Andy wrote:

> Do all the vegan dishes have to be made from scratch or could you use
> things like bags of meatless meatballs, etc.?

Oh, no, prepared foods are fine, if that floats your boat. And lots of
junk foods are vegan (potato chips, etc.), but they're not my go-to food
even on a normal day.

>
> I'd make plenty of pasta in tomato paste and artichoke bottom bits, etc.,
> etc.

Yeah. Pasta is big. Soups, too, and burritos, and stir-fries. My family
is used to having meatless versions of "normal" foods; we don't do a lot
of fake meats and stuff around here, though we do some.

>
> I would do OK with real or substitute cauliflower (faux) mashed potatoes,
> as long as butter wasn't taboo.

Butter's not vegan, but we get by with Earth Balance and olive oil.

> I'm not vegan and some of those that I've met who are look not so
> healthy. There are certain vitamins and minerals and proteins you just
> can't get from eating only veggies.

Only Vitamin B-12, and I have to get that injected anyway, because my
body (even when I'm eating meat) doesn't synthesize it properly.

Everything else is perfectly available to vegans, and B-12 is stored in
the body, so unless you've been totally vegan for 10 years, you won't
run out.

Serene

--
"I tend to come down on the side of autonomy. Once people are grown up,
I believe they have the right to go to hell in the handbasket of their
choosing." -- Pat Kight, on alt.polyamory