The Vegetarian & Vegan Thread

[ChloeFrancoise]

I just made this recipe from the same website. I'll probably be making it regularly this summer since I don't have to use a stove or oven.

http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/27/cilantro-lime-chickpea-salad-sweat-wicking-workout-wear/

 

[Teja]

I found these two vegetarian and supposed healthy muffin recipes so I thought I'd share them with you guys.

Green Tea and White Chocolate Muffins
The finished muffins are fragrant and not overly sweet. The white chocolate adds a nice surprise but you can easily make them without it.

70g unsalted butter, room temperature
70g caster sugar
2 eggs, lighten beaten
2 tablespoons milk
120g self raising flour
1 teaspoon green tea powder (matcha)*
1 teaspoon baking powder
40g white chocolate

1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 12 hole muffin or bun tin with paper cases.
2.In a bowl, combine 70g butter and 70g caster sugar and whip until fluffy and white. Gradually add the beaten eggs, stirring well each time. Add milk and mix again.
3.Sieve the flour, green tea powder, and baking powder into the mixture; stir well with a rubber or wooden spatula until evenly mixed.
4.Add 40g roughly-chopped white chocolate chunks to the muffin mixture and fold in gently.
5.Spoon the muffin mixture into the paper cases (filling them 1/2 full), and bake 25-30 minutes.
6.Remove the muffins from the pan and allow to cool.

*For those of you who might have a hard time finding green tea powder: you can find teabag versions easily at your local supermarket nowadays; cut and empty those into a blender, pulse until fine, and voila you got yourself green tea powder.

Vegan Polenta Muffins
These vegan muffins are also sweetened with agave nectar, which is lower on the Glycaemic Index than other sugars. Try adding berries for a tasty and pretty touch. You can also use plain wholemeal flour instead of the regular plain flour, or 30g of each.

70g polenta (corn meal)
60g plain four
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons apple sauce
120ml soya milk
4 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil

1.Preheat the oven to 170 C / Gas 3. Lightly grease a muffin tin.
2.Combine the polenta, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl; stir in the apple sauce, soya milk and agave nectar. Slowly add the oil while stirring. Pour the mixture into the muffin tin.
3.Bake in the preheated oven until a skewer or small knife inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

TEXT AND PICTURES FROM ALLRECIPES.CO.UK

 

[sophiejade]

This thread is so helpful, I haven't been vegan for long and there is so much useful information on here!

I'm not sure if this has been posted before but I recently found this vegan recipe blog and it has quickly become on of my favorites.

http://theveganstoner.com/

 

[Neely]

What a sweet website, sophiejade thank you so much!
I really like veganbackpacker.com

 

[chanelnumber5]

Oh She Glows has become my new favorite blog! You guys should really check it out ---> ohsheglows.com <---

Yes, I've read Oh She Glows from almost when she first began it and love it! Some of the recipes for baked goods have ingredients I don't tend to have in or are a bit complicated for me, but the savoury recipes are always really good! Mama Pea is another really good vegan blog.

 

[dauphine]

I've converted back to vegetarianism/veganism. I don't eat much animal products at all, only eggs and honey, with some cheese very very occasionally. I feel so so much better when I don't eat meat. I was raised vegetarian and it definitely suits me best.

 

[cold_sun]

I know what you mean, Ive been a vegetarian for something like 5 years now and just trying to become a full vegan. I dont really miss anything apart from fish, chocolate/sweets every now and then and Im not too sure whether soy (yoghurt, for example) doesn't really agree with me.
Apart from that I think once you inform yourself about the lifestyle, its benefits and how bad dairy can actually be for your health it just makes me feel amazing and its definitely something I personally want to stick to for the rest of my life.

 

[dauphine]

Ever since I 'quit' meat about a month and a half ago, my skin has been looking great. I'm thinking there is a correlation. I could only go back to eating meat if I can eat organic, but it's so expensive, and so calorie dense besides.

 

[cloudyshambles]

do you consume soy products? I know that there are some controversial opinions about it. I buy a block of tofu about every two weeks and drink 0.5 litre of soymilk every day because compared to other non dairy milks it contains the most protein. I'm only buying organic though.

