Vegans please?!?

Question

Ive been a Lacto-ovo vegetarian for a little while now, and I'm thinking about becoming a Vegan. I know that they eat nothing from animals, including geletain, eggs, dairy products, etc. But I have no expirience, so what do I eat during the day? How do I get all my protein, I mean you can't have eggs, milk, or cheese. I'm not a HUGE vegetable fan, but I can get by with 3 or 4 opitions during the week.

If anyone can give me a list ( or a link ! ) of as many things you can think of that a vegan can eat, and even some recipes will help. I found a few on Teenshealth.org.

Also, please only answer is you have expirence. I really want to be commited to this. thanks:)

Answer 1

Make sure that you get enough protein and (this is really important!) vitamin B-12. Here are two articles on how to add both to your vegan diet:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2298983_add-prot...

http://www.ehow.com/how_2298990_add-vita...

Hope these help!

Answer 2

That's great that your thinking about becoming vegan, it's a great oppurtunity to help out the enviorment and your fellow animals :D

If you are worried about not getting enough protein, you can get it from the following items:

almonds

black beans

brown rice

cashews

garbonzo beans

kidney beans

lentils

lima beans

peanut butter

pinto beans

seitan

soybeans

soymilk

sunflower seeds

textured vegetable protein

tofu

veggie dogs & burgers

There are also many milk replacements, such as soy, so that you can still enjoy the flavor even without eating the real thing. Here are some milk and meat replacements: http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-substitut...

And here's a list of tons of vegan recipes: http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes.a...

To give you an idea of what Vegans eat, here's a list of stuff I ate today:

BREAKFAST: bananna, peaches, whole wheat cereal with soy milk

LUNCH: pita bread + hummus, celery with peanut butter and whole wheat crackers

DINNER: salad, mashed potatos, baked beans & for desert: soy icecream!

Hope I helped and good luck :D

Answer 3

This is a GREAT website for really good vegan dishes and advice

http://www.vegcooking.com/

also

http://www.goveg.com/

goveg is a great website for vegans also and has great advice and tips.

Also dont forget to try everything, by personal prefrence some vegan foods and replacments are gross but just keep looking and dont forget soy ice cream! :) toufutti and soy delicious is great! Good luck!!

Answer 4

1. Beans especially soy (tofu, etc)

2. Quinoa (pseudo grain that is actually a fruit complete in protein. Just cook it alone with your rice)

3. Nuts (hemp seed is actually a complete protein)

4. Broccoli (40% protein)

5. Spirulina (High in complete protein also high in iron and B12)

6. Amaranth and Corn together make a complete protein

7. Brown rice and whole wheat instead of white which is basically one step away from being sugar. (The less refined the food the slower it uptakes as well as in these cases have more protein and fiber.

8. Sprouted grains and breads (More nutritious than regular forms. Ezekial from Foods for Life makes great breads and cereals).

9. Peanut Butter and Jelly on whole wheat is another complete protein. Make sure you get fresh ground from the machine. Many co-ops and health food stores will have them. Having chunks of nuts with no sugar and salt is a great benefit  and tastes amazingly different than the jared kind.

10. Seitan (wheat gluten) and Tempeh. These  both are rich in protein and are good tasting meat alternatives.

Answer 5

That's great you're thinking about going vegan.

Healthy vegan diets include a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains. There are also lots of non-dairy products (like soy cheese) and vegan fake meats (like Gardenburger Meatless Riblets). Here's a list of some popular vegan products: http://www.vegcooking.com/guide-favs.asp

Vegan sources of protein, iron, and calcium:

http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sourc...

Vegan food groups, to help with meal planning:

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

Meal ideas:

http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=07budge...

(scroll down for the list)

Easy vegan recipes:

http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes.a...

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 6

Research this. Real peanut butter. Just salt and peanuts. Whole grain wheat bread. Like I said research this. Don't take my word for it.

Answer 7

Lots of good information so far, so I'll only add my usual recommendation: read "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.  It's the "bible" of vegan nutrition.

