In reply to trucke:
Nearly all beer is vegan.
I'm part of a group starting up a new brewing company soon. One person pitched the idea of if we should make our beers vegan. Informed him that there were no plans to use any ingredients that weren't vegan friendly (except in like milk stouts). Marketing our beer as vegan would just be marketing for marketings sake. Kind of like marketing dairy products as "Gluten Free!"
Appleseed wrote: How soon till you become translucent like Michael Stipe?
I'm basically already there. I am either beet red, or clear.
Pretty sure that I could be classified as "weaponized" after eating something made of 100% gluten, that is a violation of the Geneva Convention due to the risk of colitaral damage to non-combatants.
Beer Baron wrote: In reply to trucke: Nearly all beer is vegan. I'm part of a group starting up a new brewing company soon. One person pitched the idea of if we should make our beers vegan. Informed him that there were no plans to use any ingredients that weren't vegan friendly (except in like milk stouts). Marketing our beer as vegan would just be marketing for marketings sake. Kind of like marketing dairy products as "Gluten Free!"
You should advertise all of them as Asbestos Free! and Swine Flu Free!, etc.
Almost time for you to say "April fool!" and laugh at us. 
Trans_Maro wrote: Almost time for you to say "April fool!" and laugh at us.
Sadly, no.
So, I'm about 2 weeks into this (I started before I started the thread, although not as "hardcore"). In that time, I've had the following animal products:
I may have missed one or two small instances of some butter or egg in something, but that is it
I can't say I feel any better. No more energy. I was feeling pretty good before. I already was drinking coffee like its going out of style, so I already was very regular.
HOWEVER: My blood pressure is down, for the first time since college, to a normal state. Last night, I was 110/70. Normal for me prior to this was hovering in the 125-145/75-90 range. And we took it last night when I was agitated, after having more than double the daily recommended sodium during the day.
My weight is down as well, but my scale is out of batteries and I don't think that my rate of weight loss has picked up at all--I was already losing weight before this.
Currently planning on going off the wagon for the following:
Try do canoe!
huh. Funny this came up again.
We gave it up when my wife got pregnant with our first, but were eating a plant based diet for over a year. Still made exceptions on vacation and birthdays, but our normal diet was pretty much vegan.
Everybody talks about how much better they feel. I didn't find any of that at all; the exception was that my blood pressure was on the low end of normal - which is UNHEARD OF in my family. We were monitoring this a few times a week, as BP is my only serious health concern (other than my weight, which is related).
We'll get back there after my wife is done breastfeeding. We're already weening ourselves off of regular animal products (except for butter, and the bacon on weekends), but it will probably be a year before we're back to eating mostly plant based. And as kiddo grows up, who knows? If she only wants to eat chicken nuggets, we'll probably be eating chicken nuggets.
In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :
My sister turned me on to this Chicago guy.
I like his sensible shopping videos.
https://www.facebook.com/flavcity/
Not specifically vegan or paleo or organic but generally a combo of all disciplines
In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :
A little unsolicited but well meaning advice: Feed your kid a variety of foods from the day they start eating. We are voracious omnivores and eat all sorts of stuff and have managed to have two kids that will eat anything. I have a three year old that will happily eat arugula. Don't make it a stress point for the kid but don't feed her junk food all the time. If it helps my wife and I read the book "french kids eat anything" and it helped cement our philosophy. Life is sooooooo much better when meal times aren't a battleground. Trust me. The family we live with went through that with their kid it was years of misery at the table and now even at 9 she barely eats anything outside of a very narrow range of food. Variety from day one and don't let the kid have snacks especially right before mealtime and especially not her favorite foods right before mealtime. We do four meals a day (breakfast lunch foursies and dinner) and it works wonders. NO GOLDFISH CRACKERS!! ;)
Dculberson, my wife is a Dietitian and her favorite roles have always been the pediatric ones. In fact she has run numerous childhood obesity clinics and picky eating is a huge problem that she had to deal with on a regular basis. She could write a book, but long story short you’re preaching to the choir. 95% of picky eaters are because of the parents. Maybe even 99%. The others are probably autistic.
