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?

Courgette daal recipe - without the egg, obviously! It's from a 5:2 book so is very light as the courgettes bulk it out. Mild flavour but you don't always want too strong flavour in a daal.

And the chocolate chip cookies I made - nice but use less salt!

ohsheglows.com/2012/12/05/crispy-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan-gluten-free/

Thanks DuggeesWooOOooggle, I will give those curries a try.

DH said to me tonight over dinner how easy he's finding going vegan to be. I have to agree. I've joined a couple of facebook pages that I'm finding helpful - one is Veganuary. The other is 100% Vegan Products UK (my vegan friend told me about this one).

Accidentally vegan uk is another good Facebook group

I made a nice pesto tonight in the blender with some cavolo nero leaves (kale would work too), a handful of walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, splash of oat milk and a dollop of vitalite. I heated it through in a pan to cook the cavolo nero a bit then added some roast butternut squash I had in the fridge and we had it with gnocchi. We had it with some crispy breadcrumbs made with the end slice of a loaf of bread fried with a bit of olive oil, chopped rosemary and salt.

Initially I wished I had some lovely crispy bacon to crumble over but actually it didn't need it and was just as satisfying without.

Hope you have all had a good day!

That sounds delicious @DuggeesWooOOooggle

It was 3boys but have been rather gassy since . As I have quite a lot recently with all this extra veg

I stumbled across an Instagram account tonight on my nightly hunt for more vegan gram accounts called @mancunian_vegan who seems to do nightly stories of really idiot proof vegan food. Maybe a bit basic for seasoned cooks but worth a glance for anyone stuck or wanting something easy.

Hope everyone is enjoying it!

I dont have instagram but all sounds interesting!

I am finding veganuary surprisingly easy so far (famous last words!) because there are veganuary products everywhere. I had a wicked kitchen sub sandwich from tesco for lunch today alomg with a banana and it was pretty good, yesterday part of my lunch was a greggs vegan sausage roll yesterday was nice although not remotely healthy, but maybe a tad better than a regular one, so I would choose that as a meat eater if i had a craving for greggs. I think I am doing a bit of a fast food version of veganuary Bourbon biscuits dunked in tea with oatly milk are yum though Despite not eating loads of veg I am still struggling with gassiness and needing the loo a lot more this is one of the main reasons I might probably go back to non vegan.

I am not stressing about things being 100% vegan so long as there are no obvious animal products like dairy etc.

Pluses of this so far are that I am adding olive oil to things instead of butter and naturally drinking less caffeine as drinks arent as delicious without cows milk. Finally using up some of the pukka herbal teas filling up my cupboard.

Thanks to this thread I have tried some sainsburys shroom chipolata/ hot dog things which were yum, also the oatly barrista milk which is pretty good.

I had some tofurky italian sausages for breakfast today with spinach and a slice of bread, these were spicy but the best (in terms of meaty texture) vegetarian sausages I have tried I think.

Hope all going well Dugges and everyone

I've been a massive big fat failure the last 2 days

I am absolutely stuffed full of cold, sinuses throbbing, feeling dizzy, eyeballs sore, headaches, the lot. Add a touch of early pregnancy nausea beginning to rear it's ugly head and I have felt absolutely rotten. And can't take anything strong enough to make it go away.

I had scrambled eggs with my avocado on rye toast and it was bloody lovely. I had grated cheese on my pasta bake last night and I didn't enjoy it at all. Probably because I could barely taste it.

Anyway we are moving house next week and had a shitload of eggs to use so maybe it was just as well.

Maybe I'll extend Veganuary into Vegebruary for a week or so to make up for it and my slow start. It maybe wasn't the best timing for it this year!

I have enjoyed it mostly and have felt healthier for it, so will definitely try to get back into it once I can stomach something other than toast and eggs. I'll have done Veggie January if not fully vegan.

I've had a shocking day today I've had Lidl spiced biscuits, jam on toast and a bag of skips 🙈
Will go shopping tomorrow and try eat an actual meal 😂

3boys I am glad its not just me!

Duggees not a fail - you have to listen to your body when pregnant (my body told me to eat crumpets and ignore salad so yours is saintly in comparison) also think of all the people you have inspired to do veganuary - and probably some lurkers you don't even know about so you have still done your bit.

Yes my body has also been saying 'cruuuumpets, cruuUUMPETS!' . At least the Warburton's ones are vegan. As is the Marmite I had on them. I have to say Vitalite is not a patch on proper butter though.

Anyway I am digressing. Thank you for your kind words, 3boys, I doubt I have inspired many, the real proper vegans that do it 12 months of the year are the really inspiring ones! It's good to share ideas and thoughts though with others who are just trying it out. It's unlikely I will ever be fully vegan but this month (and even dare I say it my relapse) has helped me reassess how much cheese and dairy I eat.

What is it with crumpets and pregnancy! Thing is there are masses more non vegans so if we all attempt a veganuary, find a few new foods to incorporate into our diet long term, and cut back overall, it will add up to the equivalent of loads of year long vegans {tries to calculate how many partial vegans to make a full vegan}

Hey everyone, just coming back to check in on how you're all doing and say don't worry about those slip ups!

Veganism is all about intention, not perfection. I had horrendous laryngitis before Christmas and when visiting my Grandma she made me honey and lemon and I was grateful for every drop. (Would normally use maple syrup).

