What foods do you miss?

Let's Talk Vegan

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All the new vegans out there!

Was wondering, are there any non-vegan foods you miss or haven't found a good vegan alternative to yet? Or any foods/meals you hear non-vegans say they "can't live without"?

I like making recipes that get people excited about eating vegan meals, so I just wanted to see if there's anything out there vegans feel they are missing out on.

Thanks! :)
 
Most vegans (including me) will mention cheese. I've found one store bought cheese that i can tolerate and i have one recipe I like. But for the most part, I have learned to live w/o cheese.

However, If I had a nickel for every person who told me, "I would be vegan except for the cheese".
 
I'm at about the 1.5 year mark, so still somewhat of a newbie. On the rare occasion I think about butter fish, but that is about it. It's something I used to get often from the fish and chip shop in my omni days. I don't miss cheese as many people do - I've always thought it was disgusting, even in my meat eating days. In addition to habit, learning to make more tasty vegan meals, and understanding the impacts (health, environment, welfare of animals and humans), I also think ignoring food advertising in general and chef/cooking shows helps here also. I feel like for a vegan, it's sort of like playing with fire. Watch at own risk.
 
Most vegans (including me) will mention cheese. I've found one store bought cheese that i can tolerate and i have one recipe I like. But for the most part, I have learned to live w/o cheese.

However, If I had a nickel for every person who told me, "I would be vegan except for the cheese".

Thank you! I definitely agree, a yummy plant-based cheese is hard to find.
 
I'm at about the 1.5 year mark, so still somewhat of a newbie. On the rare occasion I think about butter fish, but that is about it. It's something I used to get often from the fish and chip shop in my omni days. I don't miss cheese as many people do - I've always thought it was disgusting, even in my meat eating days. In addition to habit, learning to make more tasty vegan meals, and understanding the impacts (health, environment, welfare of animals and humans), I also think ignoring food advertising in general and chef/cooking shows helps here also. I feel like for a vegan, it's sort of like playing with fire. Watch at own risk.

Thank you! :) I will have to try some vegan fish alternatives. I hear a tin of banana blossoms and some seaweed flakes can make a great fish replacement.
 
String cheese. Daiya was supposed to bring out cheese sticks and they haven't been stocked anywhere near me.
 
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Most vegans (including me) will mention cheese. I've found one store bought cheese that i can tolerate and i have one recipe I like. But for the most part, I have learned to live w/o cheese.

However, If I had a nickel for every person who told me, "I would be vegan except for the cheese".

Can confirm, I used to love cheese... Cheese on everything. I still regularly buy vegan replacements but definitely don't consume as much cheese as I used to, though that's probably because plant based cheeses are somewhat expensive!
 
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I honestly don't miss anything. Once I began to associate the things I used to like to eat with death and disease (animal and human), my tastes changed. I liked the taste of cheese, eggs, and fish (I never liked the taste of cow flesh and it's been almost 30 yrs since I've eaten anything that walks on land so I don't miss that *at all*), but now the thought of it is repulsive. Now, I do love a good tofu scramble, Kite Hill has the BEST cream cheese, and Gardein "fish filets" are a yummy "cheat" food, but those don't especially taste like what they are mimicking (not to me, at least) - They are foods in and of themselves (which is how I like it). :)
 
I was at the Grocery Store and they had Myoko's Kitchen Cream Cheese on sale (it was less than Kite Hill). It's really good too!!
It is!! I have had that, too. Part of me is really glad that it's expensive because I was on a Kite Hill kick for a while - was eating it *every day...* It *will* make you fat if you eat it like it's going out of style, haha
 
I generally don't miss anything unless I miss out on something: Like when me and my friends are at a restaurant and all I can eat is fries+salad while my friends have appetizers, mains and deserts. So I only feel like I'm missing out when I'm hungry and other people are eating stuff I don't want to eat. But then again, I feel resentful about the restaurant not my diet.. Sometimes when my boyfriend eats croissant fourré (with chocolate) or these Portuguese little tartlets (Natas) I get a little bit envious but it's never unbearable:yum
 
It is!! I have had that, too. Part of me is really glad that it's expensive because I was on a Kite Hill kick for a while - was eating it *every day...* It *will* make you fat if you eat it like it's going out of style, haha

When I buy cream cheese or hummus I do eat it every day. Otherwise, it will go bad in my frig. Hummus is probably the better choice because I can eat it on bagels for breakfast AND on chips as an afternoon snack.

