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H&R Moderators: streaM Freak
Transition from vegetarian to vegan
- Thread starter snazzy_sn
- Start date
SixBuckets
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,222
If you're already eating vegetarian and you're not vitamin B deficient, you should be OK on a vegan diet. Just be aware that a lot of B12 supplements aren't vegan - you'll need to investigate animal-free supplements for that or you'll get sick.
Get your iron levels tested and monitor them regularly. Again, you're probably already doing this, but eggs and milk make a surprising amount of difference to your iron intake.
I actually find vegan meals easier to prepare than vegetarian ones, as vegetarian food tends to try to "replace" meat with protein-y substitutes, while most vegan food just starts from scratch and make delicious plant-based meals.
Send me a PM if you want some cookbook recommendations! And good luck!
Get your iron levels tested and monitor them regularly. Again, you're probably already doing this, but eggs and milk make a surprising amount of difference to your iron intake.
I actually find vegan meals easier to prepare than vegetarian ones, as vegetarian food tends to try to "replace" meat with protein-y substitutes, while most vegan food just starts from scratch and make delicious plant-based meals.
Send me a PM if you want some cookbook recommendations! And good luck!
llama112
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2010
- Messages
- 4,468
Awesome! I did this fairly recently! 
Do you cook a lot? Eat out much? If you stopped eating animal products right now, what would you miss most?
The hardest thing for me to give up was cheese. I found it easy to give up milk, eggs, etc. but cheese.... I held onto it. It took me about a year to make the full transition. I stopped eating MOST dairy products, etc but still had pizza sometimes and whatnot. Honestly, I made myself lactose intolerant. I started feeling sick whenever I had dairy products because I had them so little. Then I found Daiya cheese pizza and I was perfectly fine with it a bit more expensive but worth it to not participate in animal cruelty AND not make myself feel sick.
After that, it was more just hidden products. For example, when my parents baked something that included milk or eggs. Or when pre-made bread had eggs in it. Or crackers. Even lactose free coffee creamer.... "modified milk ingredients". Those small things.
Spices are your best friend when you cook. I recently got into making nut cheeses. Soaking cashews and using a food processor and spices to make cheese. Amazing! Ummm have you tried nutritional yeast? That's a must. Daiya cheese is also awesome (very processed but I'm obsessed). Soy milk powder for baking. Firm tofu, if you haven't yet. Marinate it overnight (1-2 nights) with soy sauce and some other things and bake or fry. I snack on that often.
Also, eating out is a challenge. I'm pretty lucky that I live in a city where we have vegan restaurants. My partner is vegetarian so, if we choose to go out and eat (rarely, but it happens), we just go to vegan restaurants. Places specifically for vegans are SO much better than the vegan options at meat restaurants. I bring my own lunch to work every day and rarely eat out so don't have to worry about that much. Although we drove to Miami last year for vacation and eating on the road was terrible. We had Subway for two days straight. Ugh. Never again. Lol.
Two of the best sites, in my opinion, are:
http://ohsheglows.com/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/recipes/
If you have ANY questions, ask me!! I love cooking and love being vegan :D
Do you cook a lot? Eat out much? If you stopped eating animal products right now, what would you miss most?
The hardest thing for me to give up was cheese. I found it easy to give up milk, eggs, etc. but cheese.... I held onto it. It took me about a year to make the full transition. I stopped eating MOST dairy products, etc but still had pizza sometimes and whatnot. Honestly, I made myself lactose intolerant. I started feeling sick whenever I had dairy products because I had them so little. Then I found Daiya cheese pizza and I was perfectly fine with it
a bit more expensive but worth it to not participate in animal cruelty AND not make myself feel sick.After that, it was more just hidden products. For example, when my parents baked something that included milk or eggs. Or when pre-made bread had eggs in it. Or crackers. Even lactose free coffee creamer.... "modified milk ingredients". Those small things.
