What are you craving?

[Tom L.]

I never throw out food merely because I don't like it, but if I can't figure out how to make it palatable, I just make a note to never get it again. I haven't come to a decision as to whether I'm a cheapskate or a glutton for punishment... but I'm pretty sure it's the former.

(And also curiosity. I'm often searching for culinary adventures and variety to make up for the nonvegan foods I no longer eat.)

@Chryssie : what is it about the vegan cheese you've tried that puts you off? Wrong texture?... Wrong taste: too salty/bland/? Weird odor (I've heard that the sense of smell strongly affects our sense of taste)?

 

[Chryssie]

Well, if something sits in the back of the fridge for months, it becomes inedible! I sometimes force myself to eat things I don't enjoy but frankly life's too short to punish myself! LOL

 

[KLS52]

I would love some nachos but I can't seem to find a vegan cheese I like! And it is too expensive to just keep buying different ones and throwing them out!

The Daiya cheddar works really well on the nachos for me. I don’t even need the meatless crumbles. The sour cream and homemade salsa with lots of onions disguises any negative aspects of the cheese. It melts really well in the microwave.

 

[Tom L.]

So far, I've usually managed to choke down any unpalatable foods before they got to the point where they were toxic... but yes- I'll dispose of something that I think has gone bad without eating it- even trying to make sure no animals get sick from eating it if I think they might try that.

 

[Chryssie]

Maybe Daiya improved since I tried it? Do you use the shreds or the block? I didn't have much luck with the shreds in the past.

 

[silva]

Well, if something sits in the back of the fridge for months, it becomes inedible! I sometimes force myself to eat things I don't enjoy but frankly life's too short to punish myself! LOL

I really love many vegan cheddars, like Daiya farmhouse blocks (not sliced or shreds)
Violife slices (right now I have a bag of VIolife colby mix shreds but haven't opened them
Parmela slices - melts super quick, may be my favorite for nachos in a toaster oven. I think they may be Trader Joes slices

As much as I like FYH gouda and provolone I don't think their cheddar was best

 

[silva]

Maybe Daiya improved since I tried it? Do you use the shreds or the block? I didn't have much luck with the shreds in the past.

I don't like their shreds, I do like their farmhouse block, both cheddar and jalepano havarti
I don't like Daiya slices either

 

[silva]

Chocolate. I have it too, but I'm full from eating these new Aldi onion ring potato chips. They get so many vegan flavors.
Shoulda gone with the chocolate

 

[Chryssie]

I will have to try the Daiya blocks. I am not sure if Publix stocks them.

 

[silva]

I will have to try the Daiya blocks. I am not sure if Publix stocks them.

I had to open the Violife colby jack shreds. They are very good cold! I put a handful of tortilla chips in the toaster oven.
be back soon....

Dang that new toaster/airfryer oven is quick .
Yes, the Violife colby jack shreds melt great, and I certainly like them!
Violife smoked provolone shreds are like the only vegan mozz I think tasted like pizza cheese so far

Has a bit of that American cheese melty texture,tastes a bit like it too. Ok, so colby jack not my favorite for nachos

I think Daiya block may be my favorite for that

 

[KLS52]

Maybe Daiya improved since I tried it? Do you use the shreds or the block? I didn't have much luck with the shreds in the past.

I like the shreds for convenience. The block might be a little better but I really have no issues with the taste of the shreds as long as I’m using them with other flavorful ingredients. There really isn’t a vegan cheese that I would eat on its own.

 

[silva]

I like the shreds for convenience. The block might be a little better but I really have no issues with the taste of the shreds as long as I’m using them with other flavorful ingredients. There really isn’t a vegan cheese that I would eat on its own.

Yeah, I do, so @Chryssie you gotta take that into consideration!
I eat FYH smoked gouda and provolone out the pack.
I compared Daiya cheddar block to dairy cheddar and didn't like dairy anymore--that was a real pivotal turning point for me
I make cashew soft cheeses with yogurt or probiotics and let them culture--far better than dairy whatever

It's crazy that you need to be away from dairy cheeses to appreciate non dairy subs, but by then you've totally forgotten what dairy things taste like, but here you are, still saying things like "cream cheese"!
I was happy with cultured cashew creme calling it 'sour creme' or 'cream cheese' and my son tells me that they're good, but nothing like what I'm calling them
Why can't we come up with better words?

