New Vegan - Need help!

00Angela00

I've been reading the book "Skinny *****" and have decided to work towards a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. I've never done it before and it seems a little intimidating. I live with another family and as part of rent they buy the groceries and make dinner so I can't necessarily control all of the food that is put before me. Because of that reason I'm concerned I won't get all my nutrition needs in. There are times I think it will be fine (for example last night they made salad, roasted beets, quinoa, and chicken and I think that just eating the salad, beets and quinoa would have been fine?) but there are other times when the only vegetarian or vegan thing is a basic salad and non-whole grain bread :-( Any ideas?

Does anyone have any recommendation for good books for new vegans or websites for new vegans. Any recommendations for good recipe books that have yummy, quick, easy, and not expensive recipes?

cheshirequeen

have that book, and I am a vegan. Feel free to friend me, and you can take a look at my diary. theres a new book, cant remember the authors name, but its called veganist, and it was on oprah a couple of weeks ago. also go to chooseveg.com or vegweb.com or http://www.vegan-food.net/ they have some awesome recipes, even fettucine alfredo, zucchini boats are the best, and low calorie, i wrote that one on my recipes, and mac n cheese.

Barelmy

I pinch a lot of recipes from vegan dad ( http://vegandad.blogspot.com/ ) and Chloe Coscarelli, who I won't link to, because she makes a lot of high calorie stuff.

Vegan margerine and milk are quite easy to find, and I never really liked eggs. Vegan Dad has some good fake meat recipes. In the UK, bourbon biscuits tend to be vegan, and in the US, I hear that chocolate-cream oreos are. In the UK, fanta isn't vegetarian (gelatin as a stabiliser) - it's fine in the US, but there, McDonalds fries aren't vegetarian, or so I hear.

A quick way to check ingredients is to look for the vegetarian symbol, then check the allergens for milk and egg. You can also do a quick scan for honey

cheshirequeen

they fry the fish and other things in with the fries so thats why they are vegetarian

Jenna423

Alicia Silverstone, The Kind Diet. Its an awesome read and its very informational but I will warn you on the recipes.. they include a lot of weird hard to find ingredients and not exactly cheap ones either. But, the information in the book is worth reading. She gives you the basics of how to build a meal out of what you have.. Its where I got a start on being a vegetarian. I can't really call myself that right now, but I'm trying to head back in that direction because when I did it, I lost 10 pounds in about a week and I never felt better! Of course old habits die hard so here we go again! I wish you all the luck, sometimes it can be really hard especially if your going completely vegan. She also encourages and explains how to be a "flirt" - which is not exactly committing completely to being vegetarian but giving it a go and seeing how you feel about it, and then of course goes into being vegetarian and then completely vegan. So good luck and keep us updated on new finds! :flowerforyou:

00Angela00

Jenna423 - my friend JUST let me borrow The Kind Diet! She called it the Vegan Bible, haha. I'm excited to read it. :-) I was looking through some of the recipes and there were recipes where I literally had never heard of a single one of the ingredients. *sigh So we'll see how that portion of the book goes. I was thinking I might blog about recipes I try, so I'll keep you guys updated on how that goes. :-)

00Angela00

ok, I decided to add a new group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/176852-vegan-vegetarians-and-weight-loss

jamgal789

Hey there,

When I became a vegetarian, "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook" by Nava Atlas was a lifesaver for my family and me. It provides a range of recipes for soups, casseroles, sides, salads, dressings, snacks, wholesome baked goods, lunch ideas and more.

Besides the variety, the recipes are uncomplicated with easy-to-find ingredients. They're healthy and delicious with dairy and vegan options. The author even provides nutritional analysis for each recipe as well as menu suggestions. I highly recommend it. (Check out her website @ http://www.vegkitchen.com/)

(I also absolutely LOVE "The Vegan Table" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Website: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/)

Hope this helps!

00Angela00

Hey there,

When I became a vegetarian, "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook" by Nava Atlas was a lifesaver for my family and me. It provides a range of recipes for soups, casseroles, sides, salads, dressings, snacks, wholesome baked goods, lunch ideas and more.

Besides the variety, the recipes are uncomplicated with easy-to-find ingredients. They're healthy and delicious with dairy and vegan options. The author even provides nutritional analysis for each recipe as well as menu suggestions. I highly recommend it. (Check out her website @ http://www.vegkitchen.com/)

(I also absolutely LOVE "The Vegan Table" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Website: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/)

Hope this helps!

awesome! thanks!