Spices are your best friend when you cook. I recently got into making nut cheeses. Soaking cashews and using a food processor and spices to make cheese. Amazing! Ummm have you tried nutritional yeast? That's a must. Daiya cheese is also awesome (very processed but I'm obsessed). Soy milk powder for baking. Firm tofu, if you haven't yet. Marinate it overnight (1-2 nights) with soy sauce and some other things and bake or fry. I snack on that often.
Also, eating out is a challenge. I'm pretty lucky that I live in a city where we have vegan restaurants. My partner is vegetarian so, if we choose to go out and eat (rarely, but it happens), we just go to vegan restaurants. Places specifically for vegans are SO much better than the vegan options at meat restaurants. I bring my own lunch to work every day and rarely eat out so don't have to worry about that much. Although we drove to Miami last year for vacation and eating on the road was terrible. We had Subway for two days straight. Ugh. Never again. Lol.
Two of the best sites, in my opinion, are:
http://ohsheglows.com/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/recipes/
If you have ANY questions, ask me!! I love cooking and love being vegan :D
SixBuckets
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,222
I found it relatively easy to cut out/cut down cheese (I'm not completely vegan but eat vegan maybe 50-60% of my meals) but I just couldn't give up milk. I reckon I could eliminate eggs and dairy easily if I was allowed to make an exception for morning cereal and coffee. I just hate soy milk so, so much!
llama112
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2010
- Messages
- 4,468
Haha everyone has some things that they find REALLY hard to give up. SixBuckets, have you tried almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk (not the creamy kind although that would work well in coffee)? So Delicious has these good coffee creamers and I could name quite a few veg milk brands that are good. I never liked regular milk so it was easy for me to give up but my partner drinks almond milk and seems to like it. I still use soy milk powder in my baking because it's the cheapest LOL but for drinking straight, not soy milk powder with water 
I still use soy milk powder in my baking because it's the cheapest LOL but for drinking straight, not soy milk powder with water SixBuckets
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,222
Haha everyone has some things that they find REALLY hard to give up. SixBuckets, have you tried almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk (not the creamy kind although that would work well in coffee)? So Delicious has these good coffee creamers and I could name quite a few veg milk brands that are good. I never liked regular milk so it was easy for me to give up but my partner drinks almond milk and seems to like it.
I quite like almond and rice milks, but they're never available at cafes. It's always dairy, skim dairy, soy, and that's it. (I don't make coffee myself - I buy a cup twice a day from a cafe. Apparently this is a very Australian way to get your caffeine?)
Turns out I need to learn more about the vegetarianism thing as it is.
I jumped in to it and while I still feel this was definitely the right decision I know practically nothing about my diet or what I'm doing.
Aside from what my body tells me is okay, I should probably get this down.
Although I could live without milk (I kind of already do) and I'm getting sick of cheese.
This was kind of my first indicator that something might be off. Getting tired of fucking cheese.
Heh, ya feel? Anyone?
I jumped in to it and while I still feel this was definitely the right decision I know practically nothing about my diet or what I'm doing.
Aside from what my body tells me is okay, I should probably get this down.
Although I could live without milk (I kind of already do) and I'm getting sick of cheese.
This was kind of my first indicator that something might be off. Getting tired of fucking cheese.
Heh, ya feel? Anyone?
this is from my blog, so pardon some of the shit about nickin' - all in good fun.
