[VeganWytch]

Hello everyone! Please bare with me while I try to make sense of all this lol!

I've been vegetarian for about 6/7 years now, but I noticed that over time I was lactose.. So goodbye dairy! except I ate cheese... But anyway :-/

The beginning of my transition to vegetarian I lived with my parents. I told them the moment I wanted to change and luckily they were very supportive and weren't rude about my choice. However, they didn't agree and always offered me whatever meat they cooked for dinner. Annoying, but they meant well.

Now... This part I'm about to explain I'm not proud of.. I couldn't bring myself to tell my grandmother that I no longer wanted to eat meats (she isn't exactly the nicest person, so even thinking of telling her brought me extreme anxiety). I ate the food she made.. Meats/fish included. At one point I couldn't stand it anymore. What I was doing was against my beliefs of saving the lives of animals. I flat out told her I wasn't going to eat the meat she made for dinner. Long story short she went on a rant and over time she eventually got over it. Yet, she voiced her very rude opinions about my choice all the time.

Anyway, that above should explain my 'struggle' being vegetarian. Also, I wont lie.. I fell into 2/3 spurts of eating chicken :-/ Not proud, but I stopped as soon as I realized what was happening!

During the 6/7 years I knew I wanted to go 100% vegan,
and I successfully did a few times! But I seemed to fall back into eating dairy and eggs. I'm not really sure why.
I think I wasn't really thinking about my choices until I saw a video on conditions in a slaughter house. Totally changed me. I did my hardest to cut out all dairy and eggs. Had a slip up, but this time I wasn't mad at myself. I realized that if I want to get serious about changing my lifestyle to vegan.. I need to connect to more vegans!

I'm here to say I had slip ups, but I've learned from them. I learned not to be mad, at myself, because I'm learned through these past slip ups that veganism is truly the only way for me to live and feel great! I'm wholeheartedly committed to the transitioning to a vegan lifestyle!

That's what brings me here!

I want to be 100% vegan, but since moving from CT to MO... I lost all of my usual stores I shopped at and I fell back into the habit. DX

If anyone has some tips, tricks, or advice I'd be happy to hear! Please keep in mind if you do leave advice, my partner and I are on a tight budget. :-/

As a little last bit.. I've been watching a lot of videos of vegan food hauls, but sadly I seem to watch a bunch of vegans from the UK.. I haven't been able to find anything similar to the items. I'll leave a list of the items and if anyone could tell me items that are similar to try, I thank you in advance!

- Tyne Chease (I just don't know if I can get them in the US)
- Plenish Milk Products (I've contacted the company and sadly they don't sell to the US)
- Coconut Butters (I can't really find any option near me)


Thank you for your time!

 

[cassafrassy]

Have you tried making aquafaba cheese? (Aquafaba is the liquid from cans of chickpeas, etc.) I can't post a link here because I don't have enough posts, but I can send you a recipe for some chipotle aquafaba cheese in your private messages.

I tried sending you a message with the link, but it says that I have to have 15 posts. Sorry.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Hi, good on you for making the effort. Yes, learning more about animal rights and welfare is helpful to keep you committed. I don't like in your area but I hope you find what you need there.

 

[poivron]

You're right not to be mad at yourself. It doesn't help. It's better to focus on ways to do better, and if you're in a difficult situation, it's important to avoid being too hard on yourself. Some of us live in towns and cities where it's relatively easy to be vegan. For others, it's much harder, and you have to accept that you're only human and that the goal is to do your best given your circumstances. The good news is that more and more companies are starting to cater to the vegan market.

Have you checked your local grocery store carefully to make sure they don't have soymilk, veggie burgers and hot dogs, or vegan cheese? If so, is there a Whole Foods near you where you could buy soymilk, Earth Balance, Gardein products, etc? Whole Foods is expensive, but if you just use them for what you can't find elsewhere, it's not so bad.

Even if you can't find any of the new vegan products near where you live, you can still be vegan if you cook at home. Many recipes work even when you remove the animal products from them. (One of my husband's favorite creations is "Chicken Spaghetti sans poulet", which he adapted from an Italian cookbook.) "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" by Donna Klein is one cookbook that, to my knowledge, doesn't use any ingredients you can't find at a regular grocery store.

Just make sure you're supplementing with vitamins B12 and D, vegan versions of which you can order online.

 

[Mojo]

- The Vegan Cow app is a database of restaurants and stores that are vegan and veg-friendly.

- Trader Joe's is a great place for vegans. They label their vegan products. There are a few in Missouri.

