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?

[BasinHaircut]

@Ultimateblends I think I am already fully converted to oat milk (been using Oatly barista). I use almond milk (Tesco own brand) in protein shakes all the time but not a fan of it in hot drinks or with cereal.

I am not planning to stay vegan after the end of the month but I might stick with the oat milk and look into ethical cheese. Vegan cheese is just not an adequate substitute!

After last Jan we switched to buying high welfare meat and fish. Maybe next year I’ll think about keeping chickens!

I agree it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

In terms of recipes, just get on Instagram and start following the right hashtags.

[motherofawhirlwind]

I couldn't find a milk that worked I tea for me so I've moved to very very weak (literally 3 seconds and out, no squeezing) and 1 sugar. It's been a year now (I did Veganuary 2020) and couldn't go back now. I had some dairy over Christmas for simplicity and it gave me horrendous stomach ache.

[BillyIsMyBunny]

I am also definitely a convert to oat milk now, it’s a change I will definitely stick to. I haven’t found sticking to being vegan at home difficult yet so I think I will stick to a vegan household after the month, but obviously due to lockdown I haven’t had to experience being vegan and either wanting to eat out at a cafe/ restaurant or to visit friends/ family. I imagine that would be a different challenge so not sure whether it would be as easy to commit to being completely vegan once out of lockdown, but might at least aim not to buy any animal products.

[ZaraTheWonderDog]

@BillyIsMyBunny going to eat at family and friends' houses is probably the single aspect of veganism I struggle with the most, and the only one that I feel as a loss. Being invited for food is about togetherness and sharing, plus there's that Britishness in me that hates to make a fuss.

Of course it's moot now because we've been locked down forever but in normal times I will offer to take a dish with me - something that everyone could eat as a side dish if they wanted - so the host doesn't have extra work. Even that though has the potential to mark one out as being a bit precious ('she has to bring her own food, poor thing').

Eating out at restaurants doesn't bother me so much - where I live there's loads of vegan options plus it's not something I do/did very much anyway.

[BasinHaircut]

@BillyIsMyBunny we will definitely ‘eat vegan’ more often after the end of veganuary. As much as I always say I eat plenty of vegan food and enjoy it as much as non-vegan food/meals, I think it will be even more true going forward.

If I thought it was the best choice for me from a nutrition perspective to do it full time, I know that I could now. I genuinely didn’t think that before.

@ZaraTheWonderDog yes I can imagine the social aspect of eating in other people’s homes is the most difficult bit. Doing Veganuary in 2021 is probably getting away a bit lightly in that respect. Much less of a sacrifice.

[Caspianberg]

Does anyone have any suggestions for dairy/ cheese alternatives that are not nut based? Ds is allergic to nuts so we no longer can have any in the house and most recipes seem to use nuts as alternatives ie cashew cream for cheesecake, or ‘cheese sauce’

I use oat milk already

[ZaraTheWonderDog]

For cheese, mozzarisella is a decent mozzarella alternative - it's made from cultured rice rather than nuts. I don't personally like any of the mass produced cheese alternatives like Violife etc but they usually don't have nuts in - being some combination of potato starch, coconut oil and flavourings. So you'd be safe there. Similarly for cream cheese I've heard that Violife do the nicest of the widely available ones - or Tofutti (based on soy)

[LadyVegan]

Good job! :D This is so great to hear. I've been vegan for 20 years - my little advice is to just switch out things one at a time and don't stress out too much when you make mistakes.

[BillyIsMyBunny]

I admit I have fallen off the wagon a bit this week. I have been struggling with my mental health and I wasn’t organised enough to bring oat milk into work so had cows milk a couple of days and also couldn’t resist when a colleague brought cake and chocolate in for their birthday mid-week. I also couldn’t face cooking a couple of nights and resorted to ready meals I already had in the freezer which both contained cheese. I have at least not bought any dairy products and I intend to get back into being strict with myself from today and hopefully the rest of the month will go well.

[BasinHaircut]

Sorry you have been struggling OP. Hope you are ok!

Looking after yourself is the number one priority.

[ZaraTheWonderDog]

I hope you're not giving yourself a hard time @BillyIsMyBunny! Life happens. Intention is what's important.

