Considering veganism

[Shit Good Nose]

Our childhood rabbit was onto kale before any of today's woke lib-tard crew. Dead now, of course.

I remember when you couldn't get kale anywhere, or if you could it was dirt cheap, precisely because everyone considered it as shitty stuff only fit for animal feed.  How times have changed - fucking price of it now!

[Beagle 2]

u wot

A lot of Indian meals including curries are vegetarian by default. If you're getting a bad vegetarian option from your curry house then you should be ordering elsewhere because they're betraying their roots and should be cast out of civilised society.

Our local place has a veggie/vegan menu which is bafflingly extensive, it's incredible. Never ordered a meat or paneer dish from there as I've been vegan the whole time I've lived in this area and they've always been fuckin delicious. Find a place that has options like ceylon (my favourite), karahi, shatkora or anything that varies from the usual "honky" curries and you'll be on to a winner.

Seriously man, curry is 100% the best meal a vegan can get if you're into that sorta food. Similar dishes from other parts of the world - stews, tagines etc - are all well and good but they're relatively quite limited and dominated by tomato. Curry on the other hand is a whole galaxy of fragrant concoctions waiting to be hoovered up.

You live in London. I am aware that curry is the best vegetarian/vegan option, hence having just ordered that book. Wasn't a problem when I lived in London and Edinburgh, but now I live somewhere shit and we have yer basic takeaways as our option.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

ceylon (my favourite),

Doesn't get more honky than Ceylon

[Dusty Substance]

Do it!

I went vegan seven years ago and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

The weight fell off me, my eyesight got better, don't get the kind of greasy spots I used to as a dairy consumer.

The meat industry is horrific, but the dairy industry is even more disgusting.

[bgmnts]

Do it!

I went vegan seven years ago and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

The weight fell off me, my eyesight got better, don't get the kind of greasy spots I used to as a dairy consumer.

The meat industry is horrific, but the dairy industry is even more disgusting.

I've actually gotten fatter going full vegan, it's amazing.

But yeah overall horrific.

[The Mollusk]

You live in London. I am aware that curry is the best vegetarian/vegan option, hence having just ordered that book. Wasn't a problem when I lived in London and Edinburgh, but now I live somewhere shit and we have yer basic takeaways as our option.

You may as well be dead then. Sorry to be the one to break this news.

Doesn't get more honky than Ceylon

FUCK YES

[Bigfella]

Do it!

I went vegan seven years ago and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

The weight fell off me, my eyesight got better, don't get the kind of greasy spots I used to as a dairy consumer.

The meat industry is horrific, but the dairy industry is even more disgusting.

Realising now that losing dairy will have more of an impact than meat.  My staple drinks are a glug of milk and tea with a splash of milk.  It took many years to learn how to cook eggs just right.  Then there's chocolate, ice cream, and what to put on toast.  Going to go for it anyway, thanks to everyone who chipped in.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Then there's chocolate, ice cream,

These are now covered quite handsomely (if expensively) in vegan form.

[Icehaven]

Are there particular reasons why vegan food is often so expensive? Is it pricey to produce or is it because of lower (albeit ever increasing) demand or a bit of both? I mean stuff like cheese or meat substitutes rather than naturally vegan food like vegetables and pulses etc.

[SpiderChrist]

Are there particular reasons why vegan food is often so expensive? Is it pricey to produce or is it because of lower (albeit ever increasing) demand or a bit of both? I mean stuff like cheese or meat substitutes rather than naturally vegan food like vegetables and pulses etc.

Or is it because animal life is considered so low on the totem pole that mass produced meat is inevitably cheaper than processed vegan alternatives? I initially went vegan because we were up the creek financially and saw it as a way of trying to reduce the food bills.

[notjosh]

You live in London. I am aware that curry is the best vegetarian/vegan option, hence having just ordered that book. Wasn't a problem when I lived in London and Edinburgh, but now I live somewhere shit and we have yer basic takeaways as our option.

Yeah, vegan options are very hit and miss at the standard British-Indian-style curry house you get in a lot of places. It's worth looking out for authentic South Indian places wherever you can as they tend to have a lot of naturally vegan options. Basically anywhere that has dosa on the menu should be decent, especially if they also do Gobi 65 - the tastiest vegan starter you can get.

[Icehaven]

Or is it because animal life is considered so low on the totem pole that mass produced meat is inevitably cheaper than processed vegan alternatives? I initially went vegan because we were up the creek financially and saw it as a way of trying to reduce the food bills.

So if it got to a point where there was enough demand to mass produce them in the same way we currently do with meat then the prices could theoretically go down?

[Dusty Substance]

Going to go for it anyway, thanks to everyone who chipped in.

Great news! Good luck, Bigfella.

[bakabaka]

The best vegetarian Indian cook book by far is Jack Santa Maria's Indian Vegetarian Cookery. Written back in the '70's before cook books went all 'lifestyle' and glamour shots, it's full of basic, tasty, easy-to-cook, traditional dishes. It gives you a much better understanding of how various spices work together and teaches the joy of simplicity, which can't be a bad thing.

One of the two cook books I have returned to regularly over the last 40 years. The best recipes in it are all bookmarked with turmeric stains.

