VEGANS- help me please!

kiraleilani

I've been a lacto/ovo vegetarian for years. It all started with the fact that I just didn't like meat at all. It grossed me out, hated the taste, texture, etc. When I found out about the insane cruelty that happens within the meat industry, that just validated my vegetarian diet even more, for me personally.

I just finished watching the documentary on Netflix "Vegucated." Totally bawled my eyes out about the way the chickens who produce my eggs were treated and slaughtered, and how the cows who provide my milk are treated and eventually slaughtered. Seriously made me sick. I'm ready to take the next step to become a vegan.

My plea for help is this: Would anyone be willing to share recipes with me? I have a husband and 3 little boys to feed. I'm looking for family-friendly veganism. What are some of your favorite vegan products? What do your kids love to eat? Are there any supplements we need to start taking since we will be giving up dairy, such as calcium? What do I need to watch out for on nutrition labels at regular grocery stores that signal something isn't vegan, like whey?

I live in the Salt Lake City area and have plentiful access to health food stores. Any advice, recipes, info, or online links to websites or blogs are all welcome and highly appreciated!

tryingvegan

Go to google and search for vegan recipes and you'll find plenty of good recipes. Good luck!

MeanieD

Hi Kira,

You can find plenty of recipes online, but I would get a cookbook and start working your way through it. Now that can be a daunting task, so I suggest Vegan With A Vengeance and How It All Vegan. If you're looking for low-fat recipes with the nutritional information mapped out for you, try Appetite for Reduction. Soon enough, you'll have quite a few recipes in your veggie arsenal.

Happy new year!

SleepySin

Isa Chandra Moskowitz is one of my favorite vegan cookbook authors whether it's for savory meals or her amazing dessert books!

Practicality speaking, I just jump on the web if I'm looking for specific recipes though. Cookbooks (for me anyhow) are usually for when I have time to peruse and plan meals ahead. When you're out shopping, the best way to is become familiar with ingredients and their sources. By-products can be tricky if you're new to veganism but you'll pick up soon enough. I personally don't visually scan products for a vegan label - I go straight to the ingredients section. I'm concerned about it being vegan AND it being relatively healthy.

Favorite non-processed foods: Kale, edamame, mangoes, brown rice, mini Japanese eggplants

Some favorite vegan products: Seitan (http://www.uptonsnaturals.com/), tempeh (took me some years to "like" it but now I have it a couple times a week!), tofu, shirataki noodles (yam-based, low calories), Thai curry bases (find at your local Asian grocer - I like the Maesri brand), close to everything that's vegan at MayWah (http://www.maywahnyc.com/), Daiya cheese (comes in shredded form and in blocks - Havarti is my favorite)...

That's a start

mmddwechanged

My daughter is a picky eater, eats lots of cheese a d eggs. I am vegan about half the time. We are both vegetarian. I make a vegan dishes for her, I don't push it but I notice what she does and doesn't like. So far she loves my curried lentil and quinoa soup with roti or pita. She also likes just plain red lentils mixed with plain quinoa. She ate the tofurkey on Christmas Day. I am making brown rice, black bean, cumin powder, garlic and crushed tomatoes in the crockpot right now. I think she'll like it. I am trying to figure out how to introduce her to tofu.

My Favourite dish is Stirfried tofu, mushrooms and onions in a soy sauce/ honey sauce , but she doesn't like onions or mushrooms.

SleepySin

Speaking of Tofurky, my favorite non-meat meats are from Field Roast and Gardein!

ThriftyChica12

there is a cookbook called "vegan family meals" or something like that--it would be perfect

and remember that, regardless of what your family will or won't agree to foodwise, YOU can still be vegan.

I went vegan, and made NO demands that my meat-eating boyrfriend do the same...a year into my veganism, he suddenly announced he was going vegetarian. more recently, he's even been talking about going vegan.

be vegan for you. make and offer delicious vegan meals to them, but let them choose whether they want to be full vegans. wait and see...

http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Family-Meals-Real-Everyone/dp/1449402372 (great book)

Kendall_Lauren

I love cooking and finding vegan recipes, not sure if you're on Pinterest, but here is the link to my recipe board there: http://pinterest.com/kendall_lauren/hello-vegan/ some of the older stuff isn't the healthiest but most of it is! My husband isn't 100% vegan, we've been together for 7 years and for about a year now he's been vegan at home except occasionally and is talking more seriously about it being full time and committed in 2013. I sent you a friend request, I love working with recipes to make them vegan and as healthy as possible

abrahamsitososa

there is a cookbook called "vegan family meals" or something like that--it would be perfect

and remember that, regardless of what your family will or won't agree to foodwise, YOU can still be vegan.

I went vegan, and made NO demands that my meat-eating boyrfriend do the same...a year into my veganism, he suddenly announced he was going vegetarian. more recently, he's even been talking about going vegan.

be vegan for you. make and offer delicious vegan meals to them, but let them choose whether they want to be full vegans. wait and see...

http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Family-Meals-Real-Everyone/dp/1449402372 (great book)

I'm in the same situation. When I went vegetarian my wife continued eating beef. Then after noticing my results she decided to give it a try and by then I was already transitioning to vegan. My physical abilities improved drastically from there on and now her new years resolution is to eat a completely vegan diet. My resolution is to eat a completely raw diet. It's easier for people to cgange when they see someone else's results than just by hearing stories and advice.

freckles_cmj

I will 2nd Isa! I have Veganomnomicon and Appetite for Reduction and everything I have made out of either book is a huge hit with the family, including my kids who are 10, 5 and 5 plenty of her recipes on her site to test out! http://www.theppk.com/ .