The KInd Life Community Forum

I understand the frustration, but I'll share an anecdotal example from my own experience (still very new) to illustrate the way I look at this:

I had some soy milk in 2002, and I seriously thought I was going to gag. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever had in my mouth. I don't know if it had spoiled or if it was flavored with something...or what. But it had a VERY strong soy aftertaste, and I had to drink a soda and eat something to get the horrid flavor out of my mouth.

For the next 5-6 years, I didn't TOUCH soymilk. Ever. I loudly proclaimed that I hated it to anyone who asked, and I bought ricemilk whenever I wanted a vegan sub for dairy milk.

For the past month, my family has returned, as a group, to vegan eating. I had to buy soy milk for a recipe, and I purchased a big red carton of Silk (which is the only brand they carry here). I handled it like nuclear waste...I'm sure I looked stupid, but I didn't care. Soy milk is gross, and I knew all I needed to.

The upshot is, I made the recipe, and it was incredible. I made oatmal with the soymilk later in the week, and THAT was incredible. I sniffed the container, and it didn't have that sickly smell like soy formula. I drank a small glass of it. It still doesn't thrill me, but I was not revulsed. It had a clean, creamy taste. I have tried vanilla Silk and chocolate Silk, now, and both taste FABULOUS.

My point is this: Some of those meat subs you taste will be god awful...I mean truly disgusting. Some won't. Some of the meat subs you taste will be awesome in a recipe, but horrible just sliced on a sandwich or consumed alone. You don't HAVE to use these products at all. You don't have to sub for meat if you don't want to. Just try to retain a sense of adventure and patience. You will find pleasant surprises along with the bad ones.

Thanks Amy. Funny enough, I do actually like soy milk. Especially the vanilla stuff which isn't terrible good for me but it's a treat and it's fare trade organic.

As for the Superhero plan, I'd like to give it a go but as I mentioned, most of the ingredients in the recipes in the book are nowhere to be found. I know in the book you say that's unlikely but I live in Ontario and there is no Whole foods. The closest thing to a health food store to me sells some food but mostly supplements. That's where I lucked into Tempeh (ewww) one time but other than that I have found nothing there that isn't already in my grocery store. I have asked for some of this stuff but get the same response that I would likely be the only one buying it. Quite frankly I just don't find the superhero plan affordable or practical at this point. I keep looking everytime I go in but there's never a change. I could order online but again, expensive.

My hunt for good "fake-less" food cookbooks contines....

Do you have any asian food markets near you? I found a ton of stuff there that is in the book that I can't find elsewhere.
Also, if nothing else, you could order some of the stuff online. Eden foods has a ton of stuff...sea veggies, umeboshi plums, mirin, shoyu....yeah, its not the best choice since it has to be shipped, but if you order a couple of things at the same time that'll help with both shipping costs and the environmental factor. The expense there isn't that great (for the sea veggies anyway) because the are dried and seem to last forever.
Also...no one says you have to go superhero (at least not from the book). Beans are cheap, readily availible, and a great source of both protein and fiber. Cause I'm with you...I don't like tofu (except in small doses in scramble type things) and the fake meats suck. Maybe it's because I'm so new to veganism, but I can't stand them...my sister, who has been veggie over 20 years like them.
I say just get beans, grains, and veggies.....that way you're kind of eating superhero, but in an affordable way.

The first recipe book I tried was Anne Gentry's "Real Food Daily" cookbook. Its a small book but chock full of great recipes. I've made several recipes including a tofu ricotta cheese that did taste like the real thing. Its a great learning book as well. I just love it. And there aren't a lot of odd/strange things to buy. Also I like "Vegan Express" by Nava Atlas another little gem. "VEgan PLanet" is good as well and "Cooking the Whole Foods Way" by Christina Pirello is fantastic. I have to order things on line too and this forum turned me on to Eden foods and Wow was I surprised to find virtually everything I needed and not as high priced as I have been paying. I just figured one day that I was spending a lot of money on gas to travel to a store in the next town over twice a month that I could spend online shopping instead. It balances out. It has taken me months to gather items up just one or two at a time but they last a good while as well. I also hate the meat and cheese substitutes and I even made seitan which is labor intensive. I came to the conclusion that I don't need a substitute for something I'm not eating anyway. I too tried soy milk years ago and thought it was gaggy. Now I love it and soy silk creamer is wonderful in hot chocolate or coffee. I order from Bob's as well, love Barley cooked with brown rice best. They also have a huge catalog of recipes. Lundberg's has a brown and wild rice mix that is wonderul with oven roasted veg. I was a professional cook for 25 years and its been hard making changes, finding foods and products but again its such a fantastic adventure learning and doing new things. I hope these sources work.

I don't know if this will help spice things up, but I stumbled upon this website that has lots of yummy looking dishes with natural ingredients that should be relatively easy to find. I have been a flirt for about a week and intend on going vegan starting next week, so I haven't tried any, but hopefully it will help!

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/