No Nut Vegan Cheese

Before I tell you how my Vegan journey began, let me tell you about how I felt about Veganism before. I am going to be honest here. Please don't be offended.  Always I thought Vegans were extremists.  I am not a fan of being extreme.  I live my life in the grey areas.  I am aware of the grey areas.  My parents really did not have strong opinions. I sit on the fence of a lot of things, being able to see both sides. So my thoughts were, being vegan is ridiculous, we are suppose to eat meat.  That's why we have those fangs... for meat.  But that is whole nother argument that I wont get into now.

I also didn't sit on the extreme of eating only meat.  I have never been afraid of beans.  All over Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness you will see recipes for bean dishes.  We ate meat, as a family, 2-5 times per week.  Most weeks two times.  But it was heavily laden with cheese.  In our house, cheese was our best friend.  I never bought too many deli meats because I felt they were pretty loaded with bad stuff, I stuck mainly to cheese.  As if!

A couple years ago, my oldest daughter went vegetarian.  This lasted about a year and half and for the most part, she stuck with it.  It was her disgust of eating an animal that made her decide that.  I applauded her in some ways but in other ways I felt she was missing out on a lot of iron, protein, etc. Sadly, a large majority of her diets was and still is, junk food or carbs.

We had a lot of discussions about her vegetarianism.  We all agreed that we could try vegetarianism but goodness, we could NEVER go vegan.  Those people are crazy.  Crazy in a ridiculous, hippie way.  They so miss out!

It's not like we weren't sympathetic to the animals because we do promote no waste in our house.  We told our kids to not waste it.  We need to respect the animal who died for us.  We always wanted our children to be conscious eaters.  That's probably why my daughter went vegetarian. Ha!

Our beef that we ate came from a cow on a friends farm.  A pig, we bought from a local farm.  We were aware of the major animal agricultural "sins' and tried to stay away from that as mush as we could.  I banned certain food manufacturers because of how they treated animals.

For me, the way I saw it, the best meat was running and the woods.  Then... it came to our table. Really as much as I love animals I still would be okay with eating meat, albeit, a lot less of it, but okay with it.  As long as it came from a really good source, like a deer that my husband hunted.

Vegan, plant based lifestyle is mainly attractive to me because its healthy for me and healthy for the planet.  And bonus, many animals can live.  Or at least not suffer. To be sure, I say Vegan, Plant Based because you can be vegan and eat like crap.  My focus is PLANTS!

I have been promoting this whole plant thing and local long before it became popular.  I grew up on the farmers market, it was fun to me.  I got to try things like sugar cane when I was a kid.  So going vegan was actually not a big leap for me in many ways.  But I sure did not want to give up hamburgers, bacon, fish, seafood, sausages, cheese...  Couldn't even think of it.

What?  So why did I do this? What was the final tipping point?

I am a social worker and in order to keep my license current I am required to continue my education. I do this through conferences and such.  In April I was at an Eldercare Conference put on by Lifespan.  One of the speakers for the day was Dr. Chad Teeters. Dr. Chad Teeters is Chief Cardiologist in Rochester NY at Highland Hospital. His talk, called, "But No One Will Do That – The Prevention and Reversal of Cardiac Disease." Yes, I know the big guns out their are Esselstyn and Campbell.  But Chad Teeters, is local, real, previously overweight and lost.  He was the one that really convinced me.  Thank you Dr. Teeters!

Links
Buffalo News and Chad Teeters
WXXI and Chad Teeters
Veg News Magazine
Rochester Area Vegan Society Newsletter

Now onto cheesy...

Be still my beating heart.  Cheese. The thing I miss the most and shiver me timbers, I am so excited, this stuff may not be cheese, but it is delicious, nutritious, economical and easy.  Where yah goin'?

I am so so so excited.  The possibilities are endless with this cheese. You are only limited by your imagination here.  I have made three versions so far.  The first and third being my favorite!

Note.  Coconut oil gives the cheese a slight coconut flavor.  I happen to like it.  If you don't sue some other oil.

#1 Vegan Cheese (No nuts)

¾ cup carrot 

3 cups zucchini or summer squash, peeled and sliced
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, or ghee
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons gelatin or 2 teaspoons agar agar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

For agar agar, as gelatin is not vegan, mix agar agar with 1/4 cup. Heat in microwave in a deep bowl, covered with plastic wrap. Remove plastic wrap and set aside.

In a sauce pan place 1 cup of water with the prepared vegetables,  Cover and simmer until the vegetables are falling apart.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, turmeric and gelatin or mixed agar agar. Set aside.

Once your vegetables are done drain (reserve the liquid and use for something else, like a soup). Place vegetables in blender, blend thoroughly.  Add in lemon juice, blend again.  Add in dry ingredients.

Pour into a loaf pan. It will not stick. Cover and refrigerate.  

#2 Vegan Cheese (No nuts)

2 cup zucchini
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots

¾ cup water

1 tablespoon, heaping, sauer kraut

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil or whatever oil you choose

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons gelatin

1 generous tablespoon nutrition yeast flakes

In a sauce pan place 1 cup of water with the prepared vegetables,  Cover and simmer until the vegetables are falling apart.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, turmeric and gelatin or agar agar. Set aside.

Once your vegetables are done drain (reserve the liquid and use for something else, like a soup. Place vegetables in blender, blend thoroughly.  Add in lemon juice, blend again.  Add in dry ingredients.

Pour into a loaf pan. It will not stick. Cover and refrigerate.  

#3 Cashew Vegetable Cheese

1 cup cashews 
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 generous teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon white miso paste
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 cups zucchini or yellow squash, peeled and chopped
2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons gelatin (for nonvegan) or agar agar (vegan)

Cover cashews in water, let sit overnight.

In a sauce pan place 1 cup of water with the prepared vegetables,  Cover and simmer until the vegetables are falling apart.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, turmeric and gelatin or agar agar. In another small bowl combine miso and lemon juice.  Set aside.

Once your vegetables are done drain (reserve the liquid and use for something else, like a soup. Place vegetables in blender, blend thoroughly.  Add in wet ingredients, blend again.  Add in dry ingredients.

Pour into a loaf pan. It will not stick. Cover and refrigerate.  The next day the flavors are married and you can enjoy your amazingly nutritious and delicious cheese!!!!!