New Vegan-ish family looking for help?

Question

A little background, I recently went on vacation without my husband and came home to find that he is trying to switch over to a vegan diet for health purposes. 
I’m very much NOT a vegan. I’m trying hard to support my husband and encourage his healthy lifestyle decision. I told him I will try a vegetarian diet at least for now (because I have a very strong connection with dairy products). 
SOOOO I need help... I’m looking for brands that are tried and true. Brands that taste good. WHAT ARE YOUR  go-to favorite brands of anything. Recipes too?

Answer

I rented this awesome book from the library called forks over knives and they have one about families and transition. They also have meal planning books and stuff like that also. I love the family one bc I am in transition with my older kids and husband and I’m seeing this new baby as a clean slate

Answer

Daiya is a tried and true brand for cheese and dairy things, but it’s not my favorite taste.  Violife and Chao taste better for cheese, I think.  Whole Foods now has vegan cheese slices that are good and a little less expensive.  Trader Joe’s has them, too, but I haven’t tasted them.  Trader Joe’s semisweet chocolate chips are dairy free, and Enjoy Life has cookies, chocolate chips, etc.., that are vegan.  Earth Balance has butter.  Beyond Meat and Impossible are burger brands (Trader Joe’s has a new plant based burger, too— I haven’t had a chance to try it).  Gardein and field roast (expensive!) are good vegan freezer brands, and Morningstar has a lot of vegan options, too.  Lots of potato chips are vegan, as are (usually) nut butters, jelly, bread, lots of things.  Oreos are, too, I believe.  But the more fruits and veggies, beans, lentils, whole grains, etc... you add to your diet the healthier and less expensive it is.  Good luck!!

Answer

I’m trying to go vegan as well and I made a vegan shepherd’s pie the other night that was amazing and the whole family liked it. I found it on Pinterest. I did customize it a bit with the types of veggies we like (added onions, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes; made cauliflower mashed potatoes instead of just straight potatoes). It’s made with lentils as the main protein. I found some fully cooked and seasoned lentils in the produce section at Trader Joe’s, so it was a very quick and easy meal!

Answer

I’m newly vegetarian and slowly trying to incorporate dairy free alternatives. I’ll recommend some meat alternatives. No offense at all to long time vegetarians and vegans, but they tend to forget what meat tastes like imo. I went vegetarian late April and the things they say taste like meat, just don’t. 
If you are accustomed to the taste of ground beef, I do not recommend the Beyond beef alternative. I don’t like it and I think it smells and tastes like cat food. The Impossible meat is good and I can honestly say it tastes very close to beef. I’ve made burgers and tacos with it. Very very good! For chicken, the Quorn meatless patties are good. I approve of those. And the Gardein 7 Grain Crispy Tenders are also very good. Obviously these meat alternatives won’t be super healthy, but I had a very meat based diet, and these are a helpful transition. 
For dairy alternatives, Ripple milk is very good and the closest to cows milk I’ve tried. Oat milk is also good, but sweet. I use it for smoothies and oatmeal. For chocolate milk, I like the So Delicious chocolate coconut milk. Miyoko’s is a great brand. Their butter is very good. I think Violife cheddar cheese slices are good. 
I’m not a healthy eater lol but these are good alternatives for me, personally! I’ve also heard good things about the Just Egg. 
Be sure to check ingredients because you’ll be surprised what has meat in it. I know it’s common to use meat stock for soup, but I recently bought Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar soup and chicken stock is the second ingredient :/

Answer

I’m in the UK so I don’t know if the brands would be available if you are out of UK
Quorn nuggets and pieces are my favorites! 
And Linda mcartney burgers 
I’d suggest having one or two meat alternative options but do not plan your meal based on them. They are vegan but they are still processed. Keep them for weekends or when you really crave.
The “avant--garde vegan” is my favorite channel on YouTube and he also has a page on Instagram.
I would suggest Pinterest as your go-to resource as it is full of ideas and inspirations!
Experiment with all kinds of beans and grains, befriend several kinds of mushrooms and don’t be scared of trying new herbs and spices!
Try to educate yourself about the new lifestyle from trusted sources and proceed one baby-step at a time!

Answer

These are some recipes I’m going to try soon!

I’ve also made “chicken” Parmesan but with tofu. I just pressed it, coated it in egg, and then breadcrumbs. It was really good. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve heard freezing then thawing tofu before preparing it gives it a better texture.

Answer

My favourite brands, that are closest to the real thing in my opinion (Australia):
Milk:
Bonsoy - Soy milk (for coffee and cereal)
Bonsoy - Almond milk (for chocolate + chai)
Meats :
Get Plant'd - Pepperoni Slices
Meet - Plant Based Chicken Free Strips
Veggie Delights - Plant Based Chicken Burger
Biscuits:
Biscoff - Sandwich Biscuits 
Leda - Gingernuts
Cereals:
Kellogg's - Coco Pops
Kellogg's - Nutri Grain 
Cheese:
Cheer - Plant Based Shredded Cheese 
Macro - Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Ice-Cream :
Magnum - Vegan Almond Ice-cream 
Gaytime - Vegan Golden Gaytime
*There are heappps more but these are just the brands and snacks I never get sick of... I find lots of supplements (like V2, etc) just get gross after a while.
I've been vegan 2 years now and these are for sure my fav supplements, but vegan is really hard to achieve until you learn some good recipes without supplements (in my opinion)... especially due to the price of these supplements. If anyone wants some of my fav recipies hmu!

Answer

I'm also not a vegetarian but I eat a lot of vegan meals for health purposes. You can drink nut milk my best recommendation is almond. You also can make your own cheese too😋 Almond cheese is the best! Don't get me started on vegan  butter!! That stuff is to die for *mouth drools* . Chickpeas are very tasty and they are so good for making anything you want. There is a lady on YouTube  who teaches you so delicious and easy vegan recipes her YouTube channel is Chef Jana😊

New Vegan-ish family looking for help?

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