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!

[Mysteriouscurle]

Oooh. Thanks @perdita. I shall have to take a trip to tesco to stock the freezer. To the pp who asked about cottage pie, I use green lentils as they keep their shape quite well but I suppose you could use any.

Refused chocs at work today. It helped that I had taken my own dairy free supply.

[trevortrevorslattery]

@mysteriouscurle it was me thanks
I have some green lentils, will get some red too and try mingling them all up in a pie :)

[KittyB52]

I did this last year, then drifted back to being a veggie. I struggled to find something to go in my cuppa that didn’t make it taste odd, but I am also lazy and liked the easier options of Quorn stuff for meals. I am going to attempt Veganuary again, but need to find some very easy/low effort options for lunches. Will trawl back through the thread and look at links for recipes later.

[Vitalogy]

Maple syrup, another alternative to honey.

[Dottie39]

Holland and Barrett do some great frozen stuff for quick and easy meals. Their quinoa and lentil roast is lovely, even my meat eating friends like it.

[Mysteriouscurle]

I like quorn too. There are a few vegan quorn options now. Spicy chicken style burgers, fillets, pieces, fish fingers, breaded fillets.

[Minestheoneinthegreen]

I'm doing veganuary, having been veggie for decades.
I've also gone caffeine free as my biggest every day dairy use was milk in tea and coffee. I have got pay milk in for cereal as I try to limit my intake of soy.
I'm finding I'm very carb heavy! Cereal, toast and peanut butter, lentils with roti. I need to find my cooking mojo - my veg intake is currently celery with hummus. I used to love cooking but now it's just me it seems a bit less interesting. But I can't live on bread for a month, I'll be the size of a house by February!

[JenTeale]

I love those Bosh recipes, the mushroom wellington worked well for a Vegan dinner party I had over Christmas and I like the wee videos. Sadly the tornado potato did not work for me.

[orangewasp]

Me too Mines when it comes to bread - I think I just need to do a little bit more advance meal planning, am practically overdosing on toast and peanut butter
Otherwise so far, so good

[Magpie24]

What's everyone's plan for today?

Breakfast: porridge made with water with sultanas and golden syrup
Lunch: avocado on toasted pitta with a beetroot and carrot salad. Nakd bar for dessert.
Dinner: tbc but am thinking of a roasted butternut squash risotto with lots of crispy sage and roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds

I'm thinking I might end up inadvertently losing weight on this plan as a lot of stuff I'm planning on eating is quite low cal...

[WhyDidIEatThat]

I’m making a fuckload of black burritos so breakfast and lunch: taste testing the chili, also experimenting with various (chili con) queso creations so will be taste testing those (one based on cashews, one with tofu, one with grated potato) I’m a disgusting creature.

Evening meal will probably be nachos if I can nail the cheese 😋

[WhyDidIEatThat]

Somewhere between black and burritos I dropped this: bean

[PericardiumOne]

Protein smoothie for breakfast
Tofu scramble with lots of veggies for lunch
Butternut squash soup with chickpea croutons for dinner

[BoBoo]

I tried veganuary two years ago and stuck with it. It gets easier and for me it was a lot like the switch to being vegetarian, you get used to it. I still find myself surprised by discovering needless dairy in things, like milk in most of Asda own-brand bread.

For scrambled tofu, I add a bit of nutritional yeast and indian black salt (even smells like egg, you can get it on Amazon if can't find it near you) which transforms it.

See if there are any local vegan groups on Facebook, which can be a good source of local options and help keep you on track by keeping things in your feed. Good luck everyone!

[DialsMavis]

I'm.really hungry today!
Breakfast was 2 coffees with hazelnut milk then 2 small slices of malt loaf with cashew nut butter.and later a small smoothie with coconut yoghurt, oat milk, banana and frozen berries.

I do find eating breakfast males me extra hungry though so may try my usual eat at 12pm tomorrow.

Lunch is salad with humous, beetroot, tomato, cashew nuts, avocado, seeds and mixed leaves.

Going to try and ignore the ginger nuts in the cupboard at work as don't want to start eating loads of rubbish.

Dinner will probably be Linda McCartney pie with veg as DP not taking part and he is in charge of dinner all week as he is not back to work yet.

