[ade903]

and it was a success! I made wonton soup (http://veganyumyum.com/2008/03/wonton-soup/). It was great.

I'm pretty much just exploring the option of becoming vegan. Not quite sure why. I mean it is obviously terrible how they animals are treated, but I've known it all along and never made any changes.

What is the most difficult part of being vegan (or vegetarian) for you? Should I just do it overnight or ease into it? I'm thinking cheese is going to be hard for me, but I'm not big on meat.

And I've read different things about honey and silk. I can do without honey, but as far as silk goes, I'm in two weddings this year and both brides have chosen silk dresses. I'm obviously not going to demand otherwise, as I'm not vegan at this point...but I imagine I'll be vegan by the time the weddings roll around.

What are your favorite vegan blogs or books (I kind of want to read about people's exploration and transformation to veganism...).

Thanks!

[nelie]

I personally don't find being vegan difficult. There are some challenges such as going out to eat where you don't have a choice of where to go. That is a rarity for me and usually there is something on the menu to eat even if it isn't ideal. I also did it overnight but everyone's journey is different.

I really like http://blog.fatfreevegan.com

[FreeSpirit]

I love being vegan, it's one of the best decisions I've made for my health and for my conscious.

One of my favorite places to find recipes online is vegweb.com (it's easy to put the recipes into an online recipe calorie calculator and get the calories that way). Also, fatfreevegan.com is good, too, as nelie posted.

I think one of my biggest tips is to try and not do too much replacing at first. The fake meats/ cheeses/ etc won't taste like real cheese, and will likely leave you more discouraged than anything.

[celrae]

I was vegan for 2 years, it was not hard when I lived in the Bay Area (lots of options). I now work as a butcher (big change). I think a veg. based diet is best, with very little processed foods. The meat/cheese issue is up to you and can be both great and not great for some people. I work for and only buy from small farms = low environmental impact, better quality of food, and treatment of animals.

[nelie]

Oh yeah, I'd definitely avoid the faux meats cheeses. I eat mostly a whole foods diet which means lots of legumes, veggies, fruits, some grains, nuts, seeds, etc.

[LilMissLi]

I'm trying a veganism "diet" next month. I tried it last year and failed missribly. I've never been a cheese lover, but as soon as I couldn't have it, it's all I wanted. lol I actually like the faux cheese and meats. The hardest thing for me last year was getting into the mindset of eating differently. This time around I've done my research and know things I want to prepare ahead of time. Hopefully this time around will be better than the last seeing as last time I only lasted 6 days.

-Li