I LOVED Cheese
First a little back story on my transition to being vegan and at the end will be a link to a great Youtube video I just watched by Dr. Neal Barnard that is well worth watching!
I have written before that cheese was the hardest thing to give up when I was going vegan and it probably was the main reason I waited so long too. I LOVED cheese. It is so easy to justify eating it when you’re vegetarian. I gave up meat and that’s great so what’s wrong with a little cheese added to my meal? Right? WRONG! And the government and the media make cheese look healthy, fun and part of the “American Way”. What’s wrong with that, right? WRONG!
To be honest, it was more ethical that health reasons that initially started me thinking about cheese and dairy. I had watched and read some reports about what happens in the dairy industry and it had an impact. Not a big enough impact at first because I REALLY LOVED cheese, but overtime it all started to make me think. If I truly was committed to doing my best to protect our animal friends, should I be eating cheese and consuming dairy? I am told it’s healthy and good for you, but is it really? So if cheese and dairy aren’t good for me AND if the dairy industry is not performing in the best interest of our animal friends, then I really have to think about this. And think about it I did – for quite a while, because as I may have told you, I REALLY LOVED cheese.
Take the Leap!
With the help and push of one of my daughters, my wife and I decided to give up dairy and go vegan. IT WAS NOT EASY, but the rewards were MORE THAN WORTH IT! I went through a dairy withdrawal – I really did! I felt slightly sick, headaches, low energy, sluggish for about 10 days. At first I didn’t attribute it to not eating dairy – it must just be a little flu. But it was a withdrawal for sure – you can research and read about it if you want.
So what came next after the withdrawal = I felt great. Tons of energy, less bloating, clarity of thought, sharp focus and just an overall great feeling. Again, at first I didn’t attribute it to the lack of dairy, but my wife felt the same thing. Holy cow (vegans can say that), why did we wait all those years. Better health, overall great feeling, clear thoughts and a benefit to the environment and the animals!
But what to do if you want to be vegan and still have cheese? There are a ton of vegan cheese substitutes on the market today and more are being added all the time. You can also make your own cheese – it is not that hard. For me, I only use a few “on the market” cheeses in my cooking. Here are my “GO TO” cheeses –
- Parmesan – I am married to an Italian, so Parmesan is something I use quite a bit. I have found for my taste, Violife Parmesan is the best. It comes in a triangle block, so you get to grate it just like the real thing!
- Mozzarella – I still love pizza and especially Wild Mushroom pizza or Pesto pizza. I have found we like Miyoko’s Mozzarella the best. The consistency is a bit more like goat cheese, but the taste on pizza is perfect for what we like.
- Sliced Cheese – While I don’t use sliced cheese very often, every once in a while a grilled cheese sandwich with a hot bowl of soup just gets to me and I have to have one. In this case, I use Chao Slices. They have 2 different varieties that I use – A white creamy Original or a spicy Tomato Cayenne. Both melt nicely and give you a bit of that gooey grilled cheese texture and the flavor is awesome!
The other method is to make your own. I make an awesome Ricotta that I use for stuffed shells or baked ziti. I also make a feta which is great in Greek salads, falafels and in my stuffed red peppers. And last but certainly not least, I make a Mac N Cheese that can fool about anyone. The cheese sauce is rich, creamy and cheezy. You need to try this one. There are also a ton of great recipes online for about any other type of cheese you want veganize! So, go ahead and experiment and see what you like. You can still enjoy cheese – Vegan Style!
We now tell anyone who is interested, the best decision we ever made was to become vegan and eliminate dairy (and cheese) from our diets. And if you don’t believe me…….
Maybe you will believe Dr. Neal Barnard. This video is a bit long, but it is well worth watching. Instead of my anecdotal comments and story, Dr. Bernard provides the facts to back up what I felt. It is funny, entertaining and fact based. Please take the time to watch – The Cheese Trap!
It’s great to hear you talk about Neal. I totally forgot about that guy. I used to work with him and Ingrid back in the 80s. He had this great dog named Betsy but she was real old. They loved her so much though.
Good post!
Thanks for reading my blog first of all! It is so cool you worked with Neal and knew him. I loved how he added fact to everything I felt or thought I knew. I hope I was able to get more people to watch and learn!
Your story made me think back, over twenty years ago, when I first gave up non-vegan cheese. .You are right! There are many vegan cheese choices and recipes. Vegan cheese is amazingly good and good for you, too!
Thanks for reading my post! I am sure you have seem tremendous changes and improvements in the options for vegans. It’s a great time to share all the benefits of a vegan lifestyle and that you CAN eat great tasting foods with Big+Bold flavors!
I’ve been thinking of going Vegetarian for a while, my life partner is already a vegetarian, so it wouldn’t be too hard of a transition to just stop buying meat. Cheese on the other hand is another beast in itself for me, I’m from Wisconsin so I’ve had cheese in my diet since I was a little guy. I like that you provide more than one type of Vegan cheese to try and substitute into your diet. I will go and get a couple of these substitutions and give them a whirl. Thanks for the post, it’s very insightful!
Oh, maybe a Green Bay Packer fan? I’m a Detroit Lion fan – tough game on Monday Night. Favre and now Rodgers always kill the Lions. Cheese is hard but I will tell you giving it up had by far the most impact on how I felt and my overall health. If you can get past the 1st week or so, you won’t believe the difference – Give it a try and good luck!
I gave up milk years ago because my system doesn’t tolerate it well. I seem to tolerate cheese, but I never thought about the cows producing that cheese. Thank you for an enlightening post.
Thank you for reading my blog and for your comment. I loved cheese and for years I didn’t realize the negative impact the dairy industry had on animals. The marketing of cheese, dairy and meat is very good at creating false narratives. I feel strongly that everything is a process and takes time. To fully adopt a vegan lifestyle, you need to be passionate about my 3 Pillars – Your own Health, Our Environment and the welfare of our Animal Friends. Once you do this, there is no turning back! Sounds like you are there – Best of luck!