How to half-arse being vegan.
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- Don't throw the towel in, I have some ideas....
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/// TIMESTAMPS ///
00:00 intro
02:20 breakfast vegan
03:35 brand vegan
04:01 tag vegan
04:35 eat out vegan
05:03 eat in vegan
05:21 snack vegan
06:08 condiment vegan
06:37 no swap vegan
07:34 nigella vegan
08:24 points mean prizes vegan
09:28 outro
/// SOURCES & BOOKS MENTIONED ///
The CCC recommends a 20% reduction in meat and dairy by 2030 and 35% reduction for meat by 2050
www.theccc.org.uk/2022/06/13/...
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer
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I've made a shareable gallery post of the ideas in this video, should you like to save them for reference or share them around! instagram.com/p/C1kCKNfNVvZ/
‘I’m begging you to half-ass it’ is my favourite anti-perfection sentiment I’ve heard so far
I came here to say that😂😂
I am a vegetarian and 1/3 of my meals are vegan. I am half-assing it the whole year long
There's a lot of power in it. It emphasises that awareness is more important than excellence. We'd rather have a bunch more people at least try than have only those who can be 100% pure vegan.
I am autistic and the way my autism presents, I can't handle most vegetables textures. Therefore I used to have a very meat heavy diet. In October 2022 I started to try vegan alternatives. I first switched to soy yogurt and then started to try at least one meat alternative every month. I just picked what ever was on sale the first week of the month. Pretty quickly I was buying at least one vegan alternative every other week and in July last year I was at one vegan option every week. Halfway through October I found a brand that didn't just not trigger my autsim, but that I actually really enjoy. My diet is now almost completely plant based.
I feel like this could work as a variation of the brand vegan challenge. Try your way through vegan brands. (Unless I missed it and it's already in the video. You offer so many options, I lost track)
My bf is a meat-eater, not even close to being vegetarian in any way, but he says that Quorn vegan chicken nuggets taste better than actual chicken nuggets, so PLEASE don't be discouraged if you try one meat alternative/vegan ingredient and you don't like it. Try another one, and another one. There are SO MANY vegan options now (especially here in UK) that I'm sure everyone can find something they will love the taste of. :)
For sure; we (1veggie, 1 not) have 3 meat subs lists - those we like, are indifferent about, and dislike. Must be going on 40 different options!
I agree with the Quorn nuggets, they do taste better! Never went back to the original ones :)
That's funny, I don't love the quorn nuggets, I find the texture a bit boring and there isn't a great flavour to them. Recently tried VFC pieces and really like them. They have a range of textures and a decent amount of flavour, caught me a bit off guard when I first had them because I hadn't eaten meat for two years at that point and it was a bit of a shock remembering the variability of textures in a single piece of meat, seriously the closest substitute I have tried.
A lot of the best ingredients I eat are not trying to be meat and that actually makes life a bit more interesting. A good example is Jackfruit burgers, they have a texture and flavour all of their own, while still be part of a satisfying meal
I've been vegan for a few years now and love these suggestions. When friends says 'I'd love to be vegan except I love eating out/cheese/bacon erc' I'm always like, no need to be vegan then, just switch out the stuff you don't love when you're able to🎉
I feel the taste pleasure we get from consuming these products isn't necessarily a justification in of itself to do so though. We should be taking responsibility and hold ourselves and each other accountable.
Thank you for sharing the 35% reduction recommendation, that is actually very helpful for my perspective. I love the idea of picking one of the 3 daily meals and going vegan for a third of each day, that seems manageable! Sincerely a former low dairy veggie who fell off the low dairy band wagon a bit since having kids and needs a kick up the bum slash some Gumption to get more vegan again in 2024!!😊
So relatable!! You got thiiisss 🎉
"more vegan"
great advice, i 100% agree that half-arsing is so much more effective than an all-or-nothing approach. 35% is a pretty attainable goal for most people.
one thing i do to half-arse my reduction (and has helped me transition into a more plant-based cooking style) is to simply spread my animal products more thinly. i pad out meals with extra plants (eg: a chicken and onion curry vs a chicken, onion, lentil, pumpkin, cauliflower and cashew curry) which not only reduces the amount of meat/dairy per portion, but also means i have to cook less. a win-win!
This is my strategy too. I use meat for the seasoning, not the substance.
