Do you enjoy cooking more now that you are vegan ?

[gertvegan]

As some non vegans seem to think that vegan food is just a load of old lentils, very dull and boring, and lacking variety, I wonder whether you enjoy cooking more now that you are vegan compared to when you weren't ?

Has being vegan opened up a whole new library of receipes or not ? Do you eat to live or live to eat ? Whats your thoughts ?

[MzNatural]

I have always loved preparing food, even as a child. I enjoy it so much more as a veggie. I love experimenting with a variety of vegetables, fruit, and grains. The foods I eat and enjoy are definitely not boring. I prefer preparing my meals. I rarely go out to eat.

I never grow tired of preparing meals!

[foxytina_69]

cooking is an obsession of mine! before i was vegan i was a good cook but it was never that fun because it was always the same meals based around meat. but now i have a recipe book overflowing with recipes lol.

[Tofu Monster]

i hate cooking. always have done and always will. and i'm rubbish at it and have no imagination.

i did make a stew with pearl barley the other night (first time i've ever used that stuff) but i shall never know if it was nice as i went bowling and left it cooking on the gas ring :eek: when i got home it was black as coal and the place stunk to high heaven and i was lucky i didn't burn the whole gaff down. don't do that kids.

[cedarblue]

i hate cooking. always have done and always will. and i'm rubbish at it and have no imagination.

i did make a stew with pearl barley the other night (first time i've ever used that stuff) but i shall never know if it was nice as i went bowling and left it cooking on the gas ring :eek: when i got home it was black as coal and the place stunk to high heaven and i was lucky i didn't burn the whole gaff down. don't do that kids.



LOL LOL

..mmm pearl barley :p

[feline01]

Didn't cook much before vegan and now I look for recipes and try loads of new stuff. Love it much more now because no blood/pus/animal secretions!

[Artichoke47]

Hell yeah! I love to cook vegan foods, all of the vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds that I have to work with. I can make magic!

[Leigh]

I'm very much an 'eat to live' kind of person. I always have been. I can cook pretty well when I choose to, but I've never really enjoyed it. One trait I didn't inherit from my mum, who reads recipe books like novels! But, I have to say that since becoming vegan in May, I've started to enjoy trying new recipes. My boyfriend, who had virtually never cooked in his life before he met me (it was learn to cook or starve!), now goes mad over vegan recipe books. I wouldn't say that I enjoy cooking 'loads' more now, but certainly more and speaking for my boy, I think he's has discovered a new passion...aside from me obviously! ;)

[eve]

After many years of cooking for 8, at least twice a day, since being on my own, I'm glad not to have to cook if I don't fancy. Nobody around to say, 'what's for dinner mum?', and nobody to complain! There's an oven in my kitchen, but don't use it. On the rare occasions I cook, it's a saucepan, the grill, or the toaster. Suits me fine! :D

[Roxy]

I still really enjoy to cook - but around the same time that I went vegan (last January), I also started working full time - therefore having a lot less time to cook creative meals, compared to how I used to.

"Cooking" is usually reserved for my days off, when I have time to spend pottering around in the kitchen. When I'm working if my evening meal is at home, it is usually something heated up. If I'm eating my evening meal at work, it's usually something bought or taken to work or something from home taken and heated up.

[Gorilla]

i've found myself cooking more since becoming vegan, partly out of necessity because there are fewer vegan convenience foods available, and partly because i feel the need to eat more healthily and eat less processed rubbish.

i have loads of vegan cookbooks which i bought to make sure i wouldn't be stuck for things to eat, but i only use a select few of the recipes. like you Banana when i try new things they often go horribly wrong! i sometimes get very stressed when cooking. my boyfriend's not allowed to help because he just gets in the way LOL.

[PinkFluffyCloud]

I was just thinking that I have come full circle - I really began to enjoy cooking and baking since going Vegan - now it has lead me to eat (almost) all uncooked food!

