Anyone thinking of doing Veganuary?

[DuggeesWooOOooggle]

Have thought about it the last few years but chickened out for various reasons (tea or coffee without proper milk being one!)

Now feel I ought to give it a go. We eat plenty of plant based meals as it is but hopefully doing it will widen the repertoire and help me reduce dairy intake by making me rely on alternatives for a month. Going without meat won't be too hard but cheese definitely!

However we are moving house mid month and I think I am pregnant (the test was very very faint so waiting til tomorrow to do another) so if I don't last the distance I won't beat myself up too much. Have a DH and 3 year old DS who won't be joining in.

Anyone else?

Yes me! I'm going to do it but will start on Saturday 5th Jan as I have so much non-vegan food in that I don't want to waste. Will continue until 5 Feb at least though.

I am veggie already but live off cheese so it will be difficult. I'm also doing intermittent fasting so need to find some easy low cal options too. I usually have ready meals or shop bought soups on fast days so am hoping to find some suitable vegan ones. I know Amy's kitchen do some.

For milk I already know I like Oatly barista. @DuggeesWooOOooggle have you tried it? It's really good and the closest thing to real milk I've found. Apparently there are shortages though as Oatly is struggling to keep up with demand.

I was going to do Vegebuary and do it in Feb rather than Jan as it's a shorter month and I could plan better for it but then I got seized by the 'no time like the present' thing. Plus I have a few social things in Feb so didn't want to have to be worrying about that.

I have some Oatly whole milk which I have put in my coffee this morning and it hasn't split, yay! It's quite thick though, might try the semi skimmed next time. I used to use almond milk a lot more in my pre DS health-obssessed days but that was never good in hot drinks.

I also have some tinned jackfruit to try vegan 'pulled pork'. Looking forward to it!

Oh jackfruit pulled pork sounds great!

I'm sure it doesn't matter when we start. I may stick with it after a month or may not depending on how it goes...

Vegan milk technology has come on a lot in recent years, hasn't it? 😋

Hopefully others will be along soon who want to join in...

I am doing it. My youngest son has dairy and egg allergies so I've already recently had to give up those so it's really only the meat.
Dh is joining me.
Two eldest ds's 7&8 will join in at home but will eat their normal school meals.
Ds3 is only 4 so he's just going to go veggie because I'm not comfortable with him being vegan at his age.

I really recommend Huel (it’s vegan) and I have it for breakfast every day. Sometimes lunch too if I’m too lazy to cook.

I’ve been vegan off and on for a while so I’m doing it.

I’m not a fan of jackfruit. It tasted of nothing to me, which was a shame because I was very excited about it!

I am , in fact I've started , I'm vege anyway so I'm hoping it won't be too hard . I love eggs but can't deal with how they treat dairy cows . 😩

I started on 1 January last year and am still vegan. I decided to extend it to a year and will probably carry on now

Well done LittleG69! What did you find the biggest challenge? How do you feel in yourself after being vegan for a year?

I did Veganuary on a total whim and the. Just kept moving the goal posts.... Now I am going to do it again and go from there 😂. I'm going to concentrate on eating whole foods for Jan as a loas of vegan crap has snuck into may diet and I shave piled back on the stone I lost easily when I started. DD wants to do it this year too but DH isn't sure

I did it last year and found it simple but lost too much weight. I'm doing it again this year and so is dh and dd. Ds is undecided.

I could do with losing a stone ShowofHands although I suspect I would be one of those people who gain rather than lose! And if I am pregnant then a bit of weight gain minimisation won't go amiss, I put on 4.5 stone last time! My last pregnancy ended in miscarriage though so will be kind to myself and go with how I am feeling.

DuggeesWooOOooggle I missed cheese because there is no good substitute. I was veggie before so it wasn’t a huge leap really. I don’t feel any healthier because chips are vegan and I still drink too much wine 😂

What is everyone planning to substitute meat with? My youngest is allergic to soy so I can't use quorn products and I hate tofu. Not sure what else to use.

Also has anybody tried vegan pasta and is it any good?

Also has anybody tried vegan pasta and is it any good?

Most dried pasta is vegan anyway. I’m just using the same stuff I always have.

I’m vegetarian already so use loads of lentils, chick peas, beans, butternut squash and other vegetables instead of meat. I’m going to miss paneer and gallium I.

halloumi

Ahh I didn't know that I thought it all had egg in 🙈

I think it’s only very posh dried pasta that has egg. Mine is from ASDA...

I think I'm going to order this vegan cheese selection...it's a little pricey but if it cures my cheese cravings it'll be worth it. www.yumbles.com/the-naturally-vegan-food-company/the-vegan-cheese-collection-gift-box.html

Huel looks interesting but very expensive and you can't buy a sample pack so have to shell out over £40 before you know whether you'll like it or not.

I'm thinking of it. I have been veggie for 7 months now with no issue or temptation to eat meat. So I reckon I can give veganism a good go. I need to find a good vegan cheese and I think I will be ok.

I did last year and have reduced my dairy consumption in general over the year a lot (I was vegetarian before). Milk was the easiest for me to give up actually, I haven't bought any cow's milk since I don't think - I love hazelnut milk with muesli/porridge etc. and the Oatly barista in hot drinks.

Not sure yet I'll fully commit to it this January but will continue choosing vegan options whenever possible and aim for that all year round.

Nutritional yeast isn't exactly a cheese substitute but it has a similar savoury, yeasty, nutty flavour - it's good over pasta sauces instead of parmesan and you can make a version of macaroni cheese using it blended with butternut squash or with blended cashews. There's lots of different recipes online.

I think upping bean intake would help with protein although plenty of vegetables contain small amounts anyway so if your veg intake goes up so does your vegetable protein.

Veggie sausages can be pretty good - the Sainsbury's shroomdogs are lovely (wasn't keen on the caramelized onion flavour though). Cauldron do good veggie ones but I don't think they are vegan.

Not tried seitan or tempeh - maybe this will be the month to give it a go?!

Do vegans eat yeast? I thought they didn't eat eukaryotes.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'Even more veg' (or something) is very good, and vegan. No unicorn tear ingredients (although come to think of it they wouldn't be vegan anyway)!

starzig interesting point re eukaryotes! I think most vegans class single-celled organisms as things you can't really avoid eating in general and so yeast is fine. Probiotoc yoghurts too

What's a eukaryote?! I thought nutritional yeast was a vegan staple? That would also mean no fermented foods and I'm fairly sure plenty of beers and wines are vegan, as is sauerkraut, kimchee etc.