Help me, vegans!

[thefourthvine]

Because of my baby's suspected dairy allergy, I have joined the ranks of the more-or-less vegan. (I can actually still eat eggs, but they aren't a huge part of my diet anyway.) And, see, I've been a vegetarian since I was ten. I know how to be a vegetarian! It doesn't require thought or effort! Whereas this veganism thing is very new and very, very hard.

Normally I'd just hit Google and research the shit out of this. But, well, I have a four-month-old baby. I don't have time to make out with Google the way I used to. So I am hoping to use the friends list shortcut - that there are vegans on my friends list who might have advice for me. Or, I guess, people on my friends list who aren't vegan but just love to Google.

Basically, here's what I need to know:

1. What are the basics of a vegan pantry? What are the special things that vegans keep around all the time, that make cooking or meals easier?
   
   
2. What are really good vegan products?
   
   
3. What are some good vegan recipes? Right now I'm relying much too heavily on fake meat, and that is not how I like to cook or eat. At least, not this much. I might as well be a carnivore! So - recipes? I especially need ones for balanced meals that are super-fast or that I can make in a crockpot. Suggestions of cookbooks featuring these things would also be very welcome.

Help? Please? Anyone? I will take links or comments or just supportive pats. I am experiencing involuntary dietary change and it's very scary!

Comments

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I spent about six months on a very tasty vegan diet, but I wasn't exactly worried about giving proper nutrition to a baby at the time. However, you can actually eat, pretty healthily at that, nothing but raw produce. I especially recommend carrots and spinach (raw, baby if you like) - if you like salads, that is - because they're really tasty and nutritively complete. Also, you want to eat lots of nuts! The staples of my diet when I was vegan were: pesto and pasta; peanut butter with raisins, bananas, dill pickles, or jam; bananas, oranges, peaches, plums, and other fresh produce; huge salads with fresh herbs and baby spinach, at least once a day; lots of fresh guacamole (straight out of the avocado); organic miso paste (made into soup and spread as topping on bread); and my aunt's stellar sunflower paté recipe which is great by the spoonful, scooped up in spinach leaves, or spread on crackers. I'd post it, but I don't seem to have it right now.