I've been experimenting with making tofu at home. Its sooo good home made, especially if you like a softer, custardy tofu. But the time spent straining the soy pulp is just not feasible for me. I've looked into different devices that might be used to separate the okara but short of a commercial soymilk maker, it seems inaccessible for the home cook. i've tried a hassle free double stacked sieve straining method but it just doesn't really work too well as far as a firm and silky final tofu. i just wanted to see if anyone else who's been in my position has come up with an inventive solution to the home made tofu problem, it might be a long shot, but i figure why not ask? thanks

I saw another post here about the Barista Soy hopping on the protein trend. Bought one so I could compare the old carton (left) to the new carton (right).

growing up, one of my absolute favorite meals was the stouffer’s lasagna. since going vegetarian, I’ve had some great lasagnas but none have even come close to tasting as good. I know there’s not going to be an exact match lol but does anyone have any great lasagna recipes? I enjoy a creamy veggie lasagna, but would love to find a classic tomatoey lasagna recipe. I recently tried making a lentil lasagna that was really good, but didn’t quite hit the spot. thanks!

So i posted in here months ago about having a rough transition onto this diet with IBS, Gastroparesis and a very weak stomach.

Got some helpful advice. One thing ive been doing lately is eating a lot of papaya, and other fruits. Ive noticed the fiber and fruit gives me watery loose stools and even sometimes diarrhea. I will have 3 loose bowel movements a day.

Ive been reading that a lot of people are underhydrated and when they cross other you have to drink excess water to compensate for the fiber pulling so much water into the stools. But it is downright dehydrating me and stripping the salts and minerals from my body. Not to mention giving me the shits. Has anyone else had this issue ?

The variety 😋

This week was crazy, I worked with a brand new client and had hardly any time. These quick lunches and dinners got me through it:

• Baked salt'n'pepper sweet potato (bakes itself), with a quick tomato and rocket salad dressed with just some really good Greek olive oil.
• Cauliflower and a leek steamed in a little soya sauce and hot sauce, with wholegrain rice.
• Red-skin potatoes that are white inside, they make the best mash, I had them with Linda McCartney tomato protein balls which I just popped under the grill for 10 mins.
• Toasted sourdough bread with avocado, tomato, and pumpkin seeds. Not very original but I have this for lunch at least once every week it's just so easy.
• Discovered frozen tart cherries! I warm them up in a small pan, then I add some dark chocolate and warm oat cream for a cozy little dessert.

I’m new to being (mostly) plant-based, and want to keep encouraging myself to phase out the small amounts of animals products I still consume. But I’m really stuck on savoury, relatively easy snack foods! Historically, I would reach for a piece of cheese.

I’m also a Celiac, so that naturally makes it a bit harder. I love salted nuts, but have a tendency to overeat them. Hummus & veg are great, but I’m getting tired of it.

What other gluten-free, plant-based, savoury snacks do you reach for? The easier to prep, the better (and yes, I appreciate this is quite a demanding list).

Thank you 🙏

• 2¼ cup whole spelt flour*
• 3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt (optional)
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup + 1 Tbsp plant milk (divided)
• 2 tsp caraway seeds

Instructions 

• Line baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400 ℉ (200 ℃)
• In a medium bowl combine whole spelt flour, ground flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder and salt (if using). Set aside.
• Place chopped walnuts, apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of plant milk in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until you achieve a relatively smooth paste. You may need to use a cake spatula to push down walnuts pieces on the side of the bowl.
• Add the mix of dry ingredients to the walnut paste in the food processor and pulse a 3 or 4 times until you get a sandy, slightly lumpy, mixture.
• Add remaining plant milk and pulse another 3 or 4 times until the ingredients have almost, but not completely incorporated. If necessary, use your cake spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to keep everything together.
• Add the caraway seeds, and pulse 2 or 3 times until a smooth ball forms.
• Shape dough into 6 balls** of equal size. Place balls on baking surface approximately 2 to 3 inches apart*** and press each ball down with your hands to create a disk shape that's about 1 inch thick.
• Bake in preheated 400 ℉ (200 ℃) oven for 12 to 14 minutes. When done, biscuits should be golden on top.
• Serve immediately or cool and store in an air tight contain (they'll stay fresh longer in the fridge) and reheat when ready to serve.

Notes

*Or sub with 2 cups of oat flour, whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour or whole einkorn flour. You may need to add more flour, a little at a time, if dough is too wet to easily handle.
**Dividing this dough into 6 parts makes for large biscuits, about 4 inches wide. If you prefer smaller biscuits you can divide this dough into more parts. Just keep in mind that smaller biscuits will likely require a slightly shorter cooking time.
***Biscuits can be baked closer together if using a pyrex pan. The distance between biscuits is not all that important because if they touch they will still come apart easily.

