Vegan transition?

Question

I am a vegetarian but now want to make the transition to vegan. Has anyone got any advice or knows of any good websites on vegan cooking?

Also, Im really curious, as when I went vegetarian, my overall health improved dramatically and Im a much happier person overall. Does being vegetarian have any health benefits aswell? and what about being healthy vegan?

Lacto-vegetarian = dairy and vegetables

Ovo-vegetarian = eggs and vegetables

Ovo-lacto-vegetarian = eggs, dairy and vegetables

Vegan = No animal products or food made from animal products

Answer 1

Go to http://www.pcrm.org/health/recipes/index.html for all the recipes you need to get started. Yes, I have been vegan for years and my health improved dramatically. I have not had a cold or flu in as many years.

I recommend a whole grain, low fat vegan diet. Fiber!

Answer 2

Is a grocery-store cookie really so delicious that you can't live without it? And Starbucks baked goods always tasted stale to me. You're better off baking your own treats. Substitutions for baking: Eggs: 1 T milled (ground) flax seed plus 3 T lukewarm water for each egg the recipe calls for. Mix together in a small bowl, then let sit for a few minutes until it takes on an eggy consistency. This works well in quick breads and cookies. Milk: Any non-dairy milk Buttermilk: add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. Butter: Vegan margarine, coconut oil, or vegetable shortening (or better yet, experiment with combining any of the three to get the flavor and texture you like best). Chocolate or chocolate chips: you can usually find a vegan version if you try hard enough. White sugar: go to a specialty store for a vegan version, or just substitute real brown sugar (not the cheap stuff that's just white sugar blended with molasses). Honey: agave syrup, corn syrup, rice malt syrup, Grade B maple syrup. They will change the flavor somewhat.

Answer 3

Gypsy is a little mistaken--a vegan can use yeast products.

A good website with tons of vegan recipes is www.vegweb.com. Since you're used to cooking vegetarian, changing to vegan is a matter of getting rid of cows' milk and chickens' eggs and products with their ingredients. But VegWeb will help you.

www.recipezaar.com has some vegan recipes, but watch out, as they don't vet the ingredients the way VegWeb does.

Post Punk Kitchen (www.theppk.com) has a few recipes, but they really want you to get the cookbooks, Vegan With a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Answer 4

I don't have any advice for you as I am not a vegan myself. I've thought about it too, and purchased a book called becoming Vegan (look it up on Amazon). The folks above who've stated vegan and vegetarian are one in the same are mis-informed....

Best of luck to you, and if you do make the switch, you'll have to post a follow up and provide some advice for others.

Answer 5

Some great books are:

Animal Ingredients A-Z
Becoming Vegan

I decided to go vegan in November, directly from being a meat eater.

Best decision I ever made!

Also, I made a website where I post recipes/pictures of vegan food that I cook.

www.dirtcheapvegan.blogspot.com

Feel free to message me on AIM, MissParkette

Answer 6

i'm a vegetarian but I do have a friend who is a vegan, she eats no animal products what so ever.
vegetarians & vegans contary to popular belief are not the same.
I eat dairy products butter, cheese & milk. you can buy vegan substitutes for these however.
a web site that may help with recipes is www.veganrecipes.com
good luck with your transition

Answer 7

The best advice is to learn how to cook great vegan food before you make the final commitment. You will be more likely to get enough food, be much happier and not suffer from undernourishment. Not only is having satisfying options important, but there is a lot of reading to do if you want to be truly aware of how well you are feeding your body.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

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I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:

Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan "sausage" patties, smoothies.

Lunch: VEGAN "SAUSAGE" SANDWICHES, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.

Dinner: sloppy joes, "sausage" and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's "meatballs" or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED "PORK" BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet&sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup

I use these sites to find recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com
http://vegweb.com
http://www.recipezaar.com

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http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
http://meat.org
Some people use the word "vegan" in reference to what they eat, but be aware that that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/index.html
Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/dicussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.

When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.

A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/eating.html
Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.

A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.

Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as casein in "non-dairy" products to sodium-stearoyl lactylate and whey found in breads and many other food items.
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html

If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are "more veg" than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.

Answer 8

http://www.urbanvegan.blogspot.com/
http://veganmenu.blogspot.com/
http://food.pinkhairedgirl.com/
http://sudzgirl.blogspot.com/

these web sites rly do help.
& ur health will improve, ur chance of cancer will lower significantly. My only suggestion is to eat plenty of spinach and other iron sources, flax seed for omega 3s, and b12 supplements, although many cereals and soy milks have b12, check the nutrition label

Answer 9

Vegan is short for vegetarian !! Some will eat eggs though or chicken but for the most part they will eat nothing that has any meat in it !! Just goggle vegan recipes and see what you get!!

Answer 10

You have me confused. To me a vegan and a vegetarian was one of the same.