are there any very good books on the subject of vegan/vegetarian cooking
that you can recommend me?

i've decided for ethical, moral and health reasons to quit animal meats
and almost all related products.

been off all dairy products for more than a year now, and replaced all
with soy, which works very well and makes a noticable difference in my
overall well being.

food itself and it's nutrients, contents etc has always been a bit of
a hobby of mine so i know what stuff to combine and how to eat a well
balanced diet without any meat products.

so i'm basically not looking for a book that explains all of that, but
rather i'm looking for just good, thorough cookbooks.

i think vegan books would have my preference since the only thing i'm
planning on eating still, on occasion, will be eggs from my uncle's
free roaming chickens and i guess vegetarian cookbooks might include
cheese in a lot of their recipies which would therefore be of no use
to me anymore. (there is nothing on this earth that i didn't enjoy
when tasting it. in fact i've made it a point to taste everything,
no matter how weird or bizarre, yet soy-cheese remains the only thing
i've ever had in my mouth that made me absolutely gag).

doesn't have to be a straight forward recipies only book either tho.

i'm difficult, bear with me

i like sort of reference style books, filled with little tips or
information bubbles inbetween recipies etc.

but a page by pag recipy guide would be fine too.

i like these kind of recipies. not something that will
keep you in the kitchen for over an hour and be more
like gourmet dinner than actual nice food.

i've tried this and it was great. had it several times
since.

for karen

2 great ones!






The second will have LOTS of vegan recipes, and you will quickly learn how to adapt many recipes to vegan anyway - use olive oil instead of butter, that kind of thing.

I used to be a vegetarian from 1999-2004, and I had short vegetarian phases before that. I considered going back to a vegetarian lifestyle but to be honest, I feel much,much better with my current eating habits. But that is another story.

My favorite books from that time are still these here;

The World Vegetarian Cookbook by CLB/England

Living Vegetarian Cookbook by Paul Gayler (bought it in the USA)

Die vegetarische Küche zum Genießen by Inga Britta Sundqvist ( it´s in German but I think it is a translation, the name sounds rather Swedish than German....it´s an excellent book! I´d really recommend this!)

Those three are my favorites, I also own a few other books but the ones I mentioned are really good.

I´m still considering at least occasional phases of a vegetarian diet, at least ovo-lacto, but I´m not sure. I missed out on a lot of things while being a vegetarian, was probably a pain in the ass to most of my hosts who cooked for me, turned down a lot of interesting stuff, and, being the traveler that I am, had some serious problems finding decent food when I was traveling. And the psychological factor played a huge role for me, especially when I turned down food offered by close friends or relatives or certain things that remind me of my ethnic background ( walking past Turkish restaurants or not eating fish was really difficult for me...maybe I wouldn´t feel that way if I lived in Turkey instead of Germany...though there are tons of vegetarian meals in Turkish and Greek cuisine).

Another reason for switching back from vegetarianism to a normal diet was based on my thorough research, especially on soy products and Shaolin monks and their diet, the hormone system in the male body and some online research on the paleo-diet.

But most of all,it was the sudden physical and mental change after eating fish for a couple of weeks that made me a meat eater again.

However, since my vegetarian years was based on ethical reasons rather than health reasons, I don´t really feel comfortable with my current diet, at least on a spiritual level. On a physical level, I feel better.

Wishing you the best with your decision though.

I admire y'alls discipline.
It always seems like a great idea, but I'm terrified I won't be satisfied.

And Ron always throws around "I was a vegetarian, I could do it." but the second I cut back on our diets he's in the kitchen makin a PB&J sammich immediately after dinner cuz he still hungry.

Don't tell him I blabbed.
[Edited 1/28/10 14:09pm]

I'm a freegetarian. If somebody cooks meat for me, I'll eat it. I just won't buy it myself.

I know it's a cop-out, but there you go. I tried to be completely vegetarian, but my mother gives me parceles of frozen casseroles and chilli... I'm not throwing it away because somehow that seemed worse than actually eating it.

KoolEaze said:

ah, i understand your pain i went through a phase of being vegetarian too
from about 1995-1999 but all the time i craved meat. i just gave it up on a
whim, convincing myself that it was for ideological reasons, which it wasn't
truly in hindsight.

but this time all things are different. the sight, the smell and the taste
of meat has started to repulse me more and more the last year.

on top of that, i got jonathan safran foer's new book "eating animals"
during the holiday season and after reading that, there is no way in hell
i will continue eating meat. it was, in a sense, that last little nudge i
needed.

anyway, what do you mean about the hormone system of the male body and the
negative effects of soy? do you mean the indications that regular soy intake
increases oestrogen levels in the body and suppresses testosterone? i know
that but i don't care, actually. slightly raised oestrogen levels are not a
bad thing at all.

i've conulsted with my md about this today and he basically told me that with
my medical history it'd not be a bad idea at all to never eat red meat again,
so that was a nice affirmation. he did ask me if i wouldn't consider eating
fish tho but since fish is the one animal that suffers the most horrible death of all animals and since large scale fish farming is only a tiny step better
than the complete anihalation of sea animals through trawlers and lines, the
fish, i'm affraid, is no longer an option.

GirlBrother said:

Hey, that´s EXACTLY how I felt when I was still a vegetarian. And remember, it was supposedly the Buddha himself who told his followers not to turn down any food that contains meat if it´s being offered to you.