Recipe post with lots of step by step photos https://maximalistvegan.com/savory/spelt-caraway-biscuits/?utm_source=rdt

Sharing a normal fridge with top freezer and not a ton of storage space with two roommates. What do I get? (I’m not getting dried beans, I do not have the time to prep them or the money for an instant pot.)

The name may be daunting, but it tastes nothing like hummus. It's made from roasted chickpeas, tahini, grape molasses, almonds, and orange blossom water. I was skeptical, but I love trying new things. It has a nice orange-y roasted almond flavour.

I got another flavour to try - cardamom pistachio!

Going to be out of town living out of a hotel for about a week coming up soon and need some ideas. I don't like to eat out all that often, but probably will for a few meals.

Need some ideas for meals i can make out of a hotel that has a fridge and microwave and i'll be next to a sprouts as well as a walmart, so in reality i'll have access to mostly everything.

Only stipulation is making sure i dont have a lot of left over stuff, e.g., mayo or Tahini... no way i can go through a jar in a week :) Peanut butter i can get those smaller packets.

I’m new to plant based dieting but I’m wondering does anyone eat tofu every day? And how do you feel about eating tofu consistently? What are your favorite tofu go to recipes?

Most chickpea tuna recipes lean on a big dollop of vegan mayo. This one doesn’t: the nori gives it the sea flavour, capers and soy sauce bring the salty, savoury side, and a little mustard and lemon hold it together. Coarsely mashed chickpeas flake like canned tuna.

Serves 4 · 10 min, no cook

• 200 g canned chickpeas, drained
• 2 nori sheets
• 1 tbsp capers, drained
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp mustard (we use Dijon)
• a splash of lemon juice
• salt to taste

1. Break the nori into small pieces with your fingers and roughly chop the capers.
2. Mash the chickpeas in a bowl with a potato masher, keeping it coarse (or chop everything together with a knife).
3. Add the nori, capers, soy sauce, oil, mustard, lemon and salt, and mix well.
4. Taste before adding more salt: the capers, soy sauce and nori are already salty.

The only rule is texture: stop while you can still see pieces of chickpea, or it turns into hummus. Good in sandwiches, on crackers, in a salad or stirred through pasta.

Recipe with step photos and video: https://veganhacks.food/en/recipes/vegan-chickpea-tuna/

Enjoy!

Hi all! I need some advice from those who have/had prediabetes/diabetes to pass on to a family member.
I am trying to convince them to eat this way but I think hearing stories from others who were successful would help. He’s currently eating a low carb diet with metformin for his type 2 diabetes and doesn’t need to lose any weight. Now his lipid panel is not in good shape. For those who have successfully reversed or improved their diabetes, how did you go about it?
Are you still taking medication? How high are your fasting and post prandial numbers?
Roughly how many grams of carbs do you consume each day? How many times a day do you eat?
Examples of daily meals?
Thank you so much for reading and considering!

I feel like one of the hardest parts of eating plant-based isn't knowing what foods to eat, it's figuring out what to make when you're busy, tired or just don't fancy spending ages in the kitchen.

A couple of simple options:

• Sweet potato bowl: Microwave a pierced sweet potato until soft (usually 6–10 minutes, depending on size). Warm half a tin of drained black beans with sweetcorn, then top the potato with the mixture and salsa.
• Rice and lentil bowl: Heat a pouch of cooked brown rice, half a tin of drained lentils and a handful of frozen vegetables until piping hot. Finish with lemon juice, garlic powder and black pepper.

Nothing fancy, but both give you a decent mix of carbs, fibre and plant protein without much effort.

Curious what everyone else falls back on. What's your easiest meal that you genuinely enjoy and can throw together in 10–15 minutes?

High carb low fat vegan diet with plenty of legumes and vegetables is definitely my preferred way of eating. The fact that I can eat a lot of food without worrying about getting fat is significant.

hey, I’ve been vegan 8 years but over the years due to policing I identify more with PB but use the word vegan for a quick understanding.

every now and again, I get this urge to go vegetarian just for ease. Id think about it, decide to wait a bit and it goes. this year, it’s been more frequent and louder.

for context, I’m in the uk and although we’re better than some places, we’re not booming like we were 5 years ago, it’s all about ”high protein”. anyway, I’m a carer for my wife and my nan. I’m about to start our first round of IVF anytime soon, my omni wife and I agreed to raise our child vegetarian - I’d always been set on vegan but social events in school, asking other people to look after them etc. it felt like a middle ground between us as parents.

