc., issues in the family tree).

Rocbola

Daiya is currently the best cheese alternative i've tried, but the best advice i could give is to try and gravitate away from any of the processed products and towards the whole natural foods. Eating the gardein chicken and daiya will help keep you from contributing to the abuse of animals, but it wont help prevent the diseases that run in your family. They are great for transitioning, though.

fificrazy

One time my mom accidentally picked up vegan cheese for our nachos. Surprised that didn't ruin nachos for me forever...

I think you have to be sufficiently brainwashed into the vegan lifestyle to eat that stuff and actually taste cheese

zillah73

I have found vegan cheese are a lot like vegan bacon – just can't quite get it too close to the original. I really don't cook meals that require cheese. A sprinkle of nutritional yeast on scrambled tofu and popcorn can give them a cheesy-quality. There are a number of recipes for cashew "cheese" online and you could look into that. For me, honestly, I don't crave cheese anymore (thinking of the fatty, cholesterol-laden goop is massively unappealing) so it hasn't been an issue.

As far as advice on being vegan, I would suggest you look at it as an adventure in trying new foods and letting your palette adjust to new flavors versus trying to emulate the foods you ate before. I like some of the more natural meat replacers (Upton's Naturals, Field Roast) as a means of getting flavorful, non-soy protein sources in my diet and I am a bit of a connoisseur of meatless burgers (not frozen patties, but homemade bean and grain burgers) but, otherwise, I don't miss real meats or care too much to find vegan copies.

kiittenforever

Best to treat daiya as a treat and try to stay away from processed foods.

illuvatree

Daiya IS good (doesn't quite taste like cheese, but it has a cheesy texture and works with most stuff. It also melts well), but I agree with the others. It's better not to get the processed stuff anyway, and probably a lot easier on the wallet to cut out dairy and meat substitutes over time anyway.