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[Bitmap Frogs]

I was a vegetarian for nearly two years when I was younger way back, but I've recently started to move to a vegetarian diet again.

I like meat a lot.

Hamburgers. Steaks. Gah, my mouth starts watering just at the thought of it, but I thought I should at least do a bare minimum of "good" so I've decided to eat vegetarian mostly, but leaving room to allow myself a burger or so occasionally. It's better than nothing, I'm thinking. Haven't had meat for months now though, apart from maybe fish once or twice.

For me what works best are dishes that are mostly vegetables but that have some meat or fish in there to give them a little punch. It feels like a nice balance. It does help that there's tons of recipes like that in my country tho haha.

 

[Famassu]

There is no such thing as "extreme" veganism. Just veganism.

You can't just redefine things around your lifestyle. Vegan has a specific meaning, that is no animal products. It's much more of a philosophy than it is a diet. Same with vegetarian; no meat. You calling yourself vegan or vegetarian then doing things that directly contradict these things out of convenience is dishonest. If you can't be bothered to explain clearly to your friends and family your dietary needs and help out in the kitchen so it's not a burden on them that's on you. Plenty of veg*ns manage this just fine, I have been doing it for a good 12 years.

If you want to dramatically reduce your meat/dairy/eggs consumption then great, good for you but you're not a vegan if you're bending what it really means when it's inconvenient to you.

I'm talking about it being incredibly idiotic to throw food away. That's just wasteful and stupid and THESE SITUATIONS CAN HAPPEN even if people know you are a vegan and even if you (usually) help in the kitchen to make food you can eat. Shit happens. Maybe you are making a dish where there are vegan versions and non-vegan versions and the difference is that the non-vegan version has cheese and while making both, there's is a momentary lapse in judgmenet and the non-vegan person accidentally sprinkles a little bit of cheese to the vegan version. You're honestly saying that the vegan could then no longer call him-/herself a vegan if he decided, for that one time, to forego vegan principles, when the alternative might be to throw the food away if there's no one to eat it?

I mean, it's kind of the same as with non-vegan clothes. If they are in the kind of condition that no one buys them or wants them donated to them or no one has any use of them (maybe you're smaller or bigger than they are), but you can personally still use them, it's better to use them until they are completely worn out instead of buying completely new vegan-approved clothing. That would just be waste of resources and I personally put ecological living above vegan living. They are usually the one and the same, but if it means throwing food away, then I find it stupid to not bend the rules a little, especially in case of milk, other dairy products and eggs, when no actual animals were killed.

And again, putting such strict restrictions as to who can and can't be called a vegan is silly. If one lives by vegan principles in his or her everyday life 99,99999% of the time, yet allows for a little bit of bending the rules (i.e. consuming a tiny bit of cheese) when it would be illogical by some other principles to not do so (i.e. wasting food is incredibly dumb), then who are you to whine about them not being "true" vegans? I think there is such a thing as a strict vegan who simply makes no compromises in his/her vegan lifestyle and there can be vegans who basically live their life like a strict vegan the vast majority of time, but when put into some situations where a strict vegan would just starve themselves and/or throw food away, they might not see it as some huge betrayal of the vegan lifestyle to eat a little bit of non-vegan food to avoid having to go without food for a prolonged time or to not waste food.

 

[itsinmyveins]

For me what works best are dishes that are mostly vegetables but that have some meat or fish in there to give them a little punch. It feels like a nice balance. It does help that there's tons of recipes like that in my country tho haha.

The thing is, at home vegetarian food works great for me – quorn, halloumi and other ingredients work well to make vegetarian dishes feel a bit "heavier". It's more annoying when you're at a restaurant and you're stuck with one or two common options.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

The thing is, at home vegetarian food works great for me – quorn, halloumi and other ingredients work well to make vegetarian dishes feel a bit "heavier". It's more annoying when you're at a restaurant and you're stuck with one or two common options.

I know, what you mean, but to me "heavy" and "punch" are different things.

 

[Famassu]

The firm kind of tofu is an excellent vegan alternative for having something meat-like in food. Soy also comes in a fuckton of other different forms that can be used to replace/emulate minced meat (in lasagne, soups etc.), chicken filës & pieces (with fried rice & some vegetables, for example) and even bacon without there being that much of a difference in the texture or taste of the food if you know what you are doing. It's different, but something you can get accustomed to and is, imho, "close enough" to meat that some people might not even notice the difference unless you point it out to them. I made "chicken" soup with chicken-pieces like soy-stuff and my dad thought he was eating chicken soup.

You just need to learn to use tons of spices and marinades and to maybe plan in advance a little bit, since tofu & other soy products & other vegan/vegetarian stuff are usually best when you let the marinade/spices to really get sucked up into the soy/tofu pieces overnight or at least for a few hours (I mean, sure, the same applies to meat as well, but I think the correct usage of spices & marinades is even more important with vegan meat replacements). You can make tasty soy & tofu pretty quickly as well, but even that's usually even tastier when (if there are leftovers) you re-heat it the next day and the flavours have really gotten into the soy-stuff/tofu.