I knew what I was doing, I knew it included honey, but I also knew I just needed it then.

Keep going and remember to think about what veganism is adding to your life (new products, new recipes, a great community) rather than restrictions.

Glad to hear there's already some thoughts of continuing beyond January - thats exactly what happened to me 2 years ago, just kept going!

I have done a full week and my only (planned) slip up was last night. I am also doing dry January so in place of Friday wine i ate some of my Christmas chocolate stash. 5 Lindt balls went down very nicely with my cup of tea!

I have lost almost 5lb which i am thrilled with!

All is going well here except I've been indulging in too many vegan cakes and chocolate...just doing research for my new way of eating, you see... Apart from that I'm finding it easy and am enjoying the camaraderie on the Facebook Veganuary page and also in local vegan cafes and shops.

I'm still going ok .. went out today and my ds wanted Burger King . I just had chips 🤷‍♀️... I like chips so it wasn't too bad , I too am trying to lose weight so that won't help although that's all I've eaten today and it was around 600 cals so I don't think it will hurt . I'll have dinner of around the same so will stick to my daily quota . I did have a sofa americano thought this morning come to think of it in Costa too and noted they do a vegan cookie and have dark vegan choc if anyone is interested . Lots of vege options obvs .

Yesterday's dinner I forgot I took pics of .. quorn vegan pieces and peas and curry sauce .. I also tried to quorn vegan nuggets with Hellman's vegan mayo .. both lovely !

Glad to see you guys are still going strong. I have been so ill over the last few days I've just had to eat what I can stomach and given we are moving next week, what we have to use up. I made a roast veg and pasta bake and tried some of the new Sainsbury's chorizo style shroomdogs with them. Sadly I couldn't really taste them as I'm so bunged up but DH said they were nice. Last night we had sausage and mash at DS' request - Sainsbury's shroomdogs again (normal version), roast carrots, peas and gravy (which I think may have had milk in but was at least vegetarian although it was the aldi chicken granules).

Sainsbury's looked to have some new things to try - different kinds of falafels, vegan pizzas etc.

Tomorrow will be crispy tofu with noodles and veg, fairly standard fare in our house.

I made a big pan of chilli today so that should keep me going for a while.

My gran bought me a book called the 28 day vegan plan so I'm going to have a flick through that to look for some recipes.

I’m plant based and don’t eat dairy. It’s not as hard as you think.

Waitrose vegan ravioli is a must (it’s not expensive) and M&S have just brought a new range out with vegan pizza, dirty fries and all kinds. It’s not my bag as I am a die hard salad lover but definitely think it will make it easier for those who are trying it out this month.

Sounds like a case of bad timing for you @DuggeesWooOOooggle, it sounds like you have an incredible amount going on at the minute. It's no wonder it's tough making a major dietary change right now on top of everything. Look after yourself and I hope you get well soon.

I'm trying not to eat too much processed food but it's so convenient...right now I'm doing a mix of cooking from scratch and ready meals supplemented with extra fruit and veg. We went to M&S the other day to pick up some bits and found a small crowd of vegans gathered around the new Plant Kitchen section! We joined in the chat and everyone was lovely, full of encouragement for newbies and tips on what to eat. Usually in my town people don't really chat to each other in the shops! We tried the coleslaw which was delicious and the pizza which was very good. My favourite was the tikka masala but unfortunately DH scoffed most of that one.

Today's menu will be porridge and Oatly with a side of blueberries (breakfast), M&S olive and sundried tomato tapenade (I checked, no anchovies) on wholemeal sourdough with lettuce, tomato and avocado with a side of apple and grapes (lunch). Homemade pizza topped with tomato sauce from last summer's home grown tomatoes topped with mushrooms, bell peppers, and a little violife (dinner).

Also went to Superdrug and got their own brand head and shoulders dupe for DH and a biphase oil cleanser for me, both vegan. I have extremely sensitive skin with rosacea but haven't reacted to the cleanser...yet.

DH went to the carwash and I doubt the cleaning fluid they used is vegan. It is probably not possible to be a perfect vegan!

How are people getting on? I haven't lapsed and I have enough batch-cooked to make sure I'll last the month, but I won't keep it up. I'd like to keep to two vegan days a week going forward (and I'm veggie anyway) which I hope will make a small difference.

My motivation for trying Veganuary was to get away from the lazy cheese-with-every-meal rut I'd got into. It started off well. I was making lots of inventive salads, experimenting with different lentils and eating reasonable well. I have slipped to eating lots of peanut butter or vegan chocolate spread on toast, loads and loads of crisps and nuts and vegan sweets, vegan pesto pasta etc. It's not great. My laziness clearly wins through, whatever restrictions I enforce.

Positives are a gorgeous dhal, that I could happily batch-cook and freeze regularly, going forward and a lentil and cashew nut flour pancake that rivals the real thing (which I then spread with vegan choc sauce. Sigh).

Has anyone discovered a real vegan mojo? Has anyone really improved the quality of their diet?

I only planned to do a week of vegan but managed 10 days. I have added eggs and cheese but still vegetarian. I am pleased with this as I was previously a fully fledged meat eater.

We are throwing in the towel today. The dh and dc are fed up and I don't want to be cooking loads of different meals.

We've definitely found a few vegan recipes which we'll use going forwards though.