Aspiring Vegan

Hi Everyone-

Here is my story. I have lived most of my life as a vegetarian.  Then about 2, going on 3 years ago I went to my new boyfriends family for thanksgiving (of course he didn't tell them I was a vegetarian) and not wanting to offend his mom had the tiniest piece off meat.  That opened the door for him to push the issue with me (he was a steak and potato guy) and I eventually caved into him.  Long ago, because of this any many other reasons, he became an ex but I just recently decided, okay today i decided to go back to a vegetarian/vegan diet.  Not eating meat isn't an issue, most dairy products easy to replace but the vegan no cheese thing.  Lets just say if cheese was a drug it would be my crack. Even back in the day the only thing that stopped me from calling myself vegan was my cheese obsession (everything else I ate and purchased was vegan).  I would like to find some cheese alternatives and am hesitant to just buy and try from the store because my grocery budget it so tight.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Anything from basic American to parma to the gourmet cheeses.

Thanks in advance.

Pam

I have the same problem but my downfall is ice cream and frozen yogurt. i love it and soft serve is almost never vegan unless it's the icy crap that's like a popsicle. it's so frustrating!!

Follow Your Heart is the vegan cheese winner in my books. They get closest to the texture and taste of each kind. It will be worth your money to try a block of their brand. Mozzerella is the best I've had!

Folkharpist- your the 2nd person to mention that brand to me.  Is it available in most stores? I don't remember seeing it at my local store.

I've never found a decent vegan cheese, sorry.  Most of them make me want to throw up or they have a taste/texture like plastic.  However, the June issue (I think) of Vegetarian Times had some good recipes on how to make your own cheese from nuts.  It may sound weird but I have heard good things about the recipes, although I haven't gotten around to trying them myself.  Check out their website.

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10952? section=

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10953? section=

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10951? section=

and so on...

I just gave up on cheese altogether . I couldn't find any replacements for a long time, when I did I heard that all the vegan cheeses where horribly bad. Since I went vegan cold turkey, I just decided not to bother. Please re-post if you find any brand that is good. I would appreciate it!

Solar...

I am not willing to give up the quest.  I may eventually just give up on cheese....but like I said its my "crack" :-P

The nut cheese thing seems interesting but I don't have a food processor or an oven or a micro or a stove at this moment and I won't have in the near future.  But I am willing to try them as soon as I can.

I did order some sort of parm cheese made out of nuts.  Actually my friend ordered it (my vegan guru) and swears by it. She is supposed to give me some to try......I will definitely repost if I find one worthy. 

Uh oh, sounds like someone's chemically addicted to cheese. It's possible you know, since cow's milk naturally has traces of morphine in it!'

I live in Australia so I'm unsure if you can get this brand, but Redwood's Super Melting Nacho Cheezly is pretty amazing!

And in the meantime, consider this quote (as dairy production directly financially supports and is linked with the meat industry):

"A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral."
~Leo Tolstoy

Cheese is generally hard to fake. The best, hands-down, I have come across is SHEESE (sp?). Its made in Scotland and I can only find it in a few health stores here (in Canada), but its amazing compared to the other brands. Unbelievably good and comes in several flavours. website: http://www.buteisland.com

There is a decent parmesan that comes in a purple foil shaker.. I think galaxy makes it. It's very good sprinkled on hot dishes or salads. Keep nutritional yeast in mind, too. It can be rather convincing when blended into pasta sauce

Ice cream, on the otherhand is easy.. dunno where chrissy1988 lives but there's several brands I can think of off the top of my head (tofutti, so good, natura, double rainbow, good karma, etc.) that all make awesome vegan ice cream (including hard ice-cream, ice cream sandwiches, chocolate-covered bars, and fudgesicles) in soy, hemp, or coconut milk-based versions. 

Parma is really, really good.  I love using it on veggies or with Italian dishes, and I've even made pesto with it.  The Follow Your Heart cheeses are alright, but they don't melt particularly well.  I can't eat them right out of the package because they're a little slimy.  The nacho flavor is my favorite.  Hands down, the best vegan cheese I've tried is Dr. Cow nut cheese, though it is pricey.  Teese (Chicago Soydairy) is a close second.  I've had the mozarella and cheddar varities and they are both pretty tasty.

Original Post by ribcaged:

Cheese is generally hard to fake. The best, hands-down, I have come across is SHEESE (sp?). Its made in Scotland and I can only find it in a few health stores here (in Canada), but its amazing compared to the other brands. Unbelievably good and comes in several flavours. website: http://www.buteisland.com

LOL - I ordered Sheese online and had such high hopes for it.  I thought it had a really poor taste.  I suppose the texture was better than most vegan cheeses but couldn't get past the taste.... it just seemed off somehow.  My husband literally retched after eating a small piece of the cheddar.  Oh well.

I would recommend trying and eating a large amount of vegan cheese... Most taste so bad that it will make you hate cheese!  LOL..   For real though, I use very small portions of vegan cheese.. usually melt a small amount over pasta, or over sauteed tofurkey cheese steak...  It's really best to never taste or use too much of the cheese.. Tofu does make a great substitute for ricotta. 

i wanna try a tofurkey cheese steak!

I felt the same way when I first went vegan...that I would really miss cheese and other dairy products. I haven't even looked back honestly. If I get pizza, I load it up with vegetables and sauce and don't even notice the lack of cheese...If I get a burrito, I have it filled with beans and veggies and guacamole...there are lots of other creamy textures to make up for a lack of cheese. I purchased vegan cheese slices one time, and realized the food was better without it. I do like the Tofutti 'Better Than Cream Cheese' and I use that a lot...I also like adding avocado or hummus to sandwiches for a creamy texture as well. Instead of crackers and cheese, I have peanut or cashew butter instead, or a hummus or white bean spread.

For ice cream, I love the new 'So Delicious' Coconut Milk Ice Creams and bars...Tofutti is also great, and some of the Rice Dream products are pretty good as well.

Good luck! I hope you find something that will make you happy and satisfy your cheesy cravings :)