Veganuary 2018

[lurchermummy]

Myself and DD aged 16 are going to try a vegan diet for January. DD is already vegetarian and I was vegetarian for many years although recently not. I really want to try a lighter healthier plant based way of eating, feel blurgh after all the rich food of Christmas, and am really keen to see if it helps my psoriasis. If we like it we may well continue but I signed up for Veganuary to give us a focus. DD2 is a fussy eater and not a big fan of vegetables so that may be tricky, DH is happy to eat vegetarian but vegan may be a step too far for him. Would really welcome any tips for adaptable family meals eg. sausage and mash, I can do vegan sausages for us and meat for them. I'm actually really looking forward to it now!

I have had a look at the veganuary website and I liked the Daily Dozen Checklist/Meal Plan bit at the bottom of this page veganuary.com/starter-kit/nutrition-in-a-nutshell/

Purple My local Tesco normally keeps tofu next to the Quorn sandwich meats.

Adalind We normally shop in lidl but I’ve never noticed their high protein rolls before - will look for them next time.

lurcher Your meal plan is making me hungry!

Littlepig I’m also hoping to continue past Jan. We are doing it as for 6 weeks as a family - the first to weeks are a transition period as we have none vegan food that needs using.

We don’t eat out a lot but a lot of places do seem to cater for vegans now.

@whydidieatthat thanks for that recipe, I will definitely try that! I'll try tofu scramble too.

I've found the alpro soya wholebean (unsweetened) milk is lovely in coffee/tea and doesn't curdle!

I was in Asda today and a lot of their frozen veggie stuff is vegan!

I'm aiming for this and DD2 wants to join in starting the second week of January. DH will try vegetarian for January.

I'm doing this too. Tea was the main thing I was concerned about (already veggie so not worried about meals), but just had a cup with oat milk - didn't taste the same but was fine.
Whereabouts will the nutritional yeast flakes be in the supermarket?

What’s everyone’s plan for today?

So far I’ve had black coffee with toast, vegan flora (not that keen) and marmite for breakfast. Lunch will be some sort of soup and dinner is going to be chilli with a baked sweet potato and salad.

orange I had to buy my nutritional flakes from a health food shop as I couldn’t find them in the supermarket.

purple I’ve had porridge with flax and chia seeds added for breakfast. Lunch is still to be decided and dinner will be a vegetable curry with the yeast flakes added.

I'm in too! Long time vegetarian. Day 1 meals below:

Breakfast: Nakd bar
Lunch: nut burger and spinach
Dinner: will be veggie curry with potato, lentils, chickpeas, broccoli and coconut milk, with rice and salted peanuts

I'm in too! Was vegetarian for 7 years, then become omnivore through a period of poor health (in the unproven belief that bone broth and eggs would help me get stronger, and also due to laziness when eating out) but I'm keen to give it a go. I don't do milk or cheese but I really, really like eggs.

Today I've had vegan pancakes and a tofu scramble with tons of dark green leafy veggies. For dinner, sweet potato dhal.

Toast and peanut butter with vegan spread for breakfast
Macaro no cheese for lunch - made yesterday as an experiment. Roast butternut squash and coconut milk in the sauce. It was quite nice but nothing like cheese!
I've got some tofu that needs eating so will probably do a stir fry for dinner.

Afternoon. I’ve done veganuary for a few years and the rest of the time I go through veggie phases. Its nice to have a thread to waffle on

Hello. I'm using Veganuary to move towards a more plant based diet. I don't eat meat or fish and would like to eventually stop eating dairy as well, but I'm trying to do it gradually (went cold turkey on all animal products last year which made me quite ill).

Following this thread with interest to hear other people's experiences and for recipe ideas. I made a delicious veggie chillie last night and today will be making a roast veg risotto.

I'm doing vegan main evening meals for January. Did it last year and basically focused me on eating loads of vegetables and nuts.

We had a not v healthy sort of mac and cheese: make roux with margarine (first cook more garlic than you think you’ll need in the margarine), flour, mustard and add whatever milk substitute stir until thick, add plenty of salt and nooch, some paprika and a splash of soy sauce until it tastes okay. Cook the pasta, transfer it to the sauce and stir well. Add chopped green chilies

Breakfast for me was porridge made with almond milk, was ok but I'm not keen on almond milk in tea so going to try oat milk. Dinner will be chilli and rice.

I'll be doing veganuary too.
I don't eat much meat anyway, but I do love cheese, and it's the hidden milk/eggs in products that makes it more of a challenge.

My sister is a vegan so I've already been using nutritional yeast etc for a while.

It's even more of a challenge because I follow slimming world, but I've found a vegan SW Facebook group with some great ideas.

Today for brunch I had a wrap with a vegan quorn burger, fried mushrooms and onions, a little vegan smoked cheese and some vegan mayo (have finally found a great vegan mayo).

Tea will be veg Chinese curry and rice.

I did this last year for an article thinking I would be extremely miserbk and find it impossible! Since then I am stayed 90% vegan and am doing it again properly this month. The best inventions ever are Oatly for coffee and hot Chocolate and lentils - which I use instead of mince in everything! Cottage pie, spaghetti bol, lasagne. Chickpeas are fantastic in curries and to breakfast I have vegan yoghurt smothiss - fruits with oat milk, the yogurt and oats etc. It's hard to start with but soon becomes just a part of your life. And I lost a stone without meaning to!

Good grief spelling and grammar all over the place there! That's how excitable I get about veganism 😁

We're doing this. We rely too much on processes meat (ham). And are dependent on cheese. Dh will be the tough one but I'm determined to see the month through. In our case it's about trying to reset our poor habits but I am concerned about the meat industry.

This page is useful for accidentally vegan products:

veganuary.com/starter-kit/accidentally-vegan-products-uk/

Co-op's jam doughnuts are a surprise!

Successful day 1 so far! I made a bolognese using Tesco branded frozen mince (vegan friendly). It was delicious.

I was a vegetarian for many years but I've eaten meat, dairy, eggs etc. For a while now. I'm looking for a health kick in the short term but hopefully will adopt at least a veggie diet going forward.

Not exactly healthy, but coop sea salt and black pepper crackers are vegan and delicious!

Very happy to find this thread. Just had a bit of a set to with DH who claims he’s supportive of moving towards a plant based diet (& me doing Veganuary) but he is having a major stress about protein as we both do a lot of weight training. Unless a meal has 35g plus of protein he’s not happy. Bad start

Good places to eat out for Vegan

oops pressed too soon
Good places to eat out

• Zizzi, great selection, including desert
• Pizza Express, has vegan cheese
• Las Iguanas, again another good selection including deserts

don't forget to ask for the Vegan menu, Zizzi have never offered but do have them.

Just wanted to recommend nutritionfacts.org/ for keeping on track.