One thing I will keep

I have totally fallen in love with the vegan 'meat' brand Frys.


http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/

I have tried in previous years to cut down on processed meat - but everyone has slip-ups. Now I can have those breaded meats and polony/vegetarian slicing sausage (this must be like American baloney, I think it's like Spam!), it's really nice in that 'dirty-meat' way.

It comes in a frozen tube - which may be off putting at first - I didn't pick it up the first few times I saw it. I love it now!

I haven't tried all of the food in the range but I have tried their chicken burgers, Louisiana tenders and Schnitzels and they are great! The only thing I have tried from them that I haven't liked was their mince.

I would totally recommend this brand and will continue to buy them after my vegan year.

My first vegan resturant experience

Of course I have eaten out as a vegan - but never at a vegan restaurant. I was a little bit excited! We visited the super-healthy, raw, vegan restaurant Pure On Raw which is based in Sheffield, UK. http://www.pureonraw.co.uk/
 


I had the Burrito, which consisted of a dehydrated wrap made out of spinach, it came covered in cashew sauce and mustard and it was served with a very generously sized salad, a seedy-chewy 'thing' and a pot of dressing. It cost £8.50
 

The restaurant was very light and airy.

 

 


We didn't order for the children as they had snacked all morning but they had lots of tastes. Much to my daughters despair. She asked the waitress if she could have fish and chips three times

  

Look how healthy it is!

 

Amazingly healthy sounding juices - but we stuck with water as we are on a budget and this was lunch. I took the (terribly blurry) picture for juicing inspiration.

 

 

My husband had the 'burger' which was a nutty patty smothered in mustard and served with burger 'fixins' like red-onion rings and gherkins. This was also served with the same accoutrements of seedy thing, salad and dressing. The burger had a nice smoky taste. His meal was tastier than mine! This was £9.

 

Evan eats salad

 

 

Seedy thing

I also took home an Apricot Cheesecake which got smushed, so there is no way to make it look pretty again. £4.

The cheesecake tastes odd, so I wouldn't buy it again and it annoys me that we went to a food festival and saw slices of non-vegan cheesecake for £2.30 a slice. The more I think about it I wonder how it can be cheaper to produce a cheesecake cheaper that takes the maintenance of an animal to make it than one that's based on cashews?

 

The food from Pure on Raw was really fresh tasty and we (grown-ups) came away feeling very virtuous, but I thought it was expensive for cold food. OK I know that is the point of raw food, but still - I have had plates of salad for cheaper! and without the wrap (which I didn't like) my dinner was basically a well-made salad. Mark's burger was nice - it but felt like the meals would be a great option in a deli as a takeaway lunch for around £5-6 rather than just under the £10 mark. I would LOVE it if this was an affordable, easy to access lunch option for me - it isn't.

 

My daughter Tuesday was impressed with the self-service water station, but both kids weren't that impressed with the food. There was a revolt against shredded beetroot at one point. I don't think I will be taking them back there.



The problem with 'vegan'

I have joined a lot of vegan Facebook pages and real-life vegan groups in order to fully immerse myself in the world of vegan and one thing that I keep noticing is - vegans are dicks. Strong wording I know, and I am trying to combat this way of thinking.

Why?

Palm oil. One of the things that have turned me off vegan's are the (constant) arguments about palm oil - join any vegan Facebook page and you will no doubt become aware of the arguments before long. The problem doesn't only lie with those 'preachy' palm oil haters (we all know it's bad, but trying to become vegan and ethical overnight takes time guys), but also those vegans that argue against the preachy. It's basically a big back-and-forth of people calling one set 'palm-oil loving murders' and the other set 'preachy know-all goody-goodies'. It gets tiring.

The words 'Vegan' and 'Omni'. The same way some vegetarian's look down on fish-eaters... some vegans look down on EVERYONE! Guys - why don't we just get all 'hippy' and do our best and stop judging others, like some people don't recycle and some people drive too much, we can't change people - but we can change the world by doing OUR best.

This > http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2011/07/06/self-righteous-vegan/ <won't work!!