I don’t eat meat that often but unfortunately I unintentionally lost a ton of weight this year & in order to gain it back I was instructed to add some more meat in my diet because it’s denser in calories / protein. Accessibility isn’t perfect for everyone but I’m thankful for everyone who is picking up my slack in this area, I’m doing what I can with what I have! Thank you for your non-judgmental video
As a vegan that will eat an omelette in dire situations (travelling Japan was notoriously difficult and expensive for vegans for example), I love all of this. One of my favourite things about being vegan is that the people around me realize that it is not that hard to make good vegan meals once in a while and many of them have included more vegan options on their daily diet. We also love discovering new great vegan restaurants around us. :) Any little bit helps, it's not an all or nothing kind of thing
Vegan here too! Always remember its “as far as practicable and possible” when it comes to avoiding animal products, so don’t beat yourself up in dire situations.
This was great! Funny you mention Nigella because my absolute favourite vegan cake recipe that I make every year for Christmas to wow the non-vegans at the gathering is called the vegan lemon tendercake with blueberry compote and its by Nigella. I'd highly recommend it to anyone thats bored of the same exact vegan chocolate cakes every year.
I also love the idea of a brand vegan! Great way to show those companies that their vegan option is popular enough to stay and stops some decision fatigue
Um that sounds AMAZING! I will definitely be looking it up
Avant Garde Vegan, Pick up Limes, Liv B, Mina Rome & Jess Beautician's videos helped me SO much while I was going vegan 🌱💚 rooting for you all!
gaz oakley, rachel ama, and rainbow plant food are great as well!
Pick up Limes also has an app to help with meal prepping and groceries lists etc :D
rachel AMa fantastic
@@Alenajellybeans
I've been doing "eat in vegan" for a few months now, and it happened gradually and a little by accident. Finding vegan recipes is somehow easier than vegetarian recipes, so I ended up following a lot of vegan food blogs and using their recipes. And then when I eat out I'll eat dairy and eggs. Love all the options you gave here, they're great ways to do something without doing everything.
Something I’d recommend too…check out what veggies are currently in season in your area! (Now I admit January is a hard month for this, sometimes there’s only a few options, so feel free to wait until Spring.)
Find a farmers market, check out what is available, and try new things you’ve never cooked with before! Never cooked a leek before? I highly recommend leek potato soup! Spice up your cesar salad with mustard greens and radicchio. Fennel is my favorite! Try sauteeing the bulb like you would an onion (though I prefer eating it raw).
There’s so many veggies not available at most grocery stores that could be growing abundantly where you live.
(Sidenote, I’m not vegan/vegetarian I just get really excited about local agriculture lmao)
Leeks and fennel are amazing, I also highly encourage everyone to check out parsnips (it's like a mashup of a carrot and a potato) and celeriac/celery root! Never would have thought to try celeriac and now it's my favorite root vegetable. I'm also very into lentils. If you have a regular degular lentil sausage soup, swap the sausage for a nice big spoonful of gochujang (or miso, or soy) and boom. All the savory, none of the meat.
My roommate pointed out that signing up for Veganuary is still helpful since apparently they send you information and meal plans and recipes.
Love this! I was a strictly eat in vegan for probably 5 years before going fully vegan. We need more people advocating for small steps, as it’s far more realistic for most people
I enjoy meat and animal products but 20-35% is achievable, more like introducing more healthy meals rather than taking away something else. I think the challenging part is realising just how much of my food involves eggs, milk, meat and getting in the habit of substituting or leaving out ingredients. But it's not insurmountable.
Oo, love the options, and how about trying a different one each month throughout the year? That could even bring bonus points!
I don't want to be vegan, but I do believe in reducing meat and dairy consumpton, recognising when you're privileged enough to be able to buy from local, ethical and more sustainable sources (and doing so), increasing seasonal veg consumption, and trying new things. So think this gives some great options for exploring vegan food and finding ways of doing better, without pushing people into a diet that might not suit them/ might come with other downsides. This month I shall be an "eat out vegan"!
As a vegan of almost 11 years, I love these recommendations! Small fun steps are key. It’s much better to make a small change than no change at all. And when you take gradual steps, you can have more fun with exploring all the vegan options (while not feeling restricted). Once you find the vegan foods that you LOVE, it becomes easy.
As someone who was raised and still lives in Texas where not eating meat is borderline blasphemous, the idea of going full vegan is so overwhelming to me. I really like this perspective of it not having to be all or nothing. My partner and I already have a resolution to make 1/3 of our meal plan vegetarian this year but maybe we'll try and throw in some vegan recipes as well. I would love to eventually be eating a majority plant based diet but for now we are just taking baby steps so we have the best chance of maintaining the lifestyle change
Fellow American here and this was definitely the right way for me and my household to approach going veggie/vegan! I started out a few years back with 1/4 vegetarian and have now worked my way up to ~90% veggie leaning toward vegan and slow and steady has helped so so much with changing all the weird cultural feelings surrounding meat
This is a great approach to making changes in your life. There are some wonderful vegan options to choose from, especially when you look at international cuisines; Thai, Mexican, Indian , Middle Eastern , etc.
