Sourdough w/houmous, pomegranate sauce, dukkah and coriander.

I’ve found the last week of the challenge a little more difficult, as I’ve had less time to cook, meaning my meals have been less creative. Although I can easily make vegan versions of my fave weekday veggie meals – removing egg from stir frys, swapping dairy to vegan cheese on pasta – the changes I make often make the meals less tasty. 

Sacrificing my enjoyment of my food for my morals is something that I find really tests my commitment. Perhaps if I can find some more vegan meals that are delicious in their own right, instead of trying to veganise veggie ones, I might find the challenge slightly easier. So for the rest of the month I’m going to ensure I’m alloting extra time for this. 

Ultimately, though, it is a nice feeling knowing that I’ve been eating with more integrity. I wouldn’t say I’ve noticed any physical benefits, apart from perhaps clearer skin, however, knowing I’m acting in better alignment with my values/morals feels good. 

My favourite meal this week has been Alison Roman’s ‘twenty twenty stew’, which was easily made vegan by swapping out dairy butter for vegan. 

It was very yummy, but very simple to make, so I’ll definitely be making it again in the future. I’d also recommend it to anyone who likes pickles, or dill, as the recipe involves a large quantity of the latter and the stew base has a lot of vinegar in it. 

I also learnt how to ‘frizzle’ onions whilst making this dish, so that was something new that was fun. link to the recipe

I’ve really enjoyed week 2 of the challenge! I managed to have 5 vegan days this week, which I’m very happy about.

This week I used the too good to go app to ‘rescue’ a box of fruit and veg; it cost me a fiver and had so much good stuff in it. As the items you receive are a surprise, I ended up with some ingredients that I wouldn’t have bought otherwise, so it’s been fun working out ways to use them all. 

The above pic is my fridge all stocked up with the produce! I also gave a lot to my housemates to use too, and we’ve talked about doing something similar on a regular basis. So a really good experience 🙂

Finishing up week one feeling proud to have completed three vegan days this week! 

I’ve found sticking to vegan very easy to do at home, but much harder to do whilst out and about. There are extremely limited vegan options for eating on the go, and I felt very ‘extra’ asking the bar staff at my local pub to check which of their wines were vegan for me. 

My saving grace has been the huel shakes that I usually have for lunch, as these are all plant based anyway. They also allow me to subvert the no eating in the library rule, so it’s a double win. 

Pictured above is a tofu and veg stir fry with some vegetable gyozas on the side. 

Today I had my first vegan day of the week, after three ‘false starts’ this week due to 1) pancake day and 2) realising I had a lot of eggs that needed using up in the fridge . 

As a vegetarian, I was expecting switching to vegan to be a relatively simple change of simply omitting dairy products from my weekly shop, however there is dairy in SO MANY things you don’t expect! So that’s tripped me up a bit so far.

In order to make the challenge more enjoyable, and therefore easier to stick to, I’ve decided to try and spend a bit more time than usual cooking during the week and make some extra special meals. I kicked things off today by making coconut dahl, which I had with rice, lime pickle and fresh coriander. It was delicious!