Going vegan for November

November is world vegan month, so I’m having a go at giving up dairy, eggs and meat for one month. My exceptions will be eating out, or when I travel overseas – different rules in different postcodes 😉 – although I’ll try to stay vegetarian on these occasions. Every little bit helps right?

I’ve pledged to be completely vegan for the first 7 days of November!

You can make your own 7 or 30 day pledge.

So, in preparation I’m stocking up on the following replacement foods:

• light soya milk – instead of cow’s milk
• seitan – instead of meat
• tofu – meat substitute
• Umeboshi Paste – cheese and butter substitute to season food
• Almond feta – to replace goats/sheep fetta (I hope this is good!)
• Coconut milk Mozzarella – to replace mozzarella made from cow’s milk
• cheese free pesto – same as standard pesto, without the parmesan
• vegan mince – be careful as soya mince can contain egg whites
  *Linda McCartney’s Vegemince is a vegan option
  * Tesco Meat Free Vegetarian Mince
• brown sugar – to replace honey in my porridge
• maple syrup – for use in baking
• coconut milk – to replace cows milk in baking and for making curries
• mushrooms – to replace and blend with vegan mince
• coconut or almond cream – to replace cream from cow’s milk
• falafel balls – for sandwiches
• hummus – for dipping and falafel wraps

So, meals I’m considering making in November include:

Lunches & dinners

• pizzas – either cheese free, or with a dairy free cheese and a vegan-pesto base
• roast sweet potatoes with vegan mince chilli
• tomato salad with maggi seasoning
• vege curry (with tofu)
• lentil curry
• brocolli with slivered almonds
• 3 bean salad
• vegan pesto pasta with fresh diced tomatoes and basil
• vege soup
• minestrone with vegan meatballs
• spaghetti with vegan bolognese
• tofu with tomato and basil sauce
• spicy bean fritters
• Cream of green peppers, with basil pesto and tofu

Breakfasts

• porridge with brown sugar
• muesli with soya yoghurt, soya milk and fresh fruit
• Tesco blueberry wheats (dry or with soya milk)

Snacks

• dried fruit and nuts for snacks
• hummus with oatcakes or multigrain crisp breads
• Nakd raw fruit, oat and nut bars
• bananas, strawberries, oranges and blueberries

Beer & Cider I can and can’t drink in November (according to veggiewines.co.uk):

Beer

• Budweiser (Budweiser Budvar is a maybe)
• Carlsberg
• Asahi
• Becks
• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• Cobra
• Coors
• Corona
• Erdinger
• Grolsch
• Heineken
• Hoegaarden
• Miller Genuine Draft
• Peroni Nastro Azzurro
• San Miguel
• Stella Artois
• Tiger
• Tsingtao

Cider

• Aspall Cyders
• Magners Pear Cider (not apple)
• Brothers (all types)
• Sheppy’s Ciders
• Westons Ciders

NOT

Beers (that use fish extract)

• Estrella
• Fosters
• Kronenbourg
• Red Stripe
• XXXX Castlemain

Cider  (that use fish extract)

• Magners (Pear is fine)
• Gaymers
• Jacques Fruit Cider
• Scrumpy Jack
• Stella Artois Cidre
• Strongbow
• St Hellier
• Woodpecker

Vegan restaurants in London:

• Vegan London
• Timeout’s Best London Vegetarian Restaurant’s List (look for the vegan ones)
• 222 Veggie Vegan

Some vegan recipes:

• Vegan Pizzas
• Carrot top rolls (translated from French)
• Cream of green peppers, with basil pesto and tofu (translated from French)
• Maplespice.com