Oh, and a couple of great vegan cookbooks, too:

"Veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz - has lots of mix and match legume, grain and vegetable dishes to make vegan meal planning easy.  Also includes good info on stocking your vegan pantry.  And has delectable baked goods.

"Vegan with a Vengeance" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz - my most food-splattered, dog-eared cookbook ever, and the one that made me realize vegan was totally doable.

"Yellow Rose Recipes" by Joanna Vaught - great dips and sauces, in particular.

Answer 8

A Vegan is a vegetarian minus the dairy, eggs, and honey. Strict vegans don't use any animal byproducts like: leather, silk, or wool.

BTW: Gelatin is a no no for both vegans and vegetarians.

Answer 9

I was a vegetarian for 2 months before I became a vegan. Really the hardest part is just reading the labels and ingredients. A lot of things will say vegan on them, others you have to read what is in it. As time goes on you learn more and it becomes easier. I have found that my diet has more variety now than when I ate meat. I am 17 so my parents pay for my food so I get cheap, convienent foods such as Amy's entrees, Boca(which sells vegetarian and vegan meatless products which are very good).

Here is a menu for quick, easy to make meals:

Breakfast

A serving of Barbara's bakery (vegan) vanilla almond cereal with a serving of silk soymilk and fruit such as strawberries or blueberries

Snack

A piece of fruit such as an apple or a banana and some soy yogurt

Lunch

Boca (vegan) meatless nuggets in a salad with a vegan dressing of your choice. I use balsamic vinegar

Snack

Fruit, nuts such as cashews, almonds, pistachios or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Dinner

Amy's baked ziti with a salad and some veggies (such as broccoli, peas, carrots, or corn), and/or some legumes such as beans

Dessert

Soy (So) delicious ice cream

There is a website below that is called calorie count and what you can do is log the meals you eat every day and this will help you make sure you get all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein you need.

Answer 10

Hey.

Glad to hear your becoming a vegan =]

As a vegan, I normally eat for breakfast, a big bowl of branflakes with soya milk and bananas on top, or a nice bowl of cremy soya porridge.

For lunch I like to have stuff like fruit salad or a nice sandwich filled with vegan hummus and veggies

And dinner If im in a rush i have something quick like tofu salad, but when i have time, i make a nice meal like tofu curry or vegan sausage and soya mash potato... umm.

Vegan Sources of Protein

The foods which commonly supply the most protein in a vegan diet are pulses (peas, beans, lentils, soya products), grains (wheat, oats, rice, barley, buckwheat, millet, pasta, bread), nuts (brazils, hazels, almonds, cashews) and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame).

Examples of amounts of foods providing 10g of protein

Type of food Quantity providing 10g protein (g)

Soya flour 24

Peanuts 39

Pumpkin seeds 41

Almonds 47

Brazil Nuts 50

Sunflower seeds 51

Sesame seeds 55

Hazel Nuts 71

Wholemeal bread 95

Whole lentils dried & boiled 114

Chickpeas dried & boiled 119

Kidney beans dried & boiled 119

Wholemeal spaghetti boiled 213

Brown rice boiled 385

More about protein, calcium, iron, essential fatty acids, vitamins etc, here - http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutriti...

Here are some of the things that i love drinking/eating as a vegan.

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/ - If you find it hard getting your five a day, these drinks will help you out so much, they taste absolutly great, and are 100% pure fruit, and they are very good for you. I love them to be honest =].

http://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/PRO... - These are delcious, they do a wide range of healthy bars, which are 100% vegan, they even do a cocoa brownie!

http://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/chocolate.h... - Extremly tasty vegan chocolate.

http://www.fayrefield.com/gallerySwedish... - Vegan ice cream that comes in a big range of delicious flavours.

http://www.alprosoya.co.uk/alpro/UK_en/i... - Vegan chocolate milk, vegan custard, vegan yogurts and loads more vegan stuff!!!

http://www.sogoodbeverage.com/ - Vegan tasty products such as frozen desserts, chocolate milk etc.

RECIPES

http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes... - From the very easy through to gourmet – but all delicious. Recipes are being added all the time so keep coming back.

http://www.veganvillage.co.uk/fddrnk.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vegetarian_and...

Hope this helps!