 

[dude]

I was a vegetarian for nearly two years when I was younger way back, but I've recently started to move to a vegetarian diet again.

I like meat a lot.

Hamburgers. Steaks. Gah, my mouth starts watering just at the thought of it, but I thought I should at least do a bare minimum of "good" so I've decided to eat vegetarian mostly, but leaving room to allow myself a burger or so occasionally. It's better than nothing, I'm thinking. Haven't had meat for months now though, apart from maybe fish once or twice.

I used to be all over meat, but it was the easiest to cut out of my life. There are so many different options for substitutes. Apart from steaks, most of the taste in stuff like burgers and hot dogs is not even the meat. Vegan burgers can taste as good if not better than meat ones IMO.

If you even feel the need for a good burger, here's a recipe for an amazing vegan burger, that has a very meat like taste and texture:

2 cups Soy flakes
1.5 kilo champignon mushrooms
700 grams Portobello mushrooms
about a tbs Dijon mustard
2 onions.
1/3 cup of water (I like to add some molasses mixed with soy sauce to the mix, and a little less water, to get that savory taste.)
salt and pepper as you see fit.


Blend everything together, Let it rest a little.
(EDIT: Oh, forgot, you should probably steam the mushrooms and onions in a pan a little before mixing them all together.)
Make into patties and fry.
That's it.

 

[Famassu]

My soyburger recipe

3-4dl soy mince
1-2 onions
(1 leaf stalk of celery)
1 small cup of tomato purée
2-3 carrots (depending on the size, if they are small, then 3 is good, if they are normal sized, then 2 is enough, if it's huge, one might be enough)
4-5dl coconut or soy milk
a little bit of soy sauce (1 or 2 table spoons max) or 1 vegetable stock cube (make sure it's a vegan kind)
lots of spices & herbs like red pepper powder, garlic powder, cayanne pepper, basil, oregano, chilipowder etc. (whatever spices you like)
2-3dl (at least) Breadcrumbs

(note: the amount of incredients might be a little off, I rarely measure anything too accurately)

1) pour some oil on the pan and cook the chopped onion (& celery, if you opt to put it in) for a while (throw a little bit of salt on the onions to bring out their flavor a little bit)
2) when the onions are done, throw in the soy mince, milk and either pour the soy sauce or crush one vegetable stock cube into the mix.
3) spice it up to your liking (I recommend lots of spices) & throw in the tomato purée
4) pulp-ify the carrots and mix them with the soystuff on the pan
5) Cook the mix on the pan until the soy mince have sucked up as much liquid as they can and there's very little or preferably no liquid left (don't overcook it, though, you don't want the soy mince to turn hard/liquidless again, rather leave it a little bit moist than fry them hard again)
6) take the pan off the stove and let it cool down for a little while, then throw in the breadcrumbs & mix them into the soy-mix and let it all just rest for a while. Make sure there's enough breadcrumbs, because otherwise the whole thing might not hold together (especially if you cook them on the frying pan)
7) make into patties and either cook them on the frying pan on medium heat (I have a 6-level stove and I fry them on 3 or 4, sometimes having to switch between them since 4 might scortch them a little too hard while 3 takes too long) in a little bit of oil a few at a time for 2-4 minutes and then turn them over to fry the other side until both sides are nicely fried-brown or put them in the oven for maybe 15-20+ minutes at 200*C. A word of advice: do a test batch if you do them on the frying pan. Test out whether it all holds together when you're frying it in oil. If they do not and it just dissolves into the oil or breaks down too easily, you might need to add some more flour/breadcrumbs to keep them together.

Here's what they look like when pretty much done

and a whole soyburger (there's some sauce, tomato slice or two, lettuce, ketchup etc. in between). :3

 

[dude]

My soyburger recipe

3-4dl soy flakes
1-2 onions
(1 leaf stalk of celery)
1 small cup of tomato purée
2-3 carrots (depending on the size, if they are small, then 3 is good, if they are normal sized, then 2 is enough, if it's huge, one might be enough)
4-5dl coconut or soy milk
a little bit of soy sauce (1 or 2 table spoons max) or 1 vegetable stock cube (make sure it's a vegan kind)
lots of spices & herbs like red pepper powder, garlic powder, cayanne pepper, basil, oregano, chilipowder etc. (whatever spices you like)
2-3dl (at least) Breadcrumbs

(note: the amount of incredients might be a little off, I rarely measure anything too accurately)

