[Several multi-question threads, closed]

[enderbean]

Hi there... I've decided to go vegan.. I know there are things out there that people do to animals that they wouldn't do to their children (and make money doing it) so that's a big turn-off. I don't go looking for those things, and I don't like hearing them (they're really depressing!) but I know they go on and I've decided for myself that I'd rather not be supporting it.

I'm of the opinion that one vote doesn't count and one more vegan may or may not make the difference to change the world.. but I know for myself I'd feel much better and probably sleep better at night knowing that I'm doing what I do for the better. I know it's kind of backwards mentality but I know what I'm doing is right in my mind and makes me feel good, so to hell with those who don't agree, right? Anyways...

I just wanna have a couple questions answered before I do this cause I wanna know what I can't get right off the bat. I think I may just quit my animal eating cold turkey (no pun intended) but I wanna research things first so I don't starve in my first week. :)

Sorry for such a long introduction, here are my questions:

Is there anything I have to watch out for in tortillas, pasta, or any spices? I don't think there will be anything... but I want to clear it up so I don't mess this up. I'm gonna browse through vegan recipes to get a good idea of all the different types of things I can eat. I know I'm supposed to watch out for lard in beans.. are there any other foods that occasionally have something I need to watch out for?

Thanks so much... I guess I'll go post in the Say Hello forums now. Looking forward to finding out more about the new me. :)

[enderbean]

I posted this a few days ago and since then I have found answers for my questions.

I have found (correct me if I'm wrong) that flour tortillas can be made with lard and thus fat-free ones would be OK (providing they don't add something else randomly into the mix). I have a vegan friend that says he has never seen corn tortillas made with lard. Can I rely on this information? Or should I always check just in case?

Pasta and spices seem like very silly questions to me now.. I thought this whole post was rejected for having asked that (which made me go search for my own answers and save the embarassment of such a silly question).

In my first few days now (I believe I typed this last friday) I have been pretty hungry but I visited my local Trader Joe's (which is within walking distance, yay!) and picked up some veggies, vitamins, bread and snacks.

Can anyone specifically recommend a cookbook with quick and easy (and preferably cheap) recipes? My vegan friend recommended looking for books with fewer recipes of a more specific type instead of the broad "1,000 Best Vegan Recipes" idea because in the latter case you end up 975 things you never cook.

[flying plum]

get vegan with a vengence. it rocks :) some of the recipes require 'special' ingredients, but if you're going to trader joe's already, you probably won't find them hard to get. i recommend the tofu and potato stew with miso gravy. miso isn't 'cheap', but last AGES in the fridge, and makes tasty soup.

amanda

[flying plum]

oh, and if you want to play with tortillas, this is a recipe for a veggie chilli i make:

1/2 cup each of red and green lentils
can of kidney/pinto beans
small can sweetcorn
can of chopped tomatoes
1 small chilli
1/2 tsp cumin
pinch cayenne pepper

cook the lentils until ALMOST cooked (about 30 mins).

add the chopped tomatoes, corn, beans and spices. i like to also add a splash of red wine, but that's optional :)

simmer on a low heat for about 15 mins.

serve with rice/tortillas/whatever.

tis cheap and tasty - that recipe makes enough for about four people, and of course you can used dried beans...i'm just lazy.

amanda

[Marrers]

Might be worth searching the internet for some recipes and printing them out to start with.

Cherry from this forum has a website http://www.parsleysoup.co.uk.

(Watch out for eggs in pasta.)

[Tigerlily]

Watch out for l-cystine in conventional, mass produced flour tortillas (Old El Paso brand contains it, I think).

[journey]

I'd read the labels until you come to know which brands are vegan and which are not. You really shouldn't be hungry on a vegan diet, there's so much good food that's not animal based. I'm always surprised when someone says that. Don't just be thinking what to cut out of your diet.

Also think about whether you'd like to replace each item with an alternative that serves the same purpose (tofu instead of meat, veggie burgers instead of hamburgers - check for a vegan brand tho as many use cheese, egg replacer instead of eggs, etc.)

