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thegreenjudy
Feb 22nd, 2012, 05:29 PM
I've been vegan since mid January but I think I am not eating enough fruit and veg but rather tons of nuts!! (and other vegan junk food - I know nuts are good but only if eaten in moderation)

I really am addicted to them - once I've started I can't stop (especially cashews). I also have a bad habit of nibbling - and veg is not really something one would nibble on.. In fact I have never been a great fruit and veg eater because I think it's messy (always have sticky fingers) and I don't like cold food very much (like salads and ...yes...fruit)..I nibble on dry fruit but I can't do that all the time either.and veggies need to be prepared, I only ever eat them in a main meal which doesn't happen very often. I am trying to be a good girl and starte the day off with some porridge and banana or just fruit...and then it goes downhill because I am so disorganized...so not many main meals...

Most of the time I just eat oranges or apples not because I like them so much but to have a clear conscience :-) If I could I would live on nak'd bars and nuts and dried fruit (I'm not a raw-foodist)... I like cooking but haven't been feeling too good for the last few years so my passion for cooking has gone out of the window...sometimes I try a new vegan recipe but often the result is not very tasty. And the only recipes I like are usually fried (fried tofu, polenta, aubergine, falafel anyone??)

So I am actually scared I am having too much fat in my diet (which is not good if you weigh 14 stone)...Funnily enough I have lost weight but it still feels wrong...

Niccie
Feb 22nd, 2012, 05:52 PM
Do you feel like you just don't know what to cook?
I'm not very good at making fancy food so tend to stick with plain simple things like pies - really easy to make and you can stick loads of different things in with hardly any prep.
My partner eats raw veg all the time but I'm just not a fan. At work I munch on bram flakes or strawberry's or grapes (non messy fruit). Tend to have for lunch what I had for tea the night before as I am not very prepared in the mornings.
Nuts although have a high fat content it's a different type of fat to that usually found in junk foods so I wouldn't worry too much.

I think the most important thing is you find food you like to cook and can eat. I know a lot of people have ended up giving up on being vegan/veggie as they cut meat/dairy/egg out of their diet by effectively not eating.

Oh and you can make falafel in the oven :)

Take yourself off to the Egg for a treat - should give you some inspiration on easy dishes to make there as well.

Risker
Feb 22nd, 2012, 05:55 PM
How about crudites? You could make a big batch and then just nibble on them as and when you want. To make them more interesting you could have them with houmous or make a bean pate. (This is advice I should be following myself by the way!)

thegreenjudy
Feb 22nd, 2012, 06:06 PM
Do you feel like you just don't know what to cook?


Exactly :-)

Didn't know I can make falafel in the oven...will check this out! I think I just need to find a few recipes that I can make in batches and then eat (not just soup...). That's so much easier to do with meat (eg lasagne)

I want to create a recipe book that's practical and I can just warm up leftovers...I just get sick of hummous and peanut butter...I don't understand why I never got sick off dairy...it's so much easier to eat a yogurt..sigh...But I'll get there..I don't feel like giving up at all (not after all my friends made fun of me about becoming vegan..I am too proud and my cute cat convinces me every time :-) )



@Risker: yeah that's my problem - I am just not a big fan ob nibbling on veg...but maybe I should get into it :)

Niccie
Feb 22nd, 2012, 06:59 PM
Aww cat, I like cats.

You can make vegan lasagne - soya mince and there is a cheese type sauce which comes in a yellow tub. Think I get it from Holland & Barrett but it's been a while (hence not knowing it's name)

Some might disagree but in my opinion right now you should make meals you would normally make but with with tofu, soya alternatives. I remember H&B and a little shop on Bold Street (I'm from Liverpool can't remember name of the shop though - doh) being amazing when I first went vegan and was stuck for ideas. Then just start replacing meat substitutes with veg :)

Mymblesdaughter
Feb 22nd, 2012, 07:04 PM
You can make vegan lasagne quite easily. I make a sauce with soya milk just the same as with cows milk. Then add soya cheese or yeast flakes to give it a cheesy flavour. You can make a tomato sauce with veggie mince and vegetables or i sometimes use tinned lentils. I like to sprinkle sesame and sunflower seeds on top to make it crunchy. Also don't forget you can get really nice alpro yogurts plain or with fruit from most of the supermarkets.

veganwitch
Feb 22nd, 2012, 11:35 PM
I could have written some of the original post myself. Except the losing weight part ;-) I wish! Although I like fruits and veggies, sometimes I seem to have to make it a point to eat them. A day will go by and I realize, "oops, no fruit (or no veggies) today". I like to keep a food journal so I can see in black and white what I'm eating or better, what I'm not eating. I also tend not to like "cold foods". It's so funny because just last night I was huddled under a blanket while eating a COLD salad...lol. And I was wondering if there is such a thing as warm salads...lol. Also, like you my passion for cooking went away for a while due to me not feeling well. I am getting that passion back thankfully. But when I don't have the time or motivation to cook, I find smoothies a good way to consume a lot of fruit at once and fresh juices a great way to get fresh veggies. But then again, those things are cold. So I chase them down with a cup of tea. Actually chase everything down with a cup of tea :) Don't be too hard on yourself. Nuts and dried fruits are healthy. Cashews are my favorite nut too. And the fried food thing? My absolute favorite. I'd eat fried foods everyday if I didn't want to look like an unhealthy vegan. But I'm not denying myself my love of fried foods either. IMO, life is too short already.

