Tips for vegan week

[merryone]

We've decided to try a vegan diet for a week, didn't think we'd manage the whole month, last week I bought a few bits in preparation, but it seems I've haven't really bought enough. So far I've found that stuff one would presume to be vegan friendly isn't (wholemeal pitta breads that contain milk powder, and dried pasta is only guaranteed vegetarian as it could contain traces of egg!) I know that fresh pasta contains egg, but dried?! Found a couple of surprises....Aldi's £3.69 pinot grigio is vegan, as are bacon flavour pringles - result! Most potato based snacks contain milk in some shape or form, and packets of crisps say vegetarian even though there's no indication in the ingredients of anything a vegan couldn't have...any clues? Just attempted to make a batch of vegan cookies, they're cooling right now...I mean they look ok, but I've yet to taste one....wish me luck. I'm on day one and I'm struggling...I think it's gonna be a long long week. Tonight's dinner we've got tomato and basil vegan balls on dubious pasta, and I forgot to buy any cheese substitute facing this meal with trepidation..Gotta avoid veggie mince cos of my intolerance...thankfully I'm ok with quorn.

Any hints and tips folks, or better still know of any tasty mainstream stuff that's vegan friendly? And boy isn't vegan food expensive?!

P.S....The biscuits are delicious....well done me!

 

[Vienna]

The other day I was reading an article in one of the online papers about vegan food, don`t get me wrong, to each their own and I regularly have vegetarian meals and days without eating meat but the article was saying lots of the vegan meals aren`t as healthy as they seem because to add flavour they regularly have a lot more sugar or salt in them. Obviously if people cook from scratch they have full control over the quantity of salt, sygar and carbs in something but the article was talking mainly about ready made stuff you can buy. To be honest it wouldn`t bother me if I never had meat but I love fish (hubby hates it unless its covered in batter ) but I`d hate to be without milk, butter, cheese and honey, all of which I love.

 

[merryone]

I know that I definitely don't want to do it for keeps, as like you say, the flavour's gotta come from somewhere, so a lot of vegan food is riddled with artificial muck to make it taste palatable. Ok there's a fair lot of naturally vegan stuff out there that we probably eat everyday without thinking about anyway..but when you have to start buying unnatural stuff to make recipes work, then I don't think that's really a good thing.Trying it out of pure curiosity, and really don't intend to take it any further than next week. But so far I've discovered a wine that I wouldn't normally touch with a bargepole 'cause it's pinot grigio which can be extremely unpleasant and with a price tag of £3.69...didn't sound too promising..bought it because it was vegan...and it's really rather lovely...and made probably the nicest biscuits I've ever tasted...I'm totally and utterly shocked by that one, so even if I succumb to a bacon sandwich before next Monday..I'll be happy! But seriously welcoming any more vegan tips 'cause I do want to last the week doing it properly!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Personally, the thought of "vegan cheese" makes me feel queasy. I have the same approach to diet food. I want to be able to visualise how it has come about. If it seems to be lab-grown (sorry, I include Quorn in that) then it's a "no" from me.

Pretty much any miso paste should be vegan, and they can give you a lovely tasty lift to whatever you are making. You can make a broth with it, put in some chopped up tofu, get some of the dried seaweed and put some of that in, plus some udon or soba noodles for more carbs (you should still check that you have vegan ones)and some diced or shredded vegetables. Or if you are not up to making something like that, you can buy ready made miso soup in individual portions in most supermarkets nowadays.

One of my go-to components to a vegan meal (I'm not vegan, by the way, but not massively into dairy)is humous. You can get pretty much any one if you are buying ready made, but jazz it up with smoked paprika, chilli, garlic and olive oil. Then serve it with a nice chunky salad (cabbage, carrot etc). Personally I also like to include pickled lemons, and some olives or tapenade... and you can include some toasted seeds or nuts for extra protein if you need to.

You can investigate some curries to get a really good, hearty vegan meal. Use chickpeas or lentils or other pulses as your base. I find chickpeas are typically quicker (canned, ready-soaked). You can then make your sauce with onions, tomatoes and whatever spices you like... and serve with rice. You could have poppadums, as I don't think they contain any milk or egg or other non-vegan additions. And if you like creamy curries - nuts are your friends... whole, ground or milks or creams of the nuts.

If you're wanting a burger, then you can do worse than a big portobello mushroom sautéed or grilled with garlic and herbs. Just make sure your trimmings (dressings etc) and bread are also vegan.

Good luck!

 

[merryone]

Seriously folks....we've thrown the towel in already..after having a rather unenjoyable meal ...We looked at each other and said "no"! It's our quiz night out tonight, and I was thinking...Ooh I can't even have my lovely mug of hot chocolate when I get back, couldn't face another coffee or tea diluted with watery nut milk. I had some in my coffee this morning and it was ok, but because you have to use more of it than regular milk, (though I normally use coffee mate ( which is not vegan of course)the coffee was lukewarm I had to blitz in the microwave. Porridge with fruit and Almond milk was pleasant enough..but when it comes to snacks and proper meals, unless you're prepared to put a lot of effort, and I mean a lot of effort in and spend a lot of money, you're gonna be stuck with mediocre food which is verging on the unpleasant. Life's too short for depressing food.....Quite happy to go meat free for the rest of the week, but Veganuary can go do one!!!