1) pour some oil on the pan and cook the chopped onion (& celery, if you opt to put it in) for a while (throw a little bit of salt on the onions to bring out their flavor a little bit)
2) when the onions are done, throw in the soy flakes, milk and either pour the soy sauce or crush one vegetable stock cube into the mix.
3) spice it up to your liking (I recommend lots of spices) & throw in the tomato purée
4) pulp-ify the carrots and mix them with the soystuff on the pan
5) Cook the mix on the pan until the soy flakes have sucked up as much liquid as they can and there's very little or preferably no liquid left (don't overcook it, though, you don't want the soy flakes to turn hard/liquidless again, rather leave it a little bit moist than fry them hard again)
6) take the pan off the stove and let it cool down for a little while, then throw in the breadcrumbs & mix them into the soy-mix and let it all just rest for a while. Make sure there's enough breadcrumbs, because otherwise the whole thing might not hold together (especially if you cook them on the frying pan)
7) make into patties and either cook them on the frying pan on medium heat (I have a 6-level stove and I fry them on 3 or 4, sometimes having to switch between them since 4 might scortch them a little too hard while 3 takes too long) in a little bit of oil a few at a time for 2-4 minutes and then turn them over to fry the other side until both sides are nicely fried-brown or put them in the oven for maybe 15-20+ minutes at 200*C. A word of advice: do a test batch if you do them on the frying pan. Test out whether it all holds together when you're frying it in oil. If they do not and it just dissolves into the oil or breaks down too easily, you might need to add some more flour/breadcrumbs to keep them together.

Here's what they look like when pretty much done


and a whole soyburger (there's some sauce, tomato slice or two, lettuce, ketchup etc. in between). :3

Looks very nice! I'll give them a try next time I'm making burgers. Thanks for the recipe

 

[Famassu]

The textured soy is in this form in my recipe, btw:

Not sure if you call it soyflakes. Soy crumbles? Not sure if soyflake is the same thing or if it'll be as good or worse or better in the recipe if it's not.

 

[Pinkuss]

The textured soy is in this form in my recipe, btw:



Not sure if you call it soyflakes. Soy crumbles? Not sure if soyflake is the same thing or if it'll be as good or worse or better in the recipe if it's not.

I've been madly googling SoyFlakes as we don't have them in the UK. Is it Soy Mince as we'd call it?

Usually stick to SosMix and add olive oil/herbs/spices (find sosmix is nicer than burger mix for making burgers...).

 

[M3d10n]

I read some time ago (don't remember where) that by switching to a vegan diet actually kills animals because the increased demand for vegetables leads to deforestation since you have to create farms to cultivate these, opposed to cattle raising that uses existing resources to feed their animals.

Do you think is there any truth to this?

No, that's absurd. We actually deforest areas to plant the stuff these animals eat.

But insects will be killed regardless, by pesticides and during crop processing. Most vegetable products have traces of dead insects in them, since it's unfeasible to remove every single insect from the crops before processing them.

 

[OverBlood 3]

I've been madly googling SoyFlakes as we don't have them in the UK. Is it Soy Mince as we'd call it?

Usually stick to SosMix and add olive oil/herbs/spices (find sosmix is nicer than burger mix for making burgers...).

Holland and Barrett do those soyflake things. In 2 varieties, natural and savoury?

 

[Famassu]

I've been madly googling SoyFlakes as we don't have them in the UK. Is it Soy Mince as we'd call it?

Usually stick to SosMix and add olive oil/herbs/spices (find sosmix is nicer than burger mix for making burgers...).

Yeah, actually, soy mince seems to be the thing I mean. It's like minced meat. I'll edit it into the recipe.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Time to share another delicious recipe!

Now this one takes a long time to prepare so it's likely going to be a weekend type of thing.

Some notes:

I am gonna give temps in centigrads, sorry. You'll have to ask google for the farenheit equivalents.

When I say tomatos, I mean something like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campari_tomato , you can substitute for a similar cultivar as long as it has similar characteristics.

Olive oil is used in these recipes and it shouldn't be substituted! On olive oil... Spain's the largest producer by far! We produce twice as much what Italy produces! Most of the "italian" olive oil you buy is spanish olive oil the italians buy in bulk, adulterate with cheaper oils or worse, then ship to the US with fancy italian labels. Skip the shady intermediaries and the adulteration, buy spanish olive oil!

Now, onto the recipe itself.

What you're gonna need:

Eggplant, red bell peppers, onions (the sweet ones), tomatos, garlic, olive oil, salt, bread.

Preheat your oven at 170C. On a temperature resistant recipient, add olive oil to create a thing film on the bottom. Throw in there the bell peppers, the onions, the eggplant and a full garlic head. Pour olive oil over the vegetables so that most of their surface has been exposed to the oil. Make some small incisions in the eggplant. Throw it into the oven.

Now on my oven this takes about an hour, but ovens are fiddly, so you'll have to experiment a little.

At this point, rotate the vegetables to ensure they cook evenly and add tomatoes (they cook faster that's why you add them later). Let it cook in the oven for another half an hour. You'll know they're cooked because the vegetables will be all wrinkly and will have lost a lot of volume.

Retire the vegetables from the oven and let them cool enough for you to handle. Now comes the tricky part, once they're cool enough, you have to remove the skin and the seeds. This takes time. Once done, cut the eggplant and the bell peppers into long slices a finger's width.

Throw into a dish, garnish with olive oil and a bit of vinegar (use clear vingear, not balsamic). Enjoy!

