...if you want it!

And congrats on making the switch.

As River says, we have plenty of great recipes. You might want to start in the Fakes & Substitutes thread. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask; There's normally someone around who can answer. You might also want to check out the Helping Vegetarians Go Vegan group.

Kathleen! Hope you like our group

How good that you're thinking of making the change to vegan. There are lots and lots of recipes here! Just have a look around all the threads - they're mostly organized by nationality. There are also cooking tips - and if you have problems, just ask! It's really not difficult to change to vegan - lots of lovely alternatives to dairy products on the market these days

Total newbie here! Have went from traditional to vegetarian, and am seriously considering vegan. Any recipes, tip, for making the switch? Thanks and will appreciate any newbie info!

I haven't tried to find Dr Cow cheeses online as yet, but I don't think we'd eat much of them because of the nut content being so high in calories. Perhaps we can hurry up and send for some for New Year's Eve and New Year's Dinner But all these brands do tend to be as expensive as the fine cheeses some of us used to enjoy before we went anti-cruelty! I have several recipes for making cheese and I might just try a couple of those too. Some use Rejuvelac. Do yours?

Well, I like the new groups format now. (Now that it works, that is! )

Haven't tried the Dr Cow tree nut cheeses yet, but I keep hearing gooooood things about them. I keep meaning to give them a go, but to be honest they sound just like the probiotic cheese I sometimes make, which works out as a fraction of the cost.

Nope, haven't had a chance to try that new Daiya (is that the right spelling?0 cheese yet, but - have I said it here yet? - I have tried the new Dr Cow tree nut cheeses. And oh boy oh boy are they great!!!! We tried them at Pure Food and Wine (raw food restaurant - verrrrry nice in every way) in New York last month. We didn't expect much from them but we were absolutely blown away. They're delightful: sophisticated, tangy, verry Frrrench dahling, and absolutely yummy and delish. I'm going to break away from my usual way of eating just a little now and then so that I can enjoy them at home IF I can find a way to do that from here. Loverrrrly things they're concoting for us vegans these days.

Yup, we have moved over to the new group format. Not sure how I feel about it yet, Linda, but let's give it a go, okay? I'll look to see how we should re-label some of our threads in the next couple of days and let you know, okay? This looks okay to me - anyone having probs? Let us know, please.

Has anyone tried Daiya yet? Rats, I was doing so well at sticking to raw foods too!!!

We seem to have moved over to the new group format. Is that right..?

This kicks off tomorrow. Here's the official blog:

http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/

(River, I thought you might like to add your blogs to the blogroll?)

I'm still mostly raw, & high-fruit. I only seem to fall off the raw wagon these days when we head out to the local vegan restaurant (& then I normally have Summer rolls & salad, so it's not too bad), and when I get a Marmite generic yeast extract craving (Marmite is owned by a bad company). Then I have to give in & have a pita or an English muffin. I figure one or two a week isn't too bad, & it helps with the B12 input.

Your blog is looking great, River. I love that theme.

Curious as to how many here are also RAW as well as vegan - I'm giving it another shot, and so far have been enjoying it all immensely. I'm keeping track of my tried recipes (my own or someone else's) and various thoughts, findings, etc., here:

http://rawlyvegan.wordpress.com/

Who else?

Hi, Irene. to you too! And congrats on your journey towards being vegan. You won't regret it! Don't forget, we're here to help, if you have any questions.

Hi

I also wished to make my first post in this group and introduce myself. My name is Irene and Im 33 years old vegetarian -on the road to be vegan- from Finland. I love healthy lifestyle in general and -I love animals so I don´t want to eat them or be part of anything that causes them suffering, abuse etc.

Best wishes, Irene

(Where'd my message go???)

Hi and from me too, Kat. Lovely to have you here. Make yourself at home in our kitchen - it's a cozy place where the is always hot and the always cold. With luck you may even find some around from a celebration or other. Help yourself and keep dropping in to say hello!

Hi from me too, Kat, and to our little group

We'll look forward to chatting with you here in our kitchen. Help yourself to or and with luck there'll be some in the fridge! See ya!!!

Hi, Kat! So glad you decided to join us. Take a look around the blue-pinned threads - that's where you'll find all our recipes (Plus in the archives section). If you've got any questions, or you fancy a chat, you're already in the right thread.

