Resources and Information for New Vegetarians/Vegans

Ok folks, here is the place to put all your best tips for those considering a veg*an lifestyle.  Feel free to add links, copy and paste replies from other threads, or anything you think would be useful to a newbie. 

 

I Can't Believe it's Vegan!

Thought this might be useful to some people. It's a whole website of brand name products that are vegan. This might be very helpful to new vegans who aren't sure what they can and can't just grab off a shelf at the grocery store.

These are three of my favorite vegan books.

The Garden of Vegan - recipe book thats super good

The Vegan Sourcebook - basically an all purpose book about veganism covering many topics

Raw Food Detox Diet - raw foodism book this diet is really hard to follow but the ideas and recipes are useful

oohh and websites!

www.veganfitness.net is great - tons of great vegans willing to help out and discuss all kinds of issues involved with the lifestyle

http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1 435893.htm - thanksgiving recipes and tons of desserts!!

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?categ=v egan%2Cthanksgiving - more thanksgiving recipes

Any other wheat/gluten free vegans out there?

I'm looking for a cookbook/and or recipe ideas.

Very useful information

Thanks

I’m soon turning sixteen and I want to become a vegetarian. I talked to my parents about it and they won’t let me. I personally don’t like most meats anyways. They think I only want to do it to lose weight which is only a small part of it, mainly I want the benefits of a healthy life style. Any suggestions?

Skinny Bitch (a book, not a person) is very helpful. The authors stress "you are what you eat," and break down myths of 'protein is good' and 'carbs are bad'.

I have learned a lot and thought much about what I learned after reading the book.

 

 

Recipe blogs are great sites to keep getting new ideas for recipes. I follow two:

101 Cookbooks (veggie) 

Vegan Yum Yum (vegan) 

Both offer step-by-step guides to cooking very delicious and nutritrious veggie and vegan meals, mostly without using 'fake meats'. (Tofu isn't a fake meat - it doesn't pretend to be a meat, it just replaces it!)

As they are blogs, techie people (like me) can subscribe to them via Google Reader (or another RSS aggragator) so that you get notified when a new recipe is posted.

GOOD suggestion on that skinny bitch book..it's what gave me the shove from not eating red meat to not eating anything with a face;)  people at work tease me about it and taunt me but hey their arteries are clogging up not mine:D

 

www.goveg.com is great

 

If you're looking for cheap great vegetarian cookbooks..try www.half.com I found one on there for like 2 bucks..with shipping it was only 5...brand new it was 25.

 

If anyone lives anywhere near Fort Worth TX there's a FANTASTIC Vegan restaurant that serves as much organic food as t hey can called Spiral Diner...I highly recommend it!!

Read anything by Mollie Katzen.

I just got both 'Skinny Bitch' books and they are great.

I went RAW on sun 1.13.08. I FEEL AMAZING!!! Check out Shazzie.com, google David Wolfe. It is a revolution of foods!!! I have been overweight most of my life and this new lifestyle is a CURE. It is NOT a diet, it's a way of better living. It's vegan, and beyond. Even a 40, 50, to 99% raw living is awesome for your whole being!

They can't force you to ingest what you don't want. Do yourself a favor and go for it. I wish I had when i was much younger. Just be aware you can gain weight by over-doing certain vegetarian foods, unless you go vegan. Good luck kiddo.

http://www.vegsoc.org/ This website is great! There are tons of recipes, suitable foods etc on there, as well as general info on the types of vegetarians there is

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/foodfacts.html
This link more specifically has lots of info on vegetarians nutrition and food

I found this link and have used it countless times ever since...Lots of great info and veg*n product reviews so you can see what others thought before shelling out your hard earned cash :) Recipes, book suggestions and links to some other great sites as well!

Check it out:

http://www.vegparadise.com/asknettie2.html

I am so happy I finally purchased and started reading Skinny Bitch! I have been a vegetarian since conception, had a brief period of being vegan my first year of college (without a stove, oven or much money) but since I have greatly changed my eating habits and haven't had an egg or milk in almost 4 years... except when it's been "hidden" in food and recipes... and my vice CHEESE. So I have still been guilty... but Skinny Bitch woke up my soul again and today is my first day back to being Vegan, but I feel like sugar and my personal fav SPLENDA have also aided in my deteriorating health and allergies and am having trouble with some vegan stuff because a lot of sauces/marinades etc call for sugar... anyone have any tips for a forever vegetarian, once vegan, going back but ditching the sugar and substitutes "cold turkey"? 

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/

 

Loaded with lots of great recipes, ideas, tips, and a discussion board!

-Enjoy! 

I love Dino Sarma's cookbook, "Alternative Vegan." His recipes are easy, fun, and creative, plus he shows you how to create your own recipes using ingredients you have around the house. Vegetarians as well as vegans would enjoy using this book. Amazon.com carries it: http://tinyurl.com/2kt578

I recently bought the Skinny bitch books and have started reading them.  I'm looking to change my eating habits and become healthier.  A lot of the recipes look and sound great but I'm confused or maybe uneducated is a better term on Tofu and Soy.  I have never even seen Tofu or Soy l(that I know of) let alone know how to cook it.  I went to a organic store recently and I didn't see it.  From what I understand, it's supposed to be a block?  Is there a site, book or something I can go to that can help me?  Thanks.

Hi guys i am just new to this site so would like to find some friends to help each other out with diets etc. I have been vegetarian for about 10 years since my mum had breast cancer and she had to stop eating me so i stopped too to help her through it all.

 I love Quorn and its amazing and easy to make stuff, just replace the meat with the quorn. Done that with loads of my friends and they can never tell.

 http://www.quorndon-mag.org.uk/archive/_recip ies/index.html is a great site so pop on and see what you think.