[Marie]

Vegan food is not dull and boring even though I've been a little tired of cooking dinners lately.We got loads of recipe books and it will probably take a life time going through all the recipes, so when people say it is lacking variety they simply do not know what they are talking about. I enjoy good food and have always been interested in recipe books also before I became a vegan 5 years ago. Now I'm looking for some inspiration to try new spices in my cooking.

[Kiva Dancer]

I like it. I used to be quite horrific in the kitchen but now I'm pretty brave about putting things together just to see what they would taste like. A lot of times it comes out really good but there have been a few disasters that even the dog wouldn't eat! lol

[1984]

I love the concept of cooking, it's just the process that I cannot do. I'm learning slowly, and everyday I try something new. But since I have never heard or tasted half of the things I'm cooking, I never know what their supposed to taste like or if it's any good.

But I will never give up! Ever!

[Mystic]

i sometimes get very stressed when cooking. my boyfriend's not allowed to help because he just gets in the way LOL.

:D Me too!

[Miel Miette]

I love cooking, I always have. Veganism didn't change that for me either way.

[foxytina_69]

:D Me too!

LOLLLLLLL diddo.

[Poison Ivy]

I've always enjoyed cooking ever since I was little, I cooked my own meals from about age 15/16 (when I went vegetarian) as my mum had NO idea of what to cook for me :)

So no, no different since I turned vegan. :)

[RockyRaccoon]

I've always loved cooking, especially trying out new recipes. If I need something to do I'll go into the kitchen and cook. I suppose, since veganism is still fairly new to me, cooking is a huge adventure, so I had to pick 'loads more'. Though I'm sure I'll love it as much even when I've been at it a while

[Yam]

Ive enjoyed cooking just never really had the chance, but Im making an conscious effort too find time to now and Im so enjoying experimenting. Boyf doesnt understand my liking for seeds 'dont you get little plants growing inside you?' I think he was half serious...

[Mystic]

I go through phases - sometimes I cook a lot, sometimes I don't cook at all. Since I have started working, I have had less time, but more money to buy convenience food. I don't buy crap though. I buy minimally processed things (hand-made, rather than machine made) and it is mostly organic. I should cook though. I am just too lazy. Oh well :D

[sophia]

I've always enjoyed cooking, and I'm glad that i'm a good cook. I never buy processed food, I tend to make it myself. Since being vegan I've made up a load of lush new recipes. Even if i'm tired i'll cook myself something, as I like to know exactly what is in my food. Ready meals/processed foods are full of sugar and salt, and you don't need to add it! :)

[Mystic]

Ready meals/processed foods are full of sugar and salt

The things I buy are not, which is why I am happy to consume them. But I agree that nothing beats home cooking :) .

[Jamie]

I used to do hardly any cooking - it tended to turn out bad unless it was dead simple, although I seemed to be ok with cake and biscuit making! But now that I'm vegan, I have found more enjoyment in trying out recipes, and sometimes they turn out quite ok! I'm not working at the moment though so I have plenty of time to do it. My hubby used to do dinner every night but nowdays it's more 50/50 or he does it slightly more often really.

Since you have to read so many ingredients labels as a vegan, I really noticed how many additives and things are in foods, but also some stuff that you could easily make yourself. I tend now to prefer making stuff myself than buying it ready made - salad dressing for instance. I look at it in the supermarket, but see loads of stuff I don't even know what it is and E numbers and stuff so I just end up deciding I'd rather make one of the dressings out of my shelf full of vegan cookbooks instead. At least I understand what's in it and when it was made! :)

Shortly after deciding to go vegan, I bought a few cookbooks, then a few more, and now I have quite a lot. I love to browse throught them, and decide what looks nice to try one day, and they also just give me ideas for making my own stuff up. I can't wait until we get to move, so that I can buy up all the other books I've had my eye on. Then you just have to pick about three books a week and choose meals for the week from them, and some different books the next week, etc... fab! :D