Veggie/vegan meal plan ideas

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Can anyone help me put together a meal plan that is veggie/vegan based
DH is dairy intolerant and gluten intolerant so vegan for him anyway but i like cheese and dairy still even though im weaning myself of it slowly DH also doesn't like Quorn so the only substitutes I've come up with are chopped up mushrooms as a "mince" base with some veggies mixed in to make a Bolognese type thing and lentil casseroles and soups.
We're on a tight budget of about £25 a week for both of us including packed lunches so anything that's cheap and filling would be amazing

As you've mentioned being on a budget, Jack Monroe's blog has some great budget vegan (and non-vegan) recipes cookingonabootstrap.com/category/vegan-recipes/

We don't eat meat, eat very little cheese and I can't stand quorn/meat substitutes so some of our meals might suit.

Veggie fajitas - Stir fry onion, garlic, peppers, carrots, red kidney beans. green beans (or similar veg) with chopped tomatoes, paprika, cumin and (optional) chilli. Add fresh coriander at end. Serve in wraps with guacamole, side salad and (optional) cheese and sour cream.

Roast veg (potatoes, courgette, peppers etc) with garlic, cherry tomatoes and chick peas. Stir through fresh basil at end. You can add optional feta.

Veggie chili - basically similar to fajita filling but chopped smaller! Serve with giant couscous or rice.

Veggie curry - any veg you want to use up with added chick peas and tinned tomoatoes. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, chili, coriander. Serve with chappatis or rice.

Seconding Avocados - Jack Monroe's blog is brilliant and there's loads of vegan recipes and ones that can easily be adapted to be vegan.

We're vegetarian but eat a lot of vegan meals anyway. Anything that's got lentils, or beans in are going to be cheap and nutritious.

Last night we had thai roasted cauliflower.

1 cauliflower, broken into florets
Toss it with some oil, salt and pepper then roast at 180 for about 35minutes.

1/2 cup coconut milk
2tspns thai red curry paste.
Just before the cauliflower is ready. Put these into a wee pan and heat together, stirring to melt in the paste. Simmer for a couple of minutes.

When the cauliflower is ready, pour over the coconut milk and toss together. Serve with a spoonful of flaked almonds sprinkled over the top with your carb of choice.

Try the Parsleysoup website. There are a lot o lovely vegan recipes on there.

Jack Monroe has a new book out too. Don't know if there's many vegan / veggie recipes in there tho.

I made a lovely veggie lasagne filling the other day using these instead of mince. I fried diced onion, carrot and crushed garlic until softening. Added diced red pepper and quartered mushrooms. Added herbs and a good slug of red wine. Added passata and a bit of paprika and cooked for ages, until the carrots were really soft. Added a pinch of sugar and the lentils. I only buy the lentils when on offer!

Veggie chilli is fine with just lots of beans and vege and no mince.

Curries always go down well here, Indian style or Thai style (just check that your paste doesn't have fish in, if buying a ready made Thai one). This one is lovely and suitable for vegans.

A pie maybe? Could you use vegan milk to make a white sauce, and roast a load of carrots, onions, potatoes etc? Fold into the white sauce and give it a pastry top, or leave out the potatoes and give it a mash topping?

@KlutzyDraconequus she’s vegan now so the vast majority of her recipes are vegan. The only non-vegan recipes in her new book are ones she started working on before she become vegan

My favourite vegan/gluten free blog is

www.livingdeadcakes.co.uk

I use it for lots of my meal plans, I live for the cottage pie jacket potato’s 😋

Challenge 22+ on Facebook. You end up part of an amazing supportive group who swap recipes and ideas with support from dieticians for tricky questions.

Red Dragon pie with adzuki beans (I top with mash made with dairy free spread and no milk) ethicalchef.co.uk/recipe/red-dragon-pie/

I am thinking of becoming vegan. When you give up meat/ cheese eggs and dairy does your body crave the loss of them food groups? And how long does it take to not get cravings?

Any books off amazon worth getting?

the bosh! cookbook has some nice vegan recipes in, not all gluten free although you can adapt (I made a gluten free version of the raspberry and dark chocolate brownies and it dropped to bits but tasted fine)

tinned jackfruit isn't hugely expensive and is good in tacos, you can do vegan/veggie kebabs with peppers, mushrooms, aubergine, onions and some halloumi for you if you fancy, dh can have rice instead of a flatbread with his

gram flour is your friend, I make vegan gf 'omelettes' with it, just mix a bit with water (and/or plant milk if you feel fancy) until it's roughly beaten egg consistency, season, fry in a pan like an omelette, have with salad, falafels or whatever

lidl and Aldi often have a lot of gf vegan stuff in that is reasonably priced, I am slightly obsessed with lidl's sweet potato pakoras, they also have a lot of 'superfood' type stuff in cheap like coconut flour, spirulina etc

vegan chilli, make a double pot, keep some back for dh to have on a jacket spud later in the week while you have cheese of whatever on yours

there's other shortcuts you can do when someone is on a diet where you have to cook from scratch a lot: buy frozen chopped garlic (or peel and chop a massive load in food processor and freeze yourself), same with chillis; chickpeas and other pulses are cheaper if you buy the dry ones but they need all the boiling and soaking, so again, I will do a big batch from time to time and freeze in similar portions to tins; slow cookers can be good for things like stews and curries - it's all just planning and trying to create a store cupboard/freezer set up where it's not that hard to whip something up even when you really cba.