You can make this even more delicious by serving it with bread and tomato! To prepare proper bread and tomato, toast your bread so that it's firm but not brown burnt, ideally when you pass your finger over the bread surface it should feel rough. Cut a clove of garlilc in half and smear it on the bread, depending on taste lightly or heavily (you might need more than one clove if you're making several slices of bread). After that, cut a tomato in half and smear it over the bread, while you do so squish the tomato so the juices transfer to the bread. Garnish with salt and olive oil and it's ready! Traditionally what you bring to the table is the toasted bread and the ingredients (garlic, tomato, olive oil, salt), that way everyone can make the bread and tomato according to their own taste.

One note of this recipe: I have given you the oven method, but this meal reaches the next level when prepared as originally intended, over a fireplace or on a very hot iron skillet. That's because the red bell pepper and eggplant, onion and garlic skins are very hard so even if they burn they will protect the meat and the meat will acquire a smoky taste. I lack both means so I use the oven, which still makes this a delicious meal.

 

[Pinkuss]

Anyone got any Falafel tips/recommendations/recipes? Recently got in to the stuff after a trip to Amsterdam (3 Falafel, pitta and all you can eat salad/dips for under 5 Euros... was glorious). Struggling to find recipes (or ideally pre-made) the sauces I had too; had a few really spicy ones but they weren't hot sauces or anything.

Currently slumming it with Tahini (which I love but isn't that exciting) and Encona sauce.

 

[blackflag]

Great thread. My girlfriend is Vegan so I'll sub this. I have no desire myself but I cook vegan food for her quite often.

 

[HOMEBOY OVER HERE]

Once we figure out how to artificially synthesize meat, I'm shutting this whole thing down.

you would eat man made crap like that if it was available? scary, and people wonder why they get cancer.

i eat almost entirely vegan. im a vegetarian coyote when I eat out though. occasional veggie burger with egg in it. really hard to eat out vegan in my area. I don't eat out much though.

So when you became a vegan what did you do with your down, wool, feather, and leather items?

this is why I don't consider myself a "vegan." I have a pair of leather boots. I'm not going to get rid of them. I already paid for them years ago. I will get leather boots again in the future but I'll get them second hand or find a pair for free by asking around. I think removing a large majority of animal products makes my life more clear but getting rid of my boots makes no sense to me. don't own any other animal products. I don't stress over living a perfect vegan life. I do a good job avoiding animal tested products.

I also try to consciously buy products that human rights are considered when producing but it is obviously very challenging.

Can the title offended force simmer down? Jesus, it's associated with veganism for a reason.

because once you open your eyes you start to realize how fucked up the first world food industry is. it then gets incredibly tiresome to see the tremendous amounts of misnomers, ignorance and stupidity. just in general the way the first world looks at food and the general lack of appreciation for it.

 

[Daigoro]

Anyone got any Falafel tips/recommendations/recipes?

http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/winn...s-with-smoky-tahini-sauce-sneak-peak-recipes/

here ya go. amazing recipe and well worth the effort. the tahini sauce is insane as well (seriously make this tahini sauce if nothing else). this makes a ton of falafel.

check this blog and this woman's cook books people. Dreena Burton is fantastic. many of my favorite recipes come directly from her.

http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/

 

[Zaptruder]

So veganism is a practice founded on a moral philosophy of no or minimal harm for sentient creatures.

Given that insects have very little sentience and are generally killed as part of the farming process anyway...

Is it ethical for vegan to convert to insect protein?

Or eat vat grown meat?

How about recycled protein meats?

 

[Daigoro]

while im at, check out http://vegandad.blogspot.com/

lately he's been doing a lot more complex recipes and a lot of complicated baking, but search the blog, there is a wealth of great recipes here, just do a search in the box, or click on one of the tags on the side and search around. this guy is a genius.

he has some amazingly simple and really good tasting recipes that I keep coming back to, like this one:

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2009/04/indian-style-potatoes-and-spinach.html

so easy and SO good.

 

[Zaptruder]

Now that I think about it, I think it's a moral imperative for vegans to spearhead to move towards sustainable and ethical edible insect protein.

In using insect protein to supplement their diets, they'd develop tasty recipes that could further go on to provide the mass market with exposure and eventually adoption to this more ethical protein substitute.

 

[Daigoro]

sigh

let me just put this here:

a) Insects are part of the Animal Kingdom.
b) people who don't eat meat are not suffering from a lack of protein. this is a HUGE misconception. seriously, stop.

also, stop.

 

[Owari]

Great OP. Here's a quick and unhealthy recipe that's sure to get your mouth watering. Pilsbury pizza dough. Daiya cheese. Bacn Bits. Vegan salami/pepperoni. Enjoy your delicious indigestion, you've earned it.

I'll post actual healthy(ier) recipes soon :0

 

[robinsxe]

So me and my wifey went to Berlin...

 

[moggio]

you would eat man made crap like that if it was available? scary, and people wonder why they get cancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature

Anyone got any Falafel tips/recommendations/recipes?

