HI new here and new to vegetarianism...at least in the pure form. I've hated meat for years...forced to eat it as a kid. Don't eat huge amounts of it as it is...so making the leap in the meat department...I'm hoping isn't going to be too difficult. What is, is dairy.

5 years ago I had made the switch to rice then soy, but then pregnancy, etc. I'm back to milk and as much as I hate meat...all of that love goes to cheese. So I think I'm going to have to make this switch slowly.

I've been reading your boards and most talk about soy..not so much about rice milk. Is there a reason? Is it mostly taste or for the protein? :confused:
For some reason in the back of my mind, I was thinking too much soy wasn't good for you???

Also again with cheese. I was going to start with say, no cheese on my gardenburgers, but what about bleu cheese, Feta? Do they make a soy product that is kinda the same in taste?

Sorry, I guess that was 2 questions....

TIA,
Elle

Hi Elle,

I think most people's preference for soy milk is a combination of taste and protein (rice milk has little to no protein). I prefer soy milk for the taste, but I also like rice milk.

You're right: too much soy isn't good for you. But that can be said about any food. Everything in moderation. If you're concerned about getting too much soy, limit your intake of other soy containing foods. You could also alternate soy milk with rice milk.

There aren't really any good vegan soy cheeses that actually taste like cheese. The Toffuti slices are ok, and could be used on a burger. Some people like some of the soy cheeses though, so feel free to experiment.

HI new here and new to vegetarianism...at least in the pure form. I've hated meat for years...forced to eat it as a kid. Don't eat huge amounts of it as it is...so making the leap in the meat department...I'm hoping isn't going to be too difficult. What is, is dairy.

5 years ago I had made the switch to rice then soy, but then pregnancy, etc. I'm back to milk and as much as I hate meat...all of that love goes to cheese. So I think I'm going to have to make this switch slowly.

I've been reading your boards and most talk about soy..not so much about rice milk. Is there a reason? Is it mostly taste or for the protein? :confused:
For some reason in the back of my mind, I was thinking too much soy wasn't good for you???

Also again with cheese. I was going to start with say, no cheese on my gardenburgers, but what about bleu cheese, Feta? Do they make a soy product that is kinda the same in taste?

Sorry, I guess that was 2 questions....

TIA,
Elle

I prefer the taste of rice milk. But of course it doesn't have the protein like soy milk. My naturopath suggested cutting back on my soy intake due to some GI upset. I believe the amount of soy I was eating was at least patially responsible for how yucky I felt. There is research saying soy is bad, there is research saying soy is good. Do a search of the boards and you will find all kinds of information about it. My approach is don't eat too much of anything. I was depending on soy far too much to meet my protein requirements and ended up feeling terribly sick. But in moderation, I can handle a little soy.
I am sorry I don't know much about vegan cheese products. There isn't much stuff like that available where I live so I don't eat it.

I use soy milk only in cooking. I use rice milk on my cereal. The only milk I can stand to "drink" is almond breeze.

I prefer the taste of rice milk to soy milk, but I prefer soy ice cream to rice ice cream. When I'm in a super healthy diet mode, though, I go with unsweetened soy milk because of the higher protein and no sugar content.
I think unsweetend almond milk tastes the best of everything I've had, followed by sweetened almond milk. Almond milk has almost no protein, though.

I've never seen a non-dairy feta or blue cheese replacement, and I love health food stores, visit them often, and work in one that specializes in vegan novelties. I would especially love to find a non-dairy feta, but I doubt it's on the market.

Soymilk is definitely easiest to find in stores, it's not very good tasting. Rice milk IMO tastes AWFUL by itself, but I use it in baking cooking, hot cocoa, pudding where I don't taste it. Almond milk is delicious though so I use that to actually drink.

i don't use rice milk because it was always so watery, but i don't like the taste of any plain "milk." i use soy and almond.

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=52155

It's highly personal. Lots of people prefer the taste of soy over rice, while lots of others prefer rice over soy. I much prefer soy and think it tastes great. Some choose soy because it's high in protein, while others choose rice either because they can't tolerate soy or because they already have a lot of soy products in their lives, and they don't want to go TOO heavy on the soy. Still others like to mix it up. The bottom lineis, try them all-- soy, rice, and other milks like nut and oat-- and decide what works best for you.

