Made a sudden decision to become vegan

[Starbrites]

Hi, I have been mulling it over for months about becoming vegan. What's stopped me is the extra work involved in preparing vegan meals for me and non vegan meals for my 6 year old. I love animals and cannot bear the moral dilemma of eating meat and and at the same time loving the same animals that have been killed for me to eat. I was mentally detaching myself from the meat I was eating from the animal the meat came from for years. I live near to the country and often livestock lorries go by on the way to slaughterhouses which up to now I turned away from but just recently I have seen the animals inside them and it breaks my heart. My question is, how do I be vegan and make it manageable. Are there any home delivery services that will deliver all my vegan meals for me that are good quality and also affordable? Are there any books or websites for beginners to veganism that need quick and easy meal ideas to fit in with a busy lifestyle? Thank you.

Check out allplants ready meal .

I suggest going vegetarian first then progressing to full veganism . It's a marathon not a sprint .

Ex veggie of 20 years

Why don't you just keep eating meat/animal products but source them responsibly? We rear our own lamb and pork as well as having ducks for eggs. I am fine eating that meat as I know that the animals had a v good life. I would not, for example, buy supermarket chicken. You will have local producers who can sell you produce direct from the farm and you can do your due diligence to check that it is high welfare.

@Sprig1. The 'due diligence' is that there is nothing high welfare or ethical about killing and eating a living, sentient being who doesn't want to die.

Hi thank you both for your replies. I will check out allplants ready meal. I I have already placed an order with Gusto for several vegan meals but allplants seem very good. @Sprig1 I am totally with you there on sourcing responsibly. The problem is that I have looked already for local producers with high animal welfare and haven''t been able to find them so I would prefer to go vegan.

Have a look at the Bosh cookbooks. I like spicy food and have made a few of the recipes from the Bish Bash Bosh book and all have been brilliant. There are some that freeze really well so you could do some batch cooking.

Cook meals for both of you that are vegan.
If you wish you can add chicken, cheese, fish to child's portion.
In reality my children eat vegetarian /vegan as I buy/cook less and less animal products
My oldest son is vege anyway. If my younger son asks for meat I will buy it but he really enjoys nice vege/vegan food.
Favourites in our house are :
Dahl, roasted cauliflower with rice and shop poppadoms.
Pasta and quorn/vegan sausages. Kids have pesto, I have vegan Red pesto.
Toad in hole with quorn sausages (I have vegan sausage), roast potatoes, veg, gravy.
Stir fry veg/tofu noodles with spring rolls.
Take it slowly, find meals that work for you both. Adapt current faves.

Go on a fab vegan cookery course in Malvern! She does a range of courses and offers b&b. You'll save £££ in the long run from using recipe kits. Our Lizzy Cookery School

I went vegan overnight it actually wasn't very difficult!
It took me about a month to find a milk substitute that I liked and I hated tofu when I first went vegan but now I love it after persevering with it and trying different ways to cook it. I think that was the hardest part
My DD and DH are also vegan so we all eat the same meals
My DD is very happy to be a vegan because she knows she isn't killing animals
We take omega 3 derived from algae and a multivitamin which we took when we were omnivores
Alot of the mock meats/milks etc are fortified with B12 etc

There are alot of great recipes online and great vegan bloggers

I agree with a PP that says change meals you know it's probably easier that way but it's really a great time to try new foods also

We have alot of Bulgar wheat which can be precooked and kept for salads/stir fry's it a good rice substitute as its healthier and goes well with curries and chilli's etc.. So always have this in the fridge

Curries /chillies/lentil soup & bean soup are easily frozen

You can substitute tuna for chickpeas
Helmans vegan mayo is amazing

We have a beyond burger every Sunday as our cheat meal

Tofu can absorb any flavour so is a great substitute for meat I also use alot of mushrooms to replace meat

I also use alot of nutritional yeast (nooch) my DD likes pasta in tomato sauce so I put this in to give it a boost and it adds to the flavour it's good for adding to fake cheese sauce

I find soy milk is great for cooking but I use oat for coffee and cereal etc

Lentils instead of mince or just use a mock mince

Ohh and we make our own hummus as its so easy and so tasty
Chuck some tomatoes mushrooms onions and pepper in a tray, bake it with garlic some balsamic vinegar and a little liquid seasoning goes so well with the hummus on potato

You absorb more iron if you have it with vitamin C

Thank you all so much for your great advice. As a starting point I ordered some vegan meals kits from Gousto which look really nice .I will definitely take on board all of your advice .

You can substitute tuna for chickpeas

Well now, I'm curious!

I am vegan and my daughter is veggy. We eat practically the same thing but I will add grated cheese to her meals if we are having a chilli / spaghetti etc. I also make her eggs a couple of times a week while I might have hummus or beans.

Just give vegan meals a go when you can. Don’t feel like you have to do it overnight. But I would say once you have the hang of it, you will probably find it more manageable than you expect.

Jack Monroe has lots of cheap and easy vegan recipes, I much prefer her to Bosh.

We all eat vegan main evening meals in this house. The DCs (one pescatarian and the others are meat eaters) have different breakfasts and lunches to us.