We think the only things we will be keeping from her are spicy foods, because I was probably 12 before I could handle spicy food and my wife thinks that banana peppers are spicy. And possibly chorizo because it is (a) kinda spicy and (b) could cause a nightmare cleanup for mom and dad.
I had a post typed up, but GRM logged me out 
Yes, being picky comes from the parents. I am picky and I can definitely see how my parents influenced that. I make a conscious effort to improve every day, but its difficult at this point. Just the smell of broccoli makes me gag. I need to try eating it again, but I might vomit. Additionally, I am very much a routine type of person so it takes a tremendous effort for me to make something different. Really I'm a perfect candidate for soylent, if it weren't expensive.
My son (4) is also picky. I have always fed him a variety of foods, but that variety is somewhat limited by my own pickiness. That said, he definitely doesn't eat everything I eat and our meals are still battlegrounds periodically. Tonight he fought me over steamed rice. lol. Then again, this is someone who was upset yesterday morning that the alphabet had an "L" in it. I think quarantine has been hard on young kids with no siblings and working parents.
Might be a good thing this thread was resurrected via canoe.
I live with family of mine that has a lot of digestive and dietary health problems- most chronic- so I've become very accustomed to vegan meals as they cannot eat red meat at all anymore and regularly can't do anything as fatty as a single egg in a day. Never, ever take Accutane.
Anyway, vegan meats. Impossible burgers are decent and hold up far better than boca burgers and they nail the consistency- but the flavor won't wow you. I've found it's best to use them in something like a falafel. The fake meats on the other had- the soy based ones that have similar consistency to your typical 'tubes' of ground beef- are honestly fantastic and can be easily subbed in. I've also noticed that they are heavily spiced which can really make dishes with them flavorful. The meatless hash replacements- the crumbles- are my favorite and I've done them with my breakfasts for awhile. A box of that, an onion, jalepeno, garlic, green bell pepper with a bunch of spices and you've got a quickie starter that tastes great and just needs an egg to be a good breakfast.
The other reason I get this stuff? Its not simply environmentalism, it's because my supermarket has them on special or clearance all the time. The only reason I don't go full pescatarian honestly is because I've gotten good at scrapping meals together from random clearance bits, and it's better for the environment if I use that soon-to-expire cheap 3-buck beef shoulder than going for farmed fish.
In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Can you recommend the specific brand of meatless hash crumbles you like? Thank you, I am interested in changing up my eating habits.
ThurdFerguson (Freeloader) said:In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Can you recommend the specific brand of meatless hash crumbles you like? Thank you, I am interested in changing up my eating habits.
FYI - Look at them not as replacements, but a different food altogether. The analogy I like to use is that it is like a sandwich - a PBJ and a hamburger are both sandwiches. The meatless burgers are a third entry in there - still a sandwich, still good (although sometimes they're awful), but not a hamburger. Go into it with that mindset and you'll have a better chance of sticking with it.
mtn (Forum Supporter) said:ThurdFerguson (Freeloader) said:In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Can you recommend the specific brand of meatless hash crumbles you like? Thank you, I am interested in changing up my eating habits.
FYI - Look at them not as replacements, but a different food altogether. The analogy I like to use is that it is like a sandwich - a PBJ and a hamburger are both sandwiches. The meatless burgers are a third entry in there - still a sandwich, still good (although sometimes they're awful), but not a hamburger. Go into it with that mindset and you'll have a better chance of sticking with it.
Absolutely, although I might quibble and say that some lean meat is good, but starches and grains are the things that we should seek to reduce in our diet. Embrace veggies and eat salads comprised of huge piles of fresh greens. Top with chunks of cooked meat, eggs, other veggies, and cheese. Works for me.
