[KKmama]

I feel kind of pathetic asking this... I am mostly and usually vegan, and I'm pregnant. Before pregnancy (and during the last one), I used olive oil as the "fat" on my bread. In this pregnancy, I am finding that I just can't deal with the taste of olive oil... it is tasting way too strong for me (I'm in that difficult 1st trimester, of course). Worse yet, I'm having this *huge* margarine/butter craving (I can't really tell if it has anything to do with butter, though, because I so, so, so rarely eat butter).

So does anyone have any recs on brands of margarine that have the healthiest fat (least trans fat, best omegas)? I'm not sure where to begin, because margarine hasn't had a place in my adult life.

Suggestions on non-marg substitutes would be helpful, too (but I'm not looking for say, jam or peanut butter).

Thanks!

Kristine

 

[mama de dos]

I really do not like margarine at all, prefer the real stuff.

However, when nursing (the past 3+ years straight) , I can't do dairy.

A friend told me about Earth Balance- no trans fats, all natural, non-hydrogenated. The one in the tub is 100% vegan, though the sticks are not. (Don't know what's up with that...)

And the best part- it actually tastes GOOD! I could hardly believe it. (or is it just that I haven't had real butter in so long that anything tastes good...) In any case, I now use embarrassingly large amounts of it on my toast every morning. YUM!!

Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised!

Note that I can't find it at my 'regular' grocery store- Whole Foods does carry it, though.

 

[Trishy]

Fleischmans (sp?) makes a very good olive oil margarine. I never would have tried it but I got it free with coupons and I love it. I will never buy regular margarine again. Well, unless it is free with coupons.

 

[Curious]

I have not read other posts so I may not be up on the latest fake spreads, but will jump on my ick-margarine soap box. If it's solid it's hydrogenated oil, trans fats, bad bad bad for cells which need to incorporate healthy fats into their membranes. And don't be fooled by soy margarine: all margarine is made with soy oil. Vegetable oil is soy oil.

My suggestion is go for Ghee. You can get it organic. It's clarified butter. All the stuff that causes artery problems comes out in the clarification process. They use it in india, ethiopia, countires with much lower levels of cardiovascular diseases than our country.

And Dh, from a butter loving family, says it's as good as butter.

Listen to your body and if it says eat saturated fat, go ahead. You may find that in satisfying the craving, you get over it quickly.

Other oils that are tasty to consider would include sesame oil and toasted sesame oil. But they will not address the saturated fat craving you seem to be experiencing. You could look at all the other nut butters (tahini, almond - roasted and raw) but I think that if you are craving butter, they may not do the trick.

Edited to add recipe for rich tasting tofu spread: Use a hand blender or food processor and mix package soft tofu, 1/3 cup tahini, and 1/3 cup sweet white miso. Bake in a flat pan 25 minutes at 350. Use hot or store in refrigerator. Popular in this house eaten as "tofu pie" or as a spread.

 

[mama2annabelle]

About Earth Balance...
This is what I use and it really is a great replacement for butter as far as taste and uses. But I'm wondering how it is solidified since it's not hydrogenated. Does any one here know how it's done?

 

[luv my 2 sweeties]

I'll put in a plug for Soy Garden. It has some saturated fat (not as much as butter) and no trans fats. I'm pretty sure it is vegan, but check the lable to be certain. As for the taste, I grew up on margarine and I *love* the taste of Soy Garden.

It tastes like margarine, lol! I know some of you are grossed out by this, but hey -- it's comfort food to me!

It's healthier than butter anyway, unless you are alergic to soy.

 

[KKmama]

Uh, Curious, maybe it's just my super-sensitive pregnant feelings, but I did *not* need a lecture. I also didn't say that I was craving saturated fat... what I am craving is a fat that has a milder flavor than olive oil (I realize I could have made that more clear). From my label reading in the store, not all margarine is made with soy oil... And ghee still has a lot of saturated fat, and what little I've read about it, it's not much healthier than butter (if not *less* healthy because of changes that can happen to the cholesterol with heating). I make a miso spread that I usually like to eat on toast, but I can't stand the taste of miso, now, either.

I really hope all of this goes away soon, because it's not fun at all.

I bought the Spectrum spread in the tub... I got the vegan, omega-3 stuff. It has no saturated or trans fat... it looks like it uses vegetable gums to thicken/solidify it (might be that Earth Balance does the same... I didn't look at that one as closely, because I was attracted to the o-3). But when I got it home, it had almost completely liquified! I stuck it in the freezer, we'll see how it turns out. My first taste of the stuff, I was not that impressed--the taste is okay, but I think the veg. gum is leaving a weird taste/coating on my tongue... it might be better when it's firmer. If it's still gross and/or too soft, I'll take it back to the store and get the Earth Balance.

I'm super, super healthy and fit and have very low cholesterol... my main concern about this is that I could wind up switching my whole family to a less healthy bread fat (dh is a little weaker than me), and I really don't want to do that.

Thanks for all the comments. I'll work through all the suggestions according to my taste buds...

Kristine

 

[SandyBeachBums]

Well we love Earth Balance and it doesn't melt like the spectrum stuff. It will soften up if left on the counter for awhile to spread better. I think it stays hard from Palm oil....I think that's what is in it...can't remember of hand. It's awesome for baking cookies and stuff. The taste is really good and never tastes stale. If you have a Trader Joe's it's only 1.99 for a tub and I think that's awesome. Good Luck and hope you feel better. My tastes completely change each pregnancy and I never know what I'm going to like, but I like to keep close to Vegan, too.

I think How it all Vegan has a buttery spread made from Tofu in it.

Heather