Hello. I am extremely new to veganism, new to the vegan community, and everything related. Making the transition has been in the back of my mind for years, but my poor eating habits have kept me from taking the leap. I am pushing this to see if I can make it work. 1-for myself/heath. I keep hearing you have more energy and you feel better overall. I want to see if that is true, and I am hoping so. 2-for the animals. I have always been an animal lover, and am tired of being a hypocrite. 3-the impact on the environment. I want to be less of a negative factor on the environment, and do my part(no matter how small it may be)to not contribute as much to climate change and the like. My wife and I recently had our first child, and I want to help her have a sustainable future on this planet as much as possible. I didn’t grow up being exposed and taught to eat vegetables, so there isn’t many vegan things I like. My question is, can you “make” yourself like foods? Like lettuce, beets, cucumber, etc? If yes, how so? Has anyone else had this problem when they started? Thanks for any help/advice.
New vegan help
- Thread starter Titansblue24
- Start date
Lou
Forum Legend
I don't know if you "make" yourself to like foods but I am sure you can find vegan foods you like.
Start off with making a list of the meals you have this week. Are any of them already vegan? Can any of them be turned into a vegan meal by removing an ingredient? Or replacing an ingredient?
Start with that and go on from there.
As a new vegan I just ate whatever I could find in the supermarket e.g. vegan sausages. After a while it became expensive and a bit boring. I now use You Tube, Kindle books and Playstore apps for recipes and ideas for food. I have a new found love for making new food, including stuff I never used to get on with like Tofu (which I'm now obsessed with as I've learnt to prepare and cook it differently)
Lou
Forum Legend
I guess that is something a bit different in being a new vegan in 2020 and a new vegan in 2010. The number and quality of "alternative food" is so much higher (10x?)
But your little story still has the same storyline. Maybe just takes longer to get to the same place. For a lot of vegans, it does launch them into the world of recipes and new ideas (like eating curdled soymilk). In fact, many of the vegans who are on the VF consider that one of the benefits of veganism.
Welcome to VF, @Titansblue24 ! And congrats on your decision!
I used to have a rule for myself that any main meal should be accompanied by a salad. So I made at least a simple salad with every main meal - it could be just lettuce and bell pepper, maybe with a small dash of rapeseed oil. When I had more time, I would add more stuff to it such as olives, seeds, nuts, avocados, baby corn, water chestnuts. I ate the salad because it was the rule! And I always ate the salad before the main meal.
Yes, but it can be hard for some. To me, some vegetables like lettuce and cucumber taste neither good nor bad - they're just neutral. I was never a big fan of carrots, but I found that they taste better when stir-fried
I used to have a rule for myself that any main meal should be accompanied by a salad. So I made at least a simple salad with every main meal - it could be just lettuce and bell pepper, maybe with a small dash of rapeseed oil. When I had more time, I would add more stuff to it such as olives, seeds, nuts, avocados, baby corn, water chestnuts. I ate the salad because it was the rule! And I always ate the salad before the main meal.
Lou
Forum Legend
https://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cookin.../ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
If you can, consider getting a vegan cookbook geared toward newbies to give you some better ideas of how we eat. The one above is good! Bosh.TV on YouTube is also very popular.
If you can, consider getting a vegan cookbook geared toward newbies to give you some better ideas of how we eat. The one above is good! Bosh.TV on YouTube is also very popular.
welcome @Titansblue24 and congrats on your decision to put your health, the animals and the environments first!!
So much good advice here already, for you, and I would second all of and add that spices are key. Very few people eat animal products without putting spice or marinade on them and so do the same for yourself. Beans, spice them up, veggies, spice them. Tofu, same, potatoes and sweet potates put nice malt vinegar and garlic etc.
There are tons of vegan "what I ate today" videos and channels of vegans with young children too, that you can watch and learn. I am 3.5 years in and still watch 4 or 5 vegans videos per day. Always learning something new.
Please do share your journey with us and don't hesitate to ask questions along the way.
Emma JC
So much good advice here already, for you, and I would second all of and add that spices are key. Very few people eat animal products without putting spice or marinade on them and so do the same for yourself. Beans, spice them up, veggies, spice them. Tofu, same, potatoes and sweet potates put nice malt vinegar and garlic etc.
There are tons of vegan "what I ate today" videos and channels of vegans with young children too, that you can watch and learn. I am 3.5 years in and still watch 4 or 5 vegans videos per day. Always learning something new.
