vegan cheese: Hi everybody! I am a vegetarian at the moment trying to make the transfer to vegan. Ive just this second tried soya milk for the first time and was pleasantly suprised! What is the difference between sweetened and unsweetened? Is there anything I should know when using soya milk? I currently get my eggs from a family friend who treats her chickens very well and won't be going to slaughter. But my next big milestone is cheese..... I LOVE cheese! Is there a vegan cheese? Thanks everyone!|||Redwood's Cheezly is probably the best - there are several different kinds, including melting ones. They're available at Holland & Barrett, in many health food shops, and in some supermarkets (Tesco and Waitrose), though supermarkets usually only sell Cheddar. This is their whole range: http://www.redwoodfoods.co.uk/products/c鈥?/a> You can also get Toffuti cheese slices. Tofutti's Better than Cream Cheese is wonderful. These are also sold in H&B. Some Supermarkets now sell Pure - slices and a cream cheese; personally I find these next to inedible|||I'd use sweetened soya milk for cereal or drinking. I'd use unsweetened in cooking or in tea/coffee. Soy milk can curdle if you put it in coffee. There are ways you can get around this, such as heating the milk or steaming it. There are vegan cheeses, but I'm not a big fan, personally. If you live in the US there's Daiya cheese I've heard good things about. In the UK there's Pure (slices and spreadable), Sheeze and Cheezly. I don't know if you intend to give up eggs or not, but eggs are not vegan no matter where you get them from. You should know that there is always cruelty in the equation - wherever your friend gets her chicks from, the males with still be killed.|||This is so exciting because now I can finally offer a great alternative to new vegans: Daiya cheese! It is sold at Whole Foods now, and it is excellent (especially when melted). Check it out: http://www.daiyafoods.com/products/index鈥?/a> If you can't find it, Follow Your Heart cheese is decent when melted, but not great. About non-dairy milks: - Try almond and hemp milks. They don't have the same aftertaste as soya milk does. - Unsweetened v. sweetened is purely a taste preference. Also, for cooking, use unsweetened. - One thing to be cautious about soya milk is the soy content -- soy is good only in moderation. So, if you have tofu or tempeh for dinner, try some almond milk instead. here's a link about soy: http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxificati鈥?/a> http://www.healthyfellow.com/218/the-tru鈥?/a>|||congrats on trying to go vegan! there are ton of vegan cheeses some better than others. Daiya which is usually found in packages near pizza sections is the best i have found, you can also order it in bulk online, just google it. I tried the rice dream vegan cheese and it was horrible so don't waste your money on that! Also, Amy's frozen meals has a vegan mac and cheese which is yummy and i usually add some greens (basil, parsley, cilantro, spinach) to give it more color and nutritional value. As milk goes there is also almond milk which is a little lighter on the calories, rice milk, and coconut milk which is heavier on calories but great for curry dishes and smoothies, so experiment with them all! For some great vegan advice look at Alicia Silverstone's book "The kind diet" and her blog thekindlife.com for some great advice, recipes, and support for vegans! Peta's website also has some yummy recipes to try.|||Sweetened is usually used for drinking, putting on cereals, etc. Unsweetened is usually used in baking/cooking. Ahh, cheese, I can relate. I had the hardest time giving it up, heh. Yeah, there are plenty of vegan cheeses...everyone has different preferences. Personally, I dislike most...but whenever I'm having a major cheese craving, I like to make some nutritional yeast queso. Good stuff. As for vegan cheese brands though...I like Teese, Daiya, and Follow Your Heart the best. Parma Raw also has a really good vegan Parmesan topping. I've heard good things about "the Uncheese Cookbook" so maybe you could check that out. Good luck :)|||wikipedia,the free online encyclopedia has information on dairy and non-dairy cheeses at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_anal鈥?/a> on alternatives to dairy mlik at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_milk and on soy milk at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_milk for information on the health food stores,the vegetarian and vegan restaurants in and around the area that you live as well as recipes plus additional resources go to happy cow at http://www.happycow.net veg web has recipes plus additional resources at http://www.vegweb.com vegan world order has recipes,information on the vegetarian restaurants and vegan restaurants in and around the area where you live plus other resources at http://www.veganworldorder.com search the internet,one phrase a searc,with phrases such as: "vegan cereal", "vegan cereals", "vegan smoothie recipe", "vegan smoothie recipes" and "vegan ice cream".good luck.|||I had the same issue-I wasn't going vegan but I was trying to find a healthier but tasty cheese alternative. Finally I found "The Uncheese Cookbook" on Amazon. It's a little bit of work but worth it to me. Commercial vegan cheese is terrible, but many of the recipes in this book are quite good. Don't expect it to taste exactly like dairy cheese, though.|||I've never drank "soya" milk so I don't have any information on that. But as far as vegan cheese, yes there is! There's a couple of different kinds you can try too. Most are sold at health food places though. I just recently went to my local henrys and got them to make me VEGAN pizza and nearly died it was so good. Anyway you can try their rice, soy or regular vegan.. The rice vegan melts better. I tried to melt the regular vegan cheese and burnt the bread. : ||||i use sweetened soy for coffee most brands can curdle but a tip with some is stir the coffee into the milk then add the water. i use rice milk for cooking sweet things and rice and oat milk for pancakes or water depending. i havnt ate eggs for 15 - 20 years and i did think i loved cheese till i cut it out and i really havnt missed it. gl|||There are loads of vegan cheeses but I haven't found one yet that actually tastes anything like cheese, except for some of the soft cheeses. I like Pure soft. I found the best soya milk is Soya Life - no difference on cereal. Good Luck with going vegan.|||Almond cheese is supposed to be really good - we have a friend who LOVES it, and she's not even vegan/vegetarian. Soy cheese (depends on what brand)|||Sweetened soy milk is drinkable by itself and good on cereals and in tea, where as unsweetened is not very nice on its own. I think it's more for baking maybe? I use sweetened for everything, even baking and it seems to work fine. Other "milks" to try besides soy are Rice or Almond milk, which depending on the brand can be very tasty as well. If you DO decide to not eat eggs, there is this powder (you can find at most health food type stores) called "egg replacer" that works well in baking. Cheese was also the hardest for me. There are quite a few brands of soy cheese... some are gross and some are quite good, so you just have to shop around. Watch out though, as some soy cheese has "casein" in it (which is an animal product). there is no soy cheese that tastes quite like real cheese... but I found that after awhile of not eating real cheese that my cravings for it went away. It's getting easier to find vegan stuff, so once you start looking you'll see there is even such things as vegan cream cheese, sour cream, yougart, and more! Oh a good informative book to read is "Skinny *****" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Those same authors also have a cook book called "Skinny ***** in the Kitch" which is totally vegan, has easy healthy recipes, and also yummy deserts, as well as tips on vegan replacements for "regular" foods and ingredients. I highly recommend it! Good luck!