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Vegan ERA |OT| Eat your veggies
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The vegan grocery store in my area just closed. They were talking orders through email, and having people pick it up at the door. Unfortunately, it was too overwhelming for the employees to keep up. I really hope they're able to survive this.
I'm in Japan where life is continuing as normal for most people, though schools closed for the spring break early (they are set to reopen at the start of April). However a local vegan burger place is closing its doors for good. They said 30% of their customers were foreign visitors and with them gone they can't afford to keep going. They were one of the only vegan places in the area on uber eats so this sucks.
Wanted to share the below with folks, video on easy/quick meal prep. The video is usually pay-walled, but he decided to release it on youtube due to the pandemic.
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im just realizing i dont think i like eating animals ethically - how do i convert to vegetarianism / veganism? i dont really enjoy eating most fruits and vegetables so it seems kinda hard lol
Welcome! You've already taken the most important first step by asking for advice. I understand that it seems overwhelming or confusing at first. There are some great plans out there where volunteers will help you, here are a couple:
Take the Vegan Pledge
We give daily advice and support to aid you on your vegan journey.
Challenge 22 | Let’s try vegan!
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You might struggle if you just drop all animal products and don't replace them with anything, so don't do that. Start by thinking about what you *do* like to eat. Depending on where you live, you might find there are a lot of vegan versions of traditional non-vegan products available (veggie burgers, vegan cheese etc). But you can also find heaps of recipes using ingredients you are familiar with and those which you may never have tried before.
Do you have any specific concerns, like how to replace a certain foodstuff?
You just need to get used to them. Human taste is highly adaptable. Anything that you don't eat at all/much can be weird & off-putting at first but keep eating them (don't force yourself to eat a lot at a time, but just a little), and you'll probably notice yourself growing to like them.
And there are tons of ways to eat a lot of fruits/vegetables, so you just need to figure out what are the ways you like eating them. Don't like them raw? Try frying them on a pan or put them in the oven until they are nice & brown. Don't like their taste as is? Well, certain seasonings & flavors go really well with certain veggies, elevating the experience, so try to find those good mixtures and that might help growing to like veggies. Don't like the crunch? Well, make a smoothie? You'll get all the good stuff but in drinkable form.
EDIT: And yeah, there's really not much that can't be easily veganized nowadays. Just look up your favorite meat x dairy recipes & then replace meats with meat alternatives or chickpeas or something, and dairy with dairy alternatives. Some stuff might be a bit trickier to replace, but there's really no foods that you can't replicate in a delicious form even as a vegan, unless you are the nitpickiest of nitpicky eaters who see the slightest deviations from what you're used to as puke worthy or somehting.
Welcome! You've already taken the most important first step by asking for advice. I understand that it seems overwhelming or confusing at first. There are some great plans out there where volunteers will help you, here are a couple:
Take the Vegan Pledge
We give daily advice and support to aid you on your vegan journey.www.vegansociety.com
Challenge 22 | Let’s try vegan!
Are you ready for the Challenge? Join thousands of participants for a 22 day vegan experience. FREE!
You might struggle if you just drop all animal products and don't replace them with anything, so don't do that. Start by thinking about what you *do* like to eat. Depending on where you live, you might find there are a lot of vegan versions of traditional non-vegan products available (veggie burgers, vegan cheese etc). But you can also find heaps of recipes using ingredients you are familiar with and those which you may never have tried before.
Do you have any specific concerns, like how to replace a certain foodstuff?
im really feeling like i'd rather go vegetarian than vegan - i don't really feel that bothered by eating animal byproducts but the actual flesh is what's bothering me
i think it just seems more that the logistics of having a non vegetarian fiance and how we will plan meals together that really seems difficult to me
i do know i already like a lot of fake meats and actually eat some regularly anyways but i'd like to figure out actual vegetable options i'd tolerate; a lot of it is seemingly the texture that bothers me more than flavor
Well you mentioned that you weren't happy ethically with your diet, and eating animal byproducts really isn't any better than eating animal parts in terms of ethics. Think of the life of a dairy cow - forcefully inseminated, then they have their baby ripped away from them as soon as it is born, to either be slaughtered or turned into a future milk producer. Cows often cry for days when separated from their calves. And then they end up attached to uncomfortable milking machines for hours on end, causing painful mastitis. The process of being forcefully inseminated, separated from calves etc will begin again and continue until that cow no longer produces milk in vast enough quantities for the farmer to deem them profitable, so they will be sent off to the same slaughterhouses as the beef cows, at a fraction of their natural lifespan. I consider that cycle of rape, bereavement and exploitation worse than just being fed until fat enough to be slaughtered.
I have mostly dated non-vegans. In every case they became more vegan or even fully vegan after taking an interest in my choices - watching documentaries together etc. but also by cooking awesome and creative vegan meals together. If they are very resistant you can always plan to cook a base meal and they can choose to add to it whatever they like.
