thanx, great advice, I just found this recipes on vegweb .com, they have great vegan recipes and though I am not vegan I think the food would be a great transitioning start. Opinions on this soup??

Hearty and Spicy Veggie Soup

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 large onion, chopped
garlic powder
red pepper flakes
4 Celery stocks
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup of fresh asparagus, chopped
1 cup of fresh or frozen corn
2 cups of broccoli, chopped
2 cups of cauliflower-chopped
2 [14.0z] cans of nosalt stewed tomatoes
2 [14.oz] cans of nosalt tomato sauce
1 [14.oz] can of low or nosalt V-8 joice
3 to 4 cans of water and
2 rounded tablespoon low salt beef flavored [veggie] broth

I will minus the beef flavored broth and add dried veggies.