Vegans? Vegetarians?

[Esme nha Maire]

Originally Posted by candy_coated_bitch

For those of you who transitioned out of eating dairy, how did you go about it? I'm not sure I can be 100% vegan or not but I really want to cut back on my dairy intake. Mostly cheese trips me up. It's one of my all time favorite foods and it seems like all my favorite foods have cheese in it. Also, there really is no substitute for dairy in a cup of tea. Really, I've tried.

Also, I need to do veganism on the cheap, which is very difficult. People always tell you it's cheaper to cook for yourself and I scoff at that when I can buy a box of mac and cheese for 88¢ or a thing of ramen for a dollar or two. That's several meals right there for like $5 when you count milk and butter for the mac and cheese.

Buying a bunch of fresh veggies and cooking is not cheaper than how I have to eat now, so any suggestions on how to make veganism more budget friendly, let me know. I don't cook a lot know besides things out of a box so I also do not have a well stocked pantry. So a recipe is like an investment what with having to buy spices and all.

Help please! I don't feel like I can overhaul my entire diet at once but am looking more for suggestions of where to start small.

Hi, CCB! My partcular solution to The Cheese Problem is in four parts.

The first is fake cheeses. Now, some people don't rate any of the fake cheeses at all, but cheese being such a varied product, it's somewhat dependent on what you expect and like of a cheese. The fake cheeses also vary widely in flavour and feel. Unfortunately one thing they all have in common tends to be that they are still more expensive than the real thing, so..

- the second part is to use less cheese but (whether real or fake) but slice it thinner, grate it, anything that breaks it into smaller/tiny pieces. You should find that, taste-wise, you can get the same cheese hit from a smaller amount of cheese by using sprinkles or slivers instead of thick slices of the stuff. It's a bit like how chocolate with air bubbles in give you a more intense chocolate flavour hit than the same weight of chocolate with no bubbles - more cheese exposed to air = more cheese flavour per unit weight.

- the third part is to buy the non-dairy cheese as a treat when I can afford it, but otherwise use the dairy stuff. But because I'm being sparing with it either way, I'm using a lot less cheese than I used to before I made a determined effort to go as vegetarian as I can.

- the fourth part is that there is now cheap ready-made stuff you can buy that incorporates cheese or some form of cheese substitute (at least, here in the UK - I shop at Iceland). For instance, I sometimes buy spicy nacho beanburgers that are vegan aside from the cheese content, and they're very tasty even though, so far as I can see, there isn't that much cheese in them. I also sometimes buy vegan pizzas that use humus where cheese would normally be used. To my extreme surprise, this works pretty well, not giving me the cheese hit, but giving me teh yummy pizza hit and oh, there was something a bit like cheese in there somewhere.

Typing this has brought to mind one of my favourite cheap, simple dishes - cheesy rice. I haven't made that in ages! I cover the rice with just enough water that once the water has almost boiled away the rice is nicely soft and sticky (I like my rice sticky so it can be eaten with chopsticks more easily). But a little while before it's finished cooking, I add a tiny smidge of butter (or margerine) and a very small amount of cheese and stir it in. This is enough, for me, to give me that "Yum! I've eaten cheese!" feeling whilst not actually having used much cheese at all.

Hmmn.. just thought of another thing - add tomato, when appropriate. Tomato is a natural source of MSG (monosodium glutamate), so tends to enhance the yum factor of savoury foods. I've been known to smear a little of something tomatoey (ketchup, tomato soup (even from the powdered stuff!) on top of a slice of toast with a nearly transparent layer of cheese on it - the bread gives the bulk, the cheese and tomato give the flavour even though there isnt much of either. If you like garlic flavour, tiny tiny amounts of garlic puree can also add quite a flavour hit for very little cost.

Of course, what works for individuals will vary depending on individual sense of taste, whats available in the area, and budget. I spend markedly less than average on food, but then I might be lucky in whats available locally. I cant sensibly use fresh ingredients because I have a fridge with only a tiny freezer cubbyhole, and even the smallest packs of mixed vegetables (which ALWAYS seem to contain at least one thing I hate and have to pick out!) are too large and will go off before I could use them all. So it;s cans and ready -prepared stuff for me plus staples like rice and pasta, and a few bits and bobs (lik cheese!) to add flavour.

Hope that's of some help!