Im new to vegan and could use some advice

[MJZ]

Im not sure if this belongs here but i didnt see a new to vegan section lol

Hi my name is michael and I have decided to go vegan for MANY MANY REASONS

I was wondering if somone could help me out

Can somone tell me of any good vegan products widely avaiblible at like super walmart?lol esspecially bread I csant seem to find any form except this pita bread but im not sure about it

Also can somone give me a list of animal products that have strange names lol that i wouldent understand just by reading?

also could somone recomend a vegan cook book? lol and give advice on eating out? I heard alot of things like taco bell theres like a bean thing on a tortia and subway theres vegan subs but i am not sure about them...

also can anyone tell me of vitamens i should suplliment along with my vegan diet i know of L-carnitine and B-12 is there any others i need to suplliment on a strict vegan diet?

and anything else you think i should know about the vegan life lol

[Tesseract]

Hi Michael, you've posted in the right place. :hi:

As far as good vegan cookbooks, I recommend Vegan Planet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558322116/qid=1151037595/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-7117547-7952668?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Robin Robertson as a good beginner level book. It has a lot of fairly simple recipes and discusses special vegan ingredients. If you like your food fairly spicy/seasoned, you may want to add some extra seasonings to her recipes, as they have a tendency to come out a bit bland.

I also highly recommend a book called Becoming Vegan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570671036/qid=1151037651/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-7117547-7952668?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. It contains very detailed nutrition and health information and I consider it a must-buy for all vegans and aspiring vegans.

Omega-3 fatty acids are another nutrient you want to be sure to get plenty of. That's true for everyone, whether vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore. One of the best veggie sources of Omega-3 is flax seeds or flax oil.

I'll let some other people, more vegan than me, handle your other questions. Good luck on your journey!

PS: Oh, I almost forgot to plug my own thread! You'll find lots of helpful information at The Tip of the Day Thread (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=50249)

[Dirty Martini]

I also highly recommend a book called Becoming Vegan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570671036/qid=1151037651/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-7117547-7952668?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. It contains very detailed nutrition and health information and I consider it a must-buy for all vegans and aspiring vegans.

:yes: I was coming into this thread specifically to post this.

[misq17]

As for cookbooks, Vegan with a Vengeance (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569243581/sr=8-1/qid=1151039708/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9136850-0720937?%5Fencoding=UTF8) is a must buy. It is my bible, I live by this book :wayne:

[troub]

Bread seems hard to find.
Whole Foods has some nice vegan breads. Your local grocery might carry "Mens Bread" in the freezer. Its pretty tasty.

[Namaste2U]

As for cookbooks, Vegan with a Vengeance (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569243581/sr=8-1/qid=1151039708/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9136850-0720937?%5Fencoding=UTF8) is a must buy. It is my bible, I live by this book :wayne:

Good, I just ordered that...

Michael, I hope you don't mind if I lurk on your thread...I'm a new vegan too and could use the advice!

[Sunny]

Can somone tell me of any good vegan products widely avaiblible at like super walmart?lol esspecially bread I csant seem to find any form except this pita bread but im not sure about it

Vegan bread is hard to find at most supermarkets, because most of them contain honey or whey. But Aunt Millie's Hearth Indian Grain is vegan and organic. Many of their other breads are vegan, too, but they have the evil high fructose corn syrup in them.

I don't know where you're located, but it's available in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.



Ingredients: organic whole wheat flour, water, organic wheat flour, organic sugar, yeast, organic wheat gluten, organic sunflower seeds, organic rice flour, organic soybean oil, organic oatmeal, organic rye flour, salt, organic wheat bran, organic vinegar, organic barley flakes, organic soy flour, organic flax seed, organic molasses, organic corn meal, organic raisin juice, organic millet, natural enzymes; topped with organic oat bran.


http://www.auntmillies.com/

[janie]

Hi, Michael! :hi: Congrats on going vegan!! :nana:

If you like cheesy foods, I'd check out The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570671516/sr=8-1/qid=1151069716/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2930108-7369612?%5Fencoding=UTF8). :)


As for cookbooks, Vegan with a Vengeance (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569243581/sr=8-1/qid=1151039708/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9136850-0720937?%5Fencoding=UTF8) is a must buy. It is my bible, I live by this book :wayne:

I agree!! I just got this as a birthday gift, and I love it.

