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vegan help - 4 questions
Hello!
I'm new here, and I'd appreciate any help I can get.
I've been a vegetarian for almost 2 years, and last year I was vegan for Lent. I continued the diet for about 3 months, until my mom became concerned that it was a health risk and told me I should get more info. on it and try again in a healthier way.
So, I decided to be a healthier vegetarian first. The problem is that a lot of the vegetarian and vegan products here are pretty expensive, and my family has a tight budget. Not to mention, my mom, step dad, and brother are all heavy meat eaters. I own two vegetarian cookbooks, take B12 and calcium pills, and I eat ALOT of vegetables and fruits. The problem is finding alot of protein, but I usually can find some vegetarian products to eat for dinner, and peanut butter for lunch.
About a week ago, my mom noticed that part of my hair (in the back) turned gray. She looked it up online, and saw that it could be signs of anemia, or various other bad signs, since I'm only 15.
Since this discovery, she's been very against me going vegan, but I really want to try again. She thinks I'm going to get very sick because of lack of protein, since I can't find soymilk i like, and I don't like raw tofu. I'm visiting the doctor this coming Monday, and if the news is bad she's going to be pretty angry.
Overall, my main questions are:
1. How can I maintain a protein-packed diet without spending alot of money?
2. What supplments/vitamins do I need to take?
3. Are there any simple reciepes that I can make for myself?
4. What should I say to help convince her that I'll be healthy?
Thanks
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Re: vegan help
Hello!
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The problem is that a lot of the vegetarian and vegan products here are pretty expensive, and my family has a tight budget.
There are lots of vegan products out there that are vegan, but which doesn't have the label 'vegan' on them; you don't need to buy or use any vegan specific products at all (I don't). There's a strong tradition of plant based food in many parts of the world, and if you have a chance to buy some food at immigrant grocery stores, it will easy to live on a vegan diet on a lower budget than you otherwise would. Tahini sauce, tofu, seitan, soy sauce and many other products that are commonly used by vegans aren't "vegan products" - they have been around for hundreds of years, and are not expensive. Even if you just buy food in normal stores, it doesn't need to be more expensive to be a vegan than a non-vegan - my experience is that it's cheaper wherever you buy your food. Organic food is more expensive than non-organic food, but that's a different story, and affects non-vegans who want to eat organic as well.
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I own two vegetarian cookbooks, take B12 and calcium pills, and I eat ALOT of vegetables and fruits.
If you eat plants containing calcium, you don't need calcium. Check out these threads:
Vegans and calcium
Calcium requirements
Calcium without supplements
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The problem is finding alot of protein
If you find it difficult, it's probably because your mind is trained to look for animal based protein sources. It's easy to get enough protein on a vegan diet:
What are your favourite vegan protein sources?
Vegan protein
Can you suggest a very high protein food?
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About a week ago, my mom noticed that part of my hair (in the back) turned gray. She looked it up online, and saw that it could be signs of anemia, or various other bad signs, since I'm only 15.
Since this discovery, she's been very against me going vegan
It's totally understandable that she's against veganism if she thinks that vegans will start getting grey hair when their 15! We have a subforum in the Member are called 'Personal Health Issue, where special cases like your are discussed, with a disclaimer reminding people that they shouldn't use our forum as a substitute for professional consultations, and I think it's great that you're seeing a doctor if you have signs of anemia. Many vegans eat vegan food without supplements for years without signs of anemia or anything else, but both vegans and vegans have so many options of what to eat and what not to eat, so vegans can become anemic like everyone else. You mentioned B12, and for the reasons described here, vegans are more likely to develop low B12 levels over time than non-vegans - just like non-vegans are more likely to become deficient in other nutrients. We simply don't live in a natural world, we don't all eat a perfect, balanced, organic diet, which means that we - or some/most of us needs to supplement with whatever we are lacking.
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I'm visiting the doctor this coming Monday, and if the news is bad she's going to be pretty angry.
It has been found that only circa 1% of the (non-vegan) population have sufficient levels of all the nutrient they need, and there's no need to be angry on a non-vegan or vegan because they lack certain nutrients. My guess is that you have low levels of B12, not of protein, but that's just a guess, because I don't know what you eat and haven't sen your blood tests (which should include B12, MMA and homocysteine).
There's just so much stuff that most people don't know about food and nutrition, because nobody taught then anything about it.
