Vegan Cheeses, Notes for the Vegan Curious.

I'm what you'd call "mostly vegan," if you were to label me. I don't eat meat and I only occasionally eat dairy and that is usually in situations where I don't want to be a pain in the ass and say annoying things like, "could MY side of the pizza have no cheese and light sauce, please?" Nah, I'd rather just smile and say, "veggie is fine."

I hate making others uncomfortable.

Anyway, I'm mostly vegan and I enjoy it for the most part. I sometimes miss cheese...like those moments of sitting in front of the television with a glass of wine & a few wedges of extra sharp cheddar.

Yea, I miss that sometimes.

That said, I've discovered that when I eat too much cheese, as in having it in a meal two days in a row, my stomach hurts...badly.

I've had this happen to me over the years, but I thought it was having too much bread (and it still could be that), but bread and cheese usually go hand in hand, don't they? Think pasta. I LOVE pasta. Too much. I have always put cheese on my pasta.

Anyway, the cheese replacements are great. It took me a little time to develop a taste for them, but it's official and I don't mind them. K doesn't like the block style cheeses. I guess they don't compare well. I've not had them. If I have a wedge of cheese, I want the real deal or I'll just keep the memory of the real deal.

So, of the cheeses I've tried, these are my favorites:

http://www.galaxyfoods.com/galaxy-products/rice-vegan/

I've liked all of the cheeses they make and find they melt very much like dairy cheese. I also like that these are not soy based.

GO VEGGIE!

I like their cheeses as well, especially the shredded varieties. 

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Ones I've not been super impressed with: 

TEESE

I'm going to give this one another go this week though, when I make macaroni and cheese for my boys. Fingers crossed that they won't hate it. 

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Notes for the vegan curious and newbies (I'm still a newbie, but a not-so-newbie, I guess).

Be careful when preparing your meals. 

Example: One day I was making a tofu scramble and I realized I pretty much had all soy except that I added a lot of veggies and fruit (as always) to my plate. While it might LOOK like you're having eggs, sausage, and cheese, you might in fact be having soy, soy, and soy. 

I think this is how a lot of new vegans end up in nutritional trouble. 

Variety is the key. Strive to get veggies and fruits from the entire color spectrum each and every day. Remember, dark, leafy greens (think: spinach, kale, collard greens, broccoli, mustard greens, dandelion greens, etc) are your BFFs. They pack a nutritional punch. Mix at least one of them into every meal and don't be afraid to try something new. 

Every time I go to the market these days, I have a new veggie in my cart. It's fun to try new things and if I don't like it the first time, I still try it again, just in case. It sometimes takes the mouth a few practice runs to truly decide if it likes a certain food. That, coupled with assumptions can throw off the taste of food. Have you ever taken a sip of something, thinking it was another thing and it tastes totally gross? My point exactly with new veggies (and cheese alternatives in my situation with Teese). 

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Rynny and I went for a walk yesterday. It felt fantastic to get sweaty and active. I want to do it again today! I even did most of the exercises I posted in my blog yesterday. The only differences were that I simply couldn't do as many reps of some things. lol I'm sooooo out of shape! Ha! 

K is losing weight with the new vegan thing. His dad noticed when we went for a visit and his shorts and jeans are getting loose on him. 

OKAY! Must go Ryn is having a minor meltdown. 

Ciao.