Help!!

[hippie_chick666]

i made a bet w/ my man that i can go 6 months completely vegan. No animal byprdoucts whatsoever. i need as much help as i can get. the bet starts on Jan. 1. thanks for wahtever anyone can contribute!

:hippie:

[nappydread]

hey,
you should see if you can get a good vegan cookbook...


how it all vegan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1551520672/qid=1134329716/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6470903-3197619?n=507846&s=books&v=glance)

or

garden of vegan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1551521288/qid=1134329716/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-6470903-3197619?n=507846&s=books&v=glance)

these ones are great!
good luck:)

peace

[Herbmama]

I've heard great things about the book Vegan with a Vengence. I don't have it yet though.

Also check out www.vegweb.com they have great recipes with a weekly meal planner and shopping list tool.

[treehugger]

Don't have a lot to say, but a good vegan alternative to honey is agave nectar. It's farmed like maple syrup but from the agave cactus. It tastes a lot like honey if you get the amber stuff.

Kath

[LIBRA]

Don't have a lot to say, but a good vegan alternative to honey is agave nectar. It's farmed like maple syrup but from the agave cactus. It tastes a lot like honey if you get the amber stuff.

Kath


I wonder why honey is not vegan, because its made by bee's, that would nix being vagen for me. Bees are not harmed??

[Herbmama]

I wonder why honey is not vegan, because its made by bee's, that would nix being vagen for me. Bees are not harmed??

There is some debate on that. Some folks consider themself vegan and still eat honey, because they say bees aren't animals. Others say the bees suffer because they are smoked out of their hives and the honey they worked so hard to make is stolen by humans.

I know what you mean though, I can't give up honey either.

[lishca]

you don't always have to smoke them out. as long as it's not a really hot day, (they tend to be more agressive on hot days) you can take it out of the hive yourself. no bee suit required. i used to do it all the time. mmmm, fresh honey

[LIBRA]

There is some debate on that. Some folks consider themself vegan and still eat honey, because they say bees aren't animals. Others say the bees suffer because they are smoked out of their hives and the honey they worked so hard to make is stolen by humans.

I know what you mean though, I can't give up honey either.


Ya, I cant give it up, its part of my daiy life! My tea would be so blah with out it!! And its so good for you ;)
Sorry to the bees, but its mine all mine! Heeheehee!! :p

[treehugger]

You really should try the agave nectar, Libra, it's better for you than honey anyway...it's easier on blood sugar levels, doesn't spike it all over the place. The amber stuff tastes almost exactly like honey to me.

Also, in going vegan, hippie chick, are you just talking about foods? Or like skincare products too? I ask because I was at our holistic pharmacy in town here (god I love Madison) and noticed they had some soap labeled "vegan"...just something to think about anyway.

[LIBRA]

You really should try the agave nectar, Libra, it's better for you than honey anyway...it's easier on blood sugar levels, doesn't spike it all over the place. The amber stuff tastes almost exactly like honey to me.

Also, in going vegan, hippie chick, are you just talking about foods? Or like skincare products too? I ask because I was at our holistic pharmacy in town here (god I love Madison) and noticed they had some soap labeled "vegan"...just something to think about anyway.


I will give it a try, thanks for the tip!

To go vegan, seems impossible, to be completely vegan. Your soap, clothes every product you come into contact with, it would be hard and your life would have to revolve around it, I would think anyway?? Props to those who can pull it off though, I am much to selfish for all that, sad but true. :(

[hippie_chick666]

im trying to do the whole deal, no animal byproducts in anything, in body care, clothes, shoes, anything. i dont know how easy thats gonna be. i already use all natural body care. what products are not used by vegans that one would not think of?

[treehugger]

Well, I once was working installing a new piping system at a place that manufactured prescription heart medicine, and it came from enzymes present in pig intestines...and yes, the pig was definitely killed for this. Many medicines, prescription and non, have animal byproducts.

Kath

[hickchick]

I work at a lab and I think that just about every drug the FDA approves is done through animal research. I think that the only studies that can be performed solely through human research are dietary studies.

[hippie_chick666]

Cool. Thanks for the info. I didn't realize pigs were used for heart medicine. Who'da thunk?

[UnderTheRainbow]

I was surprised how few people didn't know how glue, gelatin, etc. are made. People used to offer me candies (which I don't eat, anyway) and I'd have to turn them down, not just because I don't normally eat candy, but because a lot of them were gummy candies.
Just know what's in most things (like the obvious, gelatin isn't going to say what it's made of, but we know) and read ingredients (a lot of chips, etc. have milk product) and soy cheese... a lot of soy cheese and some soy milk has casein (a milk protein).

I went completely vegan for a year, just as a sort of "trial and error" thing... I had A LOT more energy and learned to cook a hell of a lot more (half the reason I did it - vegetarian/vegan friends). I usually made my own cheeses (nutritional yeast does wonders) and veggie burgers (TVP) and such, and learned tons of different ways to cook tofu... it's actually REALLY good. Now that I live with my fiance, who has never eaten tofu or even considered vegetarian/veganism in his life, I seriously miss the stuff... but I can't buy it because I won't buy things just for myself, and I don't know if I could convince him to try it. I've seriously been thinking of just completely cutting animal out of my diet again, because I had so much more energy and felt so much better when I did.

Also, join websites like VeganPorn.com (not actually porn, obviously, just a trick to drag people to the website when they Google "porn" haha). There are a lot more people that can help on vegan-specific websites.

One other huge thing - I REALLY don't recommend searching "vegetarian" cook books, etc. for recipes. A lot of them use milk, eggs, honey, etc. and will only lead to frustration when you can't find a completely animal-free recipe that you're looking for. I learned that REAL fast.
Good luck!

[treehugger]

Although I do like this vegetarian cookbook...because the author is pretty vegan friendly and has lots of substitutable recipes:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557884382/103-0297890-5459013?v=glance&n=283155

[forrest]

Bread & water! :D

---------------------------
4 out of 5 cannibals agree: Vegetarians taste better.