 

[dauphine]

I eat Tofu some times, probably less than onces a month, and occasionally get cravings for Soy Milk. Growing up my mom regarded soy milk as expensive (it kind of is) and we were not allowed to drink it, it was only used on cereal and for baking, so it feels really indulgent to me to be able to have a whole glass of it to myself.
I also love to drink White Russians and use soy milk to mix it instead of half and half, but anything more processed than that I avoid as a general rule, Morningstar sausage, soy crumbles, all of that stuff, it's generally pretty junky in my estimation.

 

[Melisande]

Okay...I hadn't eaten meat in ten years...vegan for a year and a half, veggie for four years, and then slowly became pescatarian over the past five years. I was feeling great, and my skin was great.

But two months ago, from lifestyle changes, I started eating chicken, once or twice a week tops. After two months of this, I started getting pimples on my lovely face. Exactly like I used to ten years ago, before I became veggie...

Anyone experience something similar??

I hope it's the chicken because the problem would be easily resolved. (It could also be due to the lifestyle changes, which would be harder to resolve.) But why would the body react differently to the chicken than fish? Because of the antibiotics and horrendous farming conditions and whatnot?

 

[Melisande]

By the way Teja the green tea muffins look good, thanks! Reminds me of Japan~~

 

[dauphine]

Probably because of hormones, yeah. Fish are given hormones as in some situations if they're farmed rather than wild-caught though.
I have to force myself to eat fish if it's not sushi, I am generally not a big fan of fish-related things, but lately I've been liking shrimp a lot, especially with garlic in a stir-fry.

 

[Vega Magnus]

I am unintentionally pescetarian. Does that count?

 

[cloudyshambles]

I eat Tofu some times, probably less than onces a month, and occasionally get cravings for Soy Milk. Growing up my mom regarded soy milk as expensive (it kind of is) and we were not allowed to drink it, it was only used on cereal and for baking, so it feels really indulgent to me to be able to have a whole glass of it to myself.
I also love to drink White Russians and use soy milk to mix it instead of half and half, but anything more processed than that I avoid as a general rule, Morningstar sausage, soy crumbles, all of that stuff, it's generally pretty junky in my estimation.

where I live soymilk is actually the cheapest non-dairy option! I read some food blogs and I see almond milk there a lot, but I found only one shop that sells almond milk here and it's about 3 times the price of the soymilk I buy I'd love to try it though because I looove nuts and especially almonds!

however, I've read some controversial things about eating too much soyproducts so I wanted to try another non-dairy milk and wanted to know what you guys use and can recommend

 

[Lilliana]

^ What about oat-milk or rice-milk, it's not much more expensive than soy-milk. They both have a more 'water-like' consistence, but also a more neutral taste than soy-milk. I love love love the oatly-cream for making sauces, and prefer cocoa with oat milk a lot over soy-cocoa Back in Norway we had also this vanilla-cream from oatly which was heavenly.
here's a link to their stuff: http://www.oatly.com/
a lot of people like rice-milk, but I like oat-milk way more, I think it's really just a personal preference.

 

[Melisande]

Probably because of hormones, yeah. Fish are given hormones as in some situations if they're farmed rather than wild-caught though.
I have to force myself to eat fish if it's not sushi, I am generally not a big fan of fish-related things, but lately I've been liking shrimp a lot, especially with garlic in a stir-fry.

Really?! Hormones? I looked it up and everywhere I read it says that they do use antibiotics to ward off disease, but don't put hormones in poultry, it's illegal, they'd have to inject it anyway, it's all a myth, etc. etc...whereas my body says otherwise. I don't know what to think any more. And hormones in fish...

 

[Melisande]

I am unintentionally pescetarian. Does that count?

um...depends what you mean by "unintentionally" and "count"...

 

[dauphine]

Really?! Hormones? I looked it up and everywhere I read it says that they do use antibiotics to ward off disease, but don't put hormones in poultry, it's illegal, they'd have to inject it anyway, it's all a myth, etc. etc...whereas my body says otherwise. I don't know what to think any more. And hormones in fish...

it depends on where you are, but generally farmed seafood from China/Thailand. I won't touch it. They're given weight-gainers a lot to get them up to slaughter size. Also the FDA doesn't text for hormones in fish, so. :searches for online sources:

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/fishy-business/antibiotics-and-growth-hormones-in-feed/
http://www.rwood.com/Articles/Fish.htm

 

[Vega Magnus]

um...depends what you mean by "unintentionally" and "count"...

As in I don't do it on purpose. It just happens to be the way I eat now.