Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [44]
Xylitol: Made most often from birch trees, this natural sweetener is a sugar alcohol and is actually good for preventing cavities and reversing tooth decay. You can find xylitol in crystalline form in health food stores, and though it’s expensive, it’s a good, healthy sweetener option for baking.
Xylitol has been known to cause diarrhea or loose stools for some, so use caution.
Part III
Sticking to Your Guns: Staying Vegan
In this part . . .
After you’re on board with all the reasons that a vegan diet is the right choice for you and how it can provide you with everything you need nutritionally, making this healthy and ethical diet a reality requires planning, strategy, and know-how.
The chapters in this part detail how to shop in a new world of health food stores, farmer’s markets, and unexplored aisles at your old supermarket. You determine what you need to plan for when creating your new vegan kitchen, menus, and home. Even old family recipes can be enjoyed with some tweaks and experimentation. Finally, understanding how to live with nonvegans is an important part of this journey, so commit to memory the tips on cooking and living with your fellow meat eaters.
Chapter 7
Cooking and Shopping Like a Vegan
In This Chapter
Gathering the basic cooking supplies you need to maximize your success
Stocking the pantry with all the good stuff, and storing it properly
Becoming a savvy vegan shopper
Two of the most challenging aspects of adopting a vegan diet are figuring out what to eat and how to cook in a new style. Setting up your vegan kitchen requires some thought, and you need to analyze your past and future ideas about cooking in order to use your culinary skills and create healthy, delicious food in this new vegan style. This chapter helps you figure out the tools you need and how to get started. You also get the lowdown on stocking your pantry with quality vegan basics and supplies while weeding out old, animal-derived goods. This chapter also helps you understand which ingredients on food labels are hidden traps for vegans.
Feeling confident in your kitchen and knowing that you have foundational vegan ingredients and supplies on hand will empower you to create healthy, delicious meals for your fast-moving, vegan-rific lifestyle.
Gearing Up with Basic Cooking Equipment
To eat is human, to cook, divine. Living a vegan lifestyle without cooking for yourself is possible, but doing so can be expensive and arduous. Besides, cooking for yourself is a basic life skill that allows you to practice the powerful tool of self-healing with your own conscious energy.
Choosing and using the appropriate kitchen gear enables you to consistently cook up healthy, plant-based fare. If you aren’t already comfortable in the kitchen, don’t worry about purchasing the fancy one-job gadgets yet. Instead, focus on the items in this section that do double duty. Doing so allows you to reduce the amount of money you need to spend to get started. If you already cook somewhat regularly, you probably own many of these items.
Pots, pans, and bakeware
A few good-quality pots and pans will take you far in your cooking. How can you tell if these items are good quality? Look for terms like “good heat conductor” and “heavy gauge.” You’re safest with stainless steel, cast iron, or enamel, because these types of pans won’t react with most foods. Teflon and most nonstick pans can chip over time, allowing chemicals to leach into your food. Plain aluminum pots and pans can react to foods that are acidic, like tomato-based recipes, which can make the foods taste metallic. The following list can help you build your collection of pots, pans, and bakeware. As you build your collection, you can add more as you need. Here are some of the essentials you should consider buying:
A 10- to 12-inch high-sided stainless-steel sauté pan with a lid for frying, braising vegetables, sautéing, and making sauces, rice pilafs, and risottos
A 3-quart saucepan for steaming vegetables and cooking grains and pastas