It would probably be good from a health perspective too to try and expand the range of veggies you eat, so good thinking. I don't have much to add to what the other poster above said regarding introducing new foods and finding other ways to prepare them, man I love my vitamix for making smoothies. Maybe you and your fiance could go to a good farmer's market or even just supermarket and look at the wide range of produce, pick out a few that you haven't tried before or only tried a few times, and look up some interesting-looking recipes that use them. I live in Japan now so not only found a whole bunch of veggies I had never tried before but found new ways to prepare the veggies I was familiar with. Also got a whole new slew of recipes when I went to Vietnam in Spring and took some cooking classes. Take this as an opportunity to expand your horizons, culturally too.
Before trying to transition you can shift your diet to something more legume/vegetable based bit by bit. Just introduce little portions of vegetables cut in little pieces and slowly increment size and amount.
There are a lot of things that I didn't like at first but ended up enjoying quite a lot.
It's fine if you want to be just vegetarian. It's your choice; do whatever makes sense to you, be it being vegan or simply cut meat-fish consumption to a bare minimum.
There are a lot of things that I didn't like at first but ended up enjoying quite a lot.
It's fine if you want to be just vegetarian. It's your choice; do whatever makes sense to you, be it being vegan or simply cut meat-fish consumption to a bare minimum.
personally the way im processing all this is that my individual actions will have no effect on industrial farming or global warming or anything systemic like that; the reason i'd want to stop eating meat specifically is because i have empathy for the individual animals and feel bad mentally from eating a corpse. it doesnt really bother me to eat animal byproducts since im not really eating a living element of a creature - im aware the way the animals are treated poorly to produce eggs/milk/cheese but i cant stop that, but i can stop eating animal bodies and feeling like im harming a living creature and that is what ethically bothers myself very specifically
The biggest parts of my diet are legumes and root vegetables, when I'm eating healthy anyways. If you like starchier whole-ish foods (which are also satiating) the adjustment isn't as hard. Then you can get into various ways of preparing stuff like tofu and seitan to get satisfying home cooked meat substitutes. Skillful use of seasoning is like alchemy basically and you can make anything taste good imo. Like I'm pretty sure you can add vegetable broth reductions and mushroom powder to virtually any savoury dish to give it a way richer flavour. If you miss eggs you can try out a chickpea flour 'omelette' with added black salt to get an eggy taste. And learning all this stuff can potentially be really engaging and fun. Conventional 'vegetables' just make up a part of my meals and I really just eat a fair bit of fruit bc I like it.
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Tell us what you would usually eat throughout the week and what your favorite dishes are and we will do our best to come up with a comparable meal plan and recipe suggestions. 😃
Sadsic
I'm also kind of hopping on the vegetarian train mostly for eco reasons. Natalie Portman's Hot Ones episode was sort of the final push I needed so I've been looking up various options and cut my meat consumption down to once a week. I cook for a family of four, both kids are picky but will eat veggies (just a very limited set). Once I can find enough alternatives the kids will eat I'll go the rest of the way. I'm not strict about it either. If I go to a friend's house (obviously not these days...) and they have burgers or chicken wings then I'll partake. Don't treat it like a big deal and it won't be.
I get eggs locally (neighbor has chickens) and grab soy milk as it's the most cost friendly non-dairy option I have (Almond milk is apparently contributing to droughts and Oat milk is really hard to find, and really expensive when I do). I'm the only one in the house lactose intolerant so cheese is still on the menu for the wife and kids but I don't bother.
My go-to weekday meals are pretty simple:
Pasta
Veggie burgers and fries
Fried Rice
Pizza
Vegetable Curry
Soups/Stews
Most veggie side dishes can become mains if you add a meaty aspect to it (mushrooms, tofu, tempeh, etc).
The meat dish is usually turkey/chicken, pork, or fish. I've been avoiding beef pretty hard and I try to make these big meals that last a couple days. For the weekends I'll usually look up one new recipe to try to hopefully broaden the kids' palettes.
The big thing is looking at your normal menu of meals and figure out if the meat component can be omitted or substituted without any real change in process. Anything you can do to make it easier on the routine will help you make the switch. Rice, beans, and potatoes are godsends for bulking up a meal. Tofu can taste like damn near anything with the right blend of spices and cooking method.
As for the whole "not liking fruits/vegetables" that's going to be a tough one. Nuts and berries are pretty good and as others have noted spices are magic with regards to tastes. Grilled fruit and roasted vegetables are pretty damn good too with the right seasoning.
I'm also kind of hopping on the vegetarian train mostly for eco reasons. Natalie Portman's Hot Ones episode was sort of the final push I needed so I've been looking up various options and cut my meat consumption down to once a week. I cook for a family of four, both kids are picky but will eat veggies (just a very limited set). Once I can find enough alternatives the kids will eat I'll go the rest of the way. I'm not strict about it either. If I go to a friend's house (obviously not these days...) and they have burgers or chicken wings then I'll partake. Don't treat it like a big deal and it won't be.