[theneverendinglaundry]

I agree with the others OP dont be hard on yourself. To me, it's not about perfection. The fact that we are all more conscious of what we are eating makes a difference. Looking after yourself and being kind to yourself is so important, especially in these times.

Hope you're okay!

[BillyIsMyBunny]

Thanks for the support everyone, that makes me feel better about things! I’m doing okay, am currently in therapy for past trauma and hit a rough patch last week and think combined with January blues, lockdown and a stressful week at work I haven’t had the headspace or willpower to stick to 100% vegan. Am trying not to feel too bad about it though and have stuck to vegan over the weekend, definitely find it much easier at home where I don’t have to resist anything than at work where there seems to be a constant supply of cake/ chocolate and other non-vegan junk!

How is everybody else getting on now we’re halfway through the month?

[BasinHaircut]

Hope you are feeling a bit better OP, agree it’s about intention rather than perfection!

I’m doing well I think. Haven’t knowingly eaten non-vegan apart from 2 accidental cups of tea with cows milk. I think I actually prefer oat milk now though.

I’m really enjoying it and reckon I’ll stay 70-80% plant based beyond Jan. I think we eat quite well normally but I think we are eating even better at the moment. And I’ve lost weight.

[ScrumpyBetty]

Hi, glad to have found this thread as DH and I are doing veganuary. I got the book Deliciously Ella for Christmas and I would really recommend, I love her approach and her recipes are great.
I'm normally pescatarian but finding veganuary ok, however I have IBS and I find that too many beans/ lentils make my tummy very sore and grumbly, but I don't want to rely on processed food like vegan burgers and sausages too much either

[BasinHaircut]

Ok so last night we fell off the Veganuary wagon.

Had a power cut half way through cooking dinner and ended up with chicken wraps and chips from the fish shop. Needed something quick as it was getting late by the time we sorted ourselves out in the dark and DS had to get to bed, and we have a chippy at the end of the road.

Back on it this morning though!

[BasinHaircut]

Well I am well and truly on the verge of cracking here. I feel like the enjoyment has been fully sucked out of my life right now due to COVID and the little enjoyment I can get partly comes from food.

I don’t want ice cream - of which the vegan varieties are perfectly adequate, and I can make a banging vegan cake. But I want cheese, and eggs.

I think I am going to have some this weekend otherwise I might start to sink into a pit of despair. I might go veggie for the weekend to try and raise my spirits.

[theneverendinglaundry]

I havent been eating brilliantly the last week or so (burn out from schooling and caring for the children) so thought "I need to eat veggies!" And without actually planning any kind of meal I bought greens, courgettes, rainbow carrots and parsnips. I think I'm going to get some baby potatoes and make Rick Stein's Cornish Briam. It looks amazing.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cornish_briam_roasted_76167

[theneverendinglaundry]

@basinhaircut I hear ya.

Things are so bloody hard at the moment. I dont think I've ever felt so low in my whole life, to be honest.

Please be kind to yourself. I'm sure others will agree with me, the fact that you are giving veganism thought and cutting down on meat and dairy is a big thing - imagine how different things would be if the whole world was vegan for only half their meals!

[BasinHaircut]

As the end of Jan draws closer, how did we all do? Is anyone taking any changed habits away from it?

I did in fact do vegetarian last weekend and had frozen pizzas with real cheese on them, and some halloumi and a fried egg on a Sunday brunch. It really did bring me a small amount of joy in an otherwise bleak week.

I also used real cheese on my lasagne last night as I’d run out of vegan cheese, but other than that (and an erroneous cuppa) I think we have stayed vegan for the month.

DH and I have decided to make a conscious effort to stick to meat/fish a couple of times a week only, and ensuring we buy high welfare/grass fed meat and sustainable fish etc. I’ve also found some more ethical cheeses to buy. I’m going to look into local eggs and see if I can get higher welfare than supermarket bought, and just limit consumption. I am also sticking to oat milk as I actually really like it.

[Lucylivesinamushroomhouse]

Have just found this thread which is a shame as have been doing veganuary throughout this, the bleakest January in the entire history of Januarys. It’s actually my second time doing veganuary and it has been much easier in lockdown as I agree with pp, the hardest thing last time was the awkwardness of being invited round for meals.

