What to eat instead of eggs?

[ana99]

Hi there! I was thinking of transitioning to become a full vegan but one thing that I've been having trouble with is my dependency on eggs. Whenever I'm up late at night studying and feeling very famished, I will just boil 2 eggs to eat. I find that they're the only type of food that makes me feel full quickly. I've tried replacing them with other snacks like crackers, vegan yoghurts or fruits, but carbs fail to make me as full as eating eggs does. Does anyone know anything that I can replace it with?

Also, could I please have some granola brand recommendations? I live in the UK, and the ones I've tried so far are LOADED with sugar and aren't healthy at all.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Damo]

Hello!

There's such thing as vegan eggs, expensive and I'm not sure whether you're able to boil them however...

Have you tried nuts? Brazil, cashew, hazelnuts etc.. They'll fill you up stupidly quick.

I buy Dorset granola sometimes, doesn't appear to have a great deal of sugar? Take a look

 

[gab]

Potatoes fill me up fastest.

 

[Naturebound]

In place of eggs, I like to make chickpea (besan) flour omelets. It is really easy and quick to make them. I simply add a 1/2 cup of chickpea flour to a bowl. Sprinkle some black pepper, cumin, and pinch of salt (optional). Add 1/2 cup of water and stir to make a pancake like batter. Heat a nonstick skillet or add a little oil to a skillet and add your batter as you would a pancake. As it bubbles, add any kind of veggies...my favorites are celery, onion, spinach, salsa. Fold over in half, let it cook another minute, flip, cook another minute, and viola you have an eggy savory like omelet. I make these for breakfast (if I make it for dinner I add more stuff like cashew sauce) and it takes about 15 minutes tops.

Scrambled tofu is good too. Last night I made scrambled chickpeas and potatoes with veggies and added organic catsup.

Some savory snacks:

tortilla with dollup of peanut/nut butter
Handful of roasted pumpkin seeds (shell on) (I sometimes add raisins or chopped dates to the mix for a sweet/salty snack)
toast with tomato paste spread on, or canned fat free refried pinto beans, or mashed avocado and lemon juice
roasted carrots, sweet potato, and or chickpeas with chili powder or coconut oil (takes only slightly longer to roast these than it would to hard boil an egg)
celery with peanut butter
tortilla chips and salsa or hummus; crackers with hummus (ever tried matzo crackers?)

 

[Naturebound]

I forgot to mention, sometimes I will heat up a can of fat free refried beans (no lard in fat free ones) with a few spices like cumin or chili powder and I can eat a half to one cup of that and get the same amount of protein and calories as a hard boiled egg (a half cup serving of fat free refried beans in about 90 to 100 calories and six or seven grams of protein). I can literally eat it by itself in a bowl with a spoon, though adding a little salsa gives it some zip. It is quite filling and quick to heat and eat. What I don't eat I put in tupperware for the next day and it keeps a few days.

 

[Catalin V. Manea]

Nuts, seeds, nut butters...

 

[poivron]

Hi there! I was thinking of transitioning to become a full vegan but one thing that I've been having trouble with is my dependency on eggs. Whenever I'm up late at night studying and feeling very famished, I will just boil 2 eggs to eat. I find that they're the only type of food that makes me feel full quickly. I've tried replacing them with other snacks like crackers, vegan yoghurts or fruits, but carbs fail to make me as full as eating eggs does. Does anyone know anything that I can replace it with?

Also, could I please have some granola brand recommendations? I live in the UK, and the ones I've tried so far are LOADED with sugar and aren't healthy at all.

Thanks so much for your help!

A long time ago, long before I was vegan, I also found eggs to be filling, but back then, I was a starving grad student and wasn’t eating very well in general. I haven’t felt the need for eggs since going vegan. Maybe you’re just not eating well. If your main meals are filling enough, you should only need small snacks like an apple or a handful of nuts during the rest of the day. I usually start the day with a piece of whole wheat toast and peanut butter followed by a bowl of overnight oats with flax seed, currants, and maple syrup. That keeps me full until lunch time, when I have leftovers and an apple. For dinner, make sure you’re eating something that contains beans, chickpeas, lentils, tofu, seitan, or soy. It should have protein, fiber, and some fat. I have also found that having a simple fruit salad for dessert in the evening makes me feel energized throughout the day.