ghetto gourmet
brown rice: 1 cup water, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup brown rice. add half a cup of hammered walnuts + smoked paprika
beans and greens: 1 can collard greens, 1 can black eyed peas, 1 chopped onion, 2 spoons peanut butter. add hot sauce (sriracha, DON'T steal it, sriracha is sacred - you know that) - add a cup of water and cook down slow. this is some african shit, but it's also what southern food should be. to make real groundnut stew, add chopped plantains or green bananas, sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes plus a spoon of coconut milk and some currry powder
sweet potatoes: peel 2 sweet potatoes and slice - boil until soft (use water for stock, scavenge). add two very ripe bananas or plantains that have lots of black on their skin with a bit of soymilk. mash. add garam masala to taste or peanut butter
noodle sauce: caramalize an onion with garlic - use some sesame oil. add it to a blender and cover with soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and dash of sweetner. blend, then top with chopped green onions. best on soba/buckwheat noodles, but pasta will do
PB&J oatmeal: one cup oatmeal, one cup water, one cup almond milk. add frozen or fresh fruit (blackberries!) and peanut butter, microwave about 4mins, stir.
grits: i've never in my life measured grits, so i'm not sure - just use less than you'd think, cover with a good bit of water. add a spoon of honey and a slice of real butter from happily employed cows. microwave 3mins, stir, again. it will be VERY hot - stir, top with a bit of salt
beans and rice...
how to make rice - get basmati or jasmine, what ever audi's has. a cup of rice needs two cups of liquid. add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk (from a can not that coconut 'milk' people drink) and fill to two cups. or, if you like sugar instead of fat, use a can of coconut water, like from the mexican sector or your equivalent, and just a dab of some butter or fat. spice with cardamom (easy to nick - just load up your hands with other stuff and accidentally shove it in your pocket and forget it - people do it all the time) or curry powder, garam masala, etc you can also add almond, soy, cashew (fantastic) 'mlk' instead of water and fat, or in addition. for dessert rice, use a can of guava or mango 'nectar' with the fat.
start with a can of black beans, an onion, garlic (nick the jar of diced), a can of tomatoes, 'southwest spice'. heat about 2 big spoons of oil *with* about one spoon of water until it's popping and steaming. add chopped onion and garlic and let it sweat on medium for a few minutes, until the onions are browning. add beans, tomatoes, spices and cook down on lower heat, don't let it stick. crush the beats a bit with the spoon. add water and cook down again, until it's paste. variety: all different kinds of beans and tomatoes (like the ones with jalapenos, italian).
how to peel a mango - mangoes have trapezoidal pits, running longway along the 'seam' if you can see it. cut two main slices parallel to the seam, then try an angled cut on the remainder - if you hit seed, reverse the angle. repeat. take the cut pieces to a glass and slide the glass between the skin and the meat. it's easy if it's ripe.
ghetto gourmet
brown rice: 1 cup water, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup brown rice. add half a cup of hammered walnuts + smoked paprika
beans and greens: 1 can collard greens, 1 can black eyed peas, 1 chopped onion, 2 spoons peanut butter. add hot sauce (sriracha, DON'T steal it, sriracha is sacred - you know that) - add a cup of water and cook down slow. this is some african shit, but it's also what southern food should be. to make real groundnut stew, add chopped plantains or green bananas, sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes plus a spoon of coconut milk and some currry powder
sweet potatoes: peel 2 sweet potatoes and slice - boil until soft (use water for stock, scavenge). add two very ripe bananas or plantains that have lots of black on their skin with a bit of soymilk. mash. add garam masala to taste or peanut butter
noodle sauce: caramalize an onion with garlic - use some sesame oil. add it to a blender and cover with soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and dash of sweetner. blend, then top with chopped green onions. best on soba/buckwheat noodles, but pasta will do
PB&J oatmeal: one cup oatmeal, one cup water, one cup almond milk. add frozen or fresh fruit (blackberries!) and peanut butter, microwave about 4mins, stir.
grits: i've never in my life measured grits, so i'm not sure - just use less than you'd think, cover with a good bit of water. add a spoon of honey and a slice of real butter from happily employed cows. microwave 3mins, stir, again. it will be VERY hot - stir, top with a bit of salt
beans and rice...