One example: the soil in certain parts of the world is low in iodine. This means that if you only eat vegan food from in this soil, you'll get low levels of iodine, and need a supplement. Now, this isn't an argument against eating vegan food, because people who eat animals grassing in the same, low-iodine soil will also become iodine deficient, but animals in factory farms are getting supplements of iodine, B12 and various other stuff when/if they need it. Some of them hardly eat regular food, they live on artificial junk with a lot of supplements added.
If you could convince that your mother should take a blood test as well, you would probably find that she is short in antioxidants, phyto-chemicals and nutrients like folate than you are (if you eat a normal, varied vegan diet) - which probably would solve that thing about her being angry at you.
Vegans and non-vegans who don't want to take blood tests to monitor their nutrient levels are in most cases better of with supplementing with nutrients people on their diet normally are short in - even if this will never guarantee that they are safe (since some people have absorption problems or just consume too many 'nutrient killers'.).
Vegans (and non-vegans) normally pay attention to vitamin D (in the winter / depending on where they live and how much sunlight they get). Iodine has already been mentioned. Some pay extra attention to iron as well; even if it's easy to get enough iron from plants, it doesn't happen on it's own. Circa 90% of the world population apparently are low in Omega-3, which means that you probably want to start using plants / plant products containing essential fatty acids.
I also started eating vegan around your age, and even if my mother weren't really skeptical, it took a little time before she started to ask me for advice about nutrients. It helped a lot that her doctor told her to stay away from animal products due to her arthritis. (When she did, she almost got 100% rid of it). Parent's are concerned about their childrens' health, and later in life, children are concerned with their parents' health. Nothing's wrong with that. :)
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What should I say to help convince her that I'll be healthy?
Become healthy. :) Make sure you get the nutrients you need. Read a little about vegan nutrition. Show her this.
Here's the guy who invented the word 'vegan', and were celebrating his 91st. birthday by climbing a mountain (he became 95), and the only supplements he got was from fortified foods.
"At 93," he said in 2004, "and never having taken medicines, orthodox or fringe, I am proof that after a weak childhood in a meat-eating family, veganism works. Are there any other nonogenarians who have never taken medicine?".
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Re: vegan help
Hello -
Quote:
skeletalstage
Overall, my main questions are:
1. How can I maintain a protein-packed diet without spending alot of money?
2. What supplments/vitamins do I need to take?
3. Are there any simple reciepes that I can make for myself?
4. What should I say to help convince her that I'll be healthy?
Thanks
1. Just eat a good range of ordinary non-animal foods like nuts, seeds, beans, peas, lentils and vegetables and you won't go short of protein. If you plan ahead a bit you can use dried beans and lentils which are very cheap.
2. This is a controversial one and some people will say you don't need any supplements. Personally I would take a vitamin b12 supplement, and you might want to consider taking vitamin D in the winter when you can't make it from sunlight. I would also try to eat flax seeds or something like that for omega 3 oils. You can read about these matters on various websites such as http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/ and decide for yourself.
3. There are a lot of recipes on this very forum. The simplest things to make are probably salads, stir-fries, soups and stews.
4. Ask your mother to read this - http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg...3_ENU_HTML.htm - she may find it reassuring as it's not from a pro-vegan organisation.
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Re: vegan help
Thank you alot, both of you.
I'm planning on showing her the links after I've read up on the threads myself.
It's be great if I could convince my mom to take a blood test, but she faints when she gets blood drawn so that doesn't seem to be a great idea.
This all has really helped alot, and if I can convince her I'll be sure to tell you the good news.
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Re: vegan help
Try to drink canned orange juice every day. I found its cheap and works to help iron obsorption.. When I started became vegan, I was not experienced with cooking, I spent around $180 per month. Now I am getting to know the food better and I am healthy by spending $150 per month. I normally eat whole wheat bread with peanut butter, oatmeal, noodles with green leaf vegies, brown rice, beans, peanut, walnut, raisin, fortified soymilk. I add pieces of ginger to vegies when I cooking, this is to cancel the coldness in vegies according to chinese medicine. If you only eat lots of "cold" food, it's not good. The result is that I lost 3lbs and I never lose more weight and a big plus is my skin is so much better, smoothier and not as dry as before.:) It's been one and half months since I became vegan. I was an omnivour before.
Don't give up because you run into problems, when I started, I didn't know I need Vitamin C rich fruits, juice every day, and my first was pale and weak. Now I found the fix.
and don't give up because people around you ask you to.
