Yep, that’s right. That thing I said I could never do? I did it, for a week.
Some of you may know I’ve been toying with the idea of going vegetarian/vegan for a few months now. My core issue is with meat and dairy, mainly due to how unsustainable those industries are for the planet (thanks, Cowspiracy).
Overall my goal is to cut out meat and dairy entirely, but to still eat fish (sustainably sourced only) and eggs (local free range only). But I thought I’d attempt full on vegan-ism for a week anyway to challenge myself!
Here’s what I ate, and also some thoughts I noted down on my phone throughout the week:
Day One
Breakfast: None
Lunch: Hummus and carrots + a couple of dates
Dinner: Vegan Thai Green Curry; coconut milk, paste, peppers, mushrooms and tofu
Dessert: Blueberry vegan pancakes
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
Dates taste like caramel omg, I don’t need toffee anymore.
It’s kind of nice not to stress about raw meat…
Tofu tastes like shite.
Note to self: never buy ‘light’ coconut milk again.
Day Two
Breakfast: A Banana
Lunch: Wrap with avocado, kidney beans, sweetcorn, tomato hummus and spinach
Dinner: Tomato pasta with sweet potato and mushrooms
Dessert: Alpro soy yogurt with blueberries
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
There’s something wrong with this avocado; it’s in date but tastes gross.
I miss Philadelphia cream cheese… what a weird thing to miss.
Oh man, I can’t eat After Eights?!
Day Three
Breakfast: A banana
Lunch: Fried mushrooms on toast with rocket & tomatoes
Dinner: Wraps with ‘battered quorn strips’, peppers & bbq sauce
Dessert: Lemon sorbet
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
The quorn strips taste EXACTLY like chicken goujons, this is amazing.
This sorbet contains lactose sugar… so is it dairy? Why is sorbet dairy wtf?
Day Four
Breakfast: Cereal with Alpro almond milk
Lunch: Sweet potato pie, kale salad + raw chocolate tart (Green Star Natural Store)
Dinner: Vegan satay curry with the remainder of the quorn strips
Dessert: Alpro soy yogurt
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
I want to eat this lunch every day for the rest of my life.
(PS. I found the raw chocolate tart recipe and am totally gonna make it myself – it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted).
Day Five
Breakfast: A banana
Lunch: Morroccan couscous + vegan chocolate cookie
Dinner: Salad with fried beans
Dessert: Lemon sorbet
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
I never used to like couscous but I kind of appreciate it now.
Also I miss cheese dearly.
Day Six
Breakfast: None
Lunch: Falafel wrap + hummus crisps + vegan cookie
Dinner: Cauliflower korma curry
Dessert: Alpro soy yogurt and grapes
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
I am really craving eggs – is that weird?
Day Seven
Breakfast: Cereal with Alpro almond milk
Lunch: Avocado on toast + crisps + vegan cookie
Dinner: Beetroot nut pie things from Tesco, plus wedges and peas
Dessert: Alpro soy dessert
Thoughts I Wrote Down:
How many avocados am I allowed to eat a day ’cause I want lots.
So, overall thoughts?
I think as I continue to cut out dairy and I am really going to struggle. I will be going from eating cheese every day (sometimes 2 meals a day) to not eating any at all and that already feels difficult – there doesn’t seem to be anything that can substitute it for flavour and texture either (that isn’t insanely expensive).
I didn’t really miss meat though, and I certainly enjoyed not having to prepare it (I’ve been trained in restaurants and dear God I can scare you with food poisoning stories). However, as barbecue season comes around I can see that I’ll be missing sausages and pulled pork a heck of a lot.
Would you struggle going vegan for a week?
I’m impressed, but boy you really don’t eat much, no wonder you have such a great figure – i’d be STARVING! Nice variety of dinners though, I try and cook a vegan meal at least once a week but doing it day after day would be such a challenge! My brother has been vegan for nearly 6 months, purely because of watching Cowspiracy. As I had to remind him, that programme in itself was also very biased – if you limit your meat and dairy to only eating smaller amounts from sustainable source = good! There are some very unsustainable practices with typically vegan foods – soya especially! Another random thing I noted – plastic fork?! Alice xx
http://www.woodenwindowsills.co.uk
Ahahaha that’s a stock photo, but I see your point. God dammit.
And yeah that’s what I’ve been struggling this week; it gets to the point where you think ‘what’s the point in cutting out this food when there’s a billion other things in my life that are unsustainable’, like little things like toothpaste and toothbrushes are probably unsustainable. But at the end of the day I used you just have to start somewhere, and I imagine the meat/dairy industry is one of the biggest issues!
It is demoralising though- you think you’re doing something good and then you find a million other things haha X
I totally know what you mean, every step we try and take in our society to be completely sustainable, but you’re right- every little counts and if everyone did their bit then the world would be a much much better place! Xx
Well done for giving it a go! Apparently cheese contains a chemical that makes you addicted, that’s why people attempting to go vegan find it the hardest thing to give up. My advice, if you still want to give veganism a proper go, is to just cut out cheese completely. Don’t try to replace it with vegan cheeses straight away as you probably won’t like them until your body has got over the dairy cheese craving. If, later on, you fancy trying vegan cheeses, the best one is probably Violife which you can find in Tesco and health food shops.
After Eights aren’t vegan, but you can get ‘fake’ versions such as Sainsbury’s after dinner mints. If you would like any advice then just give me a shout – I’d love to help :) Oh and you must pay a visit to the Wildebeest vegan cafe in Falmouth – the desserts are to die for!
Jessica x
Cruelty Free Cottage
Thanks so much for the advice Jessica! I didn’t know that about cheese but I can totally believe it haha. Most things I love in life are cheese based (pizza, lasagne, Mac n cheese) so I’m finding it very hard, but I know that it’s better for my health overall to cut it out. Xx
We don’t have many vegan cheese options in my country – boooooo :(, but there’s a very nice almond cream cheese (they also have the slices version) that tastes exactly the same as Philadelphia and that’s being said by a girl who loved cream cheese so very much. It’s called Simply V and it’s made from almonds with different vegetables. It’s great.
Sigh, this is something I think about often and I think it’s pure willpower that stops me doing it. So interesting to read your week of vegan though, gives me hope I could manage it and not be super sad and cry a bit. Cheese though. I would miss cheese too.
M x
Hi Anna, I’m just catching up with your blogs..!
Great news that you’re considering a less meat and dairy lifestyle. As you know, we’ve been vegetarian for many years (Y &T for life) but back in April we decided that veganism was the way to go. Like you, cheese was the big concern as I’d become a lazy cook and used it in most of my main meals, but over time, that craving has disappeared. To be honest, the smell of it now makes me feel a bit queasy! So, no cheese board this Christmas really won’t be a problem! I read that you were unimpressed with tofu; I believe that I could persuade you otherwise with the different ways I cook with it, so if you feel brace enough to try it again, I’ll happily share my recipes.
Awh thank you that would be awesome! I really have only tried tofu the once and I didn’t season it or anything so definitely willing to give it another go.
The cheese thing is still a bit of an issue… especially when Nath LOVES it and always has tasty flavours in the house. But hopefully you’re right, eventually my tastebuds will change and I won’t crave it anymore! Xx