Or you might want to go a different route and make vegan dishes that stand on their own instead of just trying to replace meat and animal products. I'm thinking ethnic foods here, those fantastic vegetable and rice dishes, etc.

Most vegans end up with a far more varied diet than most omnis - lot more exciting too.
Good luck.

[yum]

Watch out for l-cystine in conventional, mass produced flour tortillas (Old El Paso brand contains it, I think).

I went on the isitvegan.org website ( i think thats the address?) and searched for the old el paso tortilla wraps and they say they r vegan. Could someone please check that i got that right because i just ate them this lunchtime ( very nice by the way :D ). What is l-cystine?

Enderbean: hello and welcome :p

i go for the dried pasta which just has durum wheat in it. Normal pasta stuff :)
Nearly anything you use to eat can be vegan-ised- whilst discovering new foods. I have the Leah Leneman book 'easy vegan' which is fab! If you go the vegan society website (google it) they tell you the ingredients to avoid and where you might find them.

And of course... this forum has loads of tips and recipes posted.

Let us know how you are getting on

Yum

[littlewinker]

You know you said about the "one vote doesn't count" thingy, if you have that frame of mind you might feel like quitting if you ever find being vegan difficult (it won't be difficult at all if you do it well). You need to think of it like this: animal-farming is the cause of most major troubles in the world. By being a vegan, you aren't doing anything generous or charitable or making a sacrifice for others - you just aren't supporting the most evil industry in the world and paying for the deaths of millions of people, billions of animals, the extinction of species, and ruining the environment.

I'm not meaning to be a twat but I feel like everyone needs to think of it like this

You're making an intelligent choice and I hope you enjoy all the lovely vegan foods you'll find in time :)

[Pob]

l-cysteine used to be made only from feathers or hair (including human). It is an amino acid.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cysteine#Industrial_sources

It can now be made by microbial fermentation - which would be a vegan source.

[yum]

Cheers Pob. So if the is it vegan says it is vegan then it is likely to be vegan? I checked the ingredients and they had glycerol in them and so checked isitvegan.

x

[Cumin]

Yum - funny you should be asking about OldElPaso. I'm just doing a search myself and found your post!
To answer your question, I do tend to trust that site (isitvegan) as I know they are very picky about how the data is collected. However - like all similar sites, it relies upon people updating it with any changes etc.
I would say trust it for now, but I'd like to get the real answer from OldElPaso, so I'm going to try and contact them myself today.
I'll let you know what I find.

[yum]

Yum - funny you should be asking about OldElPaso. I'm just doing a search myself and found your post!
To answer your question, I do tend to trust that site (isitvegan) as I know they are very picky about how the data is collected. However - like all similar sites, it relies upon people updating it with any changes etc.
I would say trust it for now, but I'd like to get the real answer from OldElPaso, so I'm going to try and contact them myself today.
I'll let you know what I find.

Thanks Cumin- that's great. Mmmmmm faijtas! :D

[RubyDuby]

I'm of the opinion that one vote doesn't count and one more vegan may or may not make the difference to change the world.. but I know for myself I'd feel much better and probably sleep better at night knowing that I'm doing what I do for the better. I know it's kind of backwards mentality but I know what I'm doing is right in my mind and makes me feel good, so to hell with those who don't agree, right? Anyways...

right. :) as long as you can truly reconcile your actions with yourself, thats all that really matters.

when I don't really believe I'm making much of a difference I think about the idea that each veg*n saves 95 animals/year from being bred for slaughter... I bet it makes a difference to each of those animals.

also, for inspiration, there's the old Margaret Mead quote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."