A lots of my friend say to me: you became so skinny, bagofbones etc.
I don't care what they say. It's because they're all fat, overweigh that it seems I am thin. That fact is I am healthy weight. My Body mass index is 20 which is in the normal range of 18.5 to 24.9. So whatever they say, I know I am doing fine.
if you feel sick, try to find solution to why and how to fix it.
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Just a few questions before I get into the game
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. :)
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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.)
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Watch out for l-cystine in conventional, mass produced flour tortillas (Old El Paso brand contains it, I think).
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
Tigerlily
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
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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 :)
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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/Cystein...strial_sources
It can now be made by microbial fermentation - which would be a vegan source.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
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.
Thanks Cumin- that's great. Mmmmmm faijtas! :D
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
enderbean
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."
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enderbean
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. It made me feel better. :)
Quote:
enderbean
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. :)
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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 one, which you put onto your ipod and take with you.
there's whey and egg in freaking everything!
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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Cumin
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!
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
enderbean
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...
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
Tigerlily
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. :)
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
Korn
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.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Yes you did RubyDuby! I saw that! :D
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
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..
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
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
How insulting!:p
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
was it? i didn't notice. :p
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
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..
Got a letter from General Mills today;
Quote:
Thank you for your recent letter requesting information on our General Mills products.
Unfortunately, we are unable to fulfil your request for a list of products suitable for a vegetarian diet, as you should be aware that all our products are subject to reformulation at any given time. We would recommend that you always check the ingredient lists on packs of all our products prior to purchase to determine their content.
I didn't send a letter and didn't write vegetarian so I'm guessing this is a stock letter.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
Cumin
Slice Jalapenis
Well they don't sound very vegan at all!:p
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Quote:
RubyDuby
was it? i didn't notice. :p
Oh no, your new avatar's even more confusing :amazed_ani: I still haven't worked it out... :p
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
Congrats on going vegan!
I noticed that you picked up vitamins when you were at Trader Joe's, and I just want to remind you that if you're eating a balanced diet you don't need any vitamins or supplements.
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Re: Just a few questions before I get into the game
OK - I did finally get a sensible, useful list from them.
http://idisk.mac.com/cumin.vegan/Pub...ldElPaso-s.jpg
I'm going to treat it with Caution and actually check the ingredients on any of these before I buy them, but I'm pretty confident they actually understood the question this time.:D
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Long-winded: Hi, I'm new and have questions. :)
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Re: Long-winded: Hi, I'm new and have questions. :)
Hi Angela and welcome to the forum. It's great that you are changing to a vegan diet. As far as egg substitution is concerned I haven't found it to be a problem.
Have you heard of the book 'Vegan cupcakes take over the world?' well the recipes in that are amazing! I haven't found the need to put substitute egg in any other recipes other than cakes though. :)
I haven't seen the threads you mentioned about the horror stories on egg substitutions but I'll have a look for them! :)
I'm sure you'll find lots of help here on the forum.........have fun!
p.s. Will the cat stay in the RV when you go on the trip? You know what cats are like...........if it was any of mine they'd be out exploring and get lost! :)
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Re: Long-winded: Hi, I'm new and have questions. :)
Hi and welcome to the forum. It sounds like you do amazing things to help animals...that's wonderful. I was thinking the same thing that Sandra mentioned about the cat in the RV. Same is true of my 3 felines, they do not travel well.
You mentioned that you will be going to DC. You MUST go to sticky fingers bakery. It is amazing. The sticky buns and lil' devils are my favorites. www.stickyfingersbakery.com
As far as egg substitutes I've never had a problem. I bake all the time and I've always used Ener-G egg replacer. It is just a powder that you can mix with water.
Good luck!
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Re: Long-winded: Hi, I'm new and have questions. :)
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Re: Long-winded: Hi, I'm new and have questions. :)
hello Angela, welcome to the forum! :) it sounds like you do some amazing work for animals, well done.
i don't have many tips for your road trip etc. but regarding egg substitutes, i just use recipes that were always intended to be vegan, and therefore designed to be made without eggs. i make a great fruit cake that's just flour, oil, water and fruit. it's deliciously light and moist. eggs seem to be one of the more difficult items to substitute directly.
there are loads of interesting threads here on the forum, hope you find the info you're looking for and you make some new friends!