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Original poster

Anyone thinking of doing Veganuary?

255 replies

DuggeesWooOOooggle · 30/12/2018 08:42

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?

OP posts:
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ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:36

Different organism types, op: bacteria are prokaryotes, we (and animals, and yeasts) are eukaryotes. We have different cell structures, basically.

Original poster
DuggeesWooOOooggle · 30/12/2018 15:36

Been considering getting the Bosh cookbook - I've been following them on Facebook since they started. They do seem to do a lot of recipes involving a blender and with lots of steps. Just wondering if the recipes are a bit faffy to cook at home?

OP posts:
ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:39

We've got the BOSH cookbook (I'm vegan); I'm not keen on them tbh! The recipes are ok, but a bit more faff than HFW. Thug Kitchen is good (and sweary)!

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Original poster
DuggeesWooOOooggle · 30/12/2018 15:40

Oh ok ChristmassyContessa - thanks for the explanation, although I'm still a bit confused. So is a eukaryote a living organism then? But isn't bacteria living too? And what makes one ok to eat and the other not ok?

And don't vegans eat bread that contains yeast?

Confused
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ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:40

If you like Indian food that's a good route too - the recipes are often vegan. All the daal, all the time Grin

ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:45

Ok - this is more of a common sense sotuation than a standard vegan one. Micro-organisms are everywhere around us, and we can't help eating them/killing them. Yeasts are single-celled organisms and have a eukaryote cell structure, like humans do. They proliferate in the wild and have historically been used to make kimchi, bread, beer etc. I suspect the vegan thinking is that they're so small that you can't help killing them anyway, and since they're so small they won't experience any pain or suffering due to being baked in an oven. Therefore, using them for culinary purposes is fine.

I hope that makes sense!

Original poster
DuggeesWooOOooggle · 30/12/2018 15:46

Yum, yes to buckets of daal, Contessa although we're running our cupboards down pre house move and we appear to be out of lentils Shock

I make a sweet potato and chickpea curry quite often which is one of our favourite family meals - rice, mango chutney, spinach and toasted cashews. So good! I also do a saag paneer from the Jamie Oliver 5 ingredients book and I reckon tofu would sub for the paneer quite well.

OP posts:
ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:46

There will doubtless be hard-core vegans who say it is against our code to consume even micro-organisms (and presumably self-flagellate every time they clean their kitchen counter, or don't clean at all) but I am not one of them Grin

ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:47

Out of lentils Shock

Sweet potato and chickpea sounds fab!

Original poster
DuggeesWooOOooggle · 30/12/2018 15:50

There will doubtless be hard-core vegans who say it is against our code to consume even micro-organisms (and presumably self-flagellate every time they clean their kitchen counter, or don't clean at all) but I am not one of them

Surely these types of micro-organisms are often airborne too, so does that mean breathing is out? Wink

OP posts:
ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 15:54

Yes. You must wear a oxygen tank plus mask at all times to avoid killing anything, at all, ever. You MONSTER.

ChristmassyContessaConSparkles · 30/12/2018 16:00

I am joking, just to be clear Grin

Original poster
DuggeesWooOOooggle · 30/12/2018 16:20
Grin
OP posts:
tubspreciousthings · 30/12/2018 19:42

I am considering veganuary. I've been the only vegetarian in a house of meat eaters for two years now so not quite sure how it'll go.

I'm struggling with wheat st the moment though so might struggle to know what to eat...

starzig · 30/12/2018 23:27

Good to know about the yeast thing. For years I have been avoiding yeast when I have been cooking when my vegan friend comes round.

ThatPeskyElf · 30/12/2018 23:29

Yes! As it’s clearly the future!!
Long term veggie just need to cut out chocolate and cheese... rather excited about it!!

KTyoupigeon · 30/12/2018 23:34

My dd2 (17) has been a vegan for 2 years after being a veggie since aged 9 and one wish for her birthday (next week) is for me to do veganuary. I rarely eat meat but do eat eggs and a fair bit of dairy!

Struggled with non-dairy milk splitting and I think it works better if you warm the milk up first.

Think I will give it a go and see how far I get!

