Do most vegans just make their own stuff and use the premade vegan meat items as treats?
Not sure about "most vegans". but I think a lot of vegans make their own stuff.
I do buy some of that premade vegan stuff every week. But I'm not a very good cook and sort of lazy. but still, i don't eat it every day. And I think each year I buy less of it. Not because I don't like it - but because i have found I like some of the alternatives better.
Maybe one thing that holds us back is our traditional concept of a meal. Like a dinner has a starch at 10. vegetabe at 2. and a meat at 6. And the meat is like 40% of the plate. the other two get 30%. I think a vegan needs to change the way they think about a meal. a lot of my meals are more layered. Like the starch (rice) on the bottom and everything else on top.
The same thing goes at lunch. Hamburgers, hotdogs, and sandwiches all have the meat in the middle. You can make a pretty good sandwich without meat or processed meat subs. I sometimes make a hero sandwich which is all just veggies. Grilled veggies is a great treat, too. Take a look at Pinterest's vegan veggie wraps. I love these guys.
As a vegan noob, you might want to join the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. It's free. Its online. I'll put the link at the bottom.
It's like an online class. But easier. I think the lessons are in the 5 to 15-minute range. Mostly videos. but some are articles and some are just audio. I didn't take this one. I took the 30-day Vegan Challenge which now costs money. but this one is still free (and nine days shorter). Plus if you join on the first day of the month they have a special chat room/forum for all your classmates.
the other thing I recommend for you is to go to the library and check out a bunch of vegan cookbooks. Browse them all and make up a rule. Like one new recipe a week. there are also a bunch of ebooks on line you can download - for free of to borrow.
Extra credit. Subscribe to a podcast. You can listen to podcasts in the car, on the bike, and while doing chores. My favorite is the
Food For Thought podcast. it's best to start at the beginning.
Double extra credit. Subscribe to a vegan podcaster. I like the ones that are like cooking channels. Right now my favorite is Sarahs Vegan Kitchen.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAbKLYEuTR1riockIgAWBiw
I also like the Cheap Lazy Vegan.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjkioV3LO_OIUaSWRxFZ3A
You might find one that is more family meal oriented. Perhaps one of the other peeps on this forum have a good suggestion there.
Oh, by the way, Welcome. you will probably find vegan cooking to be even cheaper than regular meals.
https://kickstart.pcrm.org/en