nutritional yeast, garlic powder and onion granules are my holy trinity, I stick them in stuff to make it tastier

We try to eat some vegan meals during the week. Things like

Pasta or spaghetti with a veg sauce. Waitrose do good brown rice pasta.
Veg, lentil or chickpea curries with rice or baked potatoes.
Mushroom and leek risotto (without any cheese)
Tofu and veg stir fry with rice noodles or rice.
Ratatouille
Chips.

"I am thinking of becoming vegan. When you give up meat/ cheese eggs and dairy does your body crave the loss of them food groups? And how long does it take to not get cravings?"

I can't speak for other people but I don't miss them at all really, and I have a lot more energy/less bloating I would say

one tip I had that I thought was really good is don't go at it cold turkey (ha) all at once, drop one (or a few) thing/s at a time. Avoid fake cheese for a bit because I am not gonna lie, it is disappointing (and fucking expensive) compared to the real thing, so accustom yourself to a world without cheese for a bit first then the replacement stuff will come as an interesting addition rather than a horrible let down

if you do fall off the wagon, don't let it be something you beat yourself up about, just keep on trucking

most people benefit from more plant based stuff in their diet, so any meal/day/week you do that in is a win

MissV - what have you liked from the Bosh book? I've got it, but haven't made anything from it yet. I fancy the sticky mushroom thing and the sesame tofu thing.

The one thing I know I will miss is cheese, I love the stuff. I just got to 49 and I think I can't stand the thought that I am eating a once living thing and I am seeing a lot in the press of the suffering of dairy and so called free range animals. I seem to get a knot in my gut when I think about it. I have 6 children but don't intend on stopping the things they love but maybe sub here and there. I just know the cheese thing is going to be hard. I have a both a girl called Jack and her second book, I as Lao subscribe to her blog. I have the new book in my watch list and also bosh so off the buy I think. Do any one think mixed bean salad in a can is good for a protein substitute? I have some in larder from Asda.

Hi Remus,

the guacaroni was a quick summer tea lifesaver, as was the quick puttanesca/caponata pastas. jackfruit tacos were good, I'd never cooked with jackfruit before. the 'ultimate chilli' is Not Lying, that's fucking amazing, and the raspberry PBJ brownies omg. the creamy Mac and greens is good, and the 'cheese' sauce for it is a really good one to adapt and use for other things. I adapted it to be gf by using cornflower, I didn't even think it needed the vegan cheese, it was 'cheesy' enough without.

I agree with you about the sticky mushrooms, I fancy them a lot, and the creamy seaside pie too.

Thanks MissV.

The brownies do look incredible. I have a couple of finely honed chilli recipes of my own, and not convinced anybody else's could be better! I think my biggest problem with the book is, like so many veggie cookbooks, they rely on tinned tomatoes too much (ugh!).

Never used/tasted jackfruit and I see Sainsbo's are now stocking it, so might give the tacos a try.

you'll not regret the jackfruit thing! if you have an asian/continental grocer near you, it might find it cheaper in there, btw, lots of stuff is: coconut oil, coconut milk, gram flour, spices, pulses etc.

I am thinking of becoming vegan. When you give up meat/ cheese eggs and dairy does your body crave the loss of them food groups? And how long does it take to not get cravings?

I was a vegetarian for 35 years before becoming a vegan. I never had any meat cravings because I don't like the thought of meat. There are ways of cooking tofu that can make it seam a bit like chewing meat. Tofu is a very good replacement for lots of meat dishes.

I have only been vegan for a short time. I miss cheese a bit. Violife cheese is the best I've had so far, its the smell and texture of Edam. A lot of other vegan cheeses are horrible. I don't miss milk, oat milk is the best replacement I've found, very good in tea and coffee. Almond milk is also good, I don't like soya milk. I don't miss cake as I've had lots of really nice vegan cakes lately. I slightly miss egg but not enough to start eating it again. I've also noticed an increase in energy and feeling more positive. Some vegan food is amazing.

Good point - we do have some Asian shops, so I'll have a look.

Supermarkets are doing a lot of vegan lately but I don't understand why do they cost so much more when veg is cheaper than meat? I think as I can cook,I will be doing a few recipes and use my senses out. I also typed in vegan when doing my shop, it surprising how many products are actually vegan

'accidentally vegan' is a good fb page to follow, there are also a few vegan and gluten free vegan groups

once you get into the mindset of what you can buy, it gets cheaper and easier to meal plan and cook vegan all the time, adapting things you already make. watch out for things that sound like they should be vegan but aren't - a lot of supermarket ready made guacamole isn't vegan, for instance