I was a strict vegan for 20 years, now my attitude is to do your best and if once and awhile you eat something that isn’t vegan, it isn’t the end of the world.
There are going to be situations where you might not be able to eat a vegan meal, rather than beat yourself up about it, give yourself some grace. Good luck with your success, in any changes you choose to make.
I decided to do Veganuary again as I did it last year, however I then completely forgot and had an omelette last night! Soo this video has come and the perfect time and I’m going to change my thinking on Veganuary - I haven’t already failed I’m just going to be ‘points win prizes vegan!’ Thanks Leena ! Amazing as always, happy 2024 xx
For those who want to try cooking more vegan, I recommend "Plant-Based on a Budget" by
Toni Okamoto. Her sweet potato sandwich was life-changing for me.
😊 thanks, sounds amazing x
Just found it on my local library 📚 e-reader woo! Thanks again x
@@SophieMcKenzie-ShawThat’s exactly how I found the book! Happy reading and cooking 😊
Leena, you blow my mind with every vid! I will absolutely, whole heartedly, half ass this veganuary to the best of my ability! Can't wait for the prizes, I have my eye on a particularly cool thermos
Fun video! I went vegan 21 years ago. It's not that hard, good youre showing that also.
Due to the milk protein allergy, I started trying out vegan recepies as those were easiest way to find recepies without dairy. 2,5 years of trying out many vegan recepies, I suddenly realized, that at home, I had not eaten redmeat in 2 months and other meat/fish for 1 month. At that time I was single, which made this possible, as I cooked all of my meals, I made my favourite foods, which were mostly vegan at that point. It was slippery slope to begoming mostly-vegan-at-home, because I had already been without meat for 1 month. Why to go back. Now, I have been 6,5 years mostly-vegan-at-home. My partner fully supports this. He eats often meat at restaurant, but at home my cookings always go. 🤩 I often eat vegan also in restaurants, but not always...
Oat milk is the superior plant alternative milk, almond milk sucks, change my mind!
My favorite are the pea protein milks. Oat is probably my next favorite after that though.
Yes! I love the idea of not being perfect 😉 a recipe tip for the Nigella vegan option is cauliflower buffalo wings. I've made several versions and my brother (who basically eats nothing but meat) said it's one of the best things he ever tasted.
I love this approach to veganism because it's hard! It's a difficult nexus of diet and culture and morals etc etc all while you're just getting through life. I'm vegetarian but have recently had some health problems that have made me want to quit dairy, so I'm excited to try as many of these challenges as possible!!!!
Such a great video as always!
For me the best thing I found to keep me going was to change my mindset, instead of thinking of what I was missing, I thought of what I was gaining. There are so many delicious vegan foods, and recipes that I would never have tried if I’d have stayed veggie. It made me a much better cook, and I eat much more flavourful and healthy food now!
Also just looking at cute reels of pigs running around also helps 😂
love it and I agree. when people say "I could never be vegan because I'm a total foodie", I wish I could show them how many amazing new foods I have found BECAUSE I have to get creative! I can't go to a random American diner and find a reliable variety of vegan stuff when I travel, so I have gotten comfortable ordering at Ethiopian, Thai, Malaysian and Lebanese restaurants.
there is so much to be gained. it's an adventure. kudos for following your convictions
My patches have arrived! I am so excited about them. Thank you Leena!
I like that you are offering options to those who cannot commit fully. However two things - you can get help from vegan mentors via the veganuary campaign. They provide advice via email etc. also it is easy to go vegan now. I went vegan in mid 90s and that was a whole different ball game where health food stores where your lifeline. Now you can get specialist vegan items in your local supermarket and virtually every product imaginable.
Agreed. I think people imagine that going vegan is a lot harder than it actually is!
This is such a brilliant list of options! I struggle with full veganism due to health reasons so this is wonderful for me to increase my plant based options while still ensuring I don't have a flare up. Thank you!!!!!
I was vegan for 12 years and I turned vegetarian a couple of months ago but after going through the holidays and having my body weight in cheese and eggs I can't wait to have many more vegan meals again. Thank you for this video!
When talking about climate change, it's also important to note the carbon footprint of different foods. Eating meat occasionally, especially those with a low carbon footprint like chicken, might lead to a diet with a lower carbon footprint overall than a vegetarian diet loaded with milk and dairy. For someone who does not want (or can't due to diet restrictions or other health reasons) eat a completely vegan diet, removing beef (and maybe also cow's milk products, but beef alone has a huge impact) from their diet for one month might be a great way to reduce their carbon footprint.
Been plant base for over ten years, I am sitting this one out, best of luck to you all, Happy New Year!
always love hearing your perspective on these issues, helps so much to be reminded that i don't need to perfectly commit to be making a difference. i can be a breakfast vegan, that's incredible. thank you!
