Veganuary anyone?

[mnpeasantry]

So, never had a lot of luck with launching popular threads but wondered if anyone was game for a bit of vegan January?

My plan is to eat a plant based diet and cut out booze for all except 3 pre planned events in January.

I've put together a list of meals that sound good to me and not too arduous to put together on top of working and caring for two under 3.

Meals include:

Chips
Quinoa and sweet potato cakes
Avocado
Guacamole and tortilla chips
Veg chilli
Lentil soup
Brocolli and cashew stir fry
Spicy coconut noodles
Onion bhaji
Aubergine curry
Hummus
Sweet potato and white bean chilli
Curried coconut veg noodles
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/veggie-noodles-with-curried-coconut-sauce/
Sweet potato chickpea curry
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/sweet-potato-chickpea-amp-spinach-curry/
Pumpkin, chickpeas and coconut curry
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetable-recipes/pumpkin-chickpea-coconut-curry/
Vegan shepherds pie
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/vegan-shepherd-s-pie/
Best vegan burger
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/the-best-vegan-burger/

Why? Feeling a bit fat after Christmas and still need to lose a bit of baby weight. I feel that I have become a bit meat based in my meal planning lately and would like to diversify a bit. I'm aware of environmental and ethical issues surrounding the consumption of meat and I feel like I'm starting to believe that dairy doesn't really agree with me and triggers a number of allergies in my family.

So, is anybody with me? Let's (hopefully) improve our health and fitness, complexions, environment, digestion, etc! Feeling hopeful.

The nut loaf tasted nice but it looked like this

I sort of see what you mean... but if it tasted nice that's a win in my book! My tofu actually looked promising but was utterly, utterly rank tasting.

thanks for the seitan recipe Laura

Before I enlarged your pcture Laura, I thought it was some kind of lizard sorry!

Klingy did you press your tofu before cooking? I press mine with a ton of cookery books to get out all the liquid, then pan fry. its the only way I can eat it

Simon, I pressed it and froze it for good measure, but was still horrid. I think it was the flavour tbh. I've only really had tofu in Chinese and Thai recipes and this was flavoured with tomato, mustard etc. It was just vile. I have no idea what I did wrong. I was veggie when I was a child and always hated the taste of soy mince... I wonder if I just don't like the taste of soy unless it's masked with really strong flavours? Don't know.

It was this recipe:

itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/2016/04/05/crispy-breaded-tofu-steaks/

it's all gone quiet on here, how is everyone getting on?

I'm feeling quite low in energy today, I don't think it's my diet though, more like mid January blues. I might try some vit D as someone mentioned up thread.

I was invited to a coffee and cake morning today, I took soya milk with me and refused cake I didn't mind at all.

Well done Simon!

I made vegan sugar-free muffins with DD last weekend. They're alright for joy-free cake.

Making lasagna this evening. Yum.

Still going well here and sticking to it with relatively little trouble. It helps that it's January so few social occasions and little going out.

I've been offered some old but still - laying hens so I'm going to see how we get on with them, I am missing eggs a bit.

Culinary successes in the last week have included enchiladas and vegan mayonnaise (though not together) and some rather good Bean burgers.

My energy is finally back up and running, literally, I don't think it was dietary in my case just prolonged recovery from marathon (almost 2 months 😕) I have made a bit more effort with meals though.

Psycho did you take any vitamins?

I have to eat out a fair bit for work. Today I was thinking I hardly ever see tofu on a menu. I see it in Chinese or Thai places but not in others. (I was also think how effing annoying it is that portion sizes are so huge but that's a whole other rant).

Tofu shrinks your brain apparently 😮 (I love it though, I get this smoked tofu with sesame seeds and almonds from ocado and eat it as it is). No I keep forgetting to take the B vitamins, I must do that.

My daughter's personal trainer is putting a vegan meal plan together for me, I'll have it by Sunday and will share. It won't be particularly low calorie but portion sizes can always be adjusted.

Thanks psycho. Look forward to seeing that.
Do you think I can eat enough tofu between now and tomorrow to shrink my brain enough to cope with how the world changes tomorrow- actually there's not enough tofu in the world to make me okay with tomorrow.

Sorry I digress.

I think it only shrinks the brain of people who are pretty old! Tequila might help (is the maggot vegan?) 😈

Still here! Had a busy few days including being told that I would die if I continued being a vegan 😁 however I am still alive and still cracking on, losing weight and running ! Did a lovely lentil bolognaise last night and bought some Linda mac pies for tonight. One thing I keep forgetting to do is take things with me when I go out to snack on - nuts fruit etc. And I must take my own milk if I pop to peoples houses. All in all still very happy!

Who told you you would die 😵?!!

I'm persuaded best possible health would come from eating oily fish 3x a week plus maybe yoghurt (probiotics) but don't think we will die from not doing that 😀

I don't have a source but one of my worries is unheard vegans have the longest lifespans. Someone seriously said you'd die? That has to be a joke.

I heard, not unheard!

If you control for fact that rich people tend to be vegans more than poor people the data suggests vegans tend to die younger but nutrition studies are often conflicting. (This according to a friend who is studying nutritional medicine, I can't say I'm losing sleep over it tho!)

All I know is I'm much happier eating this way!

Oh it was my treasurer at work. He is old and set in his ways and finds it all most peculiar! It was a sort of joke but he was concerned that I would become terribly ill 😁

It's weird how nobody ever says that kind of thing when you're eating pizza or whatever but mention vegetarianism or veganism and ????

Funny I hadn't thought of rich people
My ancestors on one side were possibly originally vegan due to lack of access to anything else.

There's a huge of level of hypocrisy, I have three friends, White British, who went vegan and were shocked at the level of abuse they got - as per Romesh Ranganathan saying the prejudice made him miss racism! But my uncle who spends about six months of the year here says he hasn't encountered it yet, I think because he's seen as forrin etc. Plus he's 82 and still does yoga daily including head stands and is a former weightlifting champ on a local level. lots of athletes seem to be vegan.

one of the White british vegan friends could probably bench press the weight of some of the idiots who call her out and tell her she must be weak. I often tell her to do that imagine the accuser faces!

I have to eat out tonight, menu is shite for vegans. Oh well.

It is awful how I have been spoken to actually. Told my food looks like 'cat sick' , laughed at and called 'weird', told I was 'jumping on the bandwagon'. If I told someone the meal they had spent ages preparing looked like vomit they would rightly be really upset and annoyed but I am meant to laugh or shrug it off 😬

Oh no, sorry to hear people have been having a few problems. I else really don't get the angst towards vegans! what is it to anyone else!?

I think my friends expect it of me....I've always been seen as a bit of a hippy

I went for a run for the first time in ages and managed quite a long run with out stopping, I was quite pleased, I normally lose fitness really quickly.

I'm off to the cinema tonight, I might get myself some dark chocolate to take with me, yum.

I hope you find something half decent when you're out tonight Lorelei

Just made oil-free sugar-free barbecue cauliflower "wings" with jacket potatoes, tofu sour cream and cabbage. A lot of my recipes can be a bit hit and miss, but this one was a definite hit!

Pleased to report I'm not dead yet.