#cookingclover

[hashtagveganproblems]

Hello! I’ve just decided quite literally yesterday to go vegan, and I’ll be honest, the start is much more difficult than I assumed it would be. Do you have any tips for beginners? Thanks in advance!

Hi hello! First of all, congratulations!! Welcome to veganism!! ☺️🎉

Do you have any more specific questions/ concerns? I'm terrible at general advice but I'll do my best😆 If you're talking food wise, I'd say the easiest thing to do when you first get started is just buy already veganized versions of products you'd usually eat. Look for clearly vegan labeled packaging if reading ingredients gets overwhelming! Over time you learn what main ingredients to look out for when checking labels, and anything you're not sure about is just a google away. There are also a lot of "accidentally" vegan products that you have probably been eating without even knowing! (pastas, some big chip brands, oreos etc)

In my opinion, veganizing dishes is usually pretty easy for the most part. If a recipe calls for milk I use almond/soy/oat milk. If it asks for eggs I use egg replacer (there are also LOTS of vegan egg alternatives that you may already have in your pantry like flax seeds or apple sauce) I use vegan ground or tofu instead of meat, you get the point- Thankfully in 2023 there are way more vegan options and alternatives than there used to be, and being vegan is easier than ever!🙌🏻

I have a list of vegan alternative brands on my blog that I've been meaning to update, while not every brand is on there, there's still some really good ones to keep an out for at the grocery store! When shopping for skin/hair/beauty products or clothing, a good rule of thumb is to look for the vegan and/or cruelty free labels, or search the brand online👌🏻

I have a resources page on my blog (which also really needs to be updated, a bitch be busy sorry lol) and I run a vegan Discord server with some friends if you're interested/ would like a support group and people to help answer questions 24/7! In general, I find ethicalelephant.com is a SUPER helpful website with tonssss of resources and information, along with worldofvegan.com! Here is a quick label reading guide to help you get started too- however I usually google the actual product itself to see if it's vegan, I find that most of the time what you need to know is online!

If going cold turkey is too much for you that's okay, phasing out animal products at your own pace works too! What matters is that you're doing our best/ what you can. It still makes a huge difference and the fact that you're taking steps towards veganism is amazing in itself!! I'm sorry if that was too much information thrown at you all at once, but I hope this is helpful!! Good luck☺️