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Kat, 33, new to Care2 and have been vegan since November, mainly for health reasons and ethical - I don't agree with the intensive farming methods used in the UK. Anyways, looking forward to getting to know you all and sharing some recipes!

   

Have a wonderful day, Ros!

Hey, guys - it's our Roslyn's birthday today!


Roslyn L.


Happy birthday, Ros!!!

Yes indeed, Mo - and let's all celebrate our 500 members

Mo!

I'm glad care2 is publishing more articles and recipes on veganism.

Woo hoo! 500 members!!!

Thanks for joining us, Mo!

35 min prep / 25 min cooking / 5-6 servings

3/4 C Onion, chopped

1/2 Celery, chopped

1 Tbl minced Garlic

1 tsp Jalapeno pepper, roasted, seeded & minced

8-12 oz. Tempeh, cut into 1/8″ cubes

4 C Filtered water or vegetable stock

14.5 oz. Fire-roasted, crushed tomatoes

1 large Ancho chili, soaked in water until soft, seeded & minced

2 Tbl Tomato paste

1 Tbl Barley malt syrup, optional

1 ½ C cooked & drained kidney or black beans or one 15-ounce can

1 ½ C Corn, fresh or frozen

½ C Cashews, roasted, no salt, chopped

6 Tbl soy sauce, or to taste

1 Tbl Lime juice, fresh squeezed

1 Tbl Chili powder

1 tsp Cumin powder, toasted

Pinch Cayenne pepper, or to taste

Black pepper, ground to taste

Sea salt, to taste

3-4 drops Liquid smoke (optional)

1 ½ Tbl Cilantro, minced

1. Place onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno, tempeh and water or stock in a 3 qt pot and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add tomatoes, barley malt syrup, and tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans and corn and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients, remove from heat, mix well and enjoy. Flavor improves over time.

Serving suggestion: Garnish with a small scoop of Vegan Sour Cream (try tofutti brand), additional minced cilantro, and a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Mark Reinfeld is the founding chef of the Blossoming Lotus Restaurant. He is the coauthor of Vegan Fusion World Cuisine, winner of 9 national awards. His latest book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw coauthored with Jennifer Murray and Bo Rinaldi is available through booksellers everywhere. Please visit www.veganfusion.com for more information.

By Mark Reinfeld, Intent

Earth Day is the perfect day to commit to doing what you can to help preserve and protect our environment. Many do not realize that making changes to your diet is perhaps the most effective way to lighten our footprint on our fragile planet. Those accustomed to eating meat may shy away from some of the facts surrounding the environmental impact of an animal-based diet. The statistics are staggering and challenging to ignore.

A UN report entitled “Livestock’s Long Shadow” indicates that livestock production contributes to more greenhouse gasses than the entire world’s transportation industry combined. That’s a lot of gas! In addition to the global warming angle, there is a convincing case for switching to plant-based foods when you consider the following:

The environmental impact of a vegan diet is a fraction of that of a meat-based one. According to Conservation International, the average carbon emissions from an animal product based diet are 11 tons per year per person. The average emissions on a plant-based diet are six tons per year. Another interesting tidbit of information is that it takes approximately three acres of land and 2500 gallons of water a day to support an animal product based diet. A plant-based diet utilizes only 1/6 of an acre of land and 300 gallons of water a day. According to the USDA, one acre of land can produce 20,000 pounds of vegetables. This same amount of land can only produce 165 pounds of meat.

While all of this information may be persuasive on an intellectual level, when it comes to our food choices we are dealing with a primal instinct that is not so easy to change. At Vegan Fusion we specialize in helping people who want to include more vegan foods in their diet do so in a gentle and delicious manner. Many of our recipes are designed to replicate the tastes and textures of dishes that contain animal products, so there is never a feeling of deprivation. Here is one of our favorites, from the cookbook, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine:

Hey, Amalthea, that's cool! Congrats to your friend. It's a decision she won't regret.

Sounds yummy Linda! That's awesome that a vegan restaurant opened near you.

Yay! I am so excited. A friend of mine started asking questions about veganism, because she said she was looking into it. I tried to answer her questions thoroughly. We even discussed honey and I gave her a link to vegetus. (Thanks Linda for reminding me of that link in the Vegan group. What a timely discussion!) I also gave her a link to COK, because they are giving out free cookbooks. We both ordered one.