This is nice:

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2013/01/11/make-this-sweet-potato-falafel

 

[Zaptruder]

sigh

let me just put this here:

a) Insects are part of the Animal Kingdom.
b) people who don't eat meat are not suffering from a lack of protein. this is a HUGE misconception. seriously, stop.

also, stop.

I'm not saying that they are suffering from a lack of protein. I'm only interested in how closely they've thought about their moral philosophy and what it means to act congruently with it.

I personally think that the world should adopt insect protein as a way of reducing ecological pressures as protein requirements grow the world over. And I think that insect consumption falls quite well in line with vegan philosophy... at least on some level. So it seems to me that the veganism movement is a good vector for society as a whole to get a foot hold into the introduction of more ethical protein substitutions.

For what it's worth - I haven't tried any insect dishes myself... but I'd be more than happy to give it a go if there was some well received dish from a fairly broad community of eaters.

 

[EmiPrime]

I'm not saying that they are suffering from a lack of protein. I'm only interested in how closely they've thought about their moral philosophy and what it means to act congruently with it.

I personally think that the world should adopt insect protein as a way of reducing ecological pressures as protein requirements grow the world over. And I think that insect consumption falls quite well in line with vegan philosophy... at least on some level. So it seems to me that the veganism movement is a good vector for society as a whole to get a foot hold into the introduction of more ethical protein substitutions.

For what it's worth - I haven't tried any insect dishes myself... but I'd be more than happy to give it a go if there was some well received dish from a fairly broad community of eaters.

Shine on you crazy diamond.

 

[anonymous_abc]

Only vegetarian, but subbed nevertheless.

 

[OverBlood 3]

So me and my wifey went to Berlin...

Wanna not...I'm hungry over here.

I think I'm gonna go to berlin one day, that's 3 times I've seen nice looking vegan food pop up randomly from berlin.

 

[Arsenic Yellow]

I've been a vegetarian for about 9 years now, but trying to eventually go vegan (its so hard as I love eggs and mozzarella!). We just bought the nutri bullet and I've already fallen in love with it. Making Avocado Alfredo tonight with black bean spaghetti instead of normal Noodles:

Avocado Alfredo sauce:

1 Ripe Avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsb salt
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup basil
cracked black pepper​

pulverized in a food processor. Going to test it out tonight and I'll post results!

 

[Celegus]

I've been a vegetarian for about 9 years now, but trying to eventually go vegan (its so hard as I love eggs and mozzarella!). We just bought the nutri bullet and I've already fallen in love with it. Making Avocado Alfredo tonight with black bean spaghetti instead of normal Noodles:

Avocado Alfredo sauce:

1 Ripe Avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsb salt
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup basil
cracked black pepper​

pulverized in a food processor. Going to test it out tonight and I'll post results!

That sounds amazing. I love avocado sauces, or I guess just anything with avocados. Fresh basil too, they go perfect together.

I'll be sticking to easy recipes for a while right now... broke my foot the other day and I feel bad for my wife having to do all the stuff around the house. There's some pretty good stuff in here I'll have to check out. We cut out soy flakes a while ago since they're so heavily processed, been messing around with other types of veggie burgers. Sadly the only kind of beans she'll go near is chickpeas, so no delicious black bean burgers.

Edit: And if anyone has some tips for gaining weight on a vegan diet, I'd be curious. I'm not any skinnier than before going vegan, I've just always been little (super fast metabolism). I did try protein shakes with lots of goodies in it for a while, but they're not super great without a banana to thicken it (which don't agree with me).

 

[Arsenic Yellow]

That sounds amazing. I love avocado sauces, or I guess just anything with avocados. Fresh basil too, they go perfect together.

I'll be sticking to easy recipes for a while right now... broke my foot the other day and I feel bad for my wife having to do all the stuff around the house. There's some pretty good stuff in here I'll have to check out. We cut out soy flakes a while ago since they're so heavily processed, been messing around with other types of veggie burgers. Sadly the only kind of beans she'll go near is chickpeas, so no delicious black bean burgers.

Edit: And if anyone has some tips for gaining weight on a vegan diet, I'd be curious. I'm not any skinnier than before going vegan, I've just always been little (super fast metabolism). I did try protein shakes with lots of goodies in it for a while, but they're not super great without a banana to thicken it (which don't agree with me).

Aw man, I have an amazing black bean burger I make. What about portobello burgers? So easy to make and usually more tasty than most veggie burgers. Add some Veganaise with wasabi powder on top and an avocado... amazing.

 

[blackflag]

sigh

let me just put this here:

a) Insects are part of the Animal Kingdom.
b) people who don't eat meat are not suffering from a lack of protein. this is a HUGE misconception. seriously, stop.

also, stop.

In regards to (b) you are generalizing as well. I know plenty of vegans that don't get enough protein. Some do and some don't.

 

[Celegus]

Aw man, I have an amazing black bean burger I make. What about portobello burgers? So easy to make and usually more tasty than most veggie burgers. Add some Veganaise with wasabi powder on top and an avocado... amazing.

