Plant Based

[poliphilo]

A great many people are lactose intolerant without it ever having been diagnosed. I think I must be one of them because ever since I gave up consuming dairy I no longer have to hit the milk of magnesia at bedtime. I thought I'd miss cheese but I don't.

Ailz prefers "plant-based whole-food" to "vegan"; for one thing it sounds less alien and for another you can be a vegan and eat nothing but expensive junk food and we're absolutely not doing that but going down the home cooked route. Ailz has invested in several recipe books. Today we're having pasta with a seafood sauce- the seafood being seaweed. It tasted a little thin to begin with. Wendy, who is eating with us suggested more spice- and the answer turned out to be a dollop of miso.

Comments

[cmcmck]

The veggie version of Worcester (Heinz do one) is more than useful!

[poliphilo]

We've been using Biona Worcester Sauce. Very good it is too.

And I'm very taken with Hellman's vegan mayo.

[sorenr]

The only real issue with plant-based diets is getting the umami flavours - and that's easily remedied with miso, vegan versions of Worcestershire sauce and so on. It's just something to learn - but it's not difficult and certainly not as weird as some people seem to imagine it is.

(I eat meat, but when I cook for friends I cook to their dietary preferences regardless of the reason for those preferences. So I've had to learn to do vegan food - and it's not exactly rocket science to make something tasty without a dead animal in it. I struggle with vegan cakes, though... THAT's a bit tricky! I do love my butter... I'm sure I could learn, though.)

[poliphilo]

I used to think veganism would be really difficult- and restrictive- and it's not. Had I known how straightforward it was I might well have made the move earlier.

I've never cared that much for cakes- at least not since childhood- so I don't mind giving them up.

[sorenr]

I also think veganism has become a lot easier than just a decade ago; there's such a variety of vegan products in ordinary supermarkets that e.g. "vegan Worcestershire sauce" is suddenly not something you have to look for in weird speciality shops.

I can't see myself ever going fully vegan or vegetarian - but when I'm not cooking for my boyfriend my food is perhaps 90% vegetarian and not infrequently completely vegan, simply because I like vegetables, pulses et cetera. I think it stems from my student days when I lived near a really cheap vegetable shop - so I ate very well on a tiny budget simply by rarely buying meat. Not a bad habit to develop at a young age, I guess?

[poliphilo]

I think we'll be saving money by not buying meat or fish.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the availability of vegan foods. All the big supermarkets have vegan sections, most restaurants offer vegan dishes: life as a vegan is turning out to be much less complicated than I thought it would be.

[sorenr]

Definitely - for the price of a single steak you should be able to make a veritable vegan feast for all of you!

(Though I'd probably make veganism terribly complicated if I gave it a go - I tend to do that with food, simply because I enjoy cooking and eating so much. I don't mind spending three hours cooking a dinner for two... But it's a hobby, and I guess it's no more or less silly than spending three hours tinkering with model trains or whatnot.)

[almsfortheinsane]

Miso is gross. :^( I think I may be lactose intolerant bc I had the smelliest farts after eating cheese popcorn topping...

[poliphilo]

Lactose intolerance is widespread. After all, milk is designed to be consumed by baby cows not adult humans. Our digestive systems aren't made to deal with it.

[almsfortheinsane]

Which is why I only drink milk with cereal/coffee...