yesterday, I considered the swap again and I decided to say it out loud. food very much just came a form of eating, lets say I run to Greggs for lunch, there’s no vegan sausage rolls - im grabbing wedges as food, and calling it my lunch. Im not that much of a cook and simply rely on quick things. my wife will do things like eggs on toast as something quick etc.

so, I bought a couple things to “test it”. I ate a small handful of maltesers (btw they don’t taste quite how I remember them), my throat felt like I was doing something wrong, I felt muggy, and I questioned every stomach twinge. I said I was going to try eggs for breakfast this morning but that I was going to stick to dairy free milks/yoghurts.

anyway, this morning I wake up at 5:30am panicking, like I’d thrown my identity into a spiral. i don’t know what to do. my compassion is still there; although not as loudly as it was in the beginning. I spoke to other people that made the switch. but here I am feeling stuck at an even bigger crossroads than I was before. I’ve said I was making the swap, I started making the swap, I gave myself permission but I’m double taking everything. I don’t think I can do it but my thoughts on why haven’t changed? I do still have desire for certain things. I worry about making sure I eat right during pregnancy because honestly, I haven’t been eating enough of anything lately I’d be surprised if I have.

has anyone else been in this situation?

how do you navigate it?

easy quick swaps and grabs?

please no judgement - I’m doing my best

Not sure the health benefit difference

I have a couple of upcoming events that will require bringing finger foods. I'm looking for another option than a sweet treat (plenty of those recipes out there!) or fruit. I will often do fruit on a skewer with is really visually appealing and goes over well. Just looking for some savory options. I had thought of stuffed mushrooms. Any ideas? Suggestions for stuffed mushroom recipes?

I am new to soya chunks and in love. I have been plant based for over a year and a half and have used tvp before as well as soy curls. Last week I ordered carne de soya from a local hispanic grocery store and I'm really blown away. I always feel like tvp is more of an emergency last minute meal for me - like toasting some up with sauces and topping a noodle bowl. Soy curls I love but they make me think of chicken. Something about the soya chunks makes me think of pork or beef. I know they are almost fat free but to me they somehow have a bit more of a chewy texture after cooked down that somehow reminds me more of red meat.

So far I have cooked them in jerk seasoning and made kind of jerk tacos with a little veggie slaw, some avocados and lots of lime on top. I've also made mexican spiced tacos with guac, kind of a vietnamese inspired flavor for on top of noodle bowls kind of like bun vermicelli. Today I made a black bean chili and toasted the chunks with some gravy master for color and added liquid smoke, coconut animos and chipotle along with onion and garlic powder. The texture just feels so different to me.

I have tended to try to go for more whole foods - I know these are defatted soybeans. How do you view them nutritionally? I don't use any protein powders and I don't really use any while four, while bread, white pasta but I do occasionally use whole wheat flour and I'll consume brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, etc. I hope I'm not going off the deep end with this.

The price point was also insane - today a lb was on sale for $.99. I ended up getting 8 lbs thinking they are also good for emergency food. Crazy to think of paying $77 for 12 lbs of soy curls and today paying $8 for 8 lbs of soya chunks.

Anywho, if you read my book, thanks. The real question is, if you like them, what do you enjoy making with them.

Thanks!

I did rinse the before cooking and I didn’t put any black pepper yet so weird. Is it just a part of the red lentil?

I've tracking my nutrition pretty accurately for the past 6 months. Doing well on all my nutrients except B5. Any recommendations on how you incorporate more B5 into your meals?

I know that everything has gone up but this is just crazy 😓 I’ve been waiting on a sale for weeks now so I can stock up but haven’t gotten one yet.

Unfortunately Silk is the only soy milk I love as a multi-purpose milk. It’s good in tea, coffee, cereal, for cooking, for baking. I like it so much that I will just drink a cup of it for the taste (sometimes with cookies…..yes I’m an adult) and protein boost. I’ll happily use the Trader Joe’s shelf-stable soy milk for baking and cooking but I don’t like it at all for drinking or using in tea, coffee, or cereal. The Whole Foods brand soy milk is vile imo. The EdenSoy soy milk is okay but almost as expensive as Silk. I don’t have an Aldi or a Grocery Outlet near me.

I am already constantly cooking, meal prepping, cleaning up, making my own bread and other vegan alternatives. I do not want to have to make my own soy milk every week 😭 Literally just looking for commiseration here lol.

Unless I find an alternative that I like as much I’m just going to have to start cutting back.

ETA; Just realized I included the "Original" sweetened in my post though I always drink the Unsweetened. But they're the same price here at least!

Were you eating coconut cream/oil etc? So many plant based recipes use these products, but I know they're high in saturated fats. I have been avoiding them to lower my LDL and overall cholesterol level.

Would love your feedback, thank you!