Free epub/Kindle version: https://b-ok.cc/book/5978194/09dc6c
Solid copy: https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/santa-maria-jack/indian-vegetarian-cookery/9780091163914
and the Amazon page, just for the glowing reviews: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indian-Vegetarian-Cookery-Santa-Maria/dp/1846042232

[bgmnts]

Are there particular reasons why vegan food is often so expensive? Is it pricey to produce or is it because of lower (albeit ever increasing) demand or a bit of both? I mean stuff like cheese or meat substitutes rather than naturally vegan food like vegetables and pulses etc.

Is it that expensive?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Unless you had the time to prepare meals from scratch it was notoriously prohibitively expensive vs regular supermarket shopping. Economies of scale + a last-gen desire by suppliers and health food stores to rinse money from an audience of ethically minded middle classes who had nowhere to go.

Now the likes of Iceland have opted in big time it is getting gradually cheaper and competitive, hopefully a lot of alternatives will end up cheaper than the meat options, which is as it should be.

[Icehaven]

Is it that expensive?

A few posts here have mentioned that it is so I was just wondering why (I'm not a vegan/veggie myself so I wasn't aware it was), but it seems to be particular brands/products rather than across the board.

[Shit Good Nose]

It's as expensive as you want to make it I guess.  You CAN of course have a 100% vegan diet without buying the meals and the branded stuff to make it cheap - obvs just stick to your fruit, veg, pulses etc.  I'm sure you can almost certainly get no-frills basic soy/tofu as well.  Eating out as a vegan doesn't cost any more than veggie or omni these days (although it's usually not any cheaper either).

[Sherringford Hovis]

Good luck, OP - bear in mind that vegans should probably take a small number of supplements to maintain tip-top condition. Here's a chatty and informative guide to what you'll need to consider:

https://www.nomeatathlete.com/supplements/

Oh, and you can't drink water any more because it's a fish's house, and no more fossil fuel travel because it's made out of dinosaurs.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Eating out as a vegan doesn't cost any more than veggie or omni these days (although it's usually not any cheaper either).

You do get some outrageous rip offs too.

Roasted cauliflower "steak" for the same price as a piece of prime beef seems to be a common one.

[Shit Good Nose]

You do get some outrageous rip offs too.

Roasted cauliflower "steak" for the same price as a piece of prime beef seems to be a common one.

Yeah, but you'll get that with every type of food - tuna mayo sarnie on a wooden bread board, empty out a packet of crisps on the side, spoonful of coleslaw.  £10 please.

[Pink Gregory]

Honestly most supermarket brand meat-free staples are fine, anything else goes a bit towards gilding the lily, unless it's purely for convenience.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Veganism with processed protein as a meat substitute: Expensive

Veganism using beans, legumes etc instead: Boring but cheap.


A mixture of both is what suits me and Mrs Relaxing Poo.

[thugler]

                       Realising now that losing dairy will have more of an impact than meat.  My staple drinks are a glug of milk and tea with a splash of milk.  It took many years to learn how to cook eggs just right.  Then there's chocolate, ice cream, and what to put on toast.  Going to go for it anyway, thanks to everyone who chipped in.

Oat milk is superior to real milk, (try a few brands until you find one you like). I drink the barista ones since I only have it in coffee and it tastes lovely.

You'll find after about a week of having it you will get used to it and won't feel like going back to milk.

As for eggs, maybe try having silken tofu scrambled eggs with some turmeric and chili, you can even add indian black salt which gives it a slightly eggy smell and taste.

chocolate and ice cream can easily be switched out. Soy ice cream tastes pretty nice.

[Bigfella]

Harking back to my original post, I should point out that I don't actually have anything against the groups of people mentioned.  It's daft to generalise about people in that way, at least I can admit it.

[An tSaoi]

OFFICIAL MILK RANKINGS 2021

From best taste to worst:

Oat milk
Real milk (full fat)
Soy Milk
Almond Milk
Real milk (skimmed)
Rice Milk
PVA glue
Coconut Milk

[Dex Sawash]

Was rummaging around for something sweet recently and made a cooked vegan pudding from a can of pumpkin, can of coconut milk, brown sugar and a couple of eggs. A few days later I realized the 06vi0us thing.

[Shit Good Nose]

Was rummaging around for something sweet recently and made a cooked vegan pudding from a can of pumpkin, can of coconut milk, brown sugar and a couple of eggs. A few days later I realized the 06vi0us thing.

That pumpkin is much better suited to savoury.  Schoolboy error.

[Bigfella]

Oat milk is superior to real milk, (try a few brands until you find one you like). I drink the barista ones since I only have it in coffee and it tastes lovely.

You'll find after about a week of having it you will get used to it and won't feel like going back to milk.

As for eggs, maybe try having silken tofu scrambled eggs with some turmeric and chili, you can even add indian black salt which gives it a slightly eggy smell and taste.

chocolate and ice cream can easily be switched out. Soy ice cream tastes pretty nice.

You seem quite well informed, tell me this - are they obliged to say on the packaging if it has any meat or dairy content?  I know they do for allergens.

[SpiderChrist]

                       You seem quite well informed, tell me this - are they obliged to say on the packaging if it has any meat or dairy content?  I know they do for allergens.

Yes - all ingredients in a product must be listed.