Vegetarians ( and Vegans ) Thread!!!

[Crittercrazed]

As for soy milk, I feel the same way about it as you feel about real milk. I am not at all convinced it is even good for a person. There is no way I would even feed it to pigs, let alone drink it myself. We all have our little quirks.

Why would you say soy milk isn't good for you. Animals, maybe not. But people?

 

[cassie]

Why would you say soy milk isn't good for you. Animals, maybe not. But people?

It is just an opinion. We all have our quirks. This is one of mine. A wise nutritionist once told me not to eat anything my great grandmother would not recognize as food. I don't. I try to avoid most processed foods, and if soy milk isn't processed I don't know what is.

Part of my prejudice is based on past experience with soy based milk replacers. I am not sure they even make them any more but they used to. I learned if you feed them to a calf, the calf's problems will soon be over. Permanently. They can't digest the stuff. Now humans can digest it, I think, but I prefer the real stuff, not substitutes. Soy milk is a substitute for milk. The only possible reason I can think of for using it at all is because of a lactose intolerance or an allergy to milk. But that's me. If other people want to use it, fine. I'm just not convinced it is good for a person. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[HenFriend]

I guess soya milk is an aquired taste! My boyfriend thinks it tastes totally revolting. I see what Cassie means about it being processed, the one I buy has added calcium. I just don't like the taste of cows milk on it's own, it's ok in coffee or disguised in a sauce. Talking about animals drinking other species milk I remember seeing a pet lamb trying to feed from our large long haired dog. Thought she was just confused.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I like the soy milk but the almond milk taste like Mylanta.

 

[veganloraine]

It is just an opinion. We all have our quirks. This is one of mine. A wise nutritionist once told me not to eat anything my great grandmother would not recognize as food. I don't. I try to avoid most processed foods, and if soy milk isn't processed I don't know what is.

Part of my prejudice is based on past experience with soy based milk replacers. I am not sure they even make them any more but they used to. I learned if you feed them to a calf, the calf's problems will soon be over. Permanently. They can't digest the stuff. Now humans can digest it, I think, but I prefer the real stuff, not substitutes. Soy milk is a substitute for milk. The only possible reason I can think of for using it at all is because of a lactose intolerance or an allergy to milk. But that's me. If other people want to use it, fine. I'm just not convinced it is good for a person. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Soy milk isn't any more processed than iced tea or lemonaide. It's basically soy beans that have been soaked, ground, heated and filtered with optional flavouring added to it. Soy milk is a product that Asians have been consuming for centuries. The China Study is a great book about the largest nutritional study ever conducted comparing the diets, health and longevity of Asians to North Americans. Feeding soy milk to a calf would possibly kill that calf, as it would kill any infant animal that should be consuming the breast milk of his or her mother. What I find to be more alarming is that feeding a calf cow's milk from the grocery store would also likely kill that calf (as it's been pasturized). Cow's milk (minus the added hormones) is an amazing food - for baby cows. I'm not writing this to be confrontational, so I really hope you don't take it that way. I just wanted you to have accurate information about soy so that you don't deprive yourself of this amazing plant product (non-GMO soy, that is).

 

[cassie]

Sorry. There is no way I am EVER going to use soy milk. The soy plant is a wonderful plant. Makes great livestock feed. Probably good people feed, too. For someone else.

To put it in perspective, I feel the same way about soy milk as a vegan feels about a nice big rare steak. An anathema. Soy milk is milk replacer. I am not keen on milk replacers for baby animals and I'm not keen on milk replacers for myself, either. I like cows and what they produce. On occasion I will consume tofu, as in Chinese hot and sour soup, but that is the extent of my voluntary soy consumption.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Personally, I hate supporting giant corporations when avoidable, and soy milk from a grocer falls squarely into that category. My husband and are slowly transitioning over to growing more and more of our own food, and supporting small farmers when we can't. I also have some health concerns about consuming large ammounts of soy, particularly unfermented soy, based on several studies and things like heavy metal contamination. If I liked the taste of soy milk at all, I would personally want to make my own, and grow my own soy too. The extent store-bought cow's milk is processed (and how cows are commercially raised, worker rights issues, etc) means I am looking for local milk...we had two amazing local suppliers but moved states and are in the process of looking...and hope to have my own dairy animals as soon as possible. That's just my present personal take on soy. I tend to prefer the taste of fungi based meat replacers to soy. No fungi milk as far as I know though.

Edit: Oops, forgot to echo concerns about GMO. Soy is a major offender in that area. Corn too, which I have limited my consumption of for various reasons, but in part due to that. Again, I'm not terribly fond of corporate systems, particularly when applied to control over basic resources such as food and water. I do not drink bottled water largely for that reason, and do not support GM crops for that same reason. When dealing with livestock, I try to find farmers not feeding their livestock (fish too) large amounts of grain or soy, partly for this same reason.

 

[silkiemomma9]

Nice to see this thread here
I have my chickens after going vegan. Hubby came home with a throw away from an auction. He had gone because a friend of his said they always had deals on dog/cat food.
Long story short. I've was veggie as a child (parents were as well). Around the age of 20, I had moved out to the country and started to see to many things I didn't actually like. Access to the Internet gave me even more info & so 24 year ago I became vegan. My children are as well. Of course the struggles with vegan pregnancies, infant/toddler feeding, children going to parties et always came as a surprise to me. However I'm proud to say all ten are alive and well
A wonderful site for tons of cool vegan food is:
http://www.vegalicious.org/

 

[MetallicBlue]

Hello, I'm in need of a little help. My mom is a vegetarian and has been trying for years to find a good stuffed pepper recipe. I've searched for her and am not coming up with much. Does anyone have one they wouldn't mind sharing?

 

[HenFriend]

Does she like Indian/spicy food? Paneer stuffed peppers by Anjum Anand is good, a bit fiddly but worth it. Don't know how to do a link but if you go to the BBC Good Food site and type it into the search box it comes up.