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

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

So it's all dairy, not just cow milk? I ask because the thing that ran my veganism out of Dodge was goat cheese and goat yogurt. And while I'm at it, canned goat's milk and fresh goat's milk and dried goat's milk.

If there's no sign of a soy allergy, my best advice (besides all the above-mentioned hummus and dal and refried beans) is to find three tempeh recipes and three tofu recipes you like and wear them out. My favorite tofu recipe is scrambled tofu: one pound firm tofu, and onion, garlic, tumeric, cumin, and soy sauce to taste. Chop the vegetables, drain and crumble the tofu, heat the spices in a bit of olive or sesame oil on medium heat in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and stir until they're your preferred level of cooked-ness, and then add the tofu and stir until it's your preferred level of dry. (I tend to cook my tofu very dry, the same as I like my eggs, which takes about fifteen minutes.)

I've found that it helps to get a vegan cookbook that's from your general cultural background. Isa Chandra Moskowitz's books have some great ideas, but I tended to stare at them blankly and have no clue where to start, and it took me a while to figure out that it was because most of her recipes were for veganized things you eat in Brooklyn and I live in Southern Appalachia. I have therefore cooked the heck out of Cookin' Southern Vegetarian Style (http://www.amazon.com/Cookin-Southern-Vegetarian-Style-Jackson/dp/1570670927), which is my go-to book for things to do with tofu (her biscuit recipe has never worked for me, though.)