I think I'm ready to take the plunge...

[Punkie]

Hopefully this is my last time on the vegetarian fence :P I think going to go vegan :) Actually, I guess I've tecnically been vegan all morning, LOL!

I've been doing tons of reading and working on adapting my recipes over for the past few days, and so far its been going really great!

I had already converted all of my son's food to being dairy-free, because of his allergy, and I hate eggs and rarely cook with them, so that was no problem ;) I have also been making vegetarian choices most of the time, so its really not too drastic...

So, if anyone has any good advice for me, I'd love to hear it! I seriously doubt that my dh will be interested in joining me, although he'll probably be willing to eat most of the food I make (as long as its not soy or quorn based). I'm guessing that for quite a while, I'll be making 2 dinners again, but I really want to do it, so I'll make due :)

I am not looking to throw away my leather shoes yet or shred my leather couch, so I think that converting our non-food items over to being vegan will take a bit longer...

[ServingGod]

:highfive My best advice....fake cheddar cheese tastes sick. I like the McDougall recipes a lot...they are low in fat., but oil can be used...just change the recipes a touch..and he doesnt use a lot of soy..and they taste great! Make sure you take a B12 supplement too, if you arent already..and that your dc has a good source of B12.

[Punkie]

I tried to give my son some fake american cheese a few weeks ago (he gets hives from dairy), and he told me it was "very yucky", which is strong language from my 3 year old... :P

My parents (who are FAR from vegetarian) somehow have a whole library of vegetarian books that they happened to get in a bundle, so I've been reading them. One of the ones that they have is Marilu Henner's (is that her name? It doesn't look right) cookbook, and it looks like there's a lot of yummy stuff in there.

B12 is definitely a big deal, so I'm being very cautious about that. I want to go look at the HFS when we get back home to see what kind of supplements they have (besides the stuff that I already have at home)...

[Leslie]

I second the comment about cheese. My kids use soy cheese, but it has casein, which is from milk, so it's not vegan. All the vegan cheeses I've ever tried were nasty.

I like Marilu Henner's books, her program is what got me started eating healthy. I also really like The Vegan Sourcebook by Joanne Stepaniak (I think that's how it's spelled!)

[flowermama]

My kids and dh enjoy Tofutti's American "cheese" slices. Our favorite mozarella-type cheese is "Vegan Gourmet." Here's a link to their website: http://www.imearthkind.com/

There's a company that makes some good "vegan kids" vitamins. lmk if you want the name and I can look it up.

The vitamin B12 supplement that I take (when I remember :O) is made by "Country Life." They are vegetarian and are sublingual (you take one by putting it under your tongue and letting it dissolve).

Anyway, that's really great, Punkie. I'm here for ya and rooting you on! :highfive

[ArmsOfLove]

good for you :)

we actually were free of dairy and eggs and most meats and were only eating turkey and decided what they hey ;)

[Punkie]

Thanks for the support, girls!
We just flew home last night, and our fridge is BARE, so its the perfect time to go stock up on healthy, vegan stuff! I'm going to go try to make my meal plan for the week and then buy the other basics that I'm going to need. I'm very excited!
I know that I won't be able to get milk completely out of our house, because my dh *loves* the milk that our milkman brings, and its organic, so it'll at least be around for him, but I'm really going to try to replace it for everyone else, especially since my son can't have it.

Jeri, thanks for the recommendations! I'm going to go check them out :) My kids (and dh) have been taking Nutri-Stars, which says that they have 200% of the RDA for B12, but I want to check to see what exactly what kind it is and if it'll be properly absorbed or not...

[ArmsOfLove]

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/b12/

thought you might appreciate that--just read it this morning :)

[Punkie]

Thanks so much!

[gamomof2]

:highfive :cool :tu

That's great, Amanda! I have been struggling back and forth for some time now, and TU about making 2 meals! :P It's worth it, though.

[Punkie]

Thanks, Rebecca! I was just thinking about your transition to being veg the other day :) :hug

Now that my ds is casein-free and my dd hates real meat and will eat the fake stuff, its been easy to eliminate everything except for eggs...