Robinwomb
Feb 23rd, 2012, 01:32 AM
Carrots chopped and roasted in the oven with a little olive oil for a short time makes a really good snack, as do canned chickpeas roasted for a few minutes. You can do the same with sweet potatoes. I like to cook up a batch of sweet potatoes or squash that will last for four or five breakfasts and then add some blackbeans to them and spices for a filling and healthy meal. I also do the simple smoothies almost every morning but include different things: always several cups of raw greens (kale, collards, chard, spinach, bok choy, lettuce etc), and then I will throw in berries or an apple or an orange and a few spices and water and ice and have a nice juice. The best juice I had was simply mixing an orange and strawberries in the blender with a little water (not too much as the orange is mostly water itself) and ice. Man was that good! You can add a little sugar to it if you like, or maple syrup. I have found that spinach blends to a creaminess that mixed in with banana and pineapple or another strong fruit you dont even notice except the color.

I was going to suggest a simple sandwich (if you can find vegan bread) with sliced tomato and sliced raw avocado but I realize you are trying to cut down on the fat. But just a little avocado is healthy and very filling and delicious in a sandwich, especially with tomato. Its a quick meal that requires little cooking. I also like to lightly steam beets (and the leaves) and carrots for a side dish. It only takes a few minutes if you have a steamer. Or throw a baked potato or two in the oven and forget about it for an hour, then add some steamed brocoli or frozen mixed veggies to it and whip up a vegan white sauce or nutritional yeast sauce (takes five or ten minutes including heating) and pour over it for a nice meal.

One fruit I could eat all day every day raw is mango with the skin on. I like to slice it up and eat it as is, usually with breakfast but also as a quick snack. Very satisfying. Someone else mentioned vegan yogurts. Nowadays you can find not only soy yogurt but almond milk based and coconut milk based yogurts. There are also things like ready made vegan burritos in frozen food sections (at least in the U.S. not sure about U.K.) that you just heat up in a microwave. They usually have beans and rice and vegetables in them. Or take a can of refried beans (watch label to make sure there is no lard in it as some have this and some do not; I find the fat free versions to be free of lard) and spread a little of it on a vegan friendly tortilla or even in a large collard leaf for a bean wrap to eat as a snack. I do this and add salsa too and spices like cayenne. Another awesome vegetable (or is it a fruit?) I just discovered is jicama. Very sweet and tasty raw. You can chop it and put it in the blender and grind it up to a rice consistancy, then add chopped celery and carrot and add all to a rice or bread or tortilla or collard leaf, sprinkle on some soy sauce or tamari, and it tastes quite good. I add sprouted lentils to mine too. Does take a little prep but not hours by any means. I consider these things simple, not elaborate, but a little more than your standard carrot and celery sticks. Of course those go well with hummus or white bean dip...

thegreenjudy
Feb 23rd, 2012, 08:54 AM
Wow guys,thanks very much!!!that gives me some inspiration :-)

Tbh I have never seen non-vegan bread here in the uk (and I will have avocado any time...no matter how much fat :-))

Is that really such an issue in the us?even the soggy supermarket bread here in uk doesn't contain animal products....I don't like that stuff anyway. But we have a nice German bakery here I liverpool : just flour water and yeast (or sourdough)..bread doesn't need anything else...

Oh and that shop on boldstreer is called mattas :-)

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Troutina
Feb 23rd, 2012, 10:16 AM
I love this recipe for baked cauliflower falafel (http://kabochafashionista.com/2011/06/22/wiaw-6/) - it has houmous in, and it is seriously delicious! Plus you'll get an extra veg in :)

To make things quicker for me during the week I'll bake a while tray of butternut squash (cut into chunks and baked in the oven for around 30 mins - no oil or seasoning) and I'll have a couple of salad tubs from M&S or Sainsburys in the fridge, and then in the morning I'll make a tupperware box with lettuce, some veggies, gherkin, balsamic vinegar, tofu and just chuck some squash and grains in. Takes about 5 mins to put together! You could also have a tub of houmous and a stack of pittas to hand. I also live off Trek and Nakd bars as snacks, plus clementines, apples, bananas etc.

You could add a whipped banana into your oats for extra fruit? For a quick evening meal I love stirfried veggies?

Robinwomb
Feb 23rd, 2012, 11:22 AM
Wow guys,thanks very much!!!that gives me some inspiration :-)

Tbh I have never seen non-vegan bread here in the uk (and I will have avocado any time...no matter how much fat :-))

Is that really such an issue in the us?even the soggy supermarket bread here in uk doesn't contain animal products....I don't like that stuff anyway. But we have a nice German bakery here I liverpool : just flour water and yeast (or sourdough)..bread doesn't need anything else...

Oh and that shop on boldstreer is called mattas :-)

Sent from my ZTE-BLADE using Tapatalk

Most of the commercial breads here in the U.S. are LOADED with horrible ingredients and many have honey or L-Cysteine or milk and butter in them or other hidden not so familiar chemicals that may or may not include the use of animal derived materials. Some have vitamin D3 added. Exceptions include some versions of Ezekiel sprouted breads and a few others. Usually I make my own bread or just don't eat it but I have used Ezekiel and a brand called Rudi and where I live there is a local bakery that makes vegan bread and cookies and they list ALL their ingredients on their website. Even the bakeries here use animal products for their breads, including honey. Very frustrating. I agree with you 100%, the best bread is the simplest with only a few ingredients.

thegreenjudy
Feb 23rd, 2012, 05:07 PM
eeek...doesn't sound nice...although the commercial stuff over here contains no animal products I still don't like eating them..they taste so artificial and my husband get itchy and red blotches from it, and it's not the wheat or gluten as he eats homemade stuff with no problems...