Portabellas are great, yeah, but it's not really something we often have in stock. We only go shopping once every 4-6 weeks in the summer/fall because we get a CSA (community supported agriculture) box every week, so we end up eating whatever's in the box for that week.

It's pretty great actually, and forces you to use things you might not normally buy. She made an awesome cabbage/carrot/fennel soup last night, surprisingly good considering I don't care much for cabbage or fennel usually. And you get to try other fun stuff, like apparently watermelon radishes are freaking delicious.

I'm not sure how popular CSAs are around the country, but definitely look into it if there is a program in your area. Especially if you're like us and HATE driving/shopping.

In regards to (b) you are generalizing as well. I know plenty of vegans that don't get enough protein. Some do and some don't.

Er.. not trying to start anything, but how do you know they're not getting enough protein? Are there certain signs or something? I'm curious.

 

[HOMEBOY OVER HERE]

I've been a vegetarian for about 9 years now, but trying to eventually go vegan (its so hard as I love eggs and mozzarella!). We just bought the nutri bullet and I've already fallen in love with it. Making Avocado Alfredo tonight with black bean spaghetti instead of normal Noodles:

Avocado Alfredo sauce:

1 Ripe Avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsb salt
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup basil
cracked black pepper​

pulverized in a food processor. Going to test it out tonight and I'll post results!

whoaa, I have all of this already, gonna try making this too once my avocado is ripe. maybe throw in some cashews and a little nutritional yeast.

 

[Arsenic Yellow]

Whoops I forgot to add 1/4 bunch finely chopped parsley for garnish ontop

 

[AbsolutBro]

This usually includes no honey, no gelatin, nor many other components that comes from animal exploitation. Veganism many times includes more than just a diet - Be it abstaining from leather, silk, animal-tested products etc.

This is one of those things I've always wondered about. Is the issue with animal exploitation in general (i.e., "I won't buy any wool from any source because some animals are abused for it"), in specific ("I don't mind buying from local sources who can show me how they treat their animals") or just blanket ("It is an animal product, and so regardless of source, treatment or any other factors I am against it.")? Naturally I understand this will vary from person to person so I'm sort of asking the nebulous "You" out there.

To be clear: I understand that most (very likely the majority) of large scale agriculture isn't exactly 'hands-on pet-style' with their animals. There are, however, large numbers of smaller scale operations that treat their animals with respect and often love.

To continue my wool example: I understand that there are many farms all over that aren't exactly kind to their sheep. Merinos get shropped (cutting of loose flaps of skin with no anesthesia), animals are just tossed around and generally kept in small spaces to protect their fleece.

I live on a farm raising fleece sheep. Technically, the breed is both fleece and meat, but I don't slaughter at all. My sheep are pets. They have names, get fed high quality food/hay, get treats on their birthdays and generally live it up. We shear them because we have to; they would likely die during summer heat if left in full fleece. Would you consider using/wearing that wool exploitation? If so, what should be done with it?


As another example: eggs. My neighbor raises chickens. He doesn't cage them, except at night to protect them from the foxes that live nearby, but that's a big shed coop, not a small cage. He doesn't give them hormones, or alter their day/night cycle for better laying or anything. He gives us eggs in exchange for produce from my gardens. Is this still largely considered exploitation?

I guess I'm trying to square the idea of "animal exploitation" against "animal product use", but with specific regards to small scale/humane farming. I want to be clear I'm genuinely curious on VeganGAF's views on this. I'm not trying to start a fight or poke holes in anyone's beliefs.

 

[OverBlood 3]

It depends. I will wear wool depending on where it's from or if it's 2nd hand. Again I'll wear 2nd hand leather. I've kept chickens that have been rescued from a battery farm, never ate their eggs because I don't like eggs but if I liked eggs I'd eat them from chickens I've kept. I just tend to avoid all animal products because its better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Celegus]

I guess I'm trying to square the idea of "animal exploitation" against "animal product use", but with specific regards to small scale/humane farming. I want to be clear I'm genuinely curious on VeganGAF's views on this. I'm not trying to start a fight or poke holes in anyone's beliefs.

Your situation seems pretty ideal, but that's definitely the very miniscule minority compared to all the factory farms and stuff that 99% of animal products come from. I still wouldn't eat eggs or meat if it was raised that way since it would make me horribly sick, but wouldn't really have a problem if other people wanted to. My theory is that if it's not something I could do myself, how can I be okay with letting other people do it for me? I'd never be able to slaughter an animal or cut it up or anything, so I steer clear.

 

[EmiPrime]

This is one of those things I've always wondered about. Is the issue with animal exploitation in general (i.e., "I won't buy any wool from any source because some animals are abused for it"), in specific ("I don't mind buying from local sources who can show me how they treat their animals") or just blanket ("It is an animal product, and so regardless of source, treatment or any other factors I am against it.")? Naturally I understand this will vary from person to person so I'm sort of asking the nebulous "You" out there.

Regardless of source there will be some animal exploitation and suffering somewhere down the chain.

