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?

Happy Veganuary everyone! How are you all getting on?

I haven't RTFT but I went vegan 2 years ago after Veganuary and only did it as a 31 day trial then stuck with it! Can't believe how many options there are right now, it's amazing!

More than happy to try and answer any plant based queries - no judgement, we're all only human and just impressed so many people are trying it this year. Think its up to 200,000 now!

What's everyone having for dinner? Think I might make a risotto.

Lotus biscuits are vegan....

My soup

PseudoBadger

As is Biscoff spread and I bloody love it. Straight from the jar. On a Lotus biscuit.

Im not one of those health food vegans, can you tell?

Today I have had avacado on toast for breakfast.

Lunch was a bagel with caramelised onion hummus, cucumber and tomato.

Just made pasta with tomato, avacado, red chilli, basil and olive oil for dinner. So simple but delicious.

Me and the dc have made some date and coconut energy balls as well but haven't tried them yet.

I’m amazed how many foods are vegan, cinema buttered popcorn?!
First stumbling block was mums for lunch. She new I am doing vrganuary so served salmon
Potatoes and asparagus were just fine.
Was feeling all proud of myself for staying away from processed things but I think I’ve eaten my own body weight in mushrooms on toast.

Breakfast was porridge with leftover meridien mince pie filling stirred in, topped with Oatly barista. So delicious. For lunch I had minestrone soup and for dinner I had some Linda McCartney sausages and mash with peas and a bunch of grapes for dessert. I did buy a ritter sport marzipan bar for tomorrow as it's DH's birthday but I won't be having the cake he chose.

3boysandabump your menu for today sounds really delicious!

Peanut butter and strawberries on toast
Falafels and salad
Bean and vegetable pasta

Going well so far but need to try some different recipes
Bought big bags of chickpeas and black beans, now I just need to work out some recipes

Iruka

I don't know if anyone mentioned it upthread but Bosh have amaaaaazing recipes online (Facebook/Insta if that's your jam or they have a website) and I really rate them. It's my most used cook book by far.

Whatsnewwithyou

That's genius! I've got mincemeat to use up and have been wondering what to do with it. Definitely breakfast tomorrow...and the next day...and maybe the next day. Its a big old jar!

leon.co/magazine/blog/brazilian-black-bean-stew/

I’ve been trying to fond black beans but failing. Had this ^ the other day in the shop. Really tasty.

I hope you like it, kimikoglenn! I will admit I also added a tiny sprinkling of brown sugar to mine also as I have a terrible sweet tooth 😊.

Sainsbury's do black beans PurpleDaisies, in a carton. You can only buy organic ones though.

They were selling off jars of luxury mincemeat for 25p (the more basic one was 15p!) - both were vegan friendly.

Your meals all sound lovely!

And I am very heartened by the fact that the bourbons I looked mournfully at earlier are probably vegan.

The pulled jackfruit was actually pretty good. DH said 'it's hard to tell which bit is the jackfruit and which is the pork' . I think you have to not expect it to be exactly like pulled pork but in a sandwich with the slaw, some spinach and more BBQ sauce it was pretty good.

DuggeesWooOOooggle

If you've got a sweet tooth and are looking for a treat theres lots of accidentally vegan stuff that is cheaper than the free from sections - Oreos, Party Rings, Fox's dark chunk choc chip (though these are like gold dust), you can get dark choc digestives that are free from (not McVities, forgotten the brand) hobnobs, rich tea, gingersnaps and gingerbread are both usually vegan, co-op bakery jam and custard donuts, and their apple/cherry pies, Tesco churros (frozen section) and then sweet wise you've got jelly tots, skittles and my personal favourite the Frys mint or orange cream. Also flavoured dark chocolate is usually vegan and feels a bit decadent and cheaper than Booja.

And thats before you've even gone looking for the specifically vegan stuff.

Thanks Kimiko, I had a few bourbons in the end! I am trying not to eat too much crap in general as I put on so much weight in my first pregnancy. I will probably make some cookies or something over the weekend. I don't have a particularly sweet tooth but I do like something sweet every now and then. Lotus biscoff spread is just too damn good though, can't trust myself to buy it! The Booja Booja were a Christmas present from DH - he ordered 3 small boxes and was sent 5!!

Had a vegan burger for tea tonight..was rank

There are nice ones dowser. Which type was yours?

I had Waitrose 'beet wellington' which was mainly two massive beetroots wrapped in pastry and Linda McCartney scampi which was okish. Neither blew me away. I am a firm believer in meat substitutes though as I do much better on a high protein diet and couldn't stomach beans and lentils at every turn. Quorn fishlessfingers ftw.

This morning I had banana pancakes with subbed ground almonds for 1/3 of the flower and some peanut butter on top. Winner.

Am utterly addicted to sweet freedom chocolate pot spread. Trying to stop finding things to spread it on.

Oh and did banana nice cream (frozen banana whizzed with cocoa and vanilla essence) which was SO good. A huge vegan win.

@DuggeesWooOOooggle awesome list of vegan treats. I got a whole wodge of different vegan dark chocolates today as well but it's soooooo sensible.

Tesco dark chocolate digestives are vegan

Dowser if you're looking for a meaty patty as opposed to a traditional veggie burger style one I really recommend either No Bull Burgers from Iceland (cheapest), the Naturli patties from Sainsbury's or my personal favourite the Beyond Burger from Tesco (most expensive at 5.50 for 2 but they are the best by far).

Put that Beyond Burger in a seeded bun, bit of mustard, relish, gherkin, onions, Violife slice, I reckon you could fool a lot of meat eaters with that.

pennysays

Have you tried the Quorn vegan fajita strips or chicken chunks? Both really versatile meat replacements, great to chuck into stir fry/curry/fajitas, as are the Iceland No Chick strips to be honest. And Oomph (from Tesco) is pretty awesome, makes a geeat vegan kebab fakeaway. These are the kind of bits I keep in the freezer when I know beans and lentils just aren't going to cut the mustard.

The Iceland No Porkies chorizo is pretty handy to have on standby as well - good way to get some extra protein in a risotto or pasta dish.

Oo speaking of protein, I just discovered a new product today that I really liked! Vegan jerky. Its available in a couple of flavours and on offer at Aldi and has that proper jerky texture and decent nutrition. Im going to stock up and keep it around for snacks.

The beyond burgers are indeed amazing, so good.

PurpleDaisies
Asda now do black beans!

I started this morning and had to do with what was in the house as just back from holiday. Had avocado on toast for breakfast and beans on toast for lunch. I am heading to the supermarket soon to stock up.

I am going to make vegetable broth for lunches and I plan to see if I can get the Oatly Barista milk and try using it to make porridge for breakfast. I also like peanut butter on toast so that should be fine.

Dinners I have planned so far are vegetable pasta ( bit boring but need a quick easy dinner tonight) Dahl with popadoms and mango chutney, chick pea chilli, veg risotto and jacket potato possibly with hummus and salad.

I am open to any other suggestions? I don't really want to use quorn etc as I am not keen on it.