I didn't read the whole thread, but Portabello mushrooms substitute great for red meat. We make Phillies, stroganoff, burgers, all kinds of stuff with them. Delicious and hearty.
My special lady friend, a foodie, has been reading about veganism lately, and we talked about it some. But, bacon, so, no. Then she read about a couple chefs who advocate a "vegan before 6:00" diet: vegan for breakfast and lunch, eat meat in the evening, if'n you want. We've been fairly successful at it, and it's easier than suddenly foregoing all meat. Also, the vegan recipes she's been finding are pretty darn good, and I don't miss the meat. Plus, because we're not orthodox vegans, if a little cheese accidentally falls onto a dish, well, it's okay. Ultimately, our dinners end up being about 60% vegetarian, though usually not completely vegan.
ThurdFerguson (Freeloader) said:In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Can you recommend the specific brand of meatless hash crumbles you like? Thank you, I am interested in changing up my eating habits.
Lightlife crumbles is what I can snag, at like 3 bucks a box. Look like this:
I can look at them like a replacement, but only because I've never really had "real" hash before so I don't know what to compare it to.
procainestart has a good idea, too. Part of the real "unhealthy-ness" of red meat is that they're full of Omega-6 fatty acids which you need, but high doses lead to inflammation which has been linked to plenty of health problems. Americans eat far too much, and even a single egg a day provides more than enough B-12 and the other handful of compounds you don't naturally make.
In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Thank you.
I've been on weight watchers for a couple of years now, it's working for me, Lost right at 100 lbs, from 271 to 171 now. Been holding 171-172 for the better part of a year. Pretty much gave up red meat, I eat a lot of lean protein like boneless skinless chicken breasts and frozen flounder fillet along with a lot of vegetables and fresh fruit. Now I'd like to mix it up a little.
Canoe.
I'll be going back to plantbased for most of January and all of February. Every health metric (except weight) improved for me, pretty significantly, and family history is working against me.
My contributions:
how do you know you're on an elevator with a vegan? They berkeleying tell you.
dude has a heart attack on an airplane. Attendant asks on PA if there's a Doctor on the plane. Karen raises her hand and says "I'm a vegan."
slowride said:You can make a lot of stuff with tofu. It basically takes on the flavor of whatever you put on it.
Soy is Murder! At least for me it is. I have an allergy to Soy and it is in almost everything nowadays.
My wife and I had been wanting to go vegetarian for a few years and we finally made the switch about 2-3 months ago. Personally, I don't really feel any different physically. I just try to keep my carbohydrates in check. We still eat eggs and cheese and sometimes fish. So I guess lacto-ovo vegetarians/sometimes pescatarians, or whatever.
Mtn - try Beyond Meat's bratwursts. They can be hard to find (I found them at a local Publix) and pricey ($8.99) but they're soy free and taste like an actual bratwurst. Honestly I would say they're better than many brats that I've had - before going vegetarian I was kinda paleo for years, so I've had plenty of them. Also, Beyond Meat has some imitation ground beef crumbles that are pretty fantastic - they taste like ground beef with a bit of sausage mixed in. Makes for a nice hearty red sauce, or excellent tacos. Beyond tends to make their stuff from pea and brown rice protein, for the record. Tofurkey has some good plant-based sandwich meat as well - the smoked ham flavor is pretty fantastic.
One of the driving reasons for my wife and I to switch was environmental. Recent research has shown that it takes about 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef (which is a global average, I believe in America it's closer to 800 gallons). Pork is a little less, and chicken a little less than that. Also I friggin love cows and pigs, so it doesn't feel right killing them and eating them.
I have also read research showing meat increases chances of cancer, but what about eggs and cheese? I haven't found much about cheese, in fact quite the opposite:
I would think the most important thing would be to get your cheese from a place that doesn't pump the cows full of hormones and chemicals.
Best of luck to you, I hope you continue to be successful in your endeavors.
You'll need to log in to post.
