Calling all vegetarians

Wenweb I am vegan too. 2 years prior to my diagnosis I practially lived off these vegan chicken pieces I bought in the supermarket they had soya protein isolate in them. I had gone on a very good website called foodsforbreastcancer.com and found that it said to stay away from it (good thing I checked as would prob still be eating them now). It's hard as a vegan as I don't have time to prepare stuff as I work long hours. I do make chillis and soups and freeze them and luckily my local supermarket to a great range of veggie burgers not with soya but using lentils, chickpeas, beans, grains etc which is great so they are quick and easy and also relatively healthy. I remember reading about plant estrogens and soya and even said that certain beans and chickpeas and some veg has estrogen in albeit very low amounts. It just makes me mad sometimes I was telling my mum all this and she summed it up so well by looking incredulous and saying "Well what CAN you eat?!" I rarely drink alchohol, don't smoke and am not overweight it sometimes makes me so cross seeing people pigging out on steaks and milkshakes and cakes who smoke, drink like fish and yet nothing happens to them lol!

A great soy free meat substitute is a product by the brand name Quorn. It is in the frozen section at Whole Foods and Eathfare.

Wren: Running to Target tomorrow.

Cottontail

The question was why next year, and you've explained it well.  I still have chicken and shrimp in my freezer, it didn't occur to me that perhaps I should have eaten them before going vegan.  It sounds like you are way more logical

I try to avoid buying dairy/egg when I can, but I'm not completely diligent about it right now.  I also had to go back to eating yogurt during chemo, as I got thrush with 4 out of the 6 treatments.  I was originally going to go vegan this summer, but that got derailed.  January 1 is my new goal.  I'll be glad to see 2012 go for a lot of reasons, and I think it will be good to start of the new year with a new lifestyle.

When I went vegetarian, I did the same thing with using stuff up- I no longer purchased meat or anything with meat in the ingredients, but I went ahead and finished eating what I already had at home in the pantry or freezer.  It also helped me ease into vegetarian, which lessened the shock on my husband.    As dogsandjogs suggested, another option is to give the chicken and shrimp in your freezer to a friend or family member who will eat them.

I gave my meat away when I went veggie - my sister appreciated the meat.  I am not vegan but going to do a cleanse when I finish rads and it is vegan.  Hope the lifestyle sticks because I truely believe it is healthy if done correctly.  Cheese is the main reason I'm not vegan.  

You can get vegan cheese!  Every time I miss dairy cheese I think of the poor cows - the conditions they are kept in and the hormones they are given. Those hormones are going into our bodies when we consume dairy products. 

Cheese was the hardest thing for me to give up, although milk in my coffee was hard too.  Vegan cheese is made from soy which is not good for those of us with estrogen+ BC

It seems everything is made with soy. Even my vegetarian vitamins have soy.

The vegan cheese I eat (Daiya) is NOT made with soy:  www.daiyafoods.com/our-products.  Their offerings are limited, but really I can make do with cheddar and mozzarella.  It's not inexpensive, but this helps me to only use it when I think it is integral to what I'm eating, instead of dumping it on everything, which is what I used to do with dairy cheese.

I also use a soy-free cream substitute in my morning coffee, I use So Delicious coconut milk creamer:  www.sodeliciousdairyfree.com.  So Delicious also makes some AMAZING dairy- and soy-free ice cream.  

I drink almond milk instead of dairy or soy milk, I like the Blue Diamond/Almond Breeze brand the best, but there are several brands that each have a slightly different flavor.  

My onc told me soy was perfectly ok "in moderation."  I've decided to drastically limit products made with soy isolates and consume my soy in the form of tofu (and soy milk when I go to Starbucks).  This means cutting WAY back on my beloved Gardein mock meats, sadface.     

I have tons of vegan cookbooks - I just need to try some recipes out.  I keep reading about the dairy cows and the poor baby boy cows that become veal and it breaks my heart, I probably should read that when I think I need cheese!  I've given up all other dairy except cheese, and I know I can do it, just have to set my mind to it!  If I would cook more it would be easier I think.  When I plan my meals and do most of the cooking on the weekend that seems to work the best.  Not sure why I haven't done that in a while - lazy and tired I think!

Cottontail,  Thanks for the tip on the daiya cheese substitute.  I've never seen or heard of it.  

It's nice to read everyone's tips and solutions for replacing foods that are no longer on some of our diets.  My tip is nutritional yeast. When added to (almost any) dish gives a richer, nutty flavor, and in rare instances can be almost as good as a cheese substitute. In addition, it adds lots of B vitamins. 

I too use almond milk.  It only has 1 gram of protein though making it more empty calories and sugar... 

I found daiya cheese at whole foods, I guess I should give it a try again on some veggie pizza!  

oh mock tuna - sounds interesting - what else do you put in it?