If all else falls, try eating a handful of shelled pistachio nuts and a glass of chocolate soy milk. That’s what I have after a run, and I find it pleasantly satisfying.

 

[TofuRobot]

Falafels, potatoes, or beans fill me up pretty quickly.

 

[Jai]

I have been looking at a lot of recipe options lately, and came across a scrambled 'egg' option that sounds pretty good. It includes one measure of silken tofu, blended to a thick liquid, added in a pan to one measure of already-cooked hard tofu, crumbled by hand. Also added is a small portion of black salt (aka: Kala Namak, a spice from India) which has a strong sulphur content that mimics real egg. For the life of me I haven't been able to find the page again, but when I do, I shall post it here in the thread.

I haven't tried this yet, but having had vegan scrambled 'eggs' in the past, I can confirm that it's achievable to do

 

[Forest Nymph]

Try eating nuts, because you probably want fat, protein and other trace nutrients.

You aren't going to feel satisfied by a lower protein snack if you are craving protein, and you can't replace savory with sweets and expect the same psychological association.

I have a weird thing for vegan Top Ramen. It's salty, fatty, carby, and is surprisingly high in iron. I don't think it's a health food but it's pretty satisfying for certain cravings and ridiculously cheap. It has to be Top Ramen not Maruchan, which contains whey and beef broth.

Other weird things I eat are romaine lettuce with Vegenaise and pickles on toasted sourdough bread - literally a lettuce sandwich. Vegenaise contains ALA Omega 3 fatty acids, pickles are salty and often also fermented, romaine is actually somewhat nutritious and sourdough bread has carbs and is low sugar and vegan. It would make a better late night cheap snack than granola or chips.

Now that I've demonstrated how unapologetically weird my late night snacks are, I also want to suggest tofu. Tofu is pretty cheap, and high in protein and iron, sometimes in calcium if it's calcium set, and if it's high quality you can eat it raw, otherwise you can grill, bake or pan fry it with seasonings and eat it with bread or lettuce wraps or by itself dipped into condiments.

 

[Olychka]

I know some of them like Banana, yogurt, tofu, nut butter, fruits, potatoes. Have them instead of egg.

 

[Veganite]

I find this recipe satisfies my desire for an egg breakfast. The black salt is very important in this recipe. It's what gives it the egg flavour. The recipe is flexible, so make it your own.

I might add that there's a kazillion recipes on Youtube that will illustrate how easy this recipe is.

Chickpea scrambled eggs:

• ½ cup / 65g Chickpea flour
• 1.5 cups / 350ml Water
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• ½ tsp Smoked paprika
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1 slice Red onion (optional)
• 3 tbsp Broth
• ½ tsp Kala Namak / Black Salt (Key ingredient)

METHOD

1. Mix together the chickpea flour, turmeric and smoked paprika with a third of the water into a paste.
2. Bring the other 2/3rd of the water to a simmer with a pinch of salt.
3. Stir in the chickpea mixture into the water and stir constantly for 5 mins while simmering.
4. Be careful not to let the bottom of the mixture catch.
5. Remove from the heat when thick and pour into a glass dish.
6. Chill for half an hour in the fridge then it should come away easily from the dish.
7. Mash the chickpeas in a pan and then add the remaining ingredients.
8. Cook for a few minutes until all the broth is absorbed and serve.
9. You can store the chickpea tofu in the fridge for a few days before cooking.

 

[Emma JC]

Some great suggestions here, for you, and I would agree with most especially the potato ones.

If you deliberately buy some potatoes that are egg sized and then when you feel the need, scrub them, pierce with a fork in a few places and but them in a bowl in the microwave for 5 or 6 minutes. It is a surprisingly satisfying thing to eat and even more delicious if you 'crack' them put some salt and pepper and vinegar on them and even a sprinkle of paprika to make them look a bit like devilled eggs. If you want the fatty feel of the egg then a drizzle of tahini will satisfy that desire.

Emma JC