I also recommend to not eat meat replacements if you can and choose Whole Foods as much as possible. There are many recipes available online. I like the ones from rainbow plant life.
These are some really great ideas!! I’ve slipped off eating more veggie the last few months so some great inspo for both veggie and vegan approaches this month!
Been a vegan for seven years now and as a formerly trashy American kid who loved beef jerky I feel pretty confident in recommending vegan jerky, the snack fixation is still there, it just matured with me 👍
MAAZING AMAZING video. Wow. I don't know how to explain how reassuring this video is but you just worded everything so well and effectively, I was just think "yes yes yes!" in my head at every point.
great video for some inspiration, thank u and happy new year🎉
You make living sustainably so much less scary (and in turn make facing the climate crisis less "we're all going to die!" and more "we're going to change ... but, like, in a fun way!") Thank you for your content. You improve both my day AND my outlook.
Absolutely love this video, will probably try out breakfast + snack vegan as I don't have much control over other meals. I also love the idea of a point system- I live for points!
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Thank you! This video re-inspired me to keep trying to make vegan choices - I'm already mostly vegan but slipped a bunch over the holidays, so going to do a combo of the condiments, nigella, eat out vegan, and breakfast + snacks!
Loved this! Love this channel.
Happy New Year! My two favorite can’t-stop-eating vegan things are celery and parsley salad inspired by Gabrielle Hamilton (weird because I hate both celery and parsley, but put ‘em together with lemon and garlic and wowza), and lemon garlic tahini dressing, which I swear I would drink like a smoothie. Thanks for the further inspiration!
I’m an accidental vegan a lot of the time as I’m lactose intolerant and live with my sister who is a vegetarian. We never have meat in the house (apart from at Christmas) but I do sometimes choose a meat option at a restaurant or take-away.
I really struggle if I tell myself I’m not allowed to eat certain things so half-arsing or being flexible has worked really well for me. Fully support this and would highly recommend- so many accidentally vegan products in the shops now as well!
I love that idea, and I've been always preaching that to my friends who told me that they couldn't do it!
I've been vegan for quite some time (during my uni times, for about 3 years) and at some point I've realized that it's super hard for me to keep it up. When visiting friends/family, I could see that it was really problematic to accommodate my needs (which I'd never force them to, ofc!), and bringing my own dish (potluck style) wasn't always possible. I'm a foodie and, especially with my friends, we celebrate foods a lot. Going back to being a sloppy vegan/vegetarian was a game changer. At home, I eat mostly vegan (but if some product contains that infamous 0.5% milk powder, I'll still get it); when eating out, I'll always get the vegan option. But when the choice isn't mine, as when I'm visiting someone, or they just want to share their new recipe - as long as it's vegetarian, I'm game.
Is it perfect? Prolly not. Could I be doing more? Prolly yup. Is it the best I can do for now? YES. And I think that's exactly the point.
Around 1.1% of the population is fully vegan; that means if the other 98.9% just swapped 10% of their diets towards veganism, they'd have almost 10 times bigger impact.
I'm 95% plant-based. I do still eat dairy occasionally and don't expect that to change. I didn't even expect to end up this way - during the pandemic lock-downs, we were all stuck at home so I decided to introduce more plant-based meals into my diet and I started watching Derek Sarno, Rainbow Plant Life, etc. on YT. I thought I'd eat plant-based meals maybe 2 or 3 times a week. But over the next three years I just started cooking more and more plant-based because I enjoyed the challenge of learning a new way to cook, the food was really tasty and felt it aligned more with my values. But I never started with the intention of going vegan and, if I had, I probably wouldn't have followed thru because it would have been more of a 'should' rather than just following the process...
I am plant based for 2 or 3 years now aside from occasional honey for medicinal purposes and indulging in a non-vegan baked good about 2-3 times a year.
Nearly everyone I know who has "goes vegan" completely and suddenly gets really passionate about it and doesn't maintain it. Nearly every plant-based person I know that has kept it up for years started with incremental changes.
Of course, you don't need to end up completely or nearly plant based, but if you are inclined to head that way, these changes seem a good place to start or end if that is where you want to stop. If you don't like those ideas, eating meat only once a day or meatless Mondays or something else can be a good starting point.
Yes! Half-ass it! Half-ass everything! I used to no-ass everything I couldn't full-ass, but since I started half-assing instead in all aspects of my life, my life has improved so much. Great video!
