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Post by roslily on Mar 24, 2008 16:16:08 GMT
I really want to go vegan. I have stopped drinking milk (I used to have loads) I use soya spread, have virtually no eggs.
But cheese. I love cheese. I did manage 6 weeks but it was so hard. All my favourite recipes have cheese on them.
I have managed to ration myself to a small amount of organic cheese a week. I really want to do this, but the vegan cheese I have tried are all horrible.
Any suggestions? Anything horrible for me to read about cheese that will help put me off?
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Post by Pob on Mar 24, 2008 16:39:11 GMT
Give some examples of recipes with cheese in. There isn't a one size fits all solution to replacing cheese in everything. For instance, spinach and tofu with seasoning can be a good substitute for spinach and ricotta in ravioli or cannelloni. Nutritional yeast added to pasta sauces can add a rich cheesiness. Pizza with loads and loads of toppings is great, and without the cheese you can eat more and not get sick/fat The toppings do tend to fall off, but it's not bad. You can make a nice cheesy sort of sauce by making a thick white sauce and adding onion powder, parsley, yeast extract, nutritional yeast and a little salt. A pinch of smoked paprika gives it a nice smokey taste and a bit of colour. There is a good parmesan substitute in the free-from sections of supermarkets. For the most part, the best advice is to explore all the bazillions of meals that don't have cheese in at all. Curries, creamy mushroomy things, tomatoey pasta sauces, chineses, etc. And don't forget milk is full of pus, from infected cow's nipples.
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Matt
Newbie
Posts: 22
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Post by Matt on Mar 24, 2008 19:18:09 GMT
Totally with you, Roslily. I've only been vegan for around 10 weeks and cheese is the thing I miss most. Gone are the days of wiping stringy mozzarella off your chin after a particularly good pizza, no more grating it over pasta, and kiss goodbye to ever being able to buy a sandwich in a bar or cafe if you're on holiday/working away. I agree with the vegan cheese factor too - none of the ones I've tried have the taste or texture of real cheese so I've given up buying them. The tips from Pob are good though. Vegan pizzas aren't too bad - eg. I cover the tomato sauce base with mushroom slices then add sliced tomato, olives and rocket, then drizzle with olive oil to stop the rocket crisping up in the oven. If you miss the extra dimension cheese gives to sauces, try adding some Tofutti vegan sour cream.... granted, it's nowt like adding cheese, but it does add some depth. In terms of something horrible for you to read.... I guess it depends on your reasons for turning vegan. If I'm craving milk/cheese/eggs etc I just have to remind myself of the issues I have with the whole industry and that's usually enough to put me off.
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Post by roslily on Mar 24, 2008 19:53:23 GMT
Thanks. I am generally getting to grips with the cheese in recipes stuff. But macaroni cheese is one of my comfort foods. And I just generally love the stuff. My favourite is grated over beans on toast, or on pasta. And then there is always having to remember my lunch at work!
But I am trying. Think I will use up the stuff I have and then try again.
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Matt
Newbie
Posts: 22
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Post by Matt on Mar 24, 2008 20:05:41 GMT
Oooooh cheese with beans on toast.... unbeatable! I've resorted to spreading marmite on the toast before adding the beans. Er... I know that doesn't compare to adding cheese but it does make the beans less dull.
Good luck anyway!
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sal
Vegan Munchkin
Posts: 95
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Post by sal on Mar 24, 2008 20:42:45 GMT
My advice is to not try and replace everything - try new things instead. At first I thought I'd miss cheese, as I loved it too but I do not miss it at all now.
I love trying new things I never would have tried before. Bin the old recipes and get some new ones.
I love cooking and I'm discovering new stuff all the time. There's loads of books on amazon, you don't even need to buy the expensive ones.
Plus there are loads of great recipe sites. A google search for Vegan food blogs will yield loads of places for inspiration and some have recipes too!
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Post by Pob on Mar 24, 2008 21:59:06 GMT
Oooooh cheese with beans on toast.... unbeatable! I've resorted to spreading marmite on the toast before adding the beans. Er... I know that doesn't compare to adding cheese but it does make the beans less dull. Good luck anyway! I like frying some onions and mushrooms up, then chucking the beans in. Herbs, chilli powder, or redwoods sausages all work as well. I was just wondering what it would be like with tahini in it, as that adds a nice oily richness to cooking.
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Post by sandra on Mar 25, 2008 10:41:38 GMT
Hi Roslily..............I was like you at first with vegan cheese. For years I hated it and never used it but just lately I've discovered Cheezly mature cheddar like slices............it is really nice. Even my omni brother-in-law eats it now as he's watching his cholesterol. I still hate the Scheeze stuff though as it smells and tastle like 'sick' yuk! Give the Cheezly stuff a go and see what you think. You can buy it in blocks aswell. I have re-discovered cheese on toast and baked potato and cheese and macaroni cheese (which my daughter loves). Cheese made from cow's milk now smells gross to me and is bad for you..........not only is it full of cholesterol but is also very fatty.............the Cheezly on the other hand has no cholesterol or hydrogenated fats! Let us know what you think if you give it a try, I hope you will love it too!