Please do share your journey with us and don't hesitate to ask questions along the way.
Emma JC
David3
Forum Legend
Hi Titansblue,
I found out that I like vegetables when they're in a soup of some kind. Do you like lentil soup, bean chili, mushroom & barley soup, or ramen noodles? If so, you might enjoy these soups with some green vegetables added to them.
What kind of dishes do you like? It might be pretty easy to convert them to vegan-style.
.
.
Bob Who
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Short answer: Yes, absolutely one can learn to like new foods.
Now the questions.
What do you eat now? Are you just looking to increase your vegetable consumpton while eating an animal product fee diet, or are you also wanting to eliminate things from your diet, like oil, salt, processed foods, etc? If you would provide a little more information the responses you get can be more taylored to your specifics. One way to learn to like a new food is to try a small amount incorporated into a food you already eat. Another way is to try the food --giving it up to 10 attempts and see how you do, most of the foods we like are foods we learned to eat at one point or another. You may need to "reset" your taste buds.
I know from personal experience it can be done with beets.
Also, don't forget how the food is prepared can have a tremendous impact on how you like it. In my case ever since I was a little kid , I didn't like peanut butter. When I was about 20 a friend had gotten some peanut butter from a health food store, the only ingredients were peanuts and salt, and I liked that. It wasn't the peanut butter I didn't like, it was the sugar and additional crap added to standard commercial peanut butter I didn't like. Now I just eat homemade that's just peanuts and that's my preferred.
The only other general advice I can share with you is your attitude can affect your results. How my diet has changed is a long story and it's health related. Around here when I've talked to people how my diet has changed, it comes up because it's obvious just looking at me, I've been told by some that they feel sorry for me. I tell them it isn't really that big of a deal. I liken it to I've emmigrated to a far off country where most of the food I was used to eating just isn't available, so I have the opportunity to learn and go on a great culinary adventure.
Keep in touch there are all kinds of folks here that can give you really good suggestions.
Now the questions.
What do you eat now? Are you just looking to increase your vegetable consumpton while eating an animal product fee diet, or are you also wanting to eliminate things from your diet, like oil, salt, processed foods, etc? If you would provide a little more information the responses you get can be more taylored to your specifics. One way to learn to like a new food is to try a small amount incorporated into a food you already eat. Another way is to try the food --giving it up to 10 attempts and see how you do, most of the foods we like are foods we learned to eat at one point or another. You may need to "reset" your taste buds.
I know from personal experience it can be done with beets.
Also, don't forget how the food is prepared can have a tremendous impact on how you like it. In my case ever since I was a little kid , I didn't like peanut butter. When I was about 20 a friend had gotten some peanut butter from a health food store, the only ingredients were peanuts and salt, and I liked that. It wasn't the peanut butter I didn't like, it was the sugar and additional crap added to standard commercial peanut butter I didn't like. Now I just eat homemade that's just peanuts and that's my preferred.
The only other general advice I can share with you is your attitude can affect your results. How my diet has changed is a long story and it's health related. Around here when I've talked to people how my diet has changed, it comes up because it's obvious just looking at me, I've been told by some that they feel sorry for me. I tell them it isn't really that big of a deal. I liken it to I've emmigrated to a far off country where most of the food I was used to eating just isn't available, so I have the opportunity to learn and go on a great culinary adventure.
Keep in touch there are all kinds of folks here that can give you really good suggestions.
Lou
Forum Legend
There is a famous story about someone who learned to like a new food. Well, it wasn't vegan but it does provide a good example for you.
You do not like them. So you say.
Try them! Try them! And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.
Sam! If you let me be,
I will try them. You will see.
(... And he tries them ...)
Say! I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-Am!
And I would eat them in a boat.
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them, in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good, you see!
So I will eat them in a box.
And I will eat them with a fox.
And I will eat them in a house.
And I will eat them with a mouse.
And I will eat them here and there.
Say! I will eat them anywhere!
I do so like green eggs and ham!
Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-Am.
You do not like them. So you say.
Try them! Try them! And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.
Sam! If you let me be,
I will try them. You will see.
(... And he tries them ...)
Say! I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-Am!
And I would eat them in a boat.
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them, in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good, you see!
So I will eat them in a box.
And I will eat them with a fox.
And I will eat them in a house.
And I will eat them with a mouse.
And I will eat them here and there.
Say! I will eat them anywhere!
I do so like green eggs and ham!
Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-Am.
