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Trying new things....
Started
by Kelly Bevel
on December 9, 2009
Ok, so I'm starting to shop for new food items since I'm just getting started. I was really unsure about trying a substitute for milk, but I did! I got rice milk, and I couldn't even tell the difference in my cereal today! Yay! It gets me more motivated to try more "dairy" products! =D
So, what are a few essential items to get as a "flirter" of this new lifestyle?? Yesterday I got rice milk, organic peanut butter puffs cereal, vegetable broth, carrots, and green beans (obviously I don't have much money, so cheaper suggestions are perfect)! Thanks all to all of your support!
Earth Balance "butter" and Tofutti "cream cheese" are both good. If you want quick meals (cheaper to cook, but I'm strapped for time), Amy's brand makes some great vegan items. The "black bean tamale" is slammin'! Almond milk is my favorite (non-soy) milk substitute- it's a little thicker than the rice milk and has some protein. Oat milk is also good and tastes yummy with cereal! Glad you're "flirting," sometimes taking things slowly increases your chance of sticking with something & not totally burning out. :)
Hi and sooooooo awesome you're flirting, Kelly! Me too in the sense that I'm still, as many many here, trying to fully wean off dairy and eggs and go more superhero. Oh! Which reminds me, the very biggest, cheapest, easiest change I made was getting into greens! They're cheapy-cheap, filling and a huge part of the The Kind Diet - and yummier than I dreamed! So that's my first thin I could add here. Caroline is dead on with Earth Balance and Almond Milk - I've yet to try Amy's stuff but boy do people glow on about it - LOL! I'm incorporating more different grains like quinoa and cous cous and millet, which are cheap, filling and wildly flexible. Nuts, seeds, raisins, dates - Let's just say I'm becoming GOOD friends with the bulk items section of Whole Foods - LOL!
Hope this helps!
When I went vegan, I fell in love with brown rice. Sweet brown rice is AMAZING. So I would suggest getting some brown rice, tofu, and vegan teriyaki sauce (soy vay makes a good one, but I don't know if they are just a New York thing...). If you make a fair amount of rice to last you for a couple days, then you only need to heat up the rice, drain/cut the tofu and put it in a frying pan. Cover it in teriyaki sauce, and serve on brown rice next to a heaping salad! Cheap, yummy, healthy. My favorite flirt items are...Gardein "chicken" cutlets (excellent chopped up in a wrap), Field Roast apple-smoked "sausages" (cut em up in vegetarian refried beans and you have quite the meal), SoDelicious Vanilla Coconut yogurt, and Amy's veggie burgers! If nothing else, go for the earth balance buttery sticks! So versatile! I spread it on toast, melt it on popcorn, use it in sauces, and occasionally bake with it. It's good stuff. Perhaps try Maranatha Creamy almond butter. It's new, and I bought it on a spontaneous trip to the grocery store. Has a bit of sugar in it, but it is so divine that I eat a heaping spoonful for dessert or as a snack. Hope flirting is going well for you!
I'm glad you liked the rice milk, I LOVE it and this it's the best milk substitute by far but almond milk is a close second and you can even make that yourself if you have a good blender.
I agree with having a butter-substitute in your fridge, like Earth Balance (here we have Nuttelex) and having different grains, beans and flours like: brown rice, quinoa, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, brown rice flour, chickpea flour etc. Most of those shouldn't be too expensive, especially if you buy them in bulk and cook them as you need them.
Good luck :D
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