I get eggs locally (neighbor has chickens) and grab soy milk as it's the most cost friendly non-dairy option I have (Almond milk is apparently contributing to droughts and Oat milk is really hard to find, and really expensive when I do). I'm the only one in the house lactose intolerant so cheese is still on the menu for the wife and kids but I don't bother.
My go-to weekday meals are pretty simple:
Pasta
Veggie burgers and fries
Fried Rice
Pizza
Vegetable Curry
Soups/Stews
Most veggie side dishes can become mains if you add a meaty aspect to it (mushrooms, tofu, tempeh, etc).
The meat dish is usually turkey/chicken, pork, or fish. I've been avoiding beef pretty hard and I try to make these big meals that last a couple days. For the weekends I'll usually look up one new recipe to try to hopefully broaden the kids' palettes.
The big thing is looking at your normal menu of meals and figure out if the meat component can be omitted or substituted without any real change in process. Anything you can do to make it easier on the routine will help you make the switch. Rice, beans, and potatoes are godsends for bulking up a meal. Tofu can taste like damn near anything with the right blend of spices and cooking method.
As for the whole "not liking fruits/vegetables" that's going to be a tough one. Nuts and berries are pretty good and as others have noted spices are magic with regards to tastes. Grilled fruit and roasted vegetables are pretty damn good too with the right seasoning.
im on like day 2 of no meat, since im still eating eggs and dairy its really not been difficult at all - bought a bunch of fake meats today to try out and tofu! honestly im kind of excited to live like this
Don't give up on Tofu if you are disappointed the first time. There are so many brands and so many variations you can use Tofu for it's ridiculous.
There is one brand of smoked tofu in particular I love to use for many stuff. They have other flavours and makings as well, check it out if it's available in your region. Taifun makes other pretty good stuff too.
Roasted cubes in salad or for flavour in sauces, slices on bread or in sandwiches - I love it.
And then there is a silken tofu you can use for cooking and baking, or to make spreads like "egg-less egg spread" :)
Tofu got bad rep, don't believe it :)
There is one brand of smoked tofu in particular I love to use for many stuff. They have other flavours and makings as well, check it out if it's available in your region. Taifun makes other pretty good stuff too.
Roasted cubes in salad or for flavour in sauces, slices on bread or in sandwiches - I love it.
And then there is a silken tofu you can use for cooking and baking, or to make spreads like "egg-less egg spread" :)
Tofu got bad rep, don't believe it :)
Tofu gets bad rap because some meat eater chefs & the like who have zero experience eating tofu in their own lives just throw some unseasoned, wet tofu climps into some salads or something in a sad, half-hearted attempt at offering options to vegans/vegetarians, and people understandably don't like it. Plus there are some tofu brands (SoFine for example) that are just plain bad.
I went to Mellow Mushroom once (a sit down pizza chain in America) and along with vegan cheese, onion, and bell peppers I asked for tofu in one of the sauces as a pizza topping. While I did enjoy my pizza overall, the tofu was definitely not drained so my pizza was a little damp in certain spots. Getting tempeh as a topping there is definitely the better choice.
Certainly had experiences like that where the cook just has no idea what to do with tofu.
This kind of cooking is amongst my favourites:
Breaded tofu can also be great.
im a little over a week of vegetarian eating, generally it's been a pleasant experience - the only thing diet wise i feel missing is sushi basically. is there any sort of vegetarian/vegan alternative to that?
I live in Japan so I have tried quite a few. The best veg sushi I have had uses fried tofu, marinated shiitake mushrooms, avocado, cucumber, dried plums (ume), burdock etc. There's always wasabi if you need a kick.
If you mean fish replacements, yeah, there are some ways to emulate certain fish-foods. Believe it or not, it's achieved using carrots, chickpeas or zucchinis. :D
1) carrots can be made into something that resembles smoked salmon. It's not quite raw fish like, but I'd imagine this is the closest to that. What you do is you peel carrots, then use a cheese slicer to slice some thin, long slices of the carrots. Once you've done that, steam them for some minutes (until they soften up some but not so much they break down into a mush) and then put them in a marinade of vinegar, liquid smoke, sea salt (big-ish grained type) & oil (+till, optional). Let marinade in the fridge for some hours/overnight and you're good to go.
2) chickpeas can be made into tuna type thing. Just smush the chickpeas with a fork or something that doesn't make a complete paste of it (so don't use a stick blender). Then mix that with some vegan mayo, lemon juice, sea salt & till.