My version of the Nigella holy grail is Ottolenghi's confit tandoori chickpeas. Leave out the yoghurt sauce; it doesnt need it - it is DELICIOUS, and all you need to do is peel garlic and grind cumin seeds, which gives you an excellent reason to use that mortar and pestle you optimistically bought 2 years ago and never unboxed! It's a win all round
I LOVE THIS! I really appreciate your effort to make veganism more accessible. My partner has gotten me into the idea of anything worth doing is worth doing even terribly and that has been a game changer for my perfectionist brain! I adore this approach of non-dogmatic climate action!
As a veg aiming to move towards vegan I love loved these suggestions!! My vegan meal I'm ADDICTED to is the thai coconut chickpea curry from vegancocotte, I use the thai red curry sauce from trader joes and include any extra veggies I have to use and serve with an air fried garlic naan. Amazing and reheats like a mf
for a delicious vegan dinner, I love molly baz’s lentil smothered greens on fried bread. i’ve been told by multiple meat eaters that it’s one of their favorite meals! highly recommend trying bc it’s so fast
Breakfast Vegan? *looks at the double shot espresso: Nailed it!
The easiest way I've found is to try choosing plant-based ingredients that change practically nothing about the meals you are eating. For example if you are making a recipe that calls for eggs as a binding ingredient you can almost always sub for a flax egg and it won't change the recipe at all. Or try keeping only plant-based milk in the fridge and then anytime a recipe calls for milk you just use that milk. Before I was plant based I used to make regular animal-based boxed mac n cheese a lot but I'd use almond milk instead of cow milk and vegan butter and it tasted exactly the same. Another example is beef crumbles, vegan crumbles pretty reliably mimic the taste and texture of real beef and can be subbed in things like spaghetti or tacos without most meat eaters even noticing the difference.
Love this video so much Leena 😊
As someone who has been a vegetarian since the late 80’s/very early 90’s, it is now so easy to replace items in your diet for non meat based ones that it almost seem incomprehensible that some will find it too difficult to at least reduce their intake of meat and some meat based products. Back when I removed meat from my diet (I’ve never had a great amount of dairy in it,only a little cheese and eggs), cheese wasn’t vegetarian (now we have some really decent vegan ones readily available), McVities digestives and rich tea weren’t vegetarian (they had animal fat in them and own brands weren’t quite as abundant or appealing as they are now) and there weren’t as many meat replacements as there are now (the dried soya that smells a bit like dried dog food was the only thing you could easily find…which for many years hasn’t been particularly easy to get a hold of), as you really had to go to health food shops to find a proper selection of vegetarian and vegan foods such as sausages, hotdogs and not much else if I’m being honest. I remember the first item I ever saw that was made from Quorn was a family size pie that was Tesco own brand and it became available in ‘93/‘94 around the same time as Linda McCartney brought out her Country Pies (which used to be even better than they they are now and fooled my Granda) but even then it’d be a good while before there was an improvement in both variety and availability.
It really is so easy now to even partially switch things out, like OXO cubes (both meatless beef and chicken versions are great). Change some of your milk for oat, perfect for anything you put milk into like tea, coffee, cereal, porridge, making a white sauce…or if you don’t fancy using it in a white sauce, you can do half milk (of which ever type you prefer) and half vegetable stock, if becomes more flavourful and can feel a little lighter to consume. Find a vegetarian sausage you really like, there are plenty to choose from (though I think most meat eaters might prefer the Richmond varieties) and if you’re having a fry-up or bangers and mash, do half and half. The same can be done with anything made from mince, switch out half the meat for either a vegetarian mince (though many of the frozen vegetarian minces are practically indistinguishable from beef mince once in a bolognaise, lasagne or cottage pie) or for dark coloured lentils. If you’re topping something with cheese that’s to be melted, do half and half of vegan and dairy.
If you do these partial switches for either one meal a day or the equivalent amount of maybe two full days of meals for a couple of days a week, that’d make a massive impact. It’s all about baby steps, in the hope that it’ll make people discover that vegetarian and vegan aren’t actually that scary and that people can still have most of what they love but with little changes that don’t actually make a massive impact on what they are used to.
Great one! I'm a breakfast vegan already due to slight necessity - empty stomach dairy intolerance! But taking on at least considering vegan meals if I go out seems feasible to me this year.
It is definitely something I am trying, it's just a little tricky because I have pretty sensitive IBS and migraines triggered by a whole lot of random foods. Right now I am mostly focusing on what I can eat and how to prepare it in a healthy manner, while also appealing to my younger kiddos. But as you said, it's better to half ass than do no ass at all.
generally i rail against puffer jackets of any kind and ESPECIALLY full length ones because i think they make people look like daleks but you've make a strong point for the opposition here
This is so fun! I've been eating vegetarian for years and making some swaps (plant-milk, mayo), but these are fun ideas year round!!
