Mele Kalikimaka from Santa Cruz
Posted by soulsurfer85 on Dec 24, 2009 · Member since Nov 2009 · 18 posts
Hey all!
I am an aspiring Vegan, and pretty new to the game. I have been a lacto-ovo Vegetarian for about 6 months, but I find it contradictory to my lifestyle...well, that, and someone recently described an egg to me as being an unfertilized shelled baby fetus....though only based partially on fact, this description ruined eggs for me hahah.
Anyways, I am finding this cheese-less lifestyle a little difficult, especially because I LOVE pizza. At the store I have only seen Veggieslices (chees) but the ingredients say milk, sooo...where do I go from here?? Any help would be ammaaaazine!
Many thanks fellow veg-heads!
Mike
Hey SS85, your title makes me miss Kauai!!! As far as cheese I find homeade cheese sauces and spreads made, (especially nut cheeses thosse are very satisfying,) to the store bought ones, (I still don't like most of those.)
For pizza, try making sauces like pesto for toppings, it is a little different than cheese, (sigh,) but still yummy.
Here are some nut cheeses I like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ivc57B7cuA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ivc57B7cuA
ohhh... santa cruz... have you been to charlie hong kong?
1141 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, California (95060)
it's awesome.
Santa Cruz has tons of vegan stuff. have you checked out www.happycow.com? They have listings of health food stores and restaurants that are veg-friendly.
welcome!
Thanks to you both for the responseses!
Sauce, I have totally gone the Pesto route, and it is Delicious!! I lived in Hawaii for a semester while I was in school (maui) and I fell in love with it. I will make my way back one day for sure!
Hespedal, I have been to Charlie Hong Kong. Pretty Amazing. If you are ever in Santa Cruz, there is an Indian Food place downtown called Sitar, which has an all-you-can-eat vegan/vegetarian lunch buffet. It is absolutely DIVINE. There is also a place off of 41st ave./capitola called Dharmas that is a full vegetarian restaurant. They are pretty well known for great food, and they have a coupon in the VEGNEWS magazine.
As for the cheeeeesseee...I am looking for a specific brand of cheese that is better than the rest. Is Daiya a type of cheese or brand? I have heard a lot about this. I am really worried about this because one of my students made nachos at school and used some type of ricemilk cheese, and the classroom ended up smelling like rancid gym socks....
Many thanks!
M
I have had teese and follow your heart cheese. Teese is my favorite, but I would love to try daiya.
welcome!
i think follow your heart is yummy, but not like "omg! tastes like cheese!"... i have had it on pizza tasting really good (like at pizza fusion). teese tastes exactly the same as follow your heart flavor and texture-wise, to me, but has a slightly lower melting temp. i haven't tried daiya... i really wanted to before i went raw, but oh well.
daiya is a brand and you can check out some places that you can order it or buy it here: http://www.daiyafoods.com/where.html
if money isn't an issue you can order it online, too.
Money is always an issue when it come to Vegan eats hahahah
Thanks so much for the advice, you have been more than helpful :)
http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CHEEZ
Cheezly is really popular in the UK - not sure how available it is over there....
There are a few super melting flavours such as the mozzarella listed on the link above which is great on pizza.
Daiya is great! That would be my favorite store-bought brand, but I only ordered it once as a treat, and made a bunch of cheese pizzas with it. It isn't in any stores in Minnesota yet, but if it were I would definitely buy it! I still think homemade are typically the best, but that can be time consuming and trial and error as well. The Uncheese Cookbook has good recipes in it too, forgot to mention that.
SS85, I moved off Kauai to finish grad. school in MN, and am REALLY missing it this time of year! Maui is cool too, but I'm not the biggest Oahu fan, kinda too many people for me. I haven't ever been to Big Island, but would like to go there sometime too.
Good luck on the uncheese search, I LOVED cheese and never thought I could get off the stuff, but did cold turkey 2 years ago. I know I'll never go back, (although the smell of cheese pizza is always a tad alluring!)
Hi!! Welcome to VegWeb!
I've had cheeseless pizza and it's not as bad as you might think....just make sure you have plenty of pizza sauce and lots of veggies. I've also used Follow Your Heart and it's good but only if used in moderation.
For me once I started trying a variety of different vegan foods I found I don't even miss cheese. I love cheese, it's one of my favorite foods, but I think abou the animals and I'm fine without it. For me it's just one of those "too bad, too sad you gotta deal..." situations.
For the most part vegan cheeses suck.
Welcome fellow cheese lover! I so relate to cheese withdrawals.
Here's what I've found. Daiya is way expensive on line. But!..... (drum roll...) you can now find it at Whole Foods Markets in smaller quantities and without massive shipping charges. The Whole Foods near my house carries both flavors. I asked about it at another Whole Foods near my work, and while they didn't carry it, they checked, and called me back a week later. They now carry it. Ta-da! Find yourself a Whole Foods and ask. They'll get it in and let you know. It's about $2.50 - $3.00 for a small container here in So Cal area. Worth the price in my mind to keep the withdrawals at bay. oh... and it makes a freakin awesome grilled cheese sammich!
Also, ZPizza has a vegan pizza that has Daiya cheese and soy crumbles. DELICIOUS! So if you have a ZPizza anywheres up there, you have to check out the Berkley Pizza.
http://www.zpizza.com/food
Good luck!
Suzy
Welcome to VW! I don't have tons to add except that I LOVE DAIYA and I think, besides mailorder, the closest to SC it is, would be at Rainbow Grocery in SF. If you're in SF, stop by and pick up a tub! Another great alternative for pizza is to get an Amy's Cheeseless pizza and put the Morningstar riblets on top and then bake! It's DELICIOUS...you won't believe it! It tastest like BBQ chicken pizza!!
Anyway, please enjoy VegWeb and let me know if you ever have any questions, comments, concerns, accolades (we like those!), etc :)