Gnoe *waves* from Utrecht, the Netherlands
Hello all!
I'm recently exploring the world of vegan eating. I was a lact-ovo veggie for 20 years and desperately wanted to cut down on eggs and dairy... To be able to do that I needed to go totally vegan for a short while, so I held my own 10-day ExtraVeganza in Jan-Feb. What I hadn't expected was that it would be so easy (in a way) and that I'd feel so good about it that I wanted to continue after my test period. So here I am. ;) Of course it's not all easy (i.e. veggie husband, eating out) and there are many more yummy substitutes to be found in the US than over here in Holland, so I hope I'll be able to hold on. Thankfully I like to cook. :)
I just received my very first vegan cookbook as a birthday present: La Dolce Vegan. A very kind gift from my omni sister-in-law-with-four-kids that didn't even *know* I was looking for a good vegan cookbook! Lucky me, eh? Of course I treated my guests to all-vegan goodies and I believe it went down well. *Phew*
I just don't know what to call myself now... I can handle only so much at a time, so for now I'm concentrating on vegan eating. I guess 'strict vegetarian' might be the right phrase? But that will probably confuse a lot of people because they think cheese & eggs are fine for vegetarians. So to be safe I'll keep it at 'vegan' in the outer world anyway. What's in a name? ;)
Welcome Gnoe!
I think a lot of us can relate that in the beginning, we're so focused on labels and whether we are adhering to them correctly. The important thing is that you're eating vegan and once you become more comfortable with it, you'll come to fully embrace it.
You'll dig these forums- lots of cool people. If you're interested in adding to your cookbook collection, check out the Cookbook Lab. There's lots of reviews from all kinds of different books.
Hi there, welcome :)
Hey Gnoe,
Well heck at least your husband is a veg, I'm sure that helps.
Thanks for the recommendation on the cookbook, I'll have to check it out.
I love the idea for your Veganza, I think you could take that worldwide!
Keep it up, you're doing great :)
Hi & welcome! I usually say 'I'm a planteater' or 'I'm happily herbivorous'.. keeps everyone from getting stuck on the name, & its meaning in their own head (whether that's a positive or negative, to them), and quickly conveys the gist of what I mean... anyway, sounds like you're off to a great start! welcome to VW!
ps-- i like your pic; for the last, oh, (my whole life!) years, at least one person in my immediate family has had a black cat-- at present, me/ my sis/ my mom all do... woot, black cats! (well, ok, woot all cats!) :-)
Welcome! Nice to meet you!
Welcome! I can appreciate the challenges with a husband that is not fully vegan. My partner (we have been together for 13 years but not married due to a disability he has and loss of health benefits if we marry so i can also appreciate the confusion of labels) is omni and loves his meat. I am repulsed by it and also refuse to buy animal products but I will cook it up for him. Sometimes he eats my vegan meals and is always surprised at how good they are. Especially the ones from here! I think slowly I am breaking him in and smashing the myths. At least he tries to be supportive.
Hope you like it here!
Hi all, thanks so much for the welcome and many apologies that I didn't reply any sooner!
Somehow I missed that I actively need to check for comments -- silly me thought I would get a notification in the sidebar.
Anyway, it's a good chance to tell you all that I'm still 'on the wagon'! So I guess there's no risk any more of dropping off. ;)
Thanks again for your warm welcome!
Hello fellow Utrechtian :-)
Hello fellow Utrechtian :-)
Hi!!! *waves* :) Any tips on where to eat? So far I've had good experiences with Ana's Kuzin (takeaway) and De Zakkendrager -- of all places... ;) Of course there's Soy and ACU but if you have any other places you can recommend that would be awesome! Or should I search the forum?
Didn't have too good an experience with Badhu (alas...) and Paradijs. :(
Hey there!
I don't eat out all that much (mostly because I enjoy cooking so much) but I find Asian restaurants of various descriptions often either have vegan dishes, or can very easily adapt them to be vegan. These days, Kafé België always offer a vegan soup, and their combination of soup, salad and bread or vlaamse friet is definitely a full meal. The vegan option on their current menu is a deeeeeelicious sweet potato soup - omnomnom :) The Sunshine Ethiopian restaurant on the Pauwstraat also has some lovely vegan options - they may seem a bit clueless as they list tuna as a vegetarian option, but a lot of their bean, chickpea and lentil pastes are vegan and delicious. If you ask for their mix of vegetarian dishes without the tuna or the cottage cheese (i forget the proper name, but it's somewhat cottage-cheese-like), you should end up with a great vegan spread.
You can also try the various community kitchens (voku's) in squats - nothing fancy, but guaranteed vegan, cheap, and I like the company - if you feel comfortable in ACU, you'll probably feel comfortable in the voku's, too. You have Bikewars on the Groeneweg 52 every wednesday, the Blue Cube on the van Vollenhovenlaan 227 on Thursdays (haven't been there in a while, but as far as I know it's still happening). Flying Puppy on the Wittevrouwensingel stopped doing its Friday eetcafé when they heard the premises had been sold and they'd have to leave, but so far nothing has happened, so I'm hoping they'll re-open :)
I haven't been to de Zakkendrager in forever, what do they have to offer? And I haven't tried Soy yet, are they good?
welcome! i just moved to texas last year from utrecht and i miss it tons...
janel
These days, Kafé België always offer a vegan soup, and their combination of soup, salad and bread or vlaamse friet is definitely a full meal. The vegan option on their current menu is a deeeeeelicious sweet potato soup - omnomnom :) The Sunshine Ethiopian restaurant on the Pauwstraat also has some lovely vegan options <snip snap>
You can also try the various community kitchens (voku's) in squats - nothing fancy, but guaranteed vegan, cheap, and I like the company - if you feel comfortable in ACU, you'll probably feel comfortable in the voku's, too.
I haven't been to de Zakkendrager in forever, what do they have to offer? And I haven't tried Soy yet, are they good?
Hi, thanks for the elaborate reply! I haven't been to Sunshine in a long time -- my last visit as a vegetarian didn't go too well as the food was bland, but maybe they had an off day, or a different cook. ;) Will definitely try België one of these days! Have a nice beer with my meal... ;) (Yes, I know that's not smart nutrition-wise but it's good, isn't it? ;)
I have eaten at ACU a few times but I hadn't heard of the voku's yet and I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable... :-\
De Zakkendrager doesn't carry vegan options on the menu but the cook will make you a nice vegan meal on request. I've had gnocchi with roasted vegetables for example, and filled portebello mushroom.
Oh and you should definitely try Soy! I love the "chicken" mihoen (without egg) and satay. Just not too often. ;)
welcome! i just moved to texas last year from utrecht and i miss it tons...
Hi Janel, thanks! Did you eat out in Utrecht when you lived here? And what do you miss most?
On the web it seems that NL is sooo much behind on the US (vegan-wise) but I'm not sure about Texas...? :-\
Anyway, I would love to try Daiya 'cheese' but that's only for sale in North America! Count your blessings. ;)
Welcome and hello.