Bought some hummus and pitta breads, but then I noticed that the pittas contained milk powder, so I had to have slices of cucumber and celery to dip instead...nice enough..but it's all over now..thank God!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Maybe have another go in the warmer months?

 

[merryone]

Turns out that the chickpea mixture that these "meatballs" were made out of did my stomach no favours...shortly afterwards felt bloated and lethargic and noxious fumes were soon to follow...strange 'cause I have no problem when I eat hummus...guessing there must have some other additive in the ingredient list. Oh, and forgot to mention that they tasted like sawdust! For my health and my pocket, I think a plant based diet for me is not going to be viable. I actually think that after a while it would it would bring me down mentally too. This weekend see's my work end of year party and they've listed a lovely sounding buffet, most of which I wouldn't have been able to eat and with drink I'd have to be asking lots of questions to the bar staff...Nah...life's too short!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Turns out that the chickpea mixture that these "meatballs" were made out of did my stomach no favours...shortly afterwards felt bloated and lethargic and noxious fumes were soon to follow...strange 'cause I have no problem when I eat hummus...guessing there must have some other additive in the ingredient list. Oh, and forgot to mention that they tasted like sawdust! For my health and my pocket, I think a plant based diet for me is not going to be viable. I actually think that after a while it would it would bring me down mentally too. This weekend see's my work end of year party and they've listed a lovely sounding buffet, most of which I wouldn't have been able to eat and with drink I'd have to be asking lots of questions to the bar staff...Nah...life's too short!

Maybe forgo the "meat" balls, and stick with food that is designed for being vegan, rather than trying to pretend to be "meaty". Do you like falafel? Normally made with chickpeas, but apparently the best ones are made with a type of broad bean! Link to an article about the Egyptian fava bean Falafel https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...-falafel-recipe-henry-dimbleby-back-to-basics

There are plenty of cuisines which are offer naturally vegan dishes. The food processing industry is piling in big-time on the vegan trend, but they end up putting all sorts of stuff in there that is probably better left in the laboratory due to easier manufacturing or cost.

There is absolutely no doubt that if you want to go vegan and continue to eat well and not break the bank it requires some research and preparation!

 

[merryone]

Falafels are a no go area for me....I'd forgotten about that one, haven't been that bothered 'cause I'm not a great lover of them anyway. I've come to the conclusion a plant based diet is not a viable option for me, not even short term. I'm quite happy to have plenty of "meat free" days but I think an omnivorous diet is more suited to my constitution. I totally agree about all these lab created alternatives - they don't appeal to me at all and if you don't go for these then your diet is very limited. Yesterday I was literally scratching around for something to have for lunch and hit so many brick walls that it hurt! I agree that I didn't research it enough beforehand, nor did I get enough ingredients or suitable food in, that might have helped a bit. It's definitely not for me, i'm afraid! Not only that, I'm no spring chicken and nowadays food is one of my enjoyments in life....Of course I've always loved food, but when I was younger it was more fuel for my adventures than anything else...these days it's the "main event", or one of them...so I may as well eat food I actually enjoy!

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Although I’m a meat lover (hubby big into fish me not so much) but we eat very little red meat now and have a couple of meat/chicken/fish free meals per week.

I really don’t understand a vegan diet as opposed to meat free, for instance they don’t eat avocados for some obscure reason about false pollination.

Apart from preaching at everyone I will only have respect for a vegan who doesn’t need their food to look like chicken drumsticks/meatballs/sausages/fillet steak. Why if you are so keen on not eating animals do you still need it to look like animal flesh?

Follow Chuntley on her arsebook or twatter and you will be sickened by all her postings of her and boyfriends meals.

 

[merryone]

....and lets not forget if you're going to be a true vegan then it doesn't just stop at food. No more leather shoes or bags, no more wool, perfume and cosmetics contain animal derived products...I think this sometimes gets overlooked. You'd need to be very very dedicated indeed to call yourself a true vegan - No point bunging your falafels,and seitan burgers into a bag made out of half a cow!

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

The thing I don’t understand is how these people who profess to love animals more than anything on the planet, are going to excuse the slaughter of livestock when no one is eating meat, or how cows who need milked twice a day are going to be in agony if not milked.

How is the planet going to grow all this plant food that they need? Isn’t part of the problem that thousands of acres of rainforest etc was cleared to grow palm oil? No point in saying UK farmers can do it instead of dairy or beef farming as we don’t have either the climate or acreage for the quantity required so it has to be flown in so how does this square with carbon footprints.

Don’t get me started on champagne socialists who consider its ok for them to fly first class whereas we the peasants are not allowed to fly away on holiday. And as for Greta whatsherface, just try spending a week sailing to work when other people are taking you there for free, you don’t have to work for a living and don’t have any bills to pay.

Rant over