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Post by roslily on Mar 25, 2008 10:59:39 GMT
I am going to the health food shop today so I will look out for it.
To be honest cows milk cheese was beginning to smell weird to me anyway.
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sal
Vegan Munchkin
Posts: 95
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Post by sal on Mar 25, 2008 13:46:15 GMT
the tofutti singles slices are not bad. I'm not a fan of the cheezly cheddar, the mozarella is ok in small doses.
I've got some sheeze in my fridge, I found it in sainsburys!! I haven't opened it yet - I'm sure it will be as gross as the cheezly!
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Post by sandra on Mar 25, 2008 14:34:42 GMT
I am going to the health food shop today so I will look out for it. To be honest cows milk cheese was beginning to smell weird to me anyway. Hope you like the Cheezly slices Roslily I suppose everyones tastes are different so it's maybe a case of trying them all and seeing which one you like best!
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Post by roslily on Mar 25, 2008 19:05:25 GMT
I have been vegan for a whole day now!!! I even refused biscuits at a friends house cos they had lactose in them!
Went to health food shop and bought some cheezly melting stuff, and some redwoods chicken pieces. They are much nicer than quorn, but they are VERY fattening (12g per 100g!!!)
Hoorah!!
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Post by tabitha on Mar 25, 2008 19:34:57 GMT
Fig rolls are vegan. Wish they werent actually. Ive eaten loads of them. Well done Roslily! You go girl!!!
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Post by sluggie on Mar 28, 2008 0:27:37 GMT
I spread houmous on pizza instead of cheese - much nicer!
Vegan cheeses are ok in sandwiches if you put other stuff in there too - with enough pickle and salad, you don't notice the odd flavour!
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sal
Vegan Munchkin
Posts: 95
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Post by sal on Mar 28, 2008 12:58:03 GMT
the best pizza i've made recently was pesto first, then the tomato sauce, then vegan sausage (the recipe from the every day dish website) and veggies. I put a bit of cheezly mozzarella on the top, but just a very light sprinkling.
Pizza and pesto are a match made in heaven! I made my own vegan pesto but the dairy free stuff in the free from aisle is not bad either.
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gogo
Newbie
Posts: 19
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Post by gogo on Mar 31, 2008 9:58:18 GMT
I agree about pizza and pesto! I make up a big batch of pesto in the blender and freeze it, then splurge it all over half a ciabatta with some tomato sauce and olive oil. I was a massive cheesehound and I never thought I'd be able to go without, but I felt so bad about myself when I ate it that in the end it was such a relief to JUST SAY NO! And in a matter of weeks I stopped craving it so much. I've only been vegan a couple of months but I am amazed to find that cheese actually smells quite weird now, not like it used to at all. I was the same with f*gs - when I smoked I thought they smelled lovely and I couldn't imagine finding them horrible - but now they really do smell to me. I guess cheese is like any other addiction!
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gogo
Newbie
Posts: 19
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Post by gogo on Mar 31, 2008 11:47:26 GMT
I bought the Uncheese Cookbook and this lunchtime I tried my 1st recipe from it - Gooey Grilled Cheeze toasties. They were interesting! Definitely tasty and tangy and a bit cheesy-ish. They had a nice gooey texture too. Obviously not like the real thing but not unpleasantly weird. It was nice eating gooey sandwiches again anyway
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Post by vegandaze on Mar 31, 2008 12:04:44 GMT
I made a toasted sandwich (in a frying pan) with tofutti slices and tomatos the other day and it was really yummy, I suggest eating one right now! I don't normally use 'cheese', but my bro bought me some and I enjoyed it! ALso had cheezly nacho style - it is sort of spicy and nice in a salad sandwich. WHo needs cow-pus?
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Post by shariblackvelvet on Mar 31, 2008 15:24:36 GMT
I'm a soya cheese connoisseur. Seriously! Like you, I thought I couldn't give up cheese and that was probably why I didn't become vegan earlier (been vegan for 5 1/2 years now but was veggie for 13 years before that). However, if you look around there are so many different varieties of soya cheese it's amazing. I didn't even know when I was veggie. I think that is a huge misconception. People think that when they go vegan they have to stop eating certain products - but you don't have to - you just have to look for the vegan version of it. Check out the vegan section in the 'Special Diets' part of www.goodnessdirect.co.uk - they have lots of soya cheese there. I eat: Redwood's Supermelting Cheezly - when I make my own cheese pizzas (they taste delicious if you use Tesco's pizza base mix and then some tomato stuff. Bute Island's Sheese - for cold sandwiches Tofutti Cheese Slices - for grilled cheese sandwiches. I discovered that each was best for that particular type of cooking. You may like different varieties though. Just try different ones and you'll find something you like. Don't be put off by the first one you taste if you don't like it. Sometimes you taste a few not so nice things before you find something you love (I guess it's a bit like men, really! LOL).
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