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I've been a vegetarin for awhile, and I'm now flirting with being vegan. I bought some soy cheese for the panini recipe, it tasted great, but when I looked at the ingredients caesin was on the list. Isn't caesin part of cows milk? So does this soy chese actually contain dairy? Or am I just confused?
Yep. From what I understand casein is a protein in dairy. My guess is those types of soy cheeses are made for lactose intolerant people because that is separate from casein. Follow Your Heart and Teese are two types of vegan cheeses I've tried that are decent. I noticed the most positive changes in myself after getting dairy out of my diet, so I applaud your efforts and hope it brings good benefits to you as well.
Thank you so much for your response! Now I will know what to look for. Giving up meat was so easy for me, but giving up dairy has been more of a challenge, it's good to know that there are people like you who have done it and seen major benefits.
I swear those companies are trying to trick us by labeling it "soy cheese"! It still has the harmful effects that regular ol' dairy cheese has. Companies like that just make everything silly and confusing!
Good looking out!
Hi!
I have a question relating to this. I noticed that Alicia mentions 'Amy's Macaroni & Cheese' as an option for processed vegan food. However, I've always seen the ingredients listing "contains milk protein." Has anyone else noticed this? And is it okay to eat it as long as it's not 'casein'?
I've always thought that anything derived from milk, even the proteins, weren't part of a traditional vegan diet.
Thanks for your responses!
Stephanie - I was a bit surprised to see Alicia's recommendation of the Mac and Cheese and I verified that it is not vegan and it probably does contain casein. The nice thing about Amy's products are that they do label themselves as vegan on the back.
If you are looking for a Mac and Cheese recipe, VegNews has a pretty good one that is on the healthier side:
http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=40&catId=10
If you are just looking for convenience, Amy's has tons of vegan entrees.
Of course it is your choice or not if you are completely vegan or vegan-like so some people may choose that vegan cheese with casein is ok while others (like myself) would avoid it.
For me, before becoming vegan, I had basically given up cheese anyway so when I went vegan, I didn't search out cheese substitutes but I have eaten them. I think for the most part it is better to do without but if it helps you, then go for it.
Hi Leena,
Thank you so much for the information!
I am definitely not a cheese lover, either, but sometimes I need something I can make fast.
And thanks for the recipe, it looks scrumptious!
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