Angry vegans. I was at a vegan meet recently and one lady was talking about a woman who had gotten pregnant and decided to 'get rid' of her dog. I do think this is wack, but the 'angry vegan' solution was 'she had the dog first, so she should have got an abortion'. What?!?! She would rather have someone destroy an unborn child (that they wanted - pro-choice y'all) than re-home a dog? It's just so black and white to some people. Yes, the pregnant woman was bailing on her responsibility as a dog-owner but you cannot judge a situation fully from the outside; maybe she was low-energy because of the pregnancy and the dog wasn't getting walked enough, maybe the smell of her dog was causing morning sickness, maybe she had seen scary 'dog attacks kid' stories in the press and got scared...? I am not saying she was right or wrong to get rid of her dog, but she obviously thought she was doing right.


So my 'vegan manifesto' is to be nice to people - even when they are shovelling burgers into their mouths!! Buy vegan food - as it will create a demand and as a result become more readily available. Take vegan goodies to as many bake-sales, WI meetings and coffee mornings as possible - spread the word that vegan cake is yummers. Small (happy) steps!

So...how "vegan" am I?

OK so I know I have put a shelf life on being a vegan I started on the 28th December 2013 and I am aiming to make the year - I am actually going to a wedding on the 28th December 2014 so I have always had it in my mind that I will break then. Saying that, I am actually really enjoying being a vegan - it's making me re-address how I eat, forcing me to make friends with new foods (hello Mr.Carrot) and I am feeling good.

But vegan's I have noticed (on Facebook) like to play the 'I am way more vegan than you' game. So I am lying it out for you and you can take me as I am.

In my house when I am cooking (and I do the cooking at home) I am completely vegan - no honey, no eggs, no meat, fish, dairy...nuttin. When I am out of the house (or getting takeaways) I am a little more lax, I order the veggie choice without cheese/sour cream/mayo... but I am not the guy asking if my veggie burger is made with cheese or egg or if  fish or chicken stock has been used in the preparation of my vegetables in satay sauce. I live with my two children and husband who are not vegan so I cook meat and eggs, pour milk, and grate cheese. I make the cuppa round at work and pour milk there too! I would not force my views on them, but they are eaten a bigger selection of food and often fully vegan meals as a result of my diet... and I try to take vegan snacks to share at events.

I wear leather shoes - but since becoming a vegan I haven't bought leather shoes. The same with wool and silk clothing. I am trying to reduce the amount of clothing I buy and aim to buy organic cotton when it's an option.

So there it is...

Tofu scramble

Eggs! OMG the ease of cracking one of those guys to make toast into a meal, to make roasted veggies into a meal, to make cheese into a ...you get it right? Eggs are useful.
But vegans don't eat eggs, so if you want a scramble you have to venture into the world of TOFU!!!
So I did, and guess what? It's not bad.

The thing about tofu is that there isn't much flavour to it, so you have to add your own - enter harrisa. This recipe is fragrant, spicy and tangy - because of the vinegar. Perfect for a weekend brunch or supper or anytime you miss eggs.



Harrisa Tofu Scramble on Homemade Olive-Garlic Wholemeal Bread

Ingredients:

 

1/2 red onion - diced

6 cherry tomato's - halved

1/4 block of tofu

1 heaped teaspoon of harrisa (I used powder, but paste would be fine)

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1 tea/tablespoon of coriander (I used dried - so a teaspoon, but go crazy and add a chopped tablespoon if you have fresh)

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1/2 slices of your toast of choice - vegan-buttered (or a pitta/wrap)

 

Method:

 

Heat the oil in a pan on medium and add the harrisa spices, wait a minute for the fragrance to develop then add the onion and stir until softened. Add the tofu and stir to cover in spices, cook by leaving the tofu for intervals so that it browns in places. Once the tofu has browned slightly toss in the tomato's and coriander. Whilst the tomato's are cooking to your liking, toast your bread. Just before serving pour in the apple cider vinegar - the pan will sizzle and that means your scramble is ready! Plonk it onto your (now hopefully buttered) toast and enjoy.

 

 

 



Three months in

I am now (nearly) three months in to a self-made resolution to go vegan for a year. Mostly to see if I could it and what I will take away from the experience. So far I have found foods I will definitely be adding to my diet post-experiment and I am learning a lot about nutrition and the pros and cons of a vegan life. Because what started as a diet has kinda taken over my life!