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?

If you don't like the sound of it don't it eat, @BecomeVeganItIsMarvellous. If you honestly want to debate whether veganism is a good idea perhaps start your own thread for that? This one was meant for people who are thinking of doing Veganuary which you're clearly not. Eat what you like, I don't care, but it was really pleasant when this thread was centred around chatting and trading tips with people who actually are trying Veganuary.

After two days of craving, I made an emergency dash out to find these. Definitely hit the spot.

Can I asked experienced vegans a probably stupid question?
I think I could become a vegan quite simply, once I get over cheese.
I was idly checking packets today and lots says suitable for vegetarians but don’t have any animal products listed that I can see. So for example baked beans, bread and boiled sweets.
What’s that’s about?

Okay,so my tips are eat less processed food. Eat lots of veg, preferably seasonal. Pulses, nuts, tofu. Try to eat more nutritious carbohydrates, or at least unrefined.

Try not to ‘buy’ your new year resolution to eat more healthily for a month and then go back to eating what you normally do in the hope that that will be enough.

Try to eat more ethically, healthily, ecologically and with less cruelty from now on.

But most of all don’t guilt yourself into eating a certain way. Eat what you fancy whether it is meat, fish, dairy, eggs, avocado. Humans are omnivores after all. We really just need to re think how we obtain our natural diet.

Hello, what a great thread! I gave up dairy 18 months ago when I realised all the negative effects it has on me. I'm now cutting back on meat and eggs, although I'm accepting that I probably will use them now and then when I run short of ideas and time. After all, any cutting back is a step in the right direction. We've had two vegan dinners this year, one of which was spaghetti bolognese and the DCs didn't even notice it was meat-free! (Soya mince, I think.) The other was vegetable stew with dumplings, which they loved. Today they had normal pizzas and I had Goodfella's vegan falafel pizza (which I got from Sainsbury's) which is yummy.

As someone else said upthread, once you've not had cheese for a year, vegan cheese isn't so bad. I've got a Mediterranean-style not-cheese and I've been devouring it with crackers. It's such a treat to have cheese and crackers again!

@parsleyisntfood it's because vegetarianism has been mainstream for longer and more people are vegetarian than vegan, so that's why companies advertise that in their products.

I think some labels say suitable for vegetarians because that's a bigger customer grouping or because there's some requirement to. It doesn't mean it's not vegan. Check the ingredients.

Thanks! That’s what I thought, but I had a mad 10 mins trying to remember what starch was
Ok as long as beans are on the table I’ll cope.
I’m surprised how well DH has taken to it. He’s not doing vrganuary, he’s fighting his own battle right now but he keeps reading packets and telling me it’s vegan. I’m hopefully I can make it permanent and coax DH too.

That all sounds very sensible BecomeVeganItIsMarvellous

It may be annoying to see people jumping on the vegan bandwagon for (perhaps) a month but if it gets people thinking about what they are eating and where it comes from then it has to be a good thing surely?

My children have become vegetarians for animal welfare reasons and I thought I would try a vegan diet so I could learn a bit more about it all. I imagine at the end of this month I will join them in vegetarianism but who knows? I’m reading so much and I’m looking forward to seeing how I feel at the end of this month.

Well I was happy with my finds , I've been vege for a year and have found meat substitutes really helpful in keeping me on track . I also struggle with my weight so I'm counting calories as well as vegan.
I thought this was a page for swooping tips so I'll continue to do so unless I've got it wrong 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Swap away hendricksy - or swoop away

I like the discussions about ethical eating as it's something I think about a lot. I do strive to have food that is less processed wherever possible but I do use convenience foods (I have some veggie sausages and shop bought hummus in the fridge, some nut cutlets in the freezer) and appreciate having something easy to use when we get in from work or just want a quick dinner. It's also good for trying new things that I might then try and replicate at home.

I stick by my mantra:

Eat food (ie real food wherever possible)
Not too much (self explanatory)
Mostly plants - base your diet around fruit, veg and wholegrains and add whatever else you want according to your tastes/ethics and you can't go too far wrong.