[May50]

Breakfast : porridge with soya milk and cinnamon
Lunch: homemade lentil and veg soup, apple and Satsuma
Dinner : will be a rush tonight so probably rice cakes with almond butter and vegan cheese on top

Feeling a bit bloated I think - with the added veg and pulses, but it certainly fills me up, haven't been hungry or wanted to snack.

Almost stuck some ham in my mouth accidentally though - while making DD's sandwiches , who likes crusts cut off, I normally munch on the edges of ham and bread, just stopped myself yesterday!

[Woolfrai]

Breakfast: caffeine free, dairy free, chai latte with cashew milk
Lunch: orange, trying a linda mac sausage roll and some nuts and seeds
Evening tea: either a dried pasta with loads of roasted veg or a linda mac pie with mash, and veggies. Probably followed by some hotel chocolat vegan dark chocolate.

Weirdly, I'm not eating as many veggies as I thought I would be. Need to focus on getting my nutrient balance right I think.

I didn't even think about it, bus I saw a post about changing toothpaste so that's something to consider for me...

[Dottie39]

Breakfast: two slices of brown toast with marmite.
Coffee with hemp milk

Lunch - bean salad and chocolate alpro desert as was craving something sweet

Dinner tonight is vegan burgers with chips and onion rings and corn on the cob.

[Dottie39]

I actually feel less bloated than usual but am thirsty all the time and drinking loads of water...

[PurpleDaisies]

Breakfast was avocado on olive bread toast.
I’m out shopping so am currently eating the new Starbucks kale and sweetcorn jalepeno vegan wrap which is lovely.
Dinner will be leftover cauliflower, parsnip and chickpea curry with rice with added grains (microwave pouch!).

I missed the poached egg I’d normally have at breakfast and am hoping to find some tofu to scramble tomorrow. I’m defivitely staying full longer after meals and snacking is much more difficult.

[VeganCow]

Ive been vegan for 9 years, veggie for 20 odd years before that.
One of the most requested is a good plant milk for brews, and a good vegan cheese.
The best milk, nearest to dairy, is Alpro Original, but the UHT one, not the fridge one, diffeent recipe even though they look the same. Is good in tea, coffee, hot choc. I find oat milk is a bit strong for drinks (great in porridge though), coconut milk too watery.

As for cheese, most are horrid. The I have tried them all over the years.A tasty one on crackers etc is Vegusto but its expensive.
The only one I bother buying now is Tesco own make smoked. It melts nicely in a cheese toastie and is by far the best cheese replacement.

Eating out, Wagamama have a new vegan menu, and are good. Zizzis do vegan cheese on their pizzas and always have a nice dessert on the vegan menu.

Sainsburys meat replacements are lovely, their mince is good in chilli, bolognaise and lasagne etc and their vegetarian burgers are vegan and are the nearest thing to meat you will ever have in a burger.

Some Quorn range is vegan like the spicy chicken burgers and the fishless fingers. Also they do vegan frozen fillets - I put a couple on a plate, tablespoon water over them, sprinkle of dried garlic and herbs, microwave for a couple minutes then slice for sandwiches (or under the grill but brush with oil first)

For curries I always use Pataks paste, the balti one is lovely. Instead of cream, I add my home made cashew cream - soak a cup of cashews for a couple of hours. Drain them then blitz in Nutribullet with a cup of water, add more if its too thick. Makes a great korma but you can use this cashew cream as abase for creamy pasta sauces etc.

If anyone has any questions ask away!

[MsHarry]

Purple I think it's chilled so start there.

[JapaneseBirdPainting]

Hello! I'd love to lurk and sometimes contribute if I may.

I'm keen to do this also, so will take inspiration. Last night was red pepper and mushroom fajitas. Tonight cauli balti.

[PurpleDaisies]

Welcome japanese. Have you got a good recipe for cauliflower balti? I love cauliflower in curry and always keen to try new ones.

[JapaneseBirdPainting]

I am ashamed to say I just use a jarred sauce! I am generally a more creative cook than that (promise!!) but curry usually defeats me.

I DO do the tarka dhal from this book very very often;

www.colleenpatrickgoudreau.com/book/the-vegan-table/

It's really good.