Veganuary

[BillyIsMyBunny]

Hello, I’m just wondering if anybody else is planning on doing ‘veganuary’ this year? I’m a long term vegetarian but have never made the plunge to veganism before and thought now would be a good time to make the change. Interested if anybody else is doing the same?

Yes I am, I’ve eaten the last bit of dairy from the fridge tonight and put the oat milk in, ready for the morning

I have been using oat milk for my tea too; it’s not too bad but there is a bitter aftertaste I don’t get with regular milk which I’m not that keen on. I knew that milk in hot drinks would probably be the change I found most difficult as have tried the switch before and never found vegan milks as nice. Will probably try a few different ones over the month in hope I can find one that I like.

I want to try doing lots more vegan things, although not fully committing to vegan. Whenever I've tried before, the milk thing has broken me.

Good luck! Hope it goes well. I did it 2 years ago and have been vegan ever since- honestly haven’t looked back at all (but I don’t drink tea or coffee so I never had the ‘milk issue’).

Baristas style milks are the best for hot drinks.

If you want to use ordinary plant milks warming it slightly stops the proteins and the water separating where it hits the hot coffee.

I don’t have milk in my coffee but DP prefers almond milk.

I wouldn't say I'm doing veganuary but I am making a conscious effort to eat as vegan as possible, for as long as possible.

Do try the Alpro My Cuppa for tea, it's really good! I have that for my tea and oat milk for coffee. Alpro and asda oat milk are my favourites as I find they don't split.

I’m doing it! Enjoying the almond milk in my coffe made a stew which was a let down though

I admit that I still have a little cows milk in the fridge and it seemed wasteful to throw it away so I’ve had that in my coffee today to use it up but oat milk in my tea has been okay, although definitely less enjoyable than a brew made with cows milk. Appreciating all the hot drink advice on this thread as I think this will be my biggest hurdle so going to try some of the recommended mills and hoping that I can find the one that’s right for me.

I also failed at lunchtime as unthinkingly added mayonnaise without even considering that it’s dairy. I know vegan alternatives are available so will get some next time I go shopping although I figure using up the odd item I have in the fridge (I live alone) is probably not a major ‘fail.’

Yes its probably worse to just throw things away, just try to find a vegan alternative next time you need to buy that item.

Hellmans vegan mayo tastes exactly the same as their regular mayo.

I also really love Naturli spread which tastes just like butter.

@BillyIsMyBunny I think that using up what you have is ok, as is absent mindedly using non-vegan condiments etc. Because I am an over-preparer in every sense, I switched Mayo and pesto and things like that to vegan ones pre-January so I was good to go.

I’m using Oatly barista which I assume is specifically for hot drinks and it hasn’t curdled at all. It definitely doesn’t taste like actual dairy milk but I’m finding it fine in both tea and coffee. Hazelnut milk is nice in coffee and with cereal but no good for tea IMO.

Had a very successful first day of veganuary here. Although I’m not vegan or even vegetarian usually, we do try to eat mainly plants anyway so I’ve already got a good array of recipes/meals to use.

Well done BasinHaircut on a successful first day of veganuary! And on pre-preparing - I only decided to go for it this year on a whim on the 30th and absolutely did not prepare so don’t have vegan versions of many things yet.

I’m also quite confident about having enough recipes for vegan meals as I am already veggie and don’t use a lot of eggs/ dairy anyway. Think what I’ll find hard is having to be prepared with vegan alternatives for snacks/ milk/ condiments etc, especially once I’m back at work next week. I guess at least lockdown means I’m unlikely to be going to anyone’s house or out for meals etc so I guess that will make it easier!

Can I join? I have started veganuary too. I have been vegetarian for about 25 years but thought I would see if I could be a vegan. I am also doing weight watchers which I think is making things more complicated . I have not tried before because of milk in hot drinks like a lot of you. So far it has been ok but I can’t imagine doing it for longer than 1 month. Would be great to chat with others doing the same

Hi Cityzen74, impressed you are combining veganuary and weight watchers! Although maybe that will help in terms of snack temptation which is where i anticipate struggling as the month goes on! So far I feel the same that I can’t imagine putting up without milk in tea for longer than the month, but hoping maybe I will get used to it and won’t mind. I’m thinking even if I don’t stay 100% vegan if I’m down to only using a small handful of dairy products then that’s still going to make a positive impact environmentally/ ethically etc and hopefully in terms of my health too!

Vegan fudge protein flapjacks from Morrison’s are amazing for snacks! Avoid the brownie bars they were horrible! I had a spinach wrap with peppers sweet potato & onion with vegan mayo literally didn’t even miss the chicken it was so nice! Deffo recommend

I made this yesterday. It was absolutely delicious - highly recommended.