I make up for this (in my mind) by the following week buying berries which I have on my oatmeal every day - so that they don't go bad. And the berries can also go into a smoothie for breakfast or a snack.

While making my bagel sandwich this morning I took a long look at the nutritional info and ingredients of Myoko's cream cheese. It does have a lot of fat but most of the fake cheese products get their fat from some kind of vegetable oil. I think with Myoko's its mostly the cashews.
 
I don't really miss cheese or any other animal product, except for white chocolate...

White chocolate used to be my guilty pleasure and I could eat like one bar at a time.

While I have tried some vegan alternatives, they never seem to satisfy the same and they usually taste too sweet/not creamy enough. I will never eat it again though... I considered it once, I was standing in the grocery store in front of the chocolate isle and thought to myself 'well just one bar for old times sake??' but i just couldn't. Could not think about the bar like it was just food; I thought about the cow and her child, so I didnt buy it.

Sometimes being vegan is a curse and a blessing!!
 
Since I became vegan due to health reasons I have trained my body to not even think of meat or any flesh as it has a huge danger for my health.
At first I used to miss cheese since most of the time it was easy to have a pizza from Panarotis, However I have learnt to live without any of these at all.
 
I don't really miss cheese or any other animal product, except for white chocolate...

White chocolate used to be my guilty pleasure and I could eat like one bar at a time.

I got to know a chef and we had a great discussion on chocolate ( we both love chocolate). But she had nothing good to say about white chocolate. I can't remember which adjectives and comparisons she used about white chocolate, but they were all bad.

It might not make a big difference in your thinking but I think you might be able to take some solace that you wouldn't really want to eat white chocolate even if you were not vegan.

"Out of the three types of chocolate, dark chocolate is the healthiest. White chocolate does not have many health benefits associated with it and should only be eaten occasionally."
https://www.healthsomeness.com/is-white-chocolate-healthy/

Check out that article for more convincing.
and/or this one.
https://tasty.co/article/emofly/white-chocolate-isnt-chocolate
 
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I've been vegan for over 15 years. I miss fried egg and croissants as I've not been able to find vegan replacement for either, I also miss crepe (French style pancakes) and fish even though Caroline makes me some really delicious fake fish. I don't miss anything to do with dairy even cheese although I did find vegan cheese had an acquired taste at first but either I've acquired it or they've got better at making vegan cheese. Now I don't bother much with fake cheese. It's not particularly healthy and unless that's what you crave their isn't much point in eating it. I only eat it on sunday when my dad puts some of it on the vegan spaghetti he makes.
 
I occasionally want poached eggs. There is nothing vegan that I know of that is like a poached egg.

There are tofu scrambles, vegan pizza, and vegetable fats like avocado or Earth Balance. I can make a Beyond Burger, a Big Frank, or whipped potatoes with coconut milk and a holiday roast.

There is nothing legitimately like poached eggs and I loved them as a child. I don't crave them constantly and maybe when I do I just need fat or protein, but my grandma used to make them for me when I did not want meat as a child. I also associate them with things like cozy bed and breakfast places with pasture eggs when I was vegetarian. It's a comfort food I have no idea how to duplicate.
 
I tried to think of something for this thread, but couldn't. I can make most meats with seitan. I can make my own cheeses (never really liked it much anyways, except when I was ovo-lacto for awhile). I own a healthy supply of Kala Namak. Maybe the fact I have been vegan since 2012 is part of that; my brain sees food differently than it did back in 2014 for instance.
 
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I occasionally want poached eggs. There is nothing vegan that I know of that is like a poached egg.

There are tofu scrambles, vegan pizza, and vegetable fats like avocado or Earth Balance. I can make a Beyond Burger, a Big Frank, or whipped potatoes with coconut milk and a holiday roast.

There is nothing legitimately like poached eggs and I loved them as a child. I don't crave them constantly and maybe when I do I just need fat or protein, but my grandma used to make them for me when I did not want meat as a child. I also associate them with things like cozy bed and breakfast places with pasture eggs when I was vegetarian. It's a comfort food I have no idea how to duplicate.

If you google vegan poached egg you will find some suggestions. I did so and found this webpage and **warning** the minute I saw the photo my mouth started to water. Talk about brain washed huh?
https://www.magicjelly.com.au/blog/2012/06/vegan-poached-egg

Emma JC