Attention vegetarians

[macska]

My daughter and I are slowly evolving into vegetarians. The meat part is easy, but it is very hard for her (and for me too) to quit dairy. Is there any tasty rice/almond milk out there? She gets an itchy throat from soy.
Plus, any suggestion for "meat replacement"? Cheese replacement? We are very good with all sort of fruits/veggies/legumes but have to work on "milky" part. Thank you very much, Mari

 

[Liann]

Mari - I quit meat cold turkey (no pun intended) a few weeks ago and have been contemplating eventually moving to no dairy as well. I'm in the same boat you are at the moment looking for good replacements. Luckily, I do ok with the soy milk so I haven't tried another type, but I know there are plenty out there. Hopefully some of our "veteran" vegetarians will speak up and give you some ideas. As far as cheese, I may have a hard time fully giving that up unless I can find a substitute that actually tastes good. There is a book called the "Uncheese Cookbook" that I may have to look into getting. Good luck!

 

[LeanneM]

Hi Mari and Liann,

One product that I've used a lot over the last few years is Meatless Ground by Yves. It's a ground meat substitute that has a very subtle flavor when compared to some of the other veggie meats out there (which tend to taste too "meaty" for me). I've found it to be very versatile when used in chili, casseroles, etc. My Alberton's grocery store doesn't always carry it, but if you have a Trader Joe's near you, they always have it.

Good luck!
LeanneM

 

[crazystepr]

One of my favorite meat replacements is Tempeh. It is so delicious---great in spaghetti sauce! Has a pretty "meaty" texture and a great flavor. Toast it first in a toaster oven and then add to spaghetti sauce. Yum!
Plus, you can find it in any grocery store--usually in the produce section.

Allison

 

[stephanied]

Hi Macska,
I use Almond breeze almond milk, it either flavoured, chocolate etc or plain or even unsweetened. It has a really nice taste, even in coffee and tea. I have also used Hemp milk (Hemp breeze), its available at the Whole foods market here in Toronto, i'm not sure if its available in the US. In terms of ice cream, yogurts etc, there are so many now, Tofutti, So good, sometimes health food stores have more variety than grocery chains.
Hope that helps,
Steph

 

[kathryn]

Rice Dream is a good rice milk (it may take some getting used to, but the chocolate should be easy to adapt to!).
Hemp milk is also good.

Living Harvest hemp milk is good (but be warned: there is another brand out there, very similar name, that is nasty!)

You can make your own almond milk by soaking raw almonds overnight, then rinsing and blending with about 2x the amount of water. Strain through cheesecloth, and add a dash of salt and sweetener as desired. You can also add vanilla extract. You can also make non-dairy milks out of macadamia nuts (very rich, great taste), brazil nuts (good source of selenium), cashews, or any mix.

For meat replacement, there are many meat analogs available, like burgers, hot dogs. But many of these are very processed. I recommend getting away from them as much as possible. Instead, explore the wonders of traditional vegetarian foods from other countries. Vegan Planet is a good cookbook that has a wide variety of recipes.

Cheese replacement: most are pretty gross, IMO. There is a new one out called "Cheezly" that is supposed to be really good. www.veganessentials.com carries it. Another option (besides just transitioning away from cheese and substitutes) is to make your own. The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook has recipes that are supposed to taste better than any of the premade stuff out there (and are made with healthier ingredients).

www.vegsource.com can give you some more info.

 

[macska]

Thank you guys a lot, this was indeed very helpful.