choc milk

[Guest guest]

I can't find Organic Valley Soy milk around here either (as some of you

said, only organic cow milk) A question for vegans out there, how do

you/did you wean yourself off of cheese? I haven't really had milk, or

yogurt in a long time, no meat or gelatin products that I know about.

but as I have talked about with some local veg friends...the cheese

thing seems like breaking an addiction! Did you go cold turkey or just

have less and less> What are good substitutes? Everyone says being

vegan makes them feel healthier, I want to feel that!

Thanks, new Meissa

[Guest guest]

Hi (new) Melissa,

My hubby and I found a store brand alternative of " cheese " at Publix and

were really excited about it before we tasted it. Ugh! It tasted like salted

rubber tire treads (or what one would imagine that to taste like anyway). It

lies alone and forlorn on the refrigerator shelf now. So then I researched,

read up on a bunch of veg store sites and discovered the " Rella " cheeses.

Found out they are made by a company in California called Follow Your Heart,

and that you can order their " cheeses " (completely vegan) online: five

dollars a pound for: monterrey jack, cheddar, nacho and ...um...I forget the

other one. Let me check just a sec here...Oh yeah, cheddar.

I've also read a lot of reviews of this Rella " cheese " and almost all of

'em say the cheddar is horrible, the nacho is the best, and the others are

pretty good. So for what THAT's worth, LOL, right? Here's the site for you

to check out: www.imearthkind.com <http://www.imearthkind.com> . They also

have organic salad dressings, some vegan, and non-organic salad dressings,

including Veganaise, that are totally vegan. Also a non-chicken product and

several recipes to use that " chicken " , plus some cookbooks. Haven't checked

out the cookbook section yet, so don't know what's there. But I'm really

impressed with the site overall and shall be ordering the Rella cheeses

hopefully this coming weekend. One of the Rella cheese's main selling points

is that it does melt and become gooey. There's even instructions for

macaroni and " cheese " . Yippee!

Also, yesterday at Kroger's, speaking of finds--hubby and I found the

Willow Run soy butter in the little natural foods' niche. Were WE ever

excited! Four sticks, a lb, for 1.99! That's a whole buck and a half cheaper

than cow's butter!!! and then when we opened a stick at home, it tasted

*almost* like butter. As I said to dh, " I can get used to this right fast, "

and he agreed. We also found vegan flax waffles and real maple syrup ( I

always want to call it " syrple " because that's what dd called it at age

three). The maple syrup was on sale for five dollars as opposed to six, for

8 oz. Dh, from Pennsylvania, assured me that this would last a long time,

" because REAL maple syrup is strong and rich. " Boy, he wasn't just a-woofin'

on both counts! Mrs. Butterworth, I now see, is a pale, pale imitation.

Thick, yes. But I can quickly understand how you can use maple syrup as a

sweetener as opposed to granulated sugar. It's soooo strong and for lack of

a better term, " deep " .

So we had flaxseed waffles (vegan), spread with soy butter, and then topped

with maple syrple. :>) Just delicious! And felt so good not hurting any

animals too <VBG>

(new) Melissa, I hope this helps you about the cheese. About the organic

choc soy milk, I don't have any ideas for finding it in stores, so sorry!

But, if you want to make chocolate milk at home, this is what you can do:

(did this in Florida when I couldn't find any choc either). First get some

Dutch cocoa, if possible (may not be, it's kind of hard to find at regular

stores, and we find ours at Fresh Market here). If not, American cocoa will

do. Put about a half cup or more, depending on how you like your choc

milk--strong, perhaps, as I do--into a large bowl, along with as much and a

little more (likely) organic sugar. I think Florida Crystals is a good brand

for that. Take you a whisk and whisk the sugar and cocoa together real good.

Add a pinch of salt. (Or not, but I do and it keeps it from tasting a little

'flat'.) Whisk again. Now, add enough water to the dry ingredients to make a

paste. Stir it well. Now take your carton of soy milk and pour it into a

Rubbermaid pitcher or something of that sort. Take a big spoon (I use a

wooden one, seems to stir best) and dip out portions of the chocolate paste

and put them into the soy milk, stirring very well each time. Continue doing

this until you have the soymilk as deep, dark, chocolatey as you like. Taste

to make sure <impish grin> you're gettin' it right.

And there you have it: chocolate soy milk!

I find that each time I get the homemade kind out of the fridge I have to

stir it up again, 'cause the chocolate solids tend to settle to the bottom

of the pitcher. But hey, that's okay. Look at what savings you have and you

can custom make your own chocolate milk this way.

Enjoy!

Bron

 

On 11/13/05, Melissa <mapalicka wrote:

>

> I can't find Organic Valley Soy milk around here either (as some of you

> said, only organic cow milk) A question for vegans out there, how do

> you/did you wean yourself off of cheese? I haven't really had milk, or

> yogurt in a long time, no meat or gelatin products that I know about.

> but as I have talked about with some local veg friends...the cheese

> thing seems like breaking an addiction! Did you go cold turkey or just

> have less and less> What are good substitutes? Everyone says being

> vegan makes them feel healthier, I want to feel that!

> Thanks, new Meissa