To be clear: I understand that most (very likely the majority) of large scale agriculture isn't exactly 'hands-on pet-style' with their animals. There are, however, large numbers of smaller scale operations that treat their animals with respect and often love.

Which is not financially viable. If you're a dairy farmer you can't keep the male calves and you can't have the calves drinking their mother's milk. Eggs, you can't keep around the roosters, the hatchery has to kill the male chicks. Also egg laying hens and dairy cows can far out live their optimal egg/milk production years as such it's not viable to keep around animals with falling yields when it's much cheaper to replace them with younger ones. Farm animals don't die of old age, they all eventually go to slaughter.

Meat is self-explanatory.

To continue my wool example: I understand that there are many farms all over that aren't exactly kind to their sheep. Merinos get shropped (cutting of loose flaps of skin with no anesthesia), animals are just tossed around and generally kept in small spaces to protect their fleece.

I live on a farm raising fleece sheep. Technically, the breed is both fleece and meat, but I don't slaughter at all. My sheep are pets. They have names, get fed high quality food/hay, get treats on their birthdays and generally live it up. We shear them because we have to; they would likely die during summer heat if left in full fleece. Would you consider using/wearing that wool exploitation? If so, what should be done with it?

It is my understanding that certain breeds of sheep are like that because of decades of selective breeding, an animal that needs human intervention like that to survive summer would be long since extinct otherwise. Yes I do consider it exploitation and i'd rather sheep not be bred by humans and sold as commodities.

In the short term, well, your sheep are here now. I guess you may as well use the wool they produce but if you want to break the cycle the thing to do is to stop buying and breeding them.

As another example: eggs. My neighbor raises chickens. He doesn't cage them, except at night to protect them from the foxes that live nearby, but that's a big shed coop, not a small cage. He doesn't give them hormones, or alter their day/night cycle for better laying or anything. He gives us eggs in exchange for produce from my gardens. Is this still largely considered exploitation?

Unless these are hens he has rescued he will have bought the hens from a hatchery (or a middle man who got them from a hatchery). In the case of egg laying breeds all the male chicks will be put in a grinder (or other similarly fast and cheap killing device) and turned into low quality meat for non-human animal consumption.

So keeping the hens in his garden might not seem exploitative on the surface, scratch the surface and it's part of the same system of animal exploitation and suffering that all commercial egg production is a part of.

I guess I'm trying to square the idea of "animal exploitation" against "animal product use", but with specific regards to small scale/humane farming. I want to be clear I'm genuinely curious on VeganGAF's views on this. I'm not trying to start a fight or poke holes in anyone's beliefs.

That's okay, dialogue is important.

 

[HOMEBOY OVER HERE]

This is one of those things I've always wondered about. Is the issue with animal exploitation in general (i.e., "I won't buy any wool from any source because some animals are abused for it"), in specific ("I don't mind buying from local sources who can show me how they treat their animals") or just blanket ("It is an animal product, and so regardless of source, treatment or any other factors I am against it.")? Naturally I understand this will vary from person to person so I'm sort of asking the nebulous "You" out there.

To be clear: I understand that most (very likely the majority) of large scale agriculture isn't exactly 'hands-on pet-style' with their animals. There are, however, large numbers of smaller scale operations that treat their animals with respect and often love.

To continue my wool example: I understand that there are many farms all over that aren't exactly kind to their sheep. Merinos get shropped (cutting of loose flaps of skin with no anesthesia), animals are just tossed around and generally kept in small spaces to protect their fleece.

I live on a farm raising fleece sheep. Technically, the breed is both fleece and meat, but I don't slaughter at all. My sheep are pets. They have names, get fed high quality food/hay, get treats on their birthdays and generally live it up. We shear them because we have to; they would likely die during summer heat if left in full fleece. Would you consider using/wearing that wool exploitation? If so, what should be done with it?


As another example: eggs. My neighbor raises chickens. He doesn't cage them, except at night to protect them from the foxes that live nearby, but that's a big shed coop, not a small cage. He doesn't give them hormones, or alter their day/night cycle for better laying or anything. He gives us eggs in exchange for produce from my gardens. Is this still largely considered exploitation?

I guess I'm trying to square the idea of "animal exploitation" against "animal product use", but with specific regards to small scale/humane farming. I want to be clear I'm genuinely curious on VeganGAF's views on this. I'm not trying to start a fight or poke holes in anyone's beliefs.

I tend to be okay with some products that are local. Local eggs like you said or local honey are okay with me but I never ever buy them just because they aren't really part of my diet. I wont eat local meat or game however regardless of how humane or natural it is. I feel better physically not eating meat. I've noticed it's very taxing on my body. I don't trust what local animals in the area eat either so I wouldn't eat wild venison or hog.

If I was living off grid out in the wilderness I would hunt and eat animals in the area.

I'm going to africa (uganda) in 2015 to live with a local tribe for many months and I will be eating the animals they hunt for protein.