[MJZ]

Namaste2U I dont mind atr all lurk all you want :)

Thanks for the help everyone

[codemonkey]

I'm not vegan but there's a lot of really smart vegans around here. From what I've read here, it's nearly impossible to be perfectly vegan right off the bat. It's something that you get better at over time. So, if you discover that a spec of an ingredient in something you've been eating is animal-based, don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from the experience and move on.

[Tesseract]

Here's (http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan) a site with a list of vegan food.
Good link. I forgot about that one.

Here's (http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm) a link to the VRG's FAQ on ingredients. It's not a comprehensive list, but it's a good primer. The problem with researching ingredients at this level is that you'll see many of them can be either animal or vegetable, and it varies from company to company.

[courgette]

Hey Michael! Check out tip of the day posts. Great info there.

I cannot find any vegan bread except Ezekial bread, and I am not that crazy about that, so I make my own. I have baked bread for years, however, so it is no big deal to me.

I never shop at WalMart any more, so I am not sure about vegan options, but others have said they find plenty of choices there.

I always reccomend Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. Almost every recipe gives both vegan and vegetarian options for ingredients. The recipes are easy, with easily available ingredients and appeal to both children and adults.

Good luck on your new lifestyle!:rockon:

[Tempeh-Tantrums]

Hey Michael, welcome.

You've gotten some great advice so far. There is no way a person could post all the information on "going vegan" in one simple post for you.

If you're committed to making a radical change like this, you also need to be committed to doing a lot of reading and research. "Going vegan" isn't super-complicated or difficult, but it does take some time and effort to get all the information you'll need.

I highly recommend the books listed above.
Becoming Vegan and Vegan With a Vengeance are both available on Amazon.com, as is anything by Nava Atlas. I use all of them quite a bit. (and especially more so at first).

There's a lesser-known cookbook that someone gave me as a gift a long time ago that I refer to constantly! It has super-simple recipes for absolutely EVERYTHING you could ever want to make vegan: French Toast, Lasagna, Cream Sauce, Mac-N-Cheese, Enchiladas... It's called Best Gourmet Recipes from the Chefs of 5 Loaves Deli (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967595703/104-2174801-4359928?v=glance&n=283155) and my copy is totally dog eared and tattered from use. The author used to run a vegan restaurant in Seattle.

The Web is a great resource as well (though be careful, there's a lot of weird stuff out there too.) You can find lots of great (and simple) recipes right here on VB or a couple other favorite sites of mine are: The PostPunk Kitchen (http://www.theppk.com/) and Kreeli's WebSite (http://www.veganmania.com/). (Click on the colored words and it'll take you to that site).

Some suggestions for bread:
Anything by Silver Hills Bakery.
Most by Rudi's Organic Bakery
and a couple of the whole-grain-wholewheat ones from Orowheat. All of the above are usually available in bigger supermarkets, depending on where you live.

Also if you're desperate, most sourdough and rye breads are almost always vegan as well, though not whole grain.

One last thing, some people are very anti-Wal-Mart, but don't let that discourage you. If that's your only (or best) option, by all means shop there. They have all the produce you could need to be a "good vegan" and a pretty good selection of "extra" (tasty but not necessary) things, like Amy's Cheeseless Pizza, the Morningstar Chik and 'Beef' style Meal Starters and the Boca, Morningstar Farms and Gardenburger Vegan burgers.

You'll have to get used to R-E-A-D-I-N-G every label on everything you buy, there are no absolutes, and one time it may be vegan and the next time the company may have changed their recipe. I know, sounds overwhelming, but it gets easier, I promise.

Also, to avoid having to read so many labels, stick to whole, fresh foods as close to natural as possible - less labels means less chance of getting non-vegan ingredients.

Stick around and keep asking questions! We'll see what we can do to help!

[MaryC1999]

Walmarts brand of bread is vegan, both the white and the wheat.
They also sell vegan chocolate chips, vegan rolls, the one around me sells Blue Bonnet Light which is vegan. None of this is marked vegan but it doesn't contain any animal products. Honestly, I have the best luck finding vegan items there. Must be cheaper to make them that way.
:)
The first vegan cookbook I got was La Dolce Vegan. I hear How it all Vegan is chock full of vegan advice though.
Good luck!
Mary

[HandcuffedAngel]

One thing I didn't see anyone else address was your question about Taco Bell and the other fast food mysteries.

I get their bean burrito without the cheese, and that is vegan. Things like Wendy's fries are vegan, McDonald's has a fruit and walnut salad thing that I enjoy, and a lot of sit-down restaurants will cater to your needs.