If anything it’s added an element of interest to an otherwise miserable month. We’re not at all Scottish, but on Monday I made a vegan haggis (found a recipe by “the pesky vegan”) to celebrate Burns night and it was so delicious and easy to make. That has definitely been a veganuary highlight.

My difficulty is I have 3 kids, a husband and a lodger who are happy to eat vegan main meals (though I’ve had to do all the cooking) but continue eating cheese and butter at lunchtime (as well as the lovely soups and hummus I’ve been making!) and that’s been sooooo tempting. I literally can’t wait to gorge on cheese on Monday, and have hot buttered toast again. I just can’t bring myself to eat the vegan alternatives.

Have been a convert to oat milk in coffee and cereal since the first time I did veganuary. Tesco ran out of barista oatly for a while this month and that was stressful!

Also @unicornpower I have the veg book by Hugh f-W and I LOVE it!!!! 90% of what I cook is from that book. The beetroot hummus and carrot hummus are veganuary favourites!! And the pistachio dukka!! And all the soups and curries. Love the pinto bean chilli too. So many great recipes!

Phew. Sorry that was long. Wish I’d found this thread sooner!

[BillyIsMyBunny]

Hiya, I admit that I haven’t been perfect at sticking to veganuary over the last couple of weeks. I haven’t bought any dairy and have been mostly vegan at home but haven’t been great at resisting the non-vegan snacks circulating around work and when I visited friends last weekend I didn’t even attempt to keep dairy free (am already vegetarian so meat hasn’t been an issue, only dairy really). I do have a history of eating disorders, my mental health is very up and down and I find winter difficult so don’t think this was the best month to try and stick to a healthy vegan diet and I’ve probably been over reliant on toast and processed foods towards the second half of the month as I’ve had limited energy to cook proper meals or even to get out to the shops. As such I don’t feel like I’ve been able to give myself a proper experience of what a good vegan diet can be like.

That said I have been converted to some vegan alternatives like oat milk, mayonnaise and vegan spread and I plan to keep with these changes as they were easy to stick to. It hasn’t been hard at home to avoid things like cheese in my meals and although I tried vegan halloumi which was the rankest thing I’ve ever had the misfortune to smell/ taste the White Rabbit vegan pizza I tried was not far different from the real thing. Moving forward I aim to not buy any non-vegan foods to eat at home and outside of home to choose vegan where I can, however I don’t think I’ll be strict if eating out or at friends houses etc. I’ve definitely made some changes but don’t feel ready to make the full commitment to being 100% vegan off the back of this; instead I’ll make it so that I see foods with dairy are a treat rather than the norm.

As an aside January seems such an odd month to try and convert people to being vegan when it’s already such a tough slog to get through the month, everyone’s feeling winter blues and there’s far less fresh, seasonal veg available than in the summer. I struggled to avoid the temptation of chocolate/ cake etc which I don’t think I would find as hard out of winter when I could snack on fresh berries etc instead. I’m hoping that in a few months once I’m through the winter and hopefully have more energy I might feel more motivation to avoid comfort foods/ low-effort options etc for meals and give being vegan and cooking a wider range of vegan meals a better go.

[theneverendinglaundry]

My conclusion is that I am veganish. I will continue to eat as many vegan meals as possible and switch easy things like vegan mayo, vegan butter, oat milk and Alpro cuppa (for tea). But there are days when i will have eggs and cheese. I have been a vegetarian for a couple of years now and that will not change.

I definitely think it would be a lot easier if it was just me and DH - the children are not happy to be converted at all!

But, something is better than nothing. Lots of imperfect vegans is better than a few perfect ones. And veganuary is fantastic for making people like me think about what we are eating, and what impact it has on the planet.

[BasinHaircut]

Oh yay some of you are still with me!

I agree @BillyIsMyBunny January is possibly not the best month, especially this year given how shot everything else is. Food is one of the remaining joys!

We are not vegan or even vegetarian but how I would describe how I want my diet to be going forward is ‘predominantly plant based whole foods’. We aren’t into the convenience/overly processed foods, vegan or otherwise anyway. It was only really the cheese and although I found one that was ok for what it was, they are utter garbage in terms of nutrients and I’d rather eat proper cheese but try to buy from ethical producers, pay more and eat less often.

I think I might try another full vegan month later in the year though. It’s made be expand my repertoire of meals if nothing else.