Lol@DuggeesWooOOooggle fat fingers ! 🙄🤷‍♀️😂

Hear hear Duggee I'll add in a plug for eating local/non-plastic-wrapped food too, where possible

I signed up to the Veganuary site. I'm already veggie and I'm interested in moving away from dairy. I'm not ready to go totally vegan, but wanted new recipes. I'm wary of the meat substitutes- it's not the road I want to go down. I like to cook and eat "real food". At the moment I'm making good veggie substitutes for mince based dishes with lentils and beans. Even non veggie people seem to happily ear them. We had a lovely cottage pie tonight.

Is Bisto vegan (the beef one that is veggie)?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Even More Veg is your friend for real vegan food, HoneyRoar!

MUCH more veg, dammit....

What about eggs @Honeyroar?

Trickier day today mainly eating out. I went to an old fashioned tea room where there was almost nothing suitable on the menu and I ended up having a jacket potato with beans. Dinner was the only vegan sandwich left in boots. Plus quite a lot of crisps.

I have my own hens...

Just popping in to say hello. Went dairy and egg free at the beginning of December and sticking with it now. I've been vegetarian for 28 years.

Finding it remarkably easy though breakfast is not as filling as it used to be (find soy yoghurt doesn't keep me full the way full fat Greek yoghurt would.) Am looking at something like huel for an easy breakfast, I need something I don't have to think about or I don't eat properly and just want all the cake at 11.

Enjoying the limited access to biscuits and cakes and cheese. A huge health benefit for me.

I tried violife cream cheese. It's ok but it's made from coconut oil so just fat really without the added benefits of cheese so haven't been able to find any justification for using it over olive oil which is much lower in saturated fat.

I made some amazing cookies from yupitsvegan over Christmas which were perfect. Can't make any more though cause they're too yummy!

Otherwise I'm doing one quorn/soya meal and one tofu or bean meal (can't do too many beans cause it makes me soooo farty!) and it's all good I think.

Have really disliked oat milk but trying to not have loads of soya in my diet so may try the oatly barista.

Well done all!

Well not very well done me - caved in over at my mum's today and had a cup of tea with cow's milk and a biscuit. I was just so so tired (first trimester tiredness kicking in) and I didn't want to tell her I was off dairy as I had just told her about the pregnancy and I knew she would worry about nutrients etc. Anyway, will make amends by attempting the BBQ pulled jackfruit tonight with red cabbage, carrot and onion slaw slaw (I dress mine in a simple dressing of lime juice, mirin and rice vinegar which keeps it fresh for days). And try not to put the cheese on mine that I will grate for DS and DH! Will do sweet potato wedges alongside.

I stocked up on Nakd bars as they were reduced and also got some shock horror convenience foods - some Linda McCartney meatballs and some shroompups (mini shroomdogs ). Also got some Oatly Barista to see what all the fuss is about.

Made some date and almond energy balls last night so have a few treats to reach for during the mid afternoon slump.

What's everyone having for dinner tonight?

Sorry to jump on late - a veggie here whose conversion to vegan has coincided with ‘veganuary’....
As soon as I went veggie I knew I wouldn’t long remain comfortable with for example the dairy industry. I don’t eat much cheese, and like black coffee, but do like Greek yoghurt, and milk in tea.
So I have cut dairy now, don’t believe in meat/dairy replacements so am focusing on back to basics ingredients as far as possible.
I had toast with almond butter for breakfast, and falafel, breaded mushrooms and salad for lunch. Tonight I am having parsnip and sweet potato soup from my Covent Garden Soup book.

I tried last January and found it very difficult despite being vegetarian already. I don’t want processed factory-made food so was eating mostly vegetables. Pulses give me terrible pain and wind.
Giving up butter and cheese meant very boring bland food but I’m trying again this year.

I just can't stop eating! I'll be massive before January is out. Is anyone else finding that? I think I'm trying to fill the void that cheese has left. Nutritionally I have managed this and my meals have been delicious but they're not hitting the spot that melted cheese or chocolate do. I imagine (hope) the cravings will wane.

Steala if you need something chocolatey bourbon creams are usually vegan