I just wanna have a couple questions answered before I do this cause I wanna know what I can't get right off the bat. I think I may just quit my animal eating cold turkey (no pun intended) but I wanna research things first so I don't starve in my first week. :)

You might want to take a look at this thread (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11230&highlight=exhausting). It made me feel better. :)


Is there anything I have to watch out for in tortillas, pasta, or any spices? I don't think there will be anything... but I want to clear it up so I don't mess this up. I'm gonna browse through vegan recipes to get a good idea of all the different types of things I can eat. I know I'm supposed to watch out for lard in beans.. are there any other foods that occasionally have something I need to watch out for?

your best bet is to do the research yourself. there is too much for us info for us to just hand over to you. You'll have to read ingredients for a while when grocery shopping. but to name a couple things to check for when eating out: egg in pasta? cheese, meat, cream in pasta sauce? lard in beans? chicken broth in rice? mayo or dairy in guacamole?

good luck and hope to see u around. :)

[ellaminnowpea]

I'd watch out for:

whey protein, milk fat/ solids, honey, and eggs in sweet snack foods
whey, cheese/ milk solids in salty processed foods
chemicals are questionable, but usually appear last in the ingredients list
some grain products like bread, wraps, and pastas have eggs
a lot of candy has gelatin or milk derivatives
obviously dairy, eggs, meat
look out for allergen statements underneath the ingredients list. that'll help you with eliminating eggs and dairy

there are a lot of resources on the internet that provide lists of animal derivatives, including this (http://www.thirty5.org/ipod/?h=note#notes) one, which you put onto your ipod and take with you.

there's whey and egg in freaking everything!

[Risker]

I would say trust it for now, but I'd like to get the real answer from OldElPaso, so I'm going to try and contact them myself today.
I'll let you know what I find.

I recently tried to get some info out of old el paso regarding the veganness of another of their products, I made 2 seperate calls and was told that they couldn't tell me, the info they had was pretty much just what's written on the packets. Decided to write them an email instead so that I wasn't putting someone on the spot with a question that probably requires some research on their part to find out that they don't have an email address. :(

Have sent 2 emails to their USA CS which they've completely ignored, nice.

@enderbean - of course one vote counts!

[Korn]

I'm of the opinion that one vote doesn't count and one more vegan may or may not make the difference to change the world.. but I know for myself I'd feel much better and probably sleep better at night knowing that I'm doing what I do for the better.

I agree with Risker: not only does one vote count, a person who doesn't use animal products saves hundreds of animals' lives during his lifetime, and that definitely counts, especially for these animals!

With millions of vegans in the world, we're not even talking about 'one vote': if each of all those who at some point decided to go vegan would think that one vote didn't count, and use it as a reason to not go vegan - there wouldn't be any vegans out there...

[sandra]

Watch out for l-cystine in conventional, mass produced flour tortillas (Old El Paso brand contains it, I think).


It might be different in Canada but when I wrote to El Paso some months ago they assured me their tortillas were completely vegan. :)

Hi enderbean, I'm sure you will find the longer you are vegan the more it becomes second nature. Try starting off with a few meals/foods you really like and build on those. I like getting recipes from the internet and even adapting non-vegan recipes. :)

[RubyDuby]

I agree with Risker: not only does one vote count, a person who doesn't use animal products saves hundreds of animals' lives during his lifetime, and that definitely counts, especially for these animals!

:devil: hey! i just said that. :hmm:

...well sort of.

[sandra]

Yes you did RubyDuby! I saw that! :D

[RubyDuby]

hehehe :D

[littlewinker]

RubyDuby your avatar always confuses me. I takes me at least 5 seconds every time I see it to work out it's a shiny dog

[Cumin]

FYI - I got a reply in the post.

OldElPaso said the following are vegan: "Cooking Sauces, Dinner Kits, Refried Beans, Spice Mixes, Salsa&Dips, Slice Jalapenis , Taco Shells and Tortillas."

That sounds like pretty much everything, and I know from their website that they do Salsa and dips with Cheese in.:mad::mad::mad:
So I've called them, pointed out how pointless this information is, and asked for a more specific and detailed reply.
I'll let you know what I get.

sigh..

[RedWellies]

RubyDuby your avatar always confuses me. I takes me at least 5 seconds every time I see it to work out it's a shiny dogHow insulting!:p

[RubyDuby]

was it? i didn't notice. :p