However, if you go anywhere Italian, make it very known that cheese on your dish is a no-no. They have a tendency to not list it or include it in a sauce on your dish. I have this problem with The Macaroni Grill all the time because they top every dish with grated cheese and it makes me crazy.

For more fast food information, you can look here (http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htm).

[Namaste2U]

I think I'm going to have to get a "vegan" noteboook or something and write all these tidbits down...this is really good stuff!!....

[writetheway]

"How it all Vegan" is a really, really great vegan cookbook with a nice long list of "vegan no-no's" in the back. I just went vegan a little over a month ago, and I didn't find it that hard to make the transition. You'll be surprised. Once you've been vegan for a month, cheese starts to look gross. Instead of regular sandwich bread, i'm eating a lot of pita, since it's easy and I actually like the taste better. The best thing to do is find a bunch of recipes that you like, make them, and freeze them, so that you'll have something other than pretzels to eat when you get hungry and don't have any time. Good luck!

[Trueveggie14]

When I had trouble finding brand name bread that was vegan, I bought a breadmachine. I make my own bread. The machine just makes it that much easier because it does all of the mixin, kneading and rising -- then I have the option to take it out and pour it into my own bread pan and cook in my oven or allow the breadmachine to cook it. You can also make your own pizza dough with this. I paid $60 (http://www.abesofmaine.com/viewproduct~id~bmtr555lc.htm), but only after doing lots of research.

When I get lazy and don't feel like making my own bread (which really isn't that hard -- it can just take 3 hours.) I buy the store brand bread. If you go to the grocery store bakery and read the label of the bread they make, it's usually vegan. My store is at least. They use pretty "whole" and basic ingredients. I also like to stay away from High fructose Corn Syrup where possible (it's vegan, but not healthy).

Happy Cow is a great site for finding vegan friendly restaurants, products and information. I love it. Here's their list of animal ingredients (http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html). Their restaurant guide is here (http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/index.html). Just click on your state. They also have info about other countries, if you are traveling.

Another good tip is that something vegan will NEVER have cholesterol in it. If you look at the package and it lists cholesterol ... it has animal ingredients.
Good luck Michael. :bobo:

[*AHIMSA*]

Michael, thanks for going vegan! :vebo:

As you can see, there's a lot of information available and many people ready to assist you :)

[Tesseract]

Another good tip is that something vegan will NEVER have cholesterol in it. If you look at the package and it lists cholesterol ... it has animal ingredients.
Good luck Michael. :bobo:
That is a good tip, and another one is to look for kosher parve/dairy symbols. BUT be aware that neither of these is the end of your investigation-- it's merely a starting point that you can use to rule out things that are clearly NOT vegan. It is possible for something with whey powder and egg whites to have 0 cholesterol. And it is possible for parve foods to have certain animal products in them, like fish gelatin.

But if it contains any cholesterol, or if the kosher symbol is marked dairy, meat or fish, you know you've got a sure loser.

[*AHIMSA*]

I wanted to point out that the cholesterol thing doesn't always work in the opposit way...there have been times when a non-vegan item has no cholesterol listed but still has animal products in it :( Due to the current US lableing standards, such things are often allowed (if something has 0.5 gram or less per serving it can legally say '0 grams' for instance).

[Trueveggie14]

^^ interesting. Sometimes the FDA is our enemy as vegans.

I always read every single ingredient or make it myself from scratch. I was just trying to point out one clear no-no.

[Namaste2U]

I wanted to point out that the cholesterol thing doesn't always work in the opposit way...there have been times when a non-vegan item has no cholesterol listed but still has animal products in it :( Due to the current US lableing standards, such things are often allowed (if something has 0.5 gram or less per serving it can legally say '0 grams' for instance).

I think that is stupid. If somebody had cancer in 0.5 of their lung, you wouldn't tell them that they didn't have cancer...:mad:

[Rotting]

Posting here on the veggie boards is should be helpful.
If you were/are a "meat and potatoes" type of eater there is a Vegetarian Meat & Potatos Cookbook out there just that is just swell.
Hooray!
:nana: :nana: :hamster: :nana: :nana:

[dancechik782]

Quote: ("also could somone recomend a vegan cook book? lol and give advice on eating out? I heard alot of things like taco bell theres like a bean thing on a tortia and subway theres vegan subs but i am not sure about them...")

hmm...Vegan Cook Book? I'd have to recommend How It All Vegan! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer... best one by far out of many i've looked through.... everything from breakfast to desserts in there, all very verrrrrry yummy!

hope that helps and good luck! :D