3) zucchinis can be made into a kind of herring dish. Again, thin slices (not quite as thin as the carrots), this time boil them in salted water for a few minutes (not too soft), mix a marinade of vegan mayo, mustard, fresh (finely cut) till, vinegar, vegan cream, white pepper & cut chive (possibly some salt) and then throw the cooked zucchinis in there. Let marinade for some time and enjoy (?)
Of course sushi doesn't HAVE to have anything fish-like in them. You can put some tofu, marinaded vegetables, seitan or whatever in them.
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I made my first vegan key lime pie :D it doesn't look that pretty but my non-vegan family said it was amazing.
Try banana blossoms. They are great as a fish replacement.
When I began using tofu, I usually prepared it just like that, without draining any water. I hated tofu at the beginning, until I started draining the water out of it and using soy sauce to marinate it. Now I love it very, very much.
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I went form not liking tofu, to liking it so much now we can't keep it stocked in the fridge. I also am weird enough to eat some while slicing it lol
Does anyone have any good recipes/uses for hemp seeds. I've been using them on salads cause I know they're nutritional powerhouses but I'm looking for some more creative ideas.
In and on all kinds of breads, seed crackers/crispbread (a mix of seeds), make your own granola(bars), smoothies, ground them for sauces, porridge, seed-steaks, spreads...
I have them in a grinder with flax seeds that I have in the morning with alt yogurt.
We've started putting them in anything. They really have little taste and will just disappear in musli, salads or anything else really.
Oatly Fans Are Boycotting the Brand for Making a Controversial Decision
Why are devout oat milk consumers boycotting Oatly? Keep reading for an in-depth explanation of the controversy behind the popular brand.
Fuck capitalism...Oatly Fans Are Boycotting the Brand for Making a Controversial Decision
Why are devout oat milk consumers boycotting Oatly? Keep reading for an in-depth explanation of the controversy behind the popular brand.www.greenmatters.com
I did not purchase much Oatly before but I definitely will not purchase more now. I also did not care for Lightlife's letter to Beyond and Impossible Foods. Though I found it funny on some level since the Lightlife burger is just a not as tasty Beyond Burger in my opinion.
lightlife.com
Clean Break | Lightlife
lightlife.com
I thought Oatly's response was interesting, basically they said it's great that this company that has previously invested in destroying the rainforest to make money is now acknowledging that they can make money selling sustainably sourced oat milk.
I kind of agree with them, the world would be a much better place without companies like Blackstone searching out every dollar on the planet but we'll make positive change much faster if doing the right thing is also financially beneficial.
I kind of agree with them, the world would be a much better place without companies like Blackstone searching out every dollar on the planet but we'll make positive change much faster if doing the right thing is also financially beneficial.
And what if profits from their Oatly dealings will go to more Amazon forest destruction & other ecological disasters? Or to support the (re-)election of fascist leaders who give zero fucks about protecting the environment on any level, anywhere.
Violife's smoked flavour is ok on a seitan steak (slightly melted after putting it on the steak after you've fried the other side of it on the pan and while frying the second) in between a hamburger but not sure I'd eat it as is or just on top of plain bread without the mayo & other strong flavors somewhat hiding the less good (after)taste of it.
I got some like proteiny flatbreads lately so I might just try melting it with those. I'm craving nachos and stuff lately lol.
I mean inedible not in that they taste bad, but in the sense that you wouldn't have the kind of intended blue mold growth in the cheese, but the kind that will poison you. 🤣
i am fairly new to this lifestyle, but where can you get a seitan steak? that sounds really good lol
Home made. 😋
Baked Seitan
Ingredients
- 2 cups wheat gluten
- 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons sage
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork. In a second bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix well.
- Slowly add the wet mix to the dry mix, stirring to combine into a dough. Turn dough out onto the counter and knead for several minutes.
- Shape dough into a tube and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 90 minutes directly on the oven rack, turning once halfway through baking. Let cool and enjoy!
Well, technically many of the meat steak vegan alternatives you can buy at stores are seitan (gluten + often some assortment of legume flours), so just go to stores near you and to a vegan section (if there is one) and check out if they have any such. But as FliXFantatier posted, it's also pretty easy to make at home, and much cheaper than store bought (1kg of gluten flour costs something like 5-6€ and you can make, like, a hundred steaks out of that). You might have to check a few stores to find all ingredients (not all basic big store chains necessarily sell the flours needed, so you might have to find a more specialty store or one that does)
Though IMO the best homemade seitan is a mix of gluten flour, soy flour & chickpea(aka gram) flour in a 4:1:1 ratio. (~2,5dl gluten, 0,625dl soy, 0,625dl chickpea, tons of spices to your liking, a little bit of oil & soy sauce, 1,5 dl water or vegetable broth, if water then add some salt to the mixture), not just gluten flour like in FliXFantatier's recipe.
Everytime I try and add other flours to my seitan it ends up supper dry and we just don't like it as much... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