- The best vegan cheeses I've had are Daiya's cheddar block cheese and Field Roast's Chao cheese. If you look on the company websites you can find the nearest store locations.

- Plenish milk is just nuts and water. You can make your own milk using a blender and a 'nut milk bag'. The bag is a filter. You can make milk from all sorts of nuts/nut butters.... and oats, flax seeds, hemp seeds, soybeans, etc. Peanut butter milk on breakfast cereal tastes awesome.

 

[VeganWytch]

Have you tried making aquafaba cheese? (Aquafaba is the liquid from cans of chickpeas, etc.) I can't post a link here because I don't have enough posts, but I can send you a recipe for some chipotle aquafaba cheese in your private messages.

I tried sending you a message with the link, but it says that I have to have 15 posts.

Sorry.

It's quite alright! Thanks for trying though!
Would you mind if I added you as a friend? You may be the only vegan close by! Maybe when we both reach 15 post we send links to each other.

 

[VeganWytch]

You're right not to be mad at yourself. It doesn't help. It's better to focus on ways to do better, and if you're in a difficult situation, it's important to avoid being too hard on yourself. Some of us live in towns and cities where it's relatively easy to be vegan. For others, it's much harder, and you have to accept that you're only human and that the goal is to do your best given your circumstances. The good news is that more and more companies are starting to cater to the vegan market.

Have you checked your local grocery store carefully to make sure they don't have soymilk, veggie burgers and hot dogs, or vegan cheese? If so, is there a Whole Foods near you where you could buy soymilk, Earth Balance, Gardein products, etc? Whole Foods is expensive, but if you just use them for what you can't find elsewhere, it's not so bad.

Even if you can't find any of the new vegan products near where you live, you can still be vegan if you cook at home. Many recipes work even when you remove the animal products from them. (One of my husband's favorite creations is "Chicken Spaghetti sans poulet", which he adapted from an Italian cookbook.) "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" by Donna Klein is one cookbook that, to my knowledge, doesn't use any ingredients you can't find at a regular grocery store.

Just make sure you're supplementing with vitamins B12 and D, vegan versions of which you can order online.

I've checked very briefly at the local little market in town. They are heavily catered to the meat-eaters, but they do have some good produce and surprisingly soy/nut milks!

The area I live in is populated with cow farms, so sadly I don't think there will be any at that market, but I just realized haven't checked the Wal-Mart's near by! Thank you for that!

Cookbooks would be lovely to have!

 

[VeganWytch]

Hi, good on you for making the effort. Yes, learning more about animal rights and welfare is helpful to keep you committed. I don't like in your area but I hope you find what you need there.

Thank you!

 

[VeganWytch]

- The Vegan Cow app is a database of restaurants and stores that are vegan and veg-friendly.

- Trader Joe's is a great place for vegans. They label their vegan products. There are a few in Missouri.

- The best vegan cheeses I've had are Daiya's cheddar block cheese and Field Roast's Chao cheese. If you look on the company websites you can find the nearest store locations.

- Plenish milk is just nuts and water. You can make your own milk using a blender and a 'nut milk bag'. The bag is a filter. You can make milk from all sorts of nuts/nut butters.... and oats, flax seeds, hemp seeds, soybeans, etc. Peanut butter milk on breakfast cereal tastes awesome.

That's one I'll have to try! I have the happy cow app (i think that's what it's called). They sound similar.

Like I said in an earlier quote, I'm going to really search the stores near by to see what they offer! As far as making milks, it sounds like a idea! Do you have any recipes (could I find some here?), or links?

 

[Mojo]

That's one I'll have to try! I have the happy cow app (i think that's what it's called). They sound similar.

Like I said in an earlier quote, I'm going to really search the stores near by to see what they offer! As far as making milks, it sounds like a idea! Do you have any recipes (could I find some here?), or links?

Oops. Sorry, I meant the Happy Cow app.

I've made this one before and like it.
https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/basic-nut-milk/#gs.dQLv_7A

 

[VeganWytch]

Oops. Sorry, I meant the Happy Cow app.

I've made this one before and like it.

OH! Thank you very much!

 

[CodyJason]

Hey!

I've read through and it seems you haven't gotten an answer yet about coconut butter...I currently live in Wisconsin, so relatively close as far as states go...Do you have Woodman's in Missouri? They sell coconut butter there.

If not, you can always get coconut butter online (Amazon has tons!)...

...or make it yourself! Minimalist Baker has a coconut butter recipe that looks fairly easy. I can't link yet due to low post count, but if you do a quick search, you'll likely find it easily.

I hope that helps!