I have to half ass this because vegan premade food is rarely gluten free and I have to prioritise my dietary necessity. However, I _can_ basically just eat poultry and make a lot of the basic swaps you've suggested do still work - I can swap out the cheese, almost all the food I can make myself is vegan (I'm too disabled to make a lot, which is why I have to rely on the premade stuff) and a lot of the meals my husband makes are also vegan after a lot of little swaps over the years (and a bonus beef allergy necessitating invention). More vegan food needs to stop relying on wheat flour as a thickener!
Whatever you do, don’t get the laughing cow plant based version. I’ve been dairy free for 15 years and it is one of the worst vegan cheese. I don’t want people to be put off by a bad cheese alternative cause there are some good ones.
I recommend The Modern Tagine Cookbook: delicious recipes for Moroccan one pot meals by Ghillie Basan. It's not a Vegan cookbook but it has loads of Vegan recipes and vegetarian recipes that become Vegan with an easy swap, like vegan butter or vegan yogurt. It encourages you to put different fruits, nuts, vegetables and pulses together in ways that you might not have thought of if you aren't from the region. It's all very tasty and easy which is what you need if you aren't used to vegan cooking. Who wants to waste a whole evening on something which turns out to be bland?!
crop EVERYTHING looks great on you! i would love to see you "crop" YOUR self made sweater......
I love these! I consider myself vegan-ish. I'm vegetarian for ethical reasons, veganish for environmental ones. My favorite veganish activity is to find the accidentally vegan options and introduce those to my meat-eating friends and family. If someone isn't expecting meat/dairy/eggs in a dish, they don't notice that it's "missing" and are surprised to find out that they do, in fact, like vegan foods. You don't have to suffer through gross vegan cheeses (or other vegan alternatives) to eat a primarily vegan diet!
Also check out Mark Bittman's Vegan before 6. He talks about your breakfast vegan idea and how someone who never intends to ever be fully vegetarian or vegan can reduce their meat/dairy/egg consumption by limiting those products to only dinner, when you can do much more fun and flavorful things with them.
You are actually hilarious. So witty i love it.
I've been vegan over a year now and found it super easy, in UK shops theres always an alternative meat to eat (dont forget to check the freezer sections). Some people think vegan = salad but this isn't the case I'm defo a junk food vegan! lol
I am an everything but breakfast vegan 😂 I can’t seem to give up egg centric breakfast food completely but I’ve managed to change my taste and habits with everything else. Love your message here!!
I LOVE THIS
Love these ideas! ❤ I‘m doing a „buy nothing that’s not vegan“ veganuary (and maybe year?) but I’ll still eat the vegetarian homemade meals and cookies my family makes hehe
I do like veganuary though. The shops and restaurants make veganism usually more accessible at this time and it makes me try new vegan recipes that I can put into my regular rotation. I honestly just wish that accessibility was all year round.
I absolutely love this! I think I'm mostly already a snack vegan, as I'm allergic to dairy anyway but unfortunately can't avoid eating meat for health reasons. But I just love the idea of different kinds of veganism to make it sustainable and fun! I'm pretty sure my partner is an eat out vegan, he tends to give the vegan food a try if it sounds good!
I am not a vegan (or even vegetarian) but one of the most impressive meals I’ve served to family and friends is the BBC good food Burnt Aubergine Veggie Chilli. I would recommend to anyone who might be a bit scared of soy substitutes as it is just lentils and aubergine. (And no, there’s no weird sponge-y aubergine texture, it’s not even detectable!) loved the suggestions x
Learning a solid plant based bolognese (be it lentils or soy grounds etc) helped me a lot, because I could turn it into lasagna, mousaka, chilli sin carne, jacket potato filling, cottage pie, etc, etc so many possibilities from one baseline recipe (i then just add the spices or herbs to change that portion up!) Or finding how you do like veggies. I hated mushrooms but i now shred and roast them till crispy with sesame oil and fivespice for a tasty peaking duck recipe. Or aubergine I now have as mousakka or fish alternative. (Roasting veg is defo the best in my opinion)
Pausing the video to gasp and ask very nicely if you could share the brand of your jacket because it would be *perfect* for Midwest winters and I would love to find one secondhand...👀
ASOS! Its called a ‘2 in 1’ coat if that helps :)
I like the favourite recipe idea. Going to try that. I don't cook new dishes often so it'll probably take all year. But I already cook lots of vegan food so won't be too far behind
Those were some great ideas. :D
Great video - thank you!!
As someone who has been meat free for over a decade, and vegan for almost a decade, all I ever challenge people to is eat less animal products. Veganism doesn’t have to be so extreme as people have made it. I’m not even necessarily against eating meat, just against factory farming.