 

[KLS52]

Holy moly.

 

[Lou]

(And also curiosity. I'm often searching for culinary adventures and variety to make up for the nonvegan foods I no longer eat.)

Yeah, we really don't have adventurous food like blowfish sushi or chilled monkey brains. or even more tame things like sushi made from eels or sea urchins. Or deep fried frog legs, bull testicles, etc.

Can't say I'm craving any of those. But come to think of it a vegan sushi bar opened across the bay. I should make it a destination. When things get a little safer out there.

 

[Raven]

I was craving apple pie yesterday.

 

[silva]

Wasabi peas

 

[silva]

Yeah, we really don't have adventurous food like blowfish sushi or chilled monkey brains. or even more tame things like sushi made from eels or sea urchins. Or deep fried frog legs, bull testicles, etc.

Can't say I'm craving any of those. But come to think of it a vegan sushi bar opened across the bay. I should make it a destination. When things get a little safer out there.

I think any food I'm not accustomed to is adventurous!
Things made from banana peels (haven't tried and don't want to)
Durian fruit
Natto
so many vegan dishes from other cultures I'm not familiar with
It's an adventure just making things yourself, like vegan cheeses, or seitan, vegan pates

 

[Tom L.]

( @Lou, replying to my comment that "I'm often searching for culinary adventures and variety to make up for the nonvegan foods I no longer eat." ):

Yeah, we really don't have adventurous food like blowfish sushi or chilled monkey brains. or even more tame things like sushi made from eels or sea urchins. Or deep fried frog legs, bull testicles, etc.

Can't say I'm craving any of those. But come to think of it a vegan sushi bar opened across the bay. I should make it a destination. When things get a little safer out there.

Touche! Now that you mention it.... although most of my non-veg*n friends and relatives would probably say they'd miss eating non-vegan foods, they would probably also find most of the things on your list outright repulsive (as opposed to just unappetizing or boring). If I were still eating meat, I probably wouldn't have a problem at least trying anything you listed. That was one of the things that I didn't understand when I ate meat: what's the difference between eating different animals, or different parts of animals? The only exception I would have made at that time would have been an animal I had killed myself... and by the time I was 16, that distinction wasn't holding up for me anymore.

Anna Thomas, author of "The Vegetarian Epicure" books, mentions early in her first book that non-vegetarian diets often seem to lack imagination and variety. I don't know if that is more true of omni or veg diets. The foods I eat are nutritious: both whole and refined grains; legumes; dark green leafy vegetables; peanuts and sunflower kernels (both unsalted); citrus, stone, and pome fruits; potatoes; tomatoes, either fresh or canned (or canned mixed vegetables); and Vitamin B-12, as well as ~300 mg. calcium or a bit of vitamin D sometimes. I mix it up with other stuff like kiwi fruit, banana, pomegranate, mango, etc every now and then. Pineapple and melon are good, but it's a bit much to finish one by myself before it spoils. The last time I tried something completely new was sometime last year, when I bought and ate a dragon fruit.

Yet, I still catch myself doing something like broccoli, orange, apple, potato, broccoli, orange, apple, potato, brocc.....

ETA: and I forgot to mention grapes!!! I guess maybe my diet isn't such a rut after all- I have trouble remembering everything I eat.

 

[Tom L.]

I meant to write just above: "....The only exception I would have made at that time would have been an animal I would have had to kill myself..." I'm sure everyone understood, but if taken literally, it could be interpreted as my eating only animals someone else had offed, but still killing other critters myself. Which is weird... but in my travels on the 'net, I'm sorry to say I've seen weirder posts. Generally written by trolls, of course, but still....

 

[Raven]

I'm craving a vegan McPlant burger.