Vegans!, how do you start?

Question

I am very interested in becoming a vegan (just read Skinny ***** book) just lookin for some advise on the best vegan foods to buy?

Answer 1

I didn't eat a whole lot of meat to begin with, but firstly I cut out the dairy and I found it very easy apart from craving chocolate bars that I liked, but the cravings soon went away.  Find yourself a good milk, this can be soy, nuts or oats but it really depends on your particular taste.  The soy milk can take a bit of getting used to just because of the strong soy taste but it honestly varies between brand to brand.  I quite like Alpro Soyas Original one and Pacific Foods unsweetened vanilla.  Rice milk has much less of a taste, but I find that I need soy milk for cooking some things, but just shop around untill you find ones that you like.  Tofutti have alot of vegan alternatives to things.

http://www.isitvegan.info/  

this website is a database of which foods are vegan, so you can search through them by brand, type or the store which could make things alot easier for you.  

The Vegan with Venegance recipe book helped me alot, and also another called "Don't Feed the Bears", there are alot of good vegan cook books on amazon.

Answer 2

Actually there are alot of things you can have. Kroger is a great placae to buy vegan friendly foods. I began  vegan in 2005 and I started by juicing for 3 days. Good luck to you! It is so worth it. You will be so healthy, your skins will glow and there are many more benifet to doing it, you will soon find out.

Answer 3

Stop eating meat and buy meatless c**p. its harder than you would think. there is A LOT of stuff you can never have.. like ice cream and the fake stuff does not taste good

Answer 4

That's great you're interested in going vegan!

This site has a list of popular vegan fake meats and non-dairy products: http://www.vegcooking.com/guide-favs.asp

These are my favorite dairy substitutes:

Milk --- Silk (I like Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA soy milk)

Butter ---- Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread

Ice cream ---- So Delicious Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

Yogurt ---- WholeSoy Creamy Cultured Soy Yogurt

Cheese --- Follow Your Heart - Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative

Cream cheese --- Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

Mayo --- Vegenaise mayo

Sour cream --- Tofutti Sour Supreme

For vegan recipes, check out http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes.a...

Good luck!

Answer 5

I like the tofu and fruit jerky at http://www.jerkyrecipes.com

Answer 6

Congrats on considering being vegan! I think you'll find it somewhat challenging at first, but oh-so worth it once you get the hang of it.

First, I would like to address something about that book. I read it and thought it had some decent information...BUT I would highly advise against using their meal plan guide in the back. Each and every meal seems to contain a type of meat substitute or soy cheese. While those things are helpful in the transition from eating meat to going vegan, that's not what most typical vegans eat. The foods are highly processed and at times can have a lot of sodium.

Having said that, I would suggest you eat as many fresh foods as possible - beans, legumes, fruit and veggies. You cannot go wrong with those. Also add some whole grains. Those are staples you can find anywhere and you don't have to worry about looking for a specific brand. Here are some things that I always have on hand:

-cans of black beans

-quinoa

-brown rice

-frozen veggies for stir fry

-bananas

-romaine lettuce and salad toppings

-nuts

-raisins

-whole-grain cereal

-rice milk

-hummus

-peanut butter

-pasta & pasta sauce

-homemade veggie broth (in the freezer)

-vegan butter

-raisins (good snack and good source of iron for premenopausal women)

-general snacks (like saltless chips and all-natural salsa)

Good luck!

Answer 7

I'm a vegan and I love it!

There is plenty of stuff that you can still eat that is yummy, and healthy!

I started out by just being a vegetarian. I was a veggie for about 3 years, then I slowly started taking other animals products out. First was milk, then cheese, then ice cream and so on. If you go to peta.com, that is a very helpful website. They can give you great recipes and ideas of what you can and cannot eat. Just take it slow and think of what you'll be doing not only for your health, but for the animals AND the planet!

It's not hard if you just give it your all!

good luck!!

Answer 8

*Amy's frozen foods and canned foods (soups)

*boca burgers and crumbles

*Smart Balance Light Margarine

*Silk Vanilla, Plain and Chocolate Milk

*Tofutti Cream cheese (good in recipes and with jam on bagels and stuff)

*prego pasta sauce

*hormel chili

*Progresso Soups (Lentil, Hearty Tomato, and Tomato Basil)

*this is a good cheese recipe:

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8472.0

*any kind of beans (if canned, I always rinse them)

*any kind of seeds and nuts (especially sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, cashews, almonds and walnuts)

*whole wheat flour (I bake a lot, including my own bread)

*soy delicious has good ice cream

*vegweb.com has good and easy ice cream recipes and TONS of other recipes you should try