It is about the use of animals, not just factory farming. "Vegan" can be quite the umbrella for a variety of ideas, so, outside of that, I see where you are coming from
Love this! I’ve tried to go vegan a couple of times but have fallen off the band wagon and a lot of the vegans I know in real life are “vegan for the animals” vegans and can’t meet me halfway in the same way as I think “vegan for the planet” vegans seem to be (I totally understand why that would be and no shade to the vegans who are vegan for the animals!).
This has made it feel much more of a transitional thing and so much more manageable. I love the points mean prizes option and that definitely aligns with how my brain works. I’m from a “meat and 2 veg” background so finding some vegan options that are comforting in the way my nostalgic favourites are is difficult. Any recommendations for creators who are showing vegan meal inspiration that isn’t super adventurous/experimental would be lovely. ☺️
Watching this right after my breakfast of bread with cheese and butter… but honestly, this gave me new motivation to try to swap some things that I eat. For me, breakfast is the hardest, but swapping out milk for plant-based alternatives has been surprisingly easy, especially since they don’t go bad as fast as milk, which is great for people who live alone and don’t drink much milk. I will try cheese alternatives next thanks to you and try to eat vegan when going out (thankfully there are a lot of restaurants where i live that offer vegan alternatives).
It's a good first step! After "half-assing" it, veganising the second and third meal a day becomes very straight-forward. We can use these challenges as stepping-stones on our way to becoming 100percent plant-based. Not contributing to slaughter feels great!
Good ideas, I hit the 10-year mark for being vegan on the 1st. Immensely proud of myself.
6 year vegan here. I recommend taking away one thing at a time, a month at time. Red meat, then pork, then chicken, then dairy is what I did, but do it in whatever order you like. Makes the process a lot easier, and it's easily the best thing I've ever done in my life. You got this!
Love the bit where she describes "No Swap" veganism because there's a branch that makes a pretty arch around her. Plus Nigella makes a great vegan chili that is for real better than most meat versions. Her tricks - lentils in place of ground beef (some ground beef gets real weird if you cook it for too long, so this is one place where the vegan one shines), a bit of cardamom, a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder. I'd still put cheese on it, but it feels good to ditch the beef
I love the idea of eat out veganuary! I have a few things planned for this month that will see me eat out, so I'll definitely give it a go. Thank you for that idea. Last year I did a 'the heat is on' veganuary, where every meal that I had to use heat to prepare had to be vegan. It still allowed me my regular chocolate spread for breakfast (and, yes, I know there are vegan options for that, but they all come with other ingredients I have to avoid because of food allergies) or a regular yoghurt with my fruit for dessert (which I prefer the taste of compared to vegan yoghurt), but I also discovered some nice new recipes this way, some of which have made it into my regular cooking rotation.
Love the message!❤
We are doing 'discount vegan' this month. This means that we buy a month's supply of discounted vegan foods this month. If you buy vegan foods that have a long shelf-life (at room temperature) you can eat them also later this year and still have the same positive impact as people doing strictly Veganuary and then return to their normal diet.😁👍
My contribution to our family gathering today was vegan sausage and cranberry rolls and a vegan banoffee pie. No one was any the wiser on the pie. It was a fun challenege for me so im going for a Nigella veganuary and finding some new recipes to try.
Im allergic to dairy and the one thing I wish I could eat again is banoffee pie... Where do I find one? Or the recipe for a good one? I've never made one but my step mum used to make them for parties and it was always my favourite treat!
@lauragibbons1951 I used the recipe on the Carnation website for vegan banoffee pie but read the comments for tips because i ended up using their vegan salted caramel recipe for the caramel bit based on the comments. The caramel was indistinguishable from the "normal" one. The cream topping I used coconut based cream. It was lovely, deffo reccomend.
Edit: I realise carnation is owned by nestle and this is a problem for some but it was the only easily accessible vegan condensed milk I could find.
@@haveyoutakenyourmeds brilliant, thank you for letting me know! I am currently boycotting but had already bought some of their condensed milk so obviously I'll use it up! It's not something I could see myself making frequently anyway, just on the odd occasion!
Lena jogging while whispering "unite my people, unite" is my favourite moment ever
Hi Leena & the comment section! Love the video, as always a wonderful reminder to be gentle with myself and take change one step at a time. I just wanna start a thread for my fellow "but breakfast is the MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY" folx 😅 I was raised American, and definitely the meal that's the absolute hardest for me to make vegan is breakfast. Typical breakfast for me begins with eggs; supplements are butter, cheese, and meat (usually bacon in my house, sometimes sausage). I finally found that cooking mushrooms English Breakfast style was an effective replacement for the bacon, and managed to make my breakfasts vegetarian in Spring of 2023. Yay me!! Haven't bought bacon myself since. But the eggs? The CHEESE?!! I mean, I put OATLY in the eggs when I scramble 'em, but that's as vegan as I get in the morning. I'm fairly vegan in every other meal, and if not, it's because I added cheese. Does any fellow meat-and-eggs breakfaster have tips? I've found that it's crucial for my concentration and general energy level during the day to have a ton of protein and fat (eg eggs and cheese) for my first meal of the day. If I eat sugar and carbs, I crash hard after a couple hours and am dizzy and fatigued all darn day. Any suggestions for another small change I could make?
