How to help a friend make the switch?

I mentioned this briefly on my introduction thread, but I thought I'd do so again here, in more detail....

I'm making the switch from vegetarian to vegan, and a close friend of mine is, for at least the month of Sept, going from your standard American omnivore to vegan.

I'm not concerned for myself as far as "how" to make the switch, since I've not eaten meat in 10 years and consume few non-vegan products as it is - for me it's basically taking out yogurt, honey, and ice cream, all of which are easily replaced

He however, has very little nutritional knowledge and no experience in vegetarianism beyond the time he spends with me. The goal date to officially start his vegan diet is Sept. 1, so that he has time to clear out his house and do some planning on what to eat.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to make it easiest on him! He's in Portland and I'm in Corvallis so most of the time I won't be around to help him. Did anyone else here go "cold turkey"? What helped you? What do you reccommend that is easy to prepare for someone who works full time and isn't used to watching his diet?

I'm trying to get him to also join the forum, we'll see if I succeed

Thank you all for your input!

What helps me to STAY on track is images in my head that I have seen of animal suffering, and knowledge of the daily suffering of millions of animals.

I would suggest to him to watch meet your meat if he needs some motivation to stay on track for that month. It is hard to stick a fork into an animal once you know just what that animal had to go through before it was turned into a hamburger or a chicken wing.

YOu can send him the link to watch it on his computer by emailing him the link, so that way he can watchit IF he chooses to do so whenever he feels he is "slipping". Here is the link:

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=meet_your_meat

As far as cooking goes, there are tons of vegan recipes that are easy at some site that was provided for everybody in another link. Veggymeggy, since you seem to want to switch to vegan on a long term basis, definetely get a couple of vegan cookbooks, and maybe also a book called "Becoming vegan". There are also some recipes posted on this forum too that you might want to check out.

But even a quick internet search will yield lots of vegan recipes.

Others I am sure can also jump in with their advice.

good luck with all this.

I think the easiest thing to do is find out what your friend usually eats. Most people rotate just a few dishes over and over again, especially single people. There are vegan versions available for almost everything, just help him find the vegan versions. Take him to the health food store and show him around, let him see what is available.