Transitioning to mostly plant based meals

amother

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 10:23 pm

Please list the most useful:
websites, books, tips in transtitioning to a more vegetarian/vegan lifestyle
Especially with Shabbos cooking that seems a big challenge
Also needs to be gluten free.
I tend to research things somewhat obsessively so wondering if people can help reign things in for me so that I don't spend too much time on this.

baby12x

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 11:31 pm

1. How not to die by dr. Michael gregeris a good guide to get started
2. Many websites have a vegan/vegetarian section. Budgetbytes.com has a good one.
3. I wrote this about tips to help my family come on board
https://adimesaved.com/feeding.....udget

amother

Dodgerblue

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 11:46 pm

I think a lot is trial and error -- finding out what tastes good to you and what makes you feel full. This I'd recommend not buying much of anything at first because you might not like it. If you go dairy free, try one soymilk, one rice, one almond, etc to see what's best for you. If you try one brand of veggie burgers and don't like it, don't think automatically "I don't like veggie burgers", try a few more brands because they can be really different.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 3:10 am

baby12x wrote:

I did the first one - Dr Michael geiger plan - and after about a week I felt really sick. I was missing some key vitamin like B6 or B12 and I just had no energy and couldn’t be even move. Just letting you know.

Frumwithallergies

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 5:24 am

My vegan friend learned about how to combine foods so as to have complete proteins, and takes a vitamin B12 supplement.

Examples of shabbos meals (mains) include chili (made with TVP), veg cholent, and a variety of tofu based dishes. All these are accompanied by many hearty salads, including quinoa in at least one salad.

amother

Smokey

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 7:02 am

There have been a few threads on this recently - great to see people interested in more plant-based meals.

I really love Isa Moskowitz's cookbooks - try Isa Does It and I can Cook Vegan for starters. Not all recipes in there are gluten free but many are (they're marked). She has some recipes on her website as well if you google. Vegan Richa and Forks over Knives are other good online resources.

In general, my advice would be to start with things you already like that are either already vegetarian and GF or easily modifiable to become vegetarian and GF and then branch out. If you're trying a bunch of foods and styles of cuisine that are completely new to you, it's easy to burn out.

amother

Smokey

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 7:12 am

andrea levy wrote:

Anyone here do vegan without processed foods? I have a friend who is interested in that.

We eat this way pretty often, less out of ethics or health reasons and more because that's just what's in the pantry. Very Happy

The cookbooks I mentioned above should have plenty of options here, though some recipes will have tofu, tempeh, or seitan - I wouldn't count those as processed foods but some might. The Forks Over Knives people are very pro-whole foods, that might be a good resource too.

If your friend likes beans, there was a great vegan bean cookbook published this year called Cool Beans.

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 7:17 am

andrea levy wrote:

Anyone here do vegan without processed foods? I have a friend who is interested in that.

Many foods literally have to be processed in order to be edible.

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 7:26 am

andrea levy wrote:

Anyone here do vegan without processed foods? I have a friend who is interested in that.

Just buy the veggies and eat them...
But you have to be careful with vegan, there could be vitamin or aminoacid deficiencies...

It's alsways better to be not strict vegan than strict vegan... for example, vegan with meat on shabbes would be OK... Or vegan but eating anything when you are invited... there are some elements we need, but not very frequently...

amother

Smokey

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 7:30 am

amother [ Chartreuse ] wrote:

I'm not sure what this means. I've been a vegan for ~15 years, and I have no vitamin or amino acid deficiencies. I don't eat meat on Shabbat, and I make sure to bring (vegan) dishes to share when I'm invited out so I always have something to eat.

Chana Miriam S

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 9:19 am

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

This is funny because I eat almost nothing but meat but we both have to take our own food places! Suggestions for my friend not eating processed foods? Boredom is a problem for her. Then she goes and binges. Asked me for help but I have no idea since I’m general I don’t like vegan protein sources.

amother

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 10:48 am

What are ways to make eating vegetarian/vegan (not strictly vegan but not so much cheese or unhelathy stuff) not so time consuming.
Seems like all the healthy stuff takes more time!

amother

Smokey

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 11:01 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

What are ways to make eating vegetarian/vegan (not strictly vegan but not so much cheese or unhelathy stuff) not so time consuming.
Seems like all the healthy stuff takes more time!

off the top of my head: canned beans, frozen vegetables, frozen rice (Trader Joe's has this), plenty of dried herbs/spices/sauces to flavor your food, a good food processor to chop veggies quickly, making multiple components of recipes so they can serve different functions throughout the week (e.g, cooked and seasoned black beans could be in tacos one night and chili a few days later, roasted cauliflower as a side one night and in a pot pie a few nights later), planning and shopping menus for the week ahead of time so you're not scrambling to put something together at the last minute.

amother

Mistyrose

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 11:17 am

Google Deliciously Ella. This woman who suffers from a chronic illness, basically learned which foods are good for her, and developed a food business off that. She shares delicious looking, vegan recipes on her Instagram page.

baby12x

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 11:32 am

amother [ Lilac ] wrote:

Really? That's so interesting. When I was doing it religiously I felt GREAT! but I stopped because it was too strict for me.

I still use his book as a guide- make sure to increase vegetables and beans- and I use his guides when someone is sick (with regular medical intervention as well).