Am I vegan now?

maameeo

ok so I'm looking for a bit of help as to what i can eat!

Those of you who know me know I'm vegetarian but lately I've been getting severe pains in my tummy.
I didnt know what food was causing it so i tried a diet diary and i couldnt see a pattern.

I went for a food intolerance test on sat and the doc sent me for a blood test on wed.
I got the intolerance test results this morn and there was a strong reaction to cows milk, egg,
gluten, rice and wheat. and a lesser reaction to brazil nuts, mushrooms, peanuts and soya bean!!!

Ill get the blood test results next week to tell me if im celiac (spelling?)

I'm at a loss as to what to eat, im used to knowing whats in what for a vegetarian diet but for a vegan diet i have no idea,
like is there dairy/eggs in bread and cakes (obviously i dont bake/cook or anything like that!) or crackers, crisps etc.

i dont know what i can eat! no dairy/eggs, no gluten/rice and no meat. anyone else like this diet and have advice??

sweet-rasmus

Head to a shop that distributes Blazing Salads bread (their shop in town, or many health food shops, like the Country Cellar on Patrick Street, in Dun Laoghaire for instance) and get some rye bread. It tastes strong... There may be sour dough or spelt bread that is suitable, but read the labels - they list if the bread is gluten free very well.

If rice, soya, gluten and dairy are out, I'm at a loss as to a milk you can try. Oat milk may not be suitable due to gluten, but that could change depending on your tolerance level. What about almond milk or quinoa milk? (Is quinoa gluten-free?! I googled it there and am getting mixed reports.) They are less widely available but I have seen them in health food shops in Ireland, so they can be ordered in if required. Another one would be a coconut based milk - I tried this recently and it was lovely (and I hate coconuts! It didn't even taste like it), but I'm not sure about availability in Ireland. You might need to ask your local to order it in.

Bread, cakes and biscuits would be out if you can't eat gluten, so there is no point in checking for egg/milk in them. Tesco do a free-from range of some little cakes and biscuits, but I generally find that if there is no gluten, there is usually milk/eggs in it.

And with soya and wheat out a lot of fake meats might have to be avoided. At least you know that fresh fruit and veg is ok to eat Get into making soups (a very easy thing, and you can make so many types).

Also, you may or may not be diagnosed coeliac but it may suit your body not to eat gluten. My mother, for instance, has been eating spelt, rye and sourdough bread for the past few years and finds that she feels a lot better without wheat. She tested negative for coeliac, but knows that her body is happier without wheat/gluten, so avoids it where she can.

And I hope you aren't freaking out too much! Try changing your diet and you may find that soya doesn't make you feel ill, whereas you may steer clear of dairy etc.

maameeo

wow you are a wealth of information girl! thanks so much!

I'll head to that place in DL at lunch to get Rye bread, out of curiosity what would i put on it? ive tried Pure butter before, wasnt mad on it. is there anything more buttery and less lardy? or anything else i can put on bread?

I got that milk on sat at the allergy fair!! it was yum (the coconut milk) i bought one, she said they are available in stores, i presume health food!

never tried almond, must get some

i dont milk not having milk, its cheese and butter ill miss oh wait coffee, damn what will i put in my coffee! lol

I knew i should have bought that blender to make soup last week!

Thanks so much for your help hun x

sweet-rasmus

Hmmm, I don't know. My mother is a marmalade fiend with the rye bread... I use the Pure myself on normal bread and it isn't the most delicious. (Not sure if you noticed - there are 3 Pure spreads in Tesco/Dunnes, a yellow one [Sunflower], green one [Soya], and blue one [Organic]; only the yellow one is free from soya. Funnily enough, that's the only one in Bloomfields too ) Suma Sunflower Spread is delicious (more "buttery"), but at about €4.20 a pop I had to give it up. Maybe something like hummous might be be nice on it, a strong flavour to contrast. And you can pick that up in Marks and Spenser or Tesco in Dun Laoghaire. And actually, hummous would be good with raw vegetables for a snack (watch out - some of the hummous varients have dairy in them, so stick with the plain hummous.) There might be another gluten free bread alternative in the Blazing Salads range... And you can always ask one of the girls in the shop; they are nice and they know their stuff! And I know the breads sell well, so if it's not there they can put one aside for you on the next delivery.