That was quite a meal, Linda I am in total envy! I love the idea of the soup you had

Now I have a problem: I was going to cook Hunanese style for lunch (our main meal these years) but now . . . . Well, it looks like Thai

(I'm not a huge fan of faux me*ts either, Linda, but I readily eat them in Asian restaurants and have only once been even mildly disappointed.)

Tried to make crepes, but the little brutes stuck to the pan (what happened to my pan?????) so we had to admit defeat. I'm getting another pan soonest that will be dedicated to crepes.

Oh boy oh boy do I envy you, Linda! I'd give my eye teeth (well, maybe not as I already have given up my wisdom) for a good Thai vegan restaurant. There are a couple or so Thai restaurants, so to speak, here, but they're run by Laotians and the Thai food is geared down to Canadian tastes (so they say) and we find it mostly bland and without the very special fresh flavours of Thailand. (And yes, we've been in Thailand many many times and loved the whole thing!). I think these restaurants use proprietary sauces and pastes rather than making their own.

Anyway, the one we visit does have a vegetarian menu (actually vegan) - but rather limited all the same. I shouldn't complain.

Please remember everything you eat and tell me/us all about it. I (by coincidence) made a Thai curry for the first time in eons at home yesterday and am planning to repeat it - well, maybe a different recipe - Thursday. So I would appreciate the inspiration!

Oh, & has anyone made pancakes today? I made some for my fella this morning & couldn't resist having a small one with a little raw agave syrup & some juicy ripe pear slices on it.

Although LA is great for vegans, Pasadena... not so much. So I was overjoyed to find out today that one of the many vegan Thai restaurants scattered around the LA area has opened up here! Papaya salad, here I come! After that, I have no idea what I'll eat, but I'm sure it won't be fruit based with lots of greens. (I'll probably pay for this tomorrow with a migraine, but right now I'm not caring.)

Sorry to get so childishly excited about a cafe, but I had to tell someone, & I figured you guys would understand.

Download from GoDairyFree.org

River, that sounds so much fun! One of these days I will get over to New York. Although, I'm lucky to be close enough to L.A. I *heart* the Getty.

Roslyn, good to see you! Thanks for the recipes. I haven't done much cooking lately I'm afraid.   I did make a lovely soup over the weekend, but I'm not sure what I did so I can't really post a recipe.

Try this video:

http://everydayvegan.net/post/71642713/joshuajudd-this-is-what-vegans-do-to-vegetables

Hi. Most of our time - a couple of visits - was at the Met. Also the Rubin (Art of the Himalayas) which I love. And the JP Morgan Library had a small neat display of cylinder seals (which is an esoteric interest, true, but . . .) and a major exhibit of bookbinding plus some great landscape paintings. Not much happening of interest to us at the Guggenheim this time round. Not enough time, not enough time

Wow, thanks for all the great information, AB L.

Sounds like you had a great time, River. I'd love to visit New York sometime! What art museum(s) did you visit?

Love that couscous - prepared the modern way, I admit Thanks for all that!

Hi Everyone, Couscous is  very delicous...it is a product made from semolina whea. The orgin of Couscous is the Middle East and some parts of Africa, it is often used  in Lebanon, Israel, Tunesia,Marocco and parts of France where many arabic imigrants live.

It is absolutly tasty. I live close to France about 20 minutes away  and when I have a chance I go to place called Djerba where the dish of the day is always Couscous colored with safran and served with a wonderful flavourfull bowl of vegetable stew and a red spicy paste  and washed down with fresh peppermint chai..The place is packed and it is real inexpensive ,the owner greets everyone with a handshake.

There are man good ways to prepare it...just google Couscous

here is a copy and paste from Wiki:

Couscous from semolina (wheat)

The semolina is sprinkled with water and rolled with the hands to form small pellets, sprinkled with dry flour to keep the pellets separate, and then sieved. The pellets which are too small to be finished grains of couscous fall through the sieve to be again sprinkled with dry semolina and rolled into pellets. This process continues until all the semolina has been formed into tiny grains of couscous. Sometimes salt is added to the semolina and water.

This process is very labour intensive. In the traditional method of preparing couscous, groups of women would come together and make large batches over several days.^[6] These would then be dried in the sun and used for several months. Couscous was traditionally made from the hard part of the hard wheat Triticum durum, the part of the grain that resisted the grinding of the relatively primitive millstone. In modern times, couscous production is largely mechanized, and the product sold in markets around the world.

