1. Attitude
2. Avoid substitutes for favorites at first
3. Try new foods
4. Be persistant--try other varieties
5. Choose quality food
6. Try them when you are hungry
7. Taste can be developed
8. Avoid disallusionment

Perhaps you have tried to give up chocolate and someone told you that Carob tastes just like chocolate. So you bought a carob candy bar and you found it to be not at all like chocolate. This is a disheartening experiance and can cause us to give up on our desire to reform our eating habits. We want to help you make the transition with as little disillusionment as possible. There are ways of making changes without discouragement. No secret pills or majic potion that you have to send off for. We are not going to ask you to send us any money for these secrets. Here they are for you to try.

1. Attitude is the most important aspect of the whole thing. Take an adventurous attitude. You are going to try new foods that you have never tried before. How many of us have been to a restraunt where the food was of another culture? Many of us have. If you have traveled to other countries you probably ate foods there that are not the down home cooking you had at home. If you approach becoming vegan with the same perspective you will find it much easier to adjust your taste. Don't be afraid to invent or experimant with new foods. The more you keep your mind occupied on new fruits or vegetables the less you will feel deprived of the foods you used to eat. If you sit and dwell on what you can't have or what you want to give up you will only make yourself unhappy. But if you test and try new things on a regular basis you will find enough to keep your mind occupied. There is much more variety available to the vegan then most people realize. It doesn't have to be salads all the time unless that is what you want it to be.

2. We have found it helpful NOT to try to substitute a vegan version for something we have always loved. If you are a macaroni and cheese person don't go right out the first week and get a box of whole grain vegan macaroni and cheese. If you are a dairy milk lover don't expect to drink down a big glass of soymilk and enjoy it. Our taste buds are capable of forgetting what the old favorites tasted like and if you give yourself about a couple of months or more of eating other things when you do try those substitutes they will taste better than if you used them right away.

3. While you are waiting for your taste buds to forget your favorites it is important to try totally new things. If you have never had lentils before this is the time to try them. If you have never had aparagus this is when you should try it. Spend that time experimenting. 

4. If you find that you don't like something it might not be the fault of the main ingrediant but something else. If for example you try a vegetable and it tastes bad it may be an herb used in the recipe that may not be to your likeing and not the vegetable itself. It may be best to try the vegetable in its raw form first to get an idea of how it tastes. You may find that it actually tastes best raw or you may have an idea for seasoning it that no one else has thought of. Also be willing to try different varieties of a fruit or vegetable. If you don't like plums you may enjoy a fresh prune plum or if you can find them an El Dorado plum. These both are exellent examples of mild plums that are available. Not all plums are the same and the same is true for many fruits and vegetables. Sweet Potatoes are another example of this. There are some that are very sweet and others that are very plain and not so sweet. Keep track of the kind you don't like but try another variety the next time.

5. Fresh and ripe is always best when trying something new. Fruits and vegetables tastes best fresh rather than canned. They are also more nutritious. If you are in doubt about how to pick a good one ask the grocer or ask a friend that knows about it.. If you need more help write us and  we will see if we can help. Some stores, like Whole Food Market have a book in the produce department that can help with selection. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

6.  When trying something new try it when you are very hungry rather than taste it on a full stomach. If you still don't like it promise yourself that you will try it again later and then after a few weeks try it again if possible in a different form. If you tried it fried try it baked or steamed or some other way. Tastes really can and do change. And what you didn't like in one recipe may be good in another recipe.

7. It was once said by a doctor missionary that "we like what we eat not that we eat what we like". To illustrate his point he told how as a missionary he traveled to a country where okra and eggplant were the main vegetables. He had always hated them in the past but because he had nothing else to eat he ate them. By the time he left that country he found that he actually liked eggplant and okra. He liked what he ate. He then asked his listeners why Indians like Indian food and why do Italians like Italian food. It is because they eat it. That is why we like the food that  mom cooks---we eat it all the time. The same is true of foods we feel that we need to be eating. If we eat them we can learn to like them.  

8. Don't expect something to taste "just like" something you love. Instead view it as a totally new food. So many times I have been disappointed in a food because people have led me to believe that it tastes just like something else that I enjoy. A type of squash was promoted as tasting just like sweet potatoes that didn't taste like them at all. Carob was said to taste just like Chocolate and in both cases I was very disappointed in the food. But I now accept new foods as just that---new. By doing that I don't set myself up for disappointment and have an attitude of acceptance of the new taste.