Anyone planning to do Veganuary this time?

[OfficerPetriHawkinsByrd]

So, January 2020 I mean.

Obviously, we have a couple of months till it starts, but I like to get prepared and practice some vegan meals in the run up.

Is anyone else planning to do it and would they like to join me on here?

[Vinorosso74]

I am going all out for Veganuary 2020! Have been vegetarian for over 20 years. Have got unsweetened almond milk for my morning coffee sorted. Am struggling with other dairy products-I want to avoid over processed vegan crap so no margarine. I will eat coconut milk in curries but that's it for coconut stuff. So any ideas for butter substitutes would be good? Possibly yoghurt either as I sometimes have Greek yogurt for breakfast.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

I'm tempted to do this but I have a few reservations.
I currently don't eat dairy as I gave up 6 months ago. I try to do a low carb diet and I wonder how effectively I could do this on a vegan menu? How would I get enough fat? Plus I run a fair bit and really need to get my protein. I know I can get protein from beans etc, but then my carb intake will increase quite substantially. It will be something of a balancing act!

My plan for January is to first cut out pork 'products' and any obvious meat, but maybe continue having some eggs and fish? Then after a week or so begin to phase those out too.

Looking forward to it though, plus reading everyone's menu ideas as I have never really eaten much vege or vegan food.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

@Vinorosso74 I am also concerned about very processed vegan foods. I like the alpro soya Greek yoghurt, it's the nicest texture and taste I have found although it isn't 'chalky' like real Greek yogurt but it is thick. It's more like those 'French set' yogurts you used to get years ago!

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

Thanks for the book recommendations! I'll have a look at those.

It wasn't Veganomicon that I got from the library after all, it was another one by the same author but it has a lot of soya-based recipes which I'm not too keen on (DS is allergic so I don't want to make my life even more complicated!

[WeirdPookah]

I was very surprised to see fully hydrogenated fats as main ingredients of that oat cream or spray cream. All supermarkets took this horror out of own products years ago. It's terrible for us.

I guess the desire for profit is stronger than promoting health. Though surprised it has taken off among the people who will read labels and be often be aware it is unhealthy.

[WeirdPookah]

Creme fraiche rather is the tub I read. Not cream.

[Flossie44]

Yayyy!!!! Came here to look for this topic and found this thread. So chuffed.
Have been vegetarian for a year now and want to try a vegan diet so will start with January and see how it goes.
Really needing a cheese substitute!! Are there any food melters??!!
Also parmesan....yikes!! My fave so am
Going to struggle!!

Watching in earnest....

[yossry86]

I did it last year, and found this website really helpful in getting healthy recipes, good luck for all those first timers

zaatarandzaytoun.com/recipes/vegan/

[MoreMoneyPlease]

Just signed up for Veganuary so I'm pleased to find this thread. I'm vegetarian already but drink A LOT of tea with milk. I'm happy to drink coffee made with any milk substitute but haven't found a good one for tea. Will have to try a few.

[cricketmum84]

Yes I'm signed up for this year. I've been slowly leaning towards vegan for the last few months. Been vegetarian for 10 months and have cut out milk and butter and switched to plant based alternatives.

Currently trying to finish off any cheese in the house before 1st Jan as it's my downfall!

Looking forward to sharing some meal plans and recipes!

[motherofawhirlwind]

Myself, OH and DD(12) are going to give it a go. I was veggie for 18 years and also went dairy free when bfeeding DD, and DD is mostly veggie, but OH is a full on carnivore. We'll see how we go....

Asda delivery tomorrow includes Oatly Barista for my tea (he drinks black coffee anyway) and I'll try to go back to black tea.

It's going to be fairly processed to begin with at least, until I can get some weekend batch cooking in.

Plan is:
B - overnight oats / pbj toast or dry cereal for DD (no change for her!)
L - soups, salads, leftovers plus soya yogurt for DD, fruit
D - stir fry, pasta pesto, curry, sausages and chips type things but with the vegan versions or Quorn not chicken. Ice lollies rather than ice creams (usually have a mini milk).