Helpful link of the moment:
http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showpost.php?p=1175121&postcount=19

Mmmmm... actually, almond milk is my favorite (unsweetened varieties by Almond Breeze). Too bad it diesn't froth well when I make lattes, though! Cappuccino soymilk is also fun if you're daring =).

I use soy in cooking for the protein, rice for drinking/cereal eating for the yummy taste. :lick:

I'm not too sure...I've had rice milk and now a few different flavors of soy milk...at first, I preferred just rice milk OR very vanilla soy milk, but I just tried some plain soymilk today and thought it was really good. (maybe the plain soymilk that I tried in the past was a different brand or something)

I use rice milk in things where the "nutty" taste of soy milk just isn't right - like in mashed potatoes or to add a creaminess to some vegetable soups. I use soy milk on cereal, and I often use my soy creamer in baking.

I much prefer Rice Dreams "ice cream" to any of the soy products I've tried.

I use rice milk for most things because I find soy milk to thick. I'll use soy milk for things that need creaminess, but I prefer rice milk to soy milk by itself or on cereal.

i just made the switch from soy milk to rice milk because of health problems too much processed soy is associated with in women, and how many of them actually run in my family - it's a little unnerving..

i use rice dream original on my cereal, and that's about the only place i use imitation milks.. for cooking, i'll use whatever i have on hand, though at home we keep soymilk for baking and rice milk for eating (since one cup of soymilk in a batch of brownies that makes 24 is a lot less soymilk per serving than one cup of soymilk in a bowl of cereal for one person)

I actualy use and LOVE a MultiGrain milk by Pacific.

used to use ricedream, but this is SO much better lol. Its soy/oat/rice/and a some other stuff.

:)

i don't care for rice milk so far - too sweet for me. anybody know of a brand that is less sweet than others?

I would suggest you play around with it - try many different kinds of soy and rice milk and see what you like best. They are NOT all created equal.

Some soy milks are very thick (which I find nasty) and some have a stronger 'soy' flavour than others. My personal preference is for "So Nice Organic" brand of soy milk. Almost all of the claims around soy being unhealthy stem from non-organic processing of soy, or the use of soy by-products like "soy protein isolate" which you find in some brands of soy milk. This milk has niether of those problems, tastes pretty good, and has the perfect consistency for milk.

Rice milk on cereal is definitely not the best. I use it sometimes for variety, but the watery consistency and sickly sweet flavor just don't do it for me.

Almond milk is the champ of taste, but it's unfortified and you'd have to be a millionaire to use it every day.

Lacto/Ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy, so you can be a vegetarian, and still enjoy cheese.

I personally use rice milk more than soymilk because I find it's easier on my stomach, and oatmeal absorbs it better (my oatmeal never cooks right in soymilk!). I get protein in plenty of other places so I'm not terribly concerned about it. I do sometimes use soy milks for desserts and things if I want a richer taste.

I can't tolerate the taste of soy milk. I will use it in cooking occasionally, but I love almond breeze in my cereal. I don't use rice milk much, but it definitely tastes ok to me. It's just a matter of preference.

I actualy use and LOVE a MultiGrain milk by Pacific.

used to use ricedream, but this is SO much better lol. Its soy/oat/rice/and a some other stuff.

:)
I'll have to look into this-- I hate rice milk, and have been interested in trying a blended milk, but so far the only one I've seen around here is made by Edensoy, which I despise. Thanks!

i dont know if this counts, but i LOVE soydream ice cream, and i got some rice ice cream and :spew: boy was it nasty.

Oh yeah. I haven't had Rice Dream in years, but it suuuuuucked!

The multi-grain milk is good (I think the oats make it "creamy") but it still has a "grainy" taste to me... I prefer the almond - NOT "Almond Breeze" though... that stuff is like candy - way too strongly flavored and sweet...

Whoever said one has to be a millionaire to afford Almond milk all the time?? My kids and I use it all the time, and it's not any more expensive than some soy and rice milks...

Of course, I buy it by the case from www.andysmarket.com and I think, like that, in bulk, it's considerably cheaper, too...

Oh! BTW, hazlenut milk is REALLY good but hard to find, so we rarely get it... yummy though!

hi there, I choose to drink soya milk because of the protein and added B12 and calcium, but rice milk does taste a lot nicer!
I started a thread yesterday about vegan cheeses and the majority have said there are no good ones, but have a look on there, there's a few suggestions