Question to the vegans ?

Question

I have been a vegetarian for a few years now and really enjoy the diet that I eat. I feel now that I want to try a vegan diet for a while. What I do want to know is what foods you eat to replace the nutrients lost from eggs and milk. And could you give me some sort of guide as to what you eat during the day, just to help me decide on some meal ideas.

Thanks xx

Answer 1

Iv no idea to be honest as Im only starting a vegetarian diet but i found that the www.peta.org website was very good with meals and food planning for both vegan and vegetarian =]

Answer 2

For milk, instead of dairy, I drink calcium-fortified soymilk.  I simply buy it in bulk from Costco so I always have a supply of it.  As far as eggs and other proteins go, I eat a variety of beans (stuff them in burrito, bean & rice, etc), tofu, and wheat gluten (otherwise known as seiten, when you mix it with water and cook it.  It does give you a meat-like texture).  Also, nuts and nut butter are good sources as well.

An example of my meals go like this:

Breakfast: fruit & nuts (mango & raw walnuts) + 1 cup soymilk

                oat meal + 1-2 tlsp peanut butter + 1 banana + sprinkle of  cinnamon

                two slices of whole wheat + peanut butter + banana/grapes

Lunch: saute veggies & tofu/seitan & carb (whole wheat/brown rice)

Dinner: beans & carb & veggies

           burrito (veggies, vegan cheese, brown rice, beans)

Snacks: fruit, soymilk, nuts.  I usually combine fruits and nuts because the nuts fill me up, and i can't go a day without eating something raw (such as fruits. or for that matter, veggies)

By the way, if you want to use eggs in your baking, I use arrowroot starch as a replacement.  It is similar to potato starch or corn starch.  It binds your ingredients together, so whenever i bake, I add a tablespoon of arrowroot starch (depending on the composition of other ingredients) and mix it with the dry ingredients.  It always works.

Answer 3

Here are some articles on vegan sources of iron and calcium (I assume you're not interested in replacing the saturated fat and cholesterol in dairy and eggs!)

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm

A couple of great resources for vegan nutrition and meal ideas include "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina (the bible of vegan nutrition) and either of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's cookbooks.  "Vegan with a Vengeance" is the book that made me realize that vegan was totally doable, and her newer one "Veganomicon" is incredible (lots of good info on stocking a vegan pantry, and lots of mix and match bean, vegetable and grain recipes to help plan balanced meals.)

Answer 4

Here's a food blog that my wife is always looking at.

http://veganyumyum.com/

Bread, pasta, cereal, rice, beans, peas, lentil, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies can easily offer everything that you need except B12.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

All vegetarians should take a B12 supplement regularly since most people eat meat, dairy AND fortified cereals yet still have a B12 status that is lower than recommended.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/b12

It may help you if you see proof that vegan people have the same potential as anyone else.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.macdanzig.net/bio.php

http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php

If you need meat or dairy during any stage of your life or to live any certain lifestyle, why does the American Dietetic Association say otherwise?

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada...

Answer 5

The only things you'll lose by dumping dairy and eggs is saturated fat and cholesterol.

I don't drink soy milk anymore, but when I did, I bought chocolate silk.  I use soy milk in baking and cooking, and I buy the Whole Foods store brand in the aseptic boxes.  There are soy ice creams, rice ice creams, and Purely Decadent even makes coconut milk ice cream.  Whole Soy & Company makes vegan yogurt and frozen yogurt.

For eggs, you can use Ener-G Egg Replacer in baking; the instructions are on the box.  Some people use 1 tbsp flax seeds and 3 tbsp water per egg, soaking the flax seeds first to form a slurry.  You can also liquefy 1/4 cup tofu per egg in a blender and use that.

If you miss scrambled eggs, you can do a tofu scramble instead.  Any vegan cookbook is going to have a recipe for tofu scrambles.

If you're already vegetarian, there aren't many changes you have to make to have vegan meals.  Stir-fries, grilled or pan-fried tofu/tempeh/seitan.  Black bean tacos or fajitas.  

Check out www.vegweb.com for recipes.

And good luck!

Answer 6

I am a vegan chef and am often told my cookies are better than the ones at the mall and my pies are much better than Marie Callendar's.

For replacing eggs, I used Ener-G egg replacer.

For milk, I drink rice milk. Rice milk, in my opinion, is sweeter than soy.

For yogurt, I use Silk. Silk is delicious.

For cream cheese. I use Tofutti cream cheese-and my family has tried it by itself and decided it's better than regular cream cheese.

For smoothies/pies, I use silken tofu. I buy the silken tofu at HEB.

There is pretty much a vegan sub for EVERYTHING. Go to Whole Foods and explore. They have the widest selection of vegan goodies in my area. Good luck going vegan!

Answer 7

IM A VEGGY TOO

sorry i cant help you

Answer 8

You don't lose much nutrition from avoiding eggs but to get calcium green leafy vegetables,soya milk,broccoli and tofu are all good sources.

For example,a typical day may consist of;

Breakfast ~ Cereal with soya milk and fresh fruit/Veggie juice/Wholemeal          

                  bagel/toast with fruit juice/vegan cooked breakfast {toast/        

                  beans/mushrooms/vegan mock 'meats'}

Lunch ~      Salad sandwiches/vegetable wraps/soya yogurt with seeds  

                  and nuts/fruit/raw veg/veggie bean burger/lentil salad/soup

Dinner ~      Spaghetti bolegnase/pasta/vegetble stew{with tofu}rice/  

                  Quinoa with roasted veg/couscous and dteamed veg/

                  potatoe with vegan sausages and beans.

Snacks ~    Glass of soya milk/yougurts/seeds/nuts/raw veg dipped in

                  hummus/dried fruit/fresh fruit/potatoe chips/cookies.

It's terribly important that you get enough iron{for regulating the blood and giving you energy}Mollases,treacle,cocoa and green vegetables are all good sources.It is advisable that you take vitamin C with iron to aid absorbtion{ie.glass of Orange juice with salad}For more information on vegan nutrition,'The Vegan Society' will tell you everything you need to know,but even though i applaud your wanting to be Vegan,also,one should remember that to get adequit nutrition,one should pay quite a lot of attention to what you eat,if only for the change over period.