how to make rice - get basmati or jasmine, what ever audi's has. a cup of rice needs two cups of liquid. add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk (from a can not that coconut 'milk' people drink) and fill to two cups. or, if you like sugar instead of fat, use a can of coconut water, like from the mexican sector or your equivalent, and just a dab of some butter or fat. spice with cardamom (easy to nick - just load up your hands with other stuff and accidentally shove it in your pocket and forget it - people do it all the time) or curry powder, garam masala, etc you can also add almond, soy, cashew (fantastic) 'mlk' instead of water and fat, or in addition. for dessert rice, use a can of guava or mango 'nectar' with the fat.
start with a can of black beans, an onion, garlic (nick the jar of diced), a can of tomatoes, 'southwest spice'. heat about 2 big spoons of oil *with* about one spoon of water until it's popping and steaming. add chopped onion and garlic and let it sweat on medium for a few minutes, until the onions are browning. add beans, tomatoes, spices and cook down on lower heat, don't let it stick. crush the beats a bit with the spoon. add water and cook down again, until it's paste. variety: all different kinds of beans and tomatoes (like the ones with jalapenos, italian).
how to peel a mango - mangoes have trapezoidal pits, running longway along the 'seam' if you can see it. cut two main slices parallel to the seam, then try an angled cut on the remainder - if you hit seed, reverse the angle. repeat. take the cut pieces to a glass and slide the glass between the skin and the meat. it's easy if it's ripe.
llama112
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2010
- Messages
- 4,468
Ahh, I understand that completely! I don't drink coffee regularly, just on occasion, and it is usually with soy milk or I make it at home with almond milk/cream. Starbucks in the US is supposed to be getting (maybe they already have?) coconut milk. YAY! Step in the right direction, I think.
My vegan coworker drinks coffee regularly. Gets it from a place that only has dairy milk. He keeps vegan coffee creamer in the fridge at work. That's not going to work for everyone but it's a great solution if it does work. Ugh, places need to be more progressive though!
Snazzy, the best thing for me was cutting down on things gradually. Honestly. It's made it soooooo much easier. You're already living without milk, so start by making a conscious decision to never have milk with dairy. Then adjust the cheese. Then go with eggs later on.
Even try having a cup of milk after you've given it up for a while. Realize how gross tasting it is, or how sick it makes you. That sounds silly. But I did that with pizza. After I cut it out, I still craved it with real cheese. I had a couple pieces, they didn't even taste as good as I imagined they did when I craved for them, and they made me feel sick cuz I was slightly lactose intolerant. Then.... bad memories for pizza. I certainly don't crave it any more because I associate it with feeling so bla and sick. That might not work for everyone and may not be a great solution but I found it helped me.
I found that following many vegan Facebook pages helped. I'm big in social media (I promote parties and stuff) so I'm on Facebook and Instagram and stuff every day. So having vegan recipes pop up all the time... perfect for motivation! Also search for those easy replacement charts for cooking and baking.
I'd also go on a bit of a shopping spree. Get typical veg things that you will need for cooking and baking. Big bag of rice. Frozen fruits and veggies. A lot of spices. Beans. Blocks of tofu. Nutritional yeast. Nuts. Start it off right. Then your regular shopping trips will be the usual fresh produce and whatnot.
Here are a couple of my favourite recipes:
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/31/15-minute-creamy-avocado-pasta/
http://ohsheglows.com/2012/02/09/battered-fried-chickpeas-chickpea-basil-pesto/ (the chickpeas, I just eat them as snacks)
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan...th-basil-and-creamy-cauliflower-alfredo-sauce
http://www.food.com/recipe/marinated-tofu-steaks-200638
http://nowheynocow.com/2015/01/08/spinach-artichoke-lasagna-roll-ups/
http://wellnesswithtaryn.com/macadamia-nut-cheese/ (I make it with cashews instead)
Backups for cooking if you have no time....
I always have sushi rice (we have a rice cooker) with soy sauce and avocado pieces and tofu if I have it on time (I like to call it sushi salad.... really it's just lazy person's sushi lol)
Boil some noodles and add some sauce of some sort