Failing today though, as I've got a migraine so have just ordered pizza.

I am thinking of becoming vegetarian at the very least after seeing PETA footage of insemiation of sheep strapped to what look
Like Gurneys. Horrific. Nightmarish. But
It’s not worth it is it unless I go vegan it’s meaningless?

Well, it's not meaningless @Souvlaki . It depends on your ethical position and what you feel is sustainable for you. There's a saying - don't let perfect be the enemy of good - and I think that's a good place to start if you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of going fully vegan.

I agree that it’s definitely not meaningless to make efforts to eat less meat/ dairy etc even if you don’t commit to it 100% of the time. There’s a quote, ‘It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little’ which I think is true in this case. Even just cutting down a little is going to have some impact; I have been vegetarian for well over 15 years and am only now trying to make the change towards becoming vegan.

I think trying to eat less meat and dairy is a good thing @Souvlaki and you don’t have to go totally vegan immediately for it to make a difference.

@BillyIsMyBunny yes it is quite a lot doing veganuary and weight watchers at the same time but hopefully I can combine them ok 🤞. That’s a good point about it helping to avoid snacking. Although I was in Waitrose yesterday and they had vegan magnums in. They are 12 points each (I have 28 a day) and I am considering having loads of free food the rest of the day and treating myself 😮. Reckon it might be worth it!

Hope everyone is getting on ok. I am having a coffee with cashew milk and am enjoying it more than yesterday 👍

I have been vegetarian forever and have dipped in and out of veganism. I stopped a while ago because I was diagnosed as Coeliac and it just all seemed too overwhelming but have now decided vegan at home at least and only having dairy if I eat out and there is no alternative (not that I go out much!) Am trying to have as little processed stuff as possible but having a bad day today so basically just had roast potatoes for dinner which probably isn’t quite the embracing of clean eating I was aiming for

We committed to eat less meat and dairy last Jan. we didn’t do veganuary, we went veggie for the month instead as the thought of giving up cheese was just too much.

Then from February onwards I started to buy my meat and fish from a high welfare delivery service rather than the supermarket and only eat meat twice a week and fish once.

I’m not sure what to do about dairy yet but this year I might start buying local eggs too, where I know the chickens are kept well.

Another successful veganuary day here for day 2.

I'm like you OP, I'm not a vegetarian but I don't eat much meat or fish and I decided on a whim to try veganuary.

I don't have milk in hot drinks so that's not going to be a problem, the challenge for me will be cheese, butter and eggs.

I have frozen all the leftover cheese and butter (so much room in my fridge now!) and the pets can't believe their luck that they've been having eggs for breakfast for the past couple of days!

I've found a couple of recipes for vegan mayo, one I using soya milk and the other, aquafaba that I'm going to try.

If anyone has good suggestions for cheese substitutes, I am all ears...

I agree that it wouldn't be meaningless, I think any amount that you can swap or reduce is a good thing. I personally cannot do an 'all or nothing' approach, I take each day as it comes.

Had a bagel with almond butter for breakfast. Not sure what to have for lunch, but am planning a 'butter' tofu curry for dinner from the new Bosh book.

@VallarMorghulis we tried a couple of ‘cheeses’ yesterday.

The Violife Greek one was ok. Weak taste and doesn’t hold up to being warmed very well but will be ok as a substitute for the month.

We also had the Vitalite block melted on burgers last night. I’d describe it as a bit like American cheese, plasticky and fake tasting, but again was fine for the purposes of accompanying a chick pea burger.

If you look on the BOSH Instagram page they have a 20 min video where there test about 5 cheeses. I found that useful in terms of preparing myself for what a vegan cheese was going to deliver.

So far I’d say they are alternatives rather than substitutes if that makes sense?

We also tried the Tesco vegan Mayo last night and it was similar to a light Mayo.

I'm already vegan OP, but like you I was veggie for a long time before hand and I didn't personally find the transition that big of a change. For mayo try the hellman vegan mayo, its delicious. And I agree with a pp that alpro and asda own brand oat milks are the best for not splitting. I use Flora original spread as sadly they've devaganised the buttery version, but they also do a block butter that's great for baking and frying. For lunches I eat a lot of soup and hummus, but the violife spreadable cheese is really good as well imo. If you like marmite a couple of servings are enough to give you all your B12 RDA, but most vegan milk and margerine is also B12 fortified. I usually take a multivitamin containing B12 as well though just in case. Hope you get on OK, good luck 🙂