Whatsnewwithyou · 31/12/2018 02:42

Seriously, for those who have trouble with non-dairy milk splitting, try Oatly Barista. It's made by Oatly to be foamable for making frothy coffees etc. It can also be used like regular milk and tastes good and definitely does not split. I don't work for them or anything, a vegan friend told me about it and when I tried it I thought hmmmm, maybe I could be vegan. It's sold with the shelf stable milks next to regular Oatly but says Oatly Barista on the label.

ladybirdsaredotty · 31/12/2018 03:07

I'm considering veganuary! I've been veggie for about 18 years but chocolate and cheese are literally my favourite foods. But dairy farming Shock...I've considered going vegan so many times. My DP is also veggie and children rarely eat meat (and oldest calls herself vegetarian now at 7) but we all live off cheese...

lastqueenofscotland · 31/12/2018 07:42

I was veggie for most of my life (age about 8 onwards) and in my late 20s found it increasingly hard to justify my cheese habit with what I knew about the diary industry so went vegan. I will if abroad and really struggling revert to veggie

Tips from me!
Oatly is the best of the milk substitutes
All vegan cheese is pretty crap but the Asda pre-grated one does sort of melt and is ok on pizza/pasta dishes
Sainsbury’s shroomdogs are the food of the gods, my DP thought they were meat.
oreos and bourbon creams are vegan and good for when you want something chocolaty
Avoid too many meat substitutes, they are pretty pricey, generally I use a mix of red and green lentils where I would have had mince and use a lot of beans in my cooking.
Quorn generally isn’t vegan.
Doesn’t have to be complicated, pasta and tomato sauce, beans on toast, jacket with beans etc all vegan and tasty and doesn’t require a lot of cooking.

3boysandabump · 31/12/2018 08:22

Seriously, for those who have trouble with non-dairy milk splitting, try Oatly Barista.

I second that. It's hard to get hold of at the minute though and I think it's only going to get worse with people doing veganuary.

Original poster
DuggeesWooOOooggle · 31/12/2018 11:16

Thanks 3Boys and lastqueen, always good to have pro tips!

I can confirm that Oatly is actually pretty good in tea as well as coffee and doesn't split or taste weird. I just have the standard whole milk version in the blue carton, so no need to stress about lack of Barista (not seen it in ages in a supermarket!). It's very creamy though so I might get some semi skimmed for tea. I am ashamed to say a decent cup of tea was one of my sticking points in not taking the plunge before but I feel this could be a game changer! Hopefully Oatly will develop a decent oat cheese one day.

I love lentils in bolognaise and made a cracking one not so long back - slow cooked with red wine and everything but DH found that he was just as hungry, if not more so after he had eaten it! He's not a big meat eater so if I do it again he can just stick a fried egg or two on top.

And I just got my bfp this morning so hopefully morning sickness won't play too much havoc with my good intentions - melted cheese got me through a lot in the early days with my first pregnancy!

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3boysandabump · 31/12/2018 13:55

Congratulations @DuggeesWooOOooggle

hendricksy · 02/01/2019 09:36

How is everyone doing ? I made a veg and quorn vegan pieces dinner last night and it was lovely . The vegan chicken isn't much different to the non vegan so I'm pleased about that .
The violife cheddar is ok too , I did find discos have milk in and I like them and my favourite slim a soup so that's disappointing but I'll look for alternatives .

PurpleDaisies · 02/01/2019 09:49

Doing well here hen, I use those quorn pieces a lot and they’re really good. I had chick pea and spinach curry last night with poppadoms instead of naan because ASDA had sold out of the vegan ones, Alpro plain yoghurt, plus the usual pickles. Was really nice. I’ve discovered an app called Spoon Guru where you can scan bar codes as you shop and it’ll tell you if a product is vegan. Hopefully that will make buying tins and jarred sauces quicker.

I’ve stopped drinking tea. I’ve always drunk black coffee and j just can’t get on with non-dairy milk in hot drinks. It’s all too sweet for me.

As a treat, I’ve bought some ASDA “free from” coconut based cheese spread. It’s a garlic and herb variety which tastes like Boursin. V nice indeed. I have to keep reminding myself that just because it’s vegan, it doesn’t mean it’s healthy!