That's mad that you found Kara at the Allergy Fair! I was at the Bristol Veggie Fayre, talking to the woman at the Kara stand and they were saying they had a stand at the Allergy Fair in Dublin that same weekend

Yeah... I'm not sure how almond or coconut milk works in coffee... both are quite thin. But the woman at the Kara stand was saying that it works in coffee and doesn't curdle...

Non-dairy cheeses are really not like real cheeses. You will not be happy! I just checked, Scheese and Tofutti contain soya...

Oh, those hand held blenders are real cheap in Tescos. Bloomfields has them if you are in a rush to get one My sister picked one up a week or two ago. I think it was pretty cheap, and works well, so that's good!

Tar.Aldarion

Don't worry, I know how to look after a vegan, what you can eat. It's the other stuff that is tricky. The pure ones are pretty bad compared to butter but you get used to them after a while and they taste fine. Don't get the blue one, that should just be used for cooking ugh, the green one is nicer and the yellow one if you really have to avoid soya. That suma sunflower butter is lovely, but expensive. Still it would last you a while(I won't eat it :-p)

You may need to test out what has what affect on you, cut it all out and reintroduce something sometimes, see what happens? I doubt all will have strong effects? Dunno the details of the test, hope it's better than those 'allergy tests' people do around dublin, sounds better if there was a blood test though! The butter thing won't really be an issue with the pure ones as long as there is a tasty topping tbh, hummous etc, that one you get is deadly. Think that is just chickpeas, tahini etc so is fine.

Quinoa is gluten free and is very good for you (protein, iron etc). Easy to make too, like couscous but not quite as quick. If you want to try your hand at gluten free baking(bread is easy to make in the breadmaker!) there is quinoa flour etc. Also anothernight uses it to make quinoa cake snack things, maybe she will show us, I've promised to cook for her and her me haha.

For milk aternatives, they might be expensive, almond milk etc, you can make it handy enough but I'm not sure it would be cheaper with nut based milk! Alternatives won't curdle if you don't bring the water fully to the boil, just near(LOS' tip of the day).

Cheese, no go, it's horrible and has soya as said. Noegg used for baking if you start that. Makes things quite nicely without dairy!

We can start making soup, gaw I love soup! Lentils!

Brother broke my blender, was just inquiring about it for ya. >.<
Have breadmaker but it's in sligo, will see if somebody will bring on their way up but maybe not feasible, they are only 30/40 euro anyway for grand ones. All you need is gluten free flour, yeast and a few common things we have lying about.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572841044?ie=UTF8&tag=darinthedar-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1572841044

Also, here:

http://www.ecodirect.ie/

henryporter

It's tough having to abruptly change your diet like that but the good thing is that you will start to feel better. Me and the Mrs. have recently converted to a vegan gluten free diet and have even given up coffee - the odd thing being that we didn't have any reason to do so other than wanting too. The Mrs. did have sinus problems which now appear to have cleared.

It's a real bummer that you have a soya intolerance as well, as that is where we get most protein in the form of tofu and tamari (the wheat/gluten free soya sauce). We do however also eat alot of beans and pulses, namely chickpeas, lentils, pinto beans, black beans and so on. Personally I prefer making hummous to buying it, as it's much cheaper and tastes much better and you know what is in it - alot of shop bought hummous use cheaper oils and as Sweet-ramus says there's dairy produce in the flavoured ones.

One area that we've started to explore is seaweed - nice in salads, smoothies, home made bread (I know you said you don't bake, but this could be a good excuse to start - if it's the time involved think about making no-knead bread which rises overnight), nori-rolls etc.

Also have a look at and maybe contact http://www.susanjanemurray.com/ for recipes and ideas. The Blazing Salads cookbook is also a good place to look.

maameeo

@ sweet rasmus thank u! i went into that health food store in DL and got rye bread and hummous for lunch, i actually quite liked it!!and went back for more. i imagine its fattening tho >_>

@Tar OH! I'll get a mixer and you can make me soup, maybe we get a super pot and make a weeks worth (or a day if your eating it!) I've never heard of that Quinoa stuff, will i get some and you can show me what to do?
it was a blood test for food intolerance so im not allergic to this stuff just my body doesnt like it and complains painfully when i eat it. the top things to avoid are egg and dairy but i can rotate the lesser ones like soya bean. so as long as i dont have it two days consecutively I should be fine. I'm supposed to stop the main ones for 3months then introduce them individually and see their effect.