Welcome back, Linda! We missed you Just got back from New York this afternoon (where it was not exactly summer but warmer than here!) -- lots of good vegan food to enjoy there, not to mention opera, friends, art museums, libraries, etc. Love NYC!!!

Anyway, back to reality and back to your lovely post - Congrats on the tons of weight lost. Now that's another good incentive for going raw, eh????? Mind you, it seems a little chill here for that (I know, I know . . . ) and there is not as wide a choice on fruits here as you have there. One gets weary of same old same old. But we'll try, we'll try!

You're an inspiration, girrrrrrl!!!

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well! For everyone in the U.S. I hope you enjoyed a restful day off yesterday (assuming you got one.)

I just picked up a box of couscous at the store yesterday. Would that be a Mediterranean ingredient? Are there any recipes on here with this? Thanks in advance for your help.

Ah, back. Finally! And I'm warm for the first time in over 2 weeks!!! (It was -10 degC in London (that's 14F for those who still think in Imperial ))


It's good to be home again. And what's one of the first things I do now I'm back in warm weather? Stand over a hot stove & cook an Italian stew for my other half! Got a good reason though; he's aiming to switch to my 80/10/10 raw diet, but he wants to get his fat levels down close to 10% before he risks eating all that fruit. (He's only switching 'cos I've lost loads of weight, & he's now feeling fat. ) So I'll be making him lots of fat-free & low fat meals for the next couple of weeks. Expect more recipes to be posted soon...

Happy New Year, everyone! You gonna be visiting that frigid isle for long, Linda? Must be a shock after sunny California Love to you all.

Ros, I hope you and your dad feel better.


Welcome Agnes!

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Ros. Hope he's all on the mend now? Hope you get over that bug too. Seems to be going round the whole of the UK; My Mum's had it for a month or so too.

We're having a good holiday, thank. Hope you did too? We spent the night of New Year's Eve at a friend's house dog-sitting their two huskies. Fun!

Now we're back in the UK to see family, and it's too damn cold here!

So sorry to hear your Dad's been ill, Ros. That's rough

Thanks, we have had a pleasant December - quiet, but just the way we like it and we are gearing up for a great New Year.

Wishing you all the best for 2009 -

Agnes - it's so good to have you here at long last! Hope you enjoy our little group As Linda says, there are lots and lots of good recipes - just check out all the blue-tagged threads! And of course, you must drop in here for a chat whenever you like - there's always cold in the fridge, the coffee pot is usually on (OK - who nearly emptied this pot! Gotta make some more ), and we even have and stuff from time to time

See ya around!

Hi guys

Sorry for my absence, Dad's been really ill, only got out of hospital the day before Christmas Eve.  And I've had a virus for the past almost 8 weeks so not taking part in much really.

And no group messages are getting through to my Yahoo account....again. 

Anyway I hope everybody who celebrates Christmas had a good one and whatever else people celebrate at this time of year, I hope that goes or has gone well too.

Welcome Agnes   

Hope everybody has a great New Year

The Varmint Bunnies send nosebonks to you all

Hi, Agnes! You'll find loads of yummy recipes around here, and we'd love to hear any of yours. Help yourself to and feel free to join in on the chat.

hello Everyone !

River invited me way back then , now I  take her up on it, looking forard to participate  and even more to learn .

Agnes

Lovely video, thanks! I wish everyone would see that and change their minds.

Thanks for the info about Teflon too. Scary. =/ I use cast iron or some really old pots and pans I inherited from my grandmother. I don't think they have teflon on them.

Nice one, Ros! I know a few people who would actually be pleased to see it!

Now, everyone, keep warm, keep happy, keep veg-ing on, and a Happy New Year to you all

This is a nice one to pass around
http://www.oneplanetonechance.com/xmas/xmas.html

Merry Christmas everybody!

Ros

Oh don't get me started on dates and figs Especially dates. We buy them for a special banana bread recipe we use (from one of Barnard and Kramer's books) but we have to do that just before our bakefest or we'll find that somehow the mice have managed to open the cupboard and pry of the lid of the container and . . . Of course, neither of us knows how that could happen

They're fantastic on their own! I often add dates into smoothies too, especially if they're fresh, rather than dried.

Thanks for posting I hope new vegans and those interested can make some use out of the free vegan starter kit.

So... I just bought some figs and dates. Any ideas on how to use them? Are they good plain?

It could be that you can sign up for this if you're not in the UK. I'm not sure how their mentor system works, but if it's all via email, it probably doesn't matter where you are.