Try tofu scramble with black salt for the "eggy" flavour. I've been vegan 8 years and I'm a BIG breakfast person. My go to for high protein & fat is usually:
Tofu scramble made with nutritional yeast & black salt
Fake bacon/ sausages
Baked beans (British style)
Fried spinach & tomatoes (it's important to cook the spinach to increase iron absorption + eating with vitamin C from tomatoes)
Toast with vegan butter + avocado
On a less big breakfast day I'll usually just do the avocado toast with spinach & tomato + maybe some tofu if I have it
this video is actually super helpful as someone who tried to go vegetarian but was advised against to by my doctor for health reasons, but i still love to try and do what i can for the planet - i cant eat fully vegan, but i can be a breakfast vegan! or a condiment vegan! since i usually have cereal for breakfast and i am lactose intolerant (so oat milk) that ones done! but this january i am going to add being a condiment vegan to that list! i had never thought about it before so thanks for the idea leena!!! :)
For anyone with access, I highly recommend Silk brank Next Milk. I have tried many plant milks over the years, and the one I like best (unsweetened soy) is the one my body likes least. I tried Next Milk and I swear to you that it is uncannily similar to cow's milk. Caveats: it is not as sweet as cow's milk, and although they say you can use it in cooking/baking, it does not have the same properties as any animal milk, so it will not do in all applications. That said, it's a really easy swap if it's available in your area.
For meat subs, I also like the whole line of Gardein products. Even their battered 'fish' is really tasty, which is saying something. And I think that at least part of their line is gluten-free, which can be tough to find.
I've found that the best way to incorporate a more vegan/veggie diet into your life is to find a great cookbook cause then it's all just there. East by Meera Sodha is honestly the best vegan/veggie cookbook! You can tell from all the foods stains and spills throughout the pages just how well used it is in my house. The photos are gorgeous and there's a huge variety of types and complexities of dishes. Just perfect!
Also The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer is fab for easy oven bake recipes where you're not slaving over the stove for hours!
A couple of days late but I’ll try n half ass it! Points mean prizes sounds right up my alley. I think breakfast might be the hardest for me actually. I’m a creature of habit in the mornings and though I do have oat milk and plant based butter I have a hard time switching out cheese. I don’t want anything sweet and when it comes to cheese I really use just one kind. And also honey in my tea (sourced from friends). Interesting that breakfast is considered to be the least cultural meal of the day. I feel like there are plenty of very specific and sentimental elements to it. Like I usually have cripsbread (the big round ones you crack into pieces) with butter and sliced cheese (not presliced, those usually taste like plastic) and a bowl of oat porridge with lingonberries. Together they form a very comforting constellation.
I’m a eat-in vegeterian. When I eat out, it’s complicated. At restaurants, I choose the vegan or vegetarian option if it’s good (some places have really sh*tty options tbh). My MIL always make a veggie/vegan meal when we visit, but my mom doesn’t care 😅 So I’m vegetarian at home and whatever outside.
I’d like to add that I don’t want to buy meat. It’s my priority. But, if I go somewhere where there is meat on my plate, I feel like it would be worse to not eat it. It’s already there. But I will admit that it is becoming more and more difficult to eat meat. It doesn’t taste good like before.
I've been half-assing it for a couple years now lol. I only cook for myself and I tend to prep or at least plan most of my meals for the week ahead. I like to always pick at least one vegan recipe, which makes 4 meals. I also switched to using plant-based cream for cooking, whenever recipe calls for cream.
Wonderful challenges!! For those in the northern hemisphere, this should happen in late summer, instead of January, when fresh, local produce is more readily available. I think more people would be more successful if this was held in a month that had delicious, in season alternatives to meat and dairy! I also think it is much easier to enjoy eating a vegan meal if you forget about using manufactured meat and dairy substitutions, which are often not so tasty. Embrace fruits, veggies, nuts, and legumes - THAT'S where the deliciousness lies!!!
Another hack --- so atm for myself my main focus is getting 3 meals a day, thus if I have access to any food I just will eat it (crisps, eggs, coffee). So if you can't choose your food and just have to eat what you are given. I have been trying to hang around vegans, go over to vegan people's houses for dinner and asking to try whatever they are eating. It's a very small thing but I offer to bring potatoes or to help cook and invite myself over :)