@henryporter wow, your just doing that for the fun? why am i getting worried so!
thats so weird, i have sinus problems, if this helps that ill be delighted! I must learn to make hummous, i love it, home made is the best!
is sea weed expensive?
Thanks so much for the advice

Tar.Aldarion

Yeah cos you are huge, rolleyes :P

Hmm I seem to be making the soup! Yeah I would love a big pot like that because it would be so handy to bring to college. oooh exciting. I can cook it yeah grand, nomnom quinoa, and my patented stirfried veg haha. That's good about the rotations sure! Don't worry about all that soya stuff in the fridge, I can deal with that :pac:

Off out the pier with you to get your sea weed

maameeo

eh i can rotate the soya stuff so leave it alone mister!

i feel fine after the rye and hummous, im usually in pain by now! yeay! thanks S-R!

hmmm now for dinner

henryporter

Yeah the seaweed is free if you know what to look for, otherwise you can get it mail order from the experts - we bought some from a very nice man in Clare that I could PM the details to you for. The thing about harvesting seaweed yourself is to make sure to cut it right so as to avoid killing the plant - effectively you want to give it a nice haircut. Actually having a nice bit of dillisk on the spuds tonight - parboiled then fried in olive oil with some spring onions, tumeric, mustard and salt and pepper - the seaweed takes it to another level. I'd advise getting a hold of a book called Irish Seaweed Kitchen by Prannie Rhatigan - not alot of vegan recipes, but tons of advice and details on each type of seaweed available.

Also the hummous recipe I have, has taken about 15 years to perfect so it's the best I know - I'll try to put up the recipe later on.

sweet-rasmus

maameeo wrote: »

i feel fine after the rye and hummous, im usually in pain by now! yeay! thanks S-R!

I'm so glad It's tough restricting your diet.

sweetoblivion

Hey OP, just to let you know if you're celiac, you won't be able to have rye as rye has gluten in it.

Flour with gluten in it includes: rye, wheat, barley, spelt
Gluten-free flour: rice, coconut, quinoa, sorghum, buckwheat, cornflour

In health food shops you can get products by Orgran, they're an Aussie company that make everything gluten-free and vegan, you can get bread mixes, cake mixes, biscuits, pasta, everything you want and it's all really really nice!

Also if you're going for a celiac test, don't avoid gluten beforehand as it can affect the test results as your body will be starting to heal itself if it is celiac.

Sorry to hear you're having intolerances/allergies! I feel your pain (literally heh!) although once I cut dairy and eggs out and cut down on the gluten I feel so much better. It's tough but worth it.

May I ask where you got your intolerance test done and how much it was?
Thanks!

Irish Guitarist

A lot (not all) of Hovis bread is suitable for vegans. Tesco meat free garlic Kievs are suitable for vegans too.

Obviously you can't live on bread and kievs but that's just a couple of suggestions.

Edit: sorry I just noticed you're allergic to soya bean too so that rules out the kievs I mentioned. I'm pretty sure that Hovis bread should be alright but you should check the ingredients.

maameeo

@henryporter Thanks, hmm, think id be a bit freaked out picking seaweed, im weird with food! I'd have to taste it cooked by someone else lol but id love love love your hummous recipe!! I love home made hummous, iv never tried tho!

@sweetoblivion thanks so much, thats really helpful. hmm i wondering now did i avoid gluten before the test Sure ill find out next week!
Ive decided to cut out Dairy and egg completely. havnt had any since the i got the test results and havnt been bloated since either!! im delighted! I got Pure butter and had spelt bread ( i thought it was gluten free ) and it was so yummy!
i got my food intolerance test done at the allergy fair in the rds but it was done by these guys... http://www.nutricentric.com/food_intolerance/Food_Intolerance.aspx ...it was 80euro i know, a lot but other places that did blood tests for food intolerance where 250e! I've been in agony lately so I would have begged, borrowed or stole to get an answer to this! lol seemingly they have a home test for 70e but im squimish about taking blood out of myself! eek!