In general I try to eat and live vegan to avoid capitalism, processed poison and cruelty. I'm fine with animal products if they are treated with respect and are part of a natural life cycle where you work for them and use everything you get from them.

 

[reggieandTFE]

Been a vegetarian for 10 years now; I'd go vegan but I love my calfskin shoes and belts too much.

 

[Arsenic Yellow]

I tend to be okay with some products that are local. Local eggs like you said or local honey are okay with me but I never ever buy them just because they aren't really part of my diet. I wont eat local meat or game however regardless of how humane or natural it is. I feel better physically not eating meat. I've noticed it's very taxing on my body. I don't trust what local animals in the area eat either so I wouldn't eat wild venison or hog.

If I was living off grid out in the wilderness I would hunt and eat animals in the area.

I'm going to africa (uganda) in 2015 to live with a local tribe for many months and I will be eating the animals they hunt for protein.

In general I try to eat and live vegan to avoid capitalism, processed poison and cruelty. I'm fine with animal products if they are treated with respect and are part of a natural life cycle where you work for them and use everything you get from them.

You sound like an amazingly interesting person.

Edit: Theres a great website, Veggie and the Beast, that posts vegetarian recipes. She also posts a lot of vegan recipes/desserts on here as well:
http://veggieandthebeastfeast.com/?s=vegan
Those salted caramel pecan swirls look divine.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Just a little moderation guideline for this thread:

Good Posts
- If you're a non-vegan, you are welcome here
- If you're a non-vegetarian, you are welcome here
- If your primary reason for being here is that you're a non-vegan interested in learning how vegan people think about issues surrounding veganism (for example, the oyster debate or issues surrounding locovore consumption versus imported vegetables as they relate to environmental veganism, or even if you want to see what vegans think of vegetarians or omnivores who are trying to reduce their meat consumption or issues like factory versus free-range farming), you are welcome here. AbsoluteBro's discussion above seems mostly pretty good because it's coming from a position of basic respect and genuine curiosity and dialogue.

Bad Posts
- If you are basically in this thread because you don't like or disagree with vegans and want to challenge them, that's not necessarily respectful or productive. Like, if your question is "Aren't vegans unhealthy hypocrites who are just shrill to other people also peta sucks", that's not really a question and it's not really welcome here. There are other spaces on GAF where you might be able to have this debate. Not that this space has to be uniformly positive; obviously if someone makes a false claim then you can feel free to correct it, but basically this should be a space where vegans don't need to feel like they have to continually defend their basic premises. I think some of the people posting in the first 100 posts seemed to be people who more wanted to have a Veganism versus Meat-friendly diet debate, and I'm not sure the level of respect we'd hope to see in this thread was present.

Vegans: How To Avoid This Thread Sucking
- If someone posts something inflammatory, don't respond. Report it. Just send the post URL to a mod. I am volunteering. If you don't want to contact me or feel like I'm not around, I would recommend you contact either charlequin (who is either vegetarian or vegan, I can't remember which, but who certainly would be a sympathetic ear) or Kabouter or Mumei. This isn't to say other mods can't help you, but rather if you don't feel super comfortable, I think you'd find those names are good choices for this issue.
- Please don't report posts that are respectful and don't need to be reported. Someone saying, for instance, that they don't like meat substitutes and favour vegan dishes that don't try to substitute meat, is not being disrespectful or challenging or rude. That's just an opinion.

 

[Nether!]

For those of you with partners/significant others, are they also vegan?
I have never dated another vegan before and recently started - it's really interesting and fun checking out food together.

 

[Arsenic Yellow]

For those of you with partners/significant others, are they also vegan?
I have never dated another vegan before and recently started - it's really interesting and fun checking out food together.

No, he's not even a vegetarian, but he doesn't really cook so he doesn't eat meat often. I've only dated one vegetarian and it's really a non issue for me. We have designated meat pans and non meat pans.

 

[Pinkuss]

I've been out with/dated three Vegans and two Vegetarians, it's not really something I look for but it's always been more interesting; generally visiting the all you can eat veggie place/finding new foods is a bit of an adventure.

Also my first 'real' ex and I where both Vegetarian when we met and became Vegan at the same time. I'd always planned to but hadn't done any real research (and god I loved pizza). That was 9 years ago now and wish I'd done it sooner.

 

[Nether!]

No, he's not even a vegetarian, but he doesn't really cook so he doesn't eat meat often. I've only dated one vegetarian and it's really a non issue for me. We have designated meat pans and non meat pans.

Yeah, I've never had an issue dating non-vegetarians (every other woman I've been with), but I'm enjoying the novelty of this woman being vegan, not having to worry about where we'll be eating out.

 

[Arsenic Yellow]

Yeah, I've never had an issue dating non-vegetarians (every other woman I've been with), but I'm enjoying the novelty of this woman being vegan, not having to worry about where we'll be eating out.

Spoiler

You mean nowhere?

 

[Nether!]

There are loads of great places in vancouver that are vegetarian/vegan (even some raw vegan).
Also, most places have at least a few things on the menu I can eat, the only real difficult style is Chinese food, usually.