Hoping I haven't overlooked something obvious....

[cricketmum84]

@motherofawhirlwind well done for getting the family on board!! I have no chance unfortunately...

As you asked for pointers :)

Quorn isn't usually vegan as it contains milk.
Pesto, unless you buy a specialist type isn't vegetarian as it contains Parmesan. I'm not sure how widely available it is but my local health food store does a vegan pesto or there are a lot of recipes online to make your own :)

Good luck!

[LauraMipsum]

Some quorn is vegan now. I try to do whole foods but DD is addicted to quorn vegan fishless fingers, oops.

Tesco do an own brand vegan pesto.

I'd encourage anyone doing Veganuary to have a look at Forks Over Knives - I went there for the evangelism and stayed for the recipes!

[motherofawhirlwind]

I've got the vegan Quorn pieces (already have non vegan Quorn nuggets in the freezer so will use those up this week) and Asda also do own brand vegan pesto

[elmosducks]

I found a lot of vegan recipes to be sweet which I don't like, so am looking more to curries.
Also, I love (brine) jackfruit. It is really great in the slow cooker too. Am stocking up on tins of it

[elmosducks]

Also found vegan fish sauce at my local Asian store, which is great as I use this a lot. About to try some vegan Worcestershire sauces as that's another big miss for me.

Has anyone had success with making their own coconut yoghurt? I tried and it didn't go well, but I do enjoy it as a snack.

[Fairydust00999]

Not quite vegan, Im not sure I'm brave enough, but we're going veggie this January as a start!
Had a beautiful coconut lentil Dahl and BNS from gousto tonight.
Was the tastiest meal I've had in a long time!

[HandsOffMyRights]

Good luck everyone.

I've been veggie for 30 years. I did Veganuary 2019 and continued until this month.

My advice is to avoid vegan cheese and cream. I simply could not find decent replacements. Iceland do a nice no cheese pizza for £2 and I'd rather have no cheese than fake cheese (avoid the Waitrose chilled cheese pizza, worst I've eaten).

Eating out can be tricky as some of the food is gimmicky. I see vegetarian burgers are coming off menus and being replaced by more artifical meats.
I prefer to stick to the vegan foods I always ate, like ratatouille, nice stews.

Oatly milk is my favourite (Barista, silver carton)
Superdrug sells many vegan toiletries/cosmetics and M&S do sell vegan boots (though I no longer shop in their stores).

[HandsOffMyRights]

I'll second the vegan pesto from Tesco. Red jar. Seems cheaper than other stores too.

Not all vegetable stock cubes are vegan by the way...

[HandsOffMyRights]

Also like the Pizza Express vegan salad dressing.

[cricketmum84]

I second the Iceland pizza. The one with hummous is lovely!

[headinthecloud]

My husband and I are giving it a go too. Not sure about the kids I think one out of the 3 will join us. I've already been dairy free for a year.

[WhiskersPete]

We are doing vegetarian January with the aim of moving to non dairy milk too. Looking for recipe inspiration too. Today we are having mozerella and tomato cibatta for lunch and veggie pasta bake for dinner.

What's everyone else having?

[motherofawhirlwind]

Have just had peanut butter and banana on toast and planning the Linda McCartney fake duck pancakes for dinner as DD is away so don't have to share

Made tomato soup yesterday in prep for work tomorrow and Friday and it was delicious. It's just 2 tins beans, 2 tins tomato, 2 tins of carrots inc the water, a stock cube and garlic powder. Warm it up and liquidise. DD said it was better than Heinz

[Parkandride]

I'm starting tomorrow when I'm back at work, did it last year and kept up quite a bit so won't be as big a shock I hope.

I did switch back to proper butter though, what are the best alternatives now? Think I went for vitalite last time, really not a marg lover though