GirlBrother said:

That's what I did for years before I decided to make the conscious decision to give it up. My tastes changed over time and I feel better on a vegetarian diet.

CarrieMpls said:

thanks! that one looks particularly interesting after reading a
bit about it online.

i tried to order it just now through 'bol.com' (the dutch amazon)
but it's no longer in stock/print. there's a paperback version of
it being released in march according to the site, so i will snap
up a copy as soon as it hits the shelves (well i've already put
it on pre-order, lol).

GirlBrother said:

yeah that's usually a big hurdle. being offered food at your parent's house
or at dinner parties with friends.

but back in 1995/1999 i overcame awkward situations by just explaining that
i didn't eat meat at all anymore but would be happy to have whatever else
was on the menu and perhaps some slices of bread to go with that.

it always worked very well. it's the same thing with saying 'no' to cake at
birthday parties or such. just give people another option to 'serve' you.
people just want you to eat something and join the group activity, lol. so
if they can make you a P&J sandwich instead of a big piece of pie, they'll
gladly do so 9 out of 10 times.

IstenSzek said:

You´re actually quite right, eating fish is indeed ethically much more controversial when you think about it, with overfishing and poison in the oceans and what not...at least eating poultry and red meat doesn´t endanger animals that are almost extinct, like tuna.

Yes, I meant the estrogen and testosterone balance.I read a lot about that and even though I didn´t really experience loss of libido or hair loss or anything, I could still tell that I was physically much leaner and stronger when I started eating fish and poultry again....I could see the results within a few weeks.Then again, scientists are not 100% sure about the effects of soy on the male body. Some say soy is good but you will find just as many sources where they warn people not to eat soy at all. I don´t trust soy and, looking at people who eat lots of soy,I don´t know, really, whether it affects them or not. I mean, most Asian countries are really into aphrodisiacs like rhinoceros horn or tiger bones or whatever, and either they are VERY horny and want to boost their sex drive even more, or they are not that horny at all and are desperately looking for ways to increase their libido...I really don´t know.

But I read something by a Shaolin monk who praised soy for decreasing his sexual appetite, hence helping him to stay away from women and temptation.
As I said, I didn´t experience any side effects but I was worried about the long term effects.
And I was hungry all the time, I craved carbs and meat like crazy, even though I was eating a lot of plant based proteins and dairy products and gulping down protein shakes....but that´s something everyone has to decide for himself or herself.

Also,whether you´re a man or a woman also plays an important part,and each individual is different.

I REALLY like the Post Punk Kitchen

http://www.theppk.com/

It's really not that hard to become a vegetarian ...vagan on the other hand that one is hard



try this site http://vegweb.com/
[Edited 1/28/10 14:46pm]

KoolEaze said:

i've been using soy product regularly since 1995 when they first started
to pop up in the supermarkets over here instead of just in health food
stores. i liked the taste of them and kept drinking/eating soy products
until little over a year ago i drastically gave up all milk products in
favor of soy.

the oestrogen levels don't bother me in so much that i don't care if they
would decrease my libido. i'm 31 and if someone kickstarts me, i'm good
to go but i've never been too keen or ready to go 24/7 so i wouldn't be
able to tell you if the soy has diminished my sex drive over the years.
if anything, i think i'm a little less frigid these days than i was back
in the mid 90s, lol. ok. way too much information there.

anyway, did you seriously crave protein that much? you even had to take
regular protein shakes? damn. i just replace the animal protein with a
variety of nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes, beans and tofu and soy.
but even on days when i've hardly eaten any protein, i don't crave it.

wich goes to show once again that everyone's metabolism is different and
what might work for you might not work well for someone else.

drgnfly said:

will do

thank you!

KoolEaze said:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama ate pheasant in Madison a couple years ago.

I love Veganomicon but I also use these two alot as I'm learning how to become a more creative cook:






This one has pretty simple recipes. It's great if you like rice bowls as I do and it has a lot of smoothies and green drink ideas for the beginner.



This is my latest. It's sorta gourmet but I like reading it.


[Edited 1/28/10 15:05pm]

is beer vegan?

ZombieKitten said:

some beer is..Also, some wines are

ZombieKitten said:

Not all beers, no. Sadly.

drgnfly said:

this is important, I plan to meet the poster of this thread in summer, but BEER must be present

I know they use egg white to filter some wines, so I was wondering maybe they do that to beer too?

some great tips guys, thanks

ZombieKitten said:

are you planning on getting me drunk?

Genesia said:

His "holiness" the Dalai Lama persecutes people who happen to disagree with him.
http://political-leaders-...je_shugden

And he accidentally praised the Nazis while he was in Germany. OK, they should have told him that his former Nazi friends are no longer in power, but hey...

IstenSzek said:

actually, now that you mention it

ZombieKitten said:

promise me now that you won't take pictures!

soon as someone offers me a tequilla, all my
self control goes out the window

IstenSzek said:

is tequila vegan?



I'll be drunk too, I promise!! I can't manage my fancy camera tipsy, too many buttons on it

ZombieKitten said:

we'll probably end up having our picture taken in one of those
machines on the street.

let's pray we'll be so drunk we'll forget to wait for the pics
to come out.

CarrieMpls said:

Of course they are.hat animal product could be an ingredient in beer?