I agree that it can be kind of intimidating switching from the Standard American Diet (SAD) over to a Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) way of eating. But after eating, cooking, and living like this now for several years, I can tell you that it does become easier! You will learn how to take any of your old favorite recipes, and adapt them to become compliant. So today is devoted to suggestions for substitutions! There are so many alternatives to choose from, and it depends on what you are cooking. Say it is a sweet baked item and you need 1 egg; choose the flax meal egg, not the tomato paste. Say you need a cream for a savory dish, use pureed potato, cashews or beans, not coconut milk. So here are just a few. Enjoy experimenting!
1 egg- 1 T flax Meal + 3 T water or 1 T chia seed + 3 T water, 1/4 c silken tofu blended, 1/2 mashed banana, 1/4 c cooked oats, 1/4 c applesauce or pureed fruit, 3 T breadcrumbs, 2 T arrowroot, 3 T tomato paste, 1/4 c mashed potato, 1/2 c soy or rice yogurt
1/3 c oil- 1 banana, 1/3 c applesauce, 1 c flax meal, 1 avocado, 1/3 c plant milk
white flour- any whole grain flour (spelt, soft wheat, oat, barley...), bean/lentil flour
dairy milk- any nut or seed milk (almond, soy, flax, hemp, cashew..)
white sugar- date sugar, erythritol, coconut sugar, banana, molasses, pure maple syrup
creams- nut milks, coconut milk, pureed garbanzo beans, pureed tofu, pureed cashews, soy creamer, mashed potatoes
parmesan cheese-mixture of nutritional yeast, garlic powder, chopped nuts, chopped sunflower seeds (lots of recipes online)
queso-pureed soaked cashews blended with cooked onions, carrots, potatoes, nutritional yeast, spices (lots of recipes out there)
ricotta cheese- firm tofu, drained, pressed and then gently crumbled