So, it has been a week since I started my vegan experiment. I thought I’d share what I’ve learned so far – but before I get into this post, I must confess that I have cheated (I accidentally had spot of milk in my earl grey tea out of habit, I had a cookie that had butter in it, and I did have some items during the celebration of our local Gurdwara opening – the Mercury News covered this event).
- It would be easier if I had gotten rid of all cheese and dairy from my home prior to this trial, but I’m not imposing my experiment on my husband, nor was I about to throw away perfectly good food. Those cheese strings can be so tempting sometimes!
- I agree with the folks that say becoming vegan is really an ethical choice – I’ve had many moments where I have had to force myself to avoid cheese. I could see this being a continuous battle. My choice to be a lacto-vegetarian is a religious one, so I don’t have any qualms about cheese and yogurt, especially since I am pretty particular about where I source these items from.
- I miss yogurt…desperately. I refuse to eat soy yogurt or any other substitutes – I was already extremely particular about how my yogurt tasted and smelled, so trying out a fake option is just not for me.
- You have to be very disciplined about how well your refrigerator is stocked with fresh produce items. I’ve had a couple of busy weekends and did not get a chance to head out to the farmers market. Also, my CSA was not delivering last week as they were doing a season changeover. Without proper ingredients in the refrigerator, it is really easy to begin considering the cheese items.
- Hummus on toast is a great alternative to cheese on toast – just as tasty and incredibly satisfying.
- I tried making quesedillas with Daiya’s cheddar style shreds, and again, I can understand how someone would be willing to have this as a replacement to cheese if their vegan choices were for ethical reasons, but I did not enjoy it at all. I’d rather not have cheese at all. That being said, I will try out other Daiya products in other recipes before I completely write them off.
- I have not consumed any processed “fake meat” options – I don’t eat meat for a reason, and I don’t need to be eating these factory-made items made to look and taste like something I would otherwise not eat.
All that being said, I’m not giving up and am going to continue to my adventure for the rest of the month. Wish me luck!
My Vegetarian Kitchen 
I really like what you are doing here. I think I’d have an awful time in the cheese area too. In fact, I was just writing a draft post on cheese and in my research learned that the average American eats more than 33 pounds a year. That sort of freaked me out. Love that you’re sharing this experiment.