Veganuary Prep!

[StarJazmin]

Anyone pledging to do Veganuary this year? Fancy a thread to chat about plans and stuff?

I did 2 years ago and then stayed Vegan the entire year, failing last Christmas with proper cheese . Have been 95% veggie since, I eat far too much cheese and processed crap though. This will be a healthy 100% vegan reboot for me.

Next weekend I’m planning on doing some batch cooking to have some meals in the freezer for after long work days. Also at some point do a bit of a pantry stock take and perhaps place orders for staples. And think about some meal plans and look up recipes.

Interested in batch cooking!
I always have bad days where I just eat junk and regret it, need to get organised!

Place marking. I’ve used the Clean Food Dirty Girl recipes/meal plans in the past and really rate them. Perhaps I’ll commit to a month in January and see how it goes after that.

Not heard of Clean Eating Dirty Girl, will give it a google

Batch cooking brainstorming

Lentil & mushroom bolognese
Arrabiata sauce
Roasted veggie/ratatouille sauce
Black bean chilli
Veggie molé
Sweet potato/chickpea/cauliflower curry(s)
Tuscan white bean & kale stew
Vegan lasagne
Vegan moussaka
Garden pie
Curry pastes (freeze in cubes to throw in with veggies/coconut milk for quick meal)

Won’t do all of that just writing down ideas!

I’m in! I eat vegan about half the time (I’m vegetarian now). Mains will be fine. Need to think about snacks and eating out.

I’m putting together a shopping delivery order for the weekend to get some sauces and things in the freezer.

For me the challenge is to eat vegan healthily with regular cooking from fresh (or at least defrosting/reheating homecooked ‘real’ food). That and the willpower to not stray when out and about.

I’ve been vegan before and just a month is fine from a willpower point of view, I think/hope! But it was too easy to rely on ready made processed foods.

I've been vegetarian for 30 years now since I was 15, but want to make the step to vegan. Veganuary is a good start. I'm fine with my basic meals, as I already cook lots of chillis etc (not a huge fan of Quorn and gather it's not all vegan anyway?) but going to struggle with snacks/junk/vices.

Don't know where to begin. Can anyone tell me what alternatives I can have for:

Milk (bought sweetened soya but tastes too sweet)

Butter/cheese/cream

Chocolate (dark? Green & Blacks? Ordered some vegan choc buttons from Tesco but they taste like I imagine pet chocolate tastes...)

Wine

Biscuits

Crisps

Thanks.

Hi,
I did veganuary 2 years ago and didn't look back! I completely love being vegan.
A really good standby is a jar of vegan pesto. Just add some veggies and pasta and it's a v quick and easy meal.
To check "accidently vegan" items, Vegan Womble is food.
Wine is usually clearly labelled, but Barnivore is a good place to check too.
Dark chocolate digestives from Tesco have no animal products in them, and loads of others.
I use unsweetened plant-milks. I tend to use almond or soya.
Hope that helps!

Thanks and well done on sticking to it. Love Pesto and digestives, so that's sorted.

Just realised no more fresh pasta though....

No but good quality dried pasta is just as good. IMO

Waitrose have fresh vegan pasta, they also do fresh filled vegan ravioli. Be warned, it's addictive!

Thanks for the tips. I need to do a big shop.

There’s a fresh vegan pasta in Sainsbury’s too, I think, and you can make your own if you’re so inclined (I did a tagliatelle once with just flour/olive oil/a little aquafaba and it rolled out nicely).

Planning on doing planning this weekend but there’s a lot of eggs and cheese to be eaten up in the next few days.

Thanks Star - I am impressed with your culinary adventure, I may opt for the Sainsbury's one as I'm not great at that type of thing. I'm good at bunging ingredients in a pot though!

Yes lots of cheese and cream here too. I don't eat eggs (unless in a yummy cake) and have started to add soya milk to drinks.

@handsoffmyrights the best milk replacement for tea and coffee I’ve found is Oatly Barista oat milk. It has a slightly higher fat content than other non dairy milks and is not watery and doesn’t split or separate. Taste wise it’s like a slightly less creamy version of full fat milk.

Ooh thanks - will try that one as I do love my coffee!

Tesco do a coconut based soft cheese with pepper on top which is really nice on crackers. I’m just going to drink black coffee and ditch tea.

Thanks. I usually have a soft cheese bagel for work so will try that or avacado as an alternative.

Some great ideas.
Someone got me a vegan cheese making kit for Christmas so I'm going to try that - you add plant milk and nuts I think. Hoping it will be nicer than shop bought vegan cheeses which mostly seem to be very coconutty.
I'm not yet vegan but have cut out meat and trying to cut down on dairy. Did Veganuary this year and it has changed how I cook for the better, and my whole family now eats far less animal products.

What’s in the vegan cheese making kit, sounds very interesting. I’ve made various nut based cream cheeses is very easy, soak nuts then blitz with whatever flavouring ingredients.

Check that your bagels are vegan btw, bread products often have eggs/milk/honey in them. I tend to opt for gf bread and the bfree range is suitable for vegans as well. And yummy.

Dd wants to do this but I'm only thinking main meals - dh and I don't want to give up bacon sandwiches! I'm going to eat fish to supplement my diet as it seems to help with my heat control system - that time of life!

All ideas for mains welcome, not too nutty though as dh isn't keen on them.

For pasta, Aldi have an excellent vegan tagliatelle - their premium dried range

How old is your dd anniehm? Is it ok for her to do Veganuary whilst you eat fish and have bacon sandwiches with your husband?

I've signed up for this - am so happy to hear about vegan pesto! I think planning is the key as I tend to take lunches into work and heat them up so need to shop and cook a bit before I go back.

Tesco do a red and green vegan pesto in jars. They are delicious. Used some last night on my pasta.