Does anyone fancy doing Veganuary with me?

[IfyouseeRitaMoreno]

I’ve read “How not to die” the apparent vegan bible.

I’ve ordered a bunch of fruit and veggie boxes for the new year

I’ve armed myself with nut butters, pumpkin seeds and coconut milk.

I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the evils of intensive meat farming both for the animals and the environment.

I’ve bookmarked dozens of vegan recipes.

I’m ready.

I just need a few mumsnetters to keep me company so we can spur each other on.

Anyone care to join me?

Waitrose do a really tasty and healthy macaroni cheese and greens ready meal

Best vegan ready meal I've had. It's macaroni cheese (not really cheesy, but a very decent white sauce) with 'greens' - kale I think.

Been thinking about doing this for a while and I’ve signed up on the Veganuary site. Going to try and mainly eat the VEG in vegan and avoid too many meat/dairy substitutes

I agree PurpleDaisies why not just cut certain foods from your diet rather than replacing with processed crap. I blame the supermarkets for jumping on the trend wagon. Just eat normal food.

There sometimes seems to be a shortage of Oatley barista, Alpro do an oat milk which is good too and seems more readily available

Why not just eat less meat and more plants and make a sustainable long term change?

Dry January / vegan January, it’s all bullshit for people who think a few weeks of doing something absolve their sins for the rest of the year.

It isn’t that sushi. It gives you chance to think about what things you actually miss eating, try a load of new things, and in the case of dry January, help you to evaluate whether you’ve got a healthy relationship alcohol. Lots of people go back to eating non vegan but with much less meat or dairy.

No way. My Son in-law and grandchildren have to eat vegan every March as part of their religion. They are always miserable for the entire month. Good luck to you but please stay far away form me until you either quit or the mood swings pass.

Mood swings? Not heard that one before. Maybe it’s because it is imposed on them rather than them making a conscious choice to do it.

Hormone imbalance and mood changes are quite common when first transitioning to a vegan diet, it balances out eventually though.

I'm in. I was vegan before I had kids and have been feeling increasingly guilty about it.

I piled wait on going vegetarian years ago
I admit I relied on too many carbs

Weight

Hot chocolate- dark chocolate almond milk heated up. You are welcome

Water, Sugar, Almond (2%), Fat-Reduced Cocoa (1.5%), Maltodextrin, Calcium (Tri-Calcium Phosphate), Sea Salt, Stabilisers (Locust Bean Gum, Gellan Gum), Natural Flavouring, Emulsifier (SunflowerLecithin), Vitamins (Riboflavin (B2), B12, E, D2)

Delicious

www.livingdeadcakes.co.uk
www.facebook.com/LivingDeadCakesOfficial/

Living Dead Cakes are my favourite blog, easy simple recipes that don’t use hard to find “fancy” ingredients, the brownies are freaking yummy

Good luck XX

How much meat and dairy do you currently consume? Unless you’re hugely meat- and cheese-reliant then it shouldn’t be too difficult: stews, soups, curries and pasta dishes etc are quite easily turned vegan. I actually find visiting cafes like Pret quite useful for vegan ideas - their vegan salads and sandwich fillings are really creative and many can give you inspiration for a dinner recipe based on their ingredients.

(But £40 a week for a vegan grocery shop? Whoever claimed that, unless you are literally subsisting on lentils, beans and the most basic fruit and veg (which isn't going to give you a balanced or healthy diet), I really can't see how you are feeding a family three decent meals a day with adequate plant-based protein for basically a fiver per day.)

I’m not vegan, btw - I just find that I can quite easily go for days without meat or dairy just by having a varied diet anyway.

@ComtesseDeSpair That would be me and yup, it's true.

We get our five a day, use chickpeas, lentils and tofu for our protein levels (tracked, as I'm pregnant) and go to bed with full tummies.

Clever shopping isn't hard. Chopped toms at 4 for £1 etc. We have porridge for breakfast with fruits and nuts in, lunches tend to be sandwiches (bake our bread), baked potatoes, soup etc and dinner is anything we fancy.

We've been vegan for five years and are in very good health.

I don’t doubt it’s true - it just sounds miserable! Bloody hell, no wonder veganism gets bad PR.

Sorry, that sounded rude. It wasn’t intended to be, I am just bowled over by the idea of eating that way as it’s so different from my own way of eating. And as long as you’re happy and healthy that’s all that matters, I suppose 🙂

@ComtesseDeSpair doesn't sound rude at all!!

We love it, hence doing it and we have treats when we fancy, obviously. We're just not big in the meat and cheese substitutes and they are what cost ALL the dosh. And ready meals!

We both work from home, so I have lots of time to spend in the kitchen and love to cook. If we worked regular full time jobs...this would be far less enjoyable!

Speaking of treats... craving fruit crumble so off to bake!

I'm planning to do Veganuary and then see if I can keep it going for longer. I've been vegetarian (with a few fish-eating lapses) since I was 11, but despite frequently thinking about it have never been fully vegan. At the moment, most of my breakfasts and evening meals are vegan, but not always lunch or puddings. My weakness is tea and coffee, however; I've tried oat and soya milk and didn't like them. We have our own chickens, so I'll carry on eating eggs from them (although they don't lay much in the winter), but will avoid shop eggs. I'll have to check the ingredients of things like biscuits carefully to see if they are vegan.

We've got some nice vegan cheeses from Abel and Cole (the sort you have on crackers rather than for cooking) although they are very expensive.

Well yes, that’s why people do these things in January. To rebalance after the excesses of Christmas and to see if they can actually cut out stuff.

For me I do want to do veganuary for ethical reasons but I’m realistic enough to know that it’s hard so I’m going to try it for one month to see how it goes.

No one is being forced into it.

Vegetarian for 30 years.
I'd like to give it a go.

I started for a month five years ago and I couldn't ever go back now. I love the way I feel, the way I look and I enjoy every single mouthful of food I eat. There wasn't much junk food around when I started, and I had to learn to make stuff that tasted good. Don't get sucked into all the ready meals - they often have palm oil in them and if you want to reduce plastic they are grim on that front too. Great recipes on line and I second vegan cheese from Abel and Cole, so delicious, but too expensive for me so I've learnt how to do my own. Whether or not you continue with the diet, doing it for a month will benefit you and the planet if you don't succumb to the influx of crap you can now buy. Good luck.

Thanks Insanity I'm encouraged that it worked for you. I'm definitely going to try to avoid the junk food and concentrate on veggies, spices, nuts and other healthful foods!