Going vegan

I've recently started going vegan (except for eggs). It's for all the reasons - environment, health, and animal welfare. Also because my husband and I want to have a hobby farm one day, and we only want to eat what we can conceivably produce without problems. I've had good luck with Daiya, and Gardein products (particularly their beefless tips. I've found that after cooking them, there are enough juices that I can develop a sauce/thin gravy!) I highly recommend rice and beans as a major staple, since it's easy to cook them and keep them on hand.

I've not made it myself, but cashew cheese is all the rage. It's supposed to be easy to make. Soak cashews for 8 hours, then blend or process with lemon juice and some other items. Add coconut milk & you can make a quick freezer cheesecake. There's loads of easy recipes online. I'm hoping to try making some later this week after going grocery shopping.

I use Energy egg replacer occasionally if I'm making things for people who don't eat eggs. The package says to use water, but when I followed that, my food came out terrible. A long-time egg avoiding friend told me to use oil instead, and it works beautifully. For egg whites, there is a way to use the broth/juice from garbanzo beans. It's got a special name, can't remember what it's called.

Pretty much anything that calls for gelatin can be made with pectin. Pectin naturally occurs in things like tomato skin. I like to add some to soups and sauces, to make it taste tangier.

I also recommend using hummus in place of mayo. Such good sandwiches!

One thing to be careful of is not getting enough b12. Lots of people have a surplus of it for a few years after going vegan, but eventually that will run out if you don't find a source of it. There are supplements, but the cheapest way is to look for vegan foods that are fortified with it. Cereals often come packed with it. From what I read, it seems like most adults should get 6mcg of b12 every day. It should be fine for you to overshoot that.

My last advice would be to focus on finding delicious things you can eat that are easy to make with ingredients that are easy to find. It's less important to perfectly replicate a food than to get one that fills the same needs/preferences. For instance, I find Daiya yogurt doesn't taste exactly like yogurt, but it has a similar mouthfeel, and the flavor is different but equally satisfying.