@Irish Guitarist cheers for that, I'll be looking at the ingredients in everything now!
I'm not allergic to soya, it just came up as a slight intolerance and I was told to avoid taking it everyday. I'll be cutting out dairy and egg and rotating the rest. fun fun!

henryporter

Homemade Hummous

2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas (Cooked from dry preferable, but canned ok if in a hurry)
3-5 tablespoons light or dark tahini (probably the lesser amount to start with as tahini is an acquired taste)
1 clove garlic minced
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
8 tablespoons of water (ok to use water from cooked chickpeas - not ok to use water from canned)
5 tablespoons olive oil

Combine everything in a blender - if a bit dry add more water or olive oil to get whatever consistency you desire. Put in a bowl that can be sealed with an airtight lid. Some people suggest covering the top of the hummous with olive oil but it ain't necessary if stored the way I do. Enjoy:D

maameeo

henryporter wrote: »

Homemade Hummous

2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas (Cooked from dry preferable, but canned ok if in a hurry)
3-5 tablespoons light or dark tahini (probably the lesser amount to start with as tahini is an acquired taste)
1 clove garlic minced
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
8 tablespoons of water (ok to use water from cooked chickpeas - not ok to use water from canned)
5 tablespoons olive oil

Combine everything in a blender - if a bit dry add more water or olive oil to get whatever consistency you desire. Put in a bowl that can be sealed with an airtight lid. Some people suggest covering the top of the hummous with olive oil but it ain't necessary if stored the way I do. Enjoy:D

Thanks soo much! youre so good for sharing! I'm gona get myself a blender and try that, iv got dry chickpeas, theyve to be left in water over night dont they? (sorry im hopeless)

how are you getting on with your diet (i hate calling it that, sounds like your trying to lose weight but you know what i mean )
I'm doing good with the no dairy and egg

sweet-rasmus

If you soak the chickpeas overnight and then try boiling them for an hour, or more, and just check when they are soft. Make sure they are always covered with water

maameeo

thanking you sweet

sweet-rasmus

Well, I suppose simmer rather than boil

maameeo

would my house be a mess of chickpeas and bubbling water if i boil for a few hours?

Tar.Aldarion

no you'd just burn pots like I do

Ms. Koi

Cheap plug for my employment facility:
Marks and Spencers have introduced a range of Gluten Free breads!

henryporter

maameeo wrote: »

Thanks soo much! youre so good for sharing! I'm gona get myself a blender and try that, iv got dry chickpeas, theyve to be left in water over night dont they? (sorry im hopeless)

how are you getting on with your diet (i hate calling it that, sounds like your trying to lose weight but you know what i mean )
I'm doing good with the no dairy and egg

Thanks for asking - hate the word diet too - but to be honest without all the cheese there's weight to be lost. Not really missing anything too much. Called around to a few friends last weekend and they were a bit lost as to what to cook, so we ended up eating very little. Preparation is the key to being a happy vegan think - knowing when to soak the chickpeas (or black beans, or soya beans, or haricot beans, or cannellini beans etc.) for example. The thing that makes the 'diet' easy for me and the mrs. is having a very large vegetable garden, which is just coming into full bloom - can't beat fresh veg and herbs and hopefully later in the year fruit.:D

sweetoblivion

kellief wrote: »

Cheap plug for my employment facility:
Marks and Spencers have introduced a range of Gluten Free breads!

wow that's brilliant! are the vegan? Have only found one gluten-free bread (a ciabatta bread) that was vegan, most of them have dairy and/or egg in them (for binding the flour).

sweet-rasmus

Are you vegetarian? Otherwise you might find the Nutrition & Diet forum more helpful.

sweet-rasmus

You'd expect a bit of respect and courtesy...

Regards,
Moderator of Vegan and Vegetarian Forum

goat2

my apoligies

Ms. Koi

@mammeo, how are you getting on with it?
I've really cut down on my dairy intake, I've gotten food poisoning from dairy items too often and I'm actually kind of scared of it. I love cheese, but I have cut down a lot.

I'm going to start making sandwiches and bring them to work too. Not really liking going hungry all day!
The catering unit girls said they would put veggie stuff in the machine, but it's just been mac and cheese and it's so stodgy!

maameeo

kellief wrote: »

@mammeo, how are you getting on with it?
I've really cut down on my dairy intake, I've gotten food poisoning from dairy items too often and I'm actually kind of scared of it. I love cheese, but I have cut down a lot.

I'm going to start making sandwiches and bring them to work too. Not really liking going hungry all day!
The catering unit girls said they would put veggie stuff in the machine, but it's just been mac and cheese and it's so stodgy!

i did really well till i went to the states :S found it really hard to avoid egg and dairy, it was vegas, not much in variety for a veggie, let alone a vegan diet!
so iv been a bit lazy since i got back, i dont use milk, cheese and eggs in everyday life but im not as strict as i was as ill have quorn things with milk or eggs in them.
They dont seem to make me a sick as the real fresh thing

i was in agony after the last govindas so im guessing paneer is a no no