Well, the reason I haven't posted for a few weeks is because I've gone back to my old ways :( however, I'm massively regretting it. I feel bloated and sluggish again and I really need to accept the fact that if I can't control how much of the bad stuff I eat, or realise that a half pound burger is not going to make me feel good then I should stop eating meat and dairy so my only options are healthy options. Which means, it's back to veganism! Ok, maybe not quite yet as it's just over a week until Christmas. But at least for the next few days I'm going to steer away from the meat and cheese!
I might try some different recipes this week just so I have something worth showing you!
x
Monday, 17 December 2012
Monday, 3 December 2012
30 Day Vegan Challenge...Complete!
So, it's done!
Can't quite believe I managed 30 days of no meat, cheese or eggs. (Bar a couple of slip-ups, but I'm stil proud of myself!)
This weekend I definitely indulged in meat and cheese but feeling worse for it. Eating meat after 30 days of not doing so made me feel so heavy and I will most definitely eat a lot less meat than I used to.
So as it's Monday and it's a new week I'm back on go healthy go! I think I'll continue the way I was over the 30 days but just Monday - Friday and try not to over-indulge at the weekends.
I'll be having cereal for breakfast, I need to make this a habit, and eating once every 3 hours to avoid the bloating and sluggishness. These are two of the biggest lessons I learnt over the 30 days.
I won't be blogging every day but keep following my blog because I'll upload tasty, healthy, and low-cost recipes a few times a week :)
Tonight will be a sausage casserole because I got some free sausages and bacon from work, they were going in the bin and I can't let that kind of waste happen when some people (like myself) can't afford these luxuries!
A big thank you to the readers of my blog, to the members of the Animal Aid vegan challenge facebook group, and to Animal Aid for promoting my blog.
If you are interested in veganism or doing a vegan challenge for yourself check out the Animal Aid website and join the facebook group for information, help, and support.
Can't quite believe I managed 30 days of no meat, cheese or eggs. (Bar a couple of slip-ups, but I'm stil proud of myself!)
This weekend I definitely indulged in meat and cheese but feeling worse for it. Eating meat after 30 days of not doing so made me feel so heavy and I will most definitely eat a lot less meat than I used to.
So as it's Monday and it's a new week I'm back on go healthy go! I think I'll continue the way I was over the 30 days but just Monday - Friday and try not to over-indulge at the weekends.
I'll be having cereal for breakfast, I need to make this a habit, and eating once every 3 hours to avoid the bloating and sluggishness. These are two of the biggest lessons I learnt over the 30 days.
I won't be blogging every day but keep following my blog because I'll upload tasty, healthy, and low-cost recipes a few times a week :)
Tonight will be a sausage casserole because I got some free sausages and bacon from work, they were going in the bin and I can't let that kind of waste happen when some people (like myself) can't afford these luxuries!
A big thank you to the readers of my blog, to the members of the Animal Aid vegan challenge facebook group, and to Animal Aid for promoting my blog.
If you are interested in veganism or doing a vegan challenge for yourself check out the Animal Aid website and join the facebook group for information, help, and support.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Day 25 of The Great Vegan Challenge
So, we're close to the end of the challenge now, only five more days to go. As I said before I'm keen to continue after the thirty days but I will be giving in to a pizza on the 1st of December!
This week I made a great big pot of soya chilli to take away with me for the weekend. Chilli is great because you can pack it full of vegetables, and you can have it in a pitta bread for lunch, with nachos, or with rice for dinner. Admittedly I did get bored after three consecutive meals of chilli so I chucked a couple of portions in the freezer for another day. The recipe for my chilli is below.
As I couldn't face another dinner of chilli I had a rummage in the cupboards and found some spaghetti and bolognaise sauce. I added onions, garlic, and spinach and ate that instead. It took all of 15 minutes to rustle up, so don't try that excuse of 'I don't have time'.
If you've been following my blog you'll know I've been doing this challenge to get healthy so I want to share with you a few things I've learnt. It's the stuff us serial dieters already know but choose to ignore, however, since actually following the rules I understand how important these things are to feel good about yourself.
1. Time yourself to eat every 3-4 hours! If you stay aware of when you last ate you'll realise you're not actually hungry and you don't need to eat that packet of crisps, or slice of toast. Just have a drink and find something to keep yourself busy for an hour.
2. Cereal for breakfast! I always used to skip breakfast and never believed the whole 'experts say skipping breakfast will make you gain weight' in my logic if I skip breakfast - which I'm not keen on eating anyway - then it's less calorie intake in the day anyway. But since eating a nice fibre-full breakfast most mornings I understand that it really does kick start your metabolism and set you up for the day. I think this is the main thing that's making me feel so much better about myself since the beginning of the challenge.
After the weekend when I tend to eat beans on toast for breakfast and more carbs than recommended I feel a bit bloated and begin to feel sluggish, but after a couple of days back on the healthier routine of cereal in the morning and eating once every 3 hours I feel much better again.
3. Vegetables vegetables vegetables! See my last blog post about the article I recently read. There's no harm in eating vegetables, and if you follow some nice recipes veg doesn't have to be boring. My family have commented on how great my skin is looking since the start of this challenge and I can feel much more energy in myself. Stopping yourself eating meat and cheese forces you to eat vegetables which means when I return to eating meat, I'll eat far less of it than before, and I have a whole load of new great recipes to replace the fatty stodgy comfort I used to eat and feel rubbish for afterwards.
Life is good!
Chilli Recipe:
Soya mince (I bought mine from Sainsbury's)
Onion
Garlic
Spinach (fresh or frozen)
Mushrooms
Chilli powder
Paprika
Green pepper
Tinned Tomatos
2 Vegetable stock cubes
Red Kidney Beans
Any other beans you might like
Marmite
1. I chopped the onion and fried with garlic until soft, in about a tablespoon of olive oil.
I think I used two cloves of garlic but I'm a bit of a garlic fiend.
2. Chop the green pepper and add to the onions for a minute or two.
3. Chuck in your soya mince.
4. After about 5 minutes add two tablespoons of chilli powder and a tablespoon of paprika.
5. Chop the mushrooms and add those.
6. After a couple of minutes add the vegetable stock cubes and a tin of tomatos. If you need a bit more liquid just pour a splash of water in.
7. Rinse your kidney beans and if you choose to add another kind of beans rinse those too. I used kidney beans and butter beans. As I've said on another recipe I'm not keen on rice so I added more beans as a substitute but you don't have to!
8. Add your spinach and season with ground black pepper, have a taste just in case you need more chilli powder or paprika.
9. Add a tablespoon or two of marmite. This might sound strange but I'd heard it had been done before and it really changes the taste of the chilli from a spicy tomato sauce to actually taste like chilli.
10. I preheated the oven to about 120 degrees and put the chilli in for about an hour. I was a bit wary that the mince would be quite bland so I wanted to keep it cooking for a while so it could soak up the spices.
And there you have it! Serve on it's own, with a jacket potato, with nachos, with rice, in a pitta, with chunky bread, or freeze it for another day! The possibilities are endless.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
This week I made a great big pot of soya chilli to take away with me for the weekend. Chilli is great because you can pack it full of vegetables, and you can have it in a pitta bread for lunch, with nachos, or with rice for dinner. Admittedly I did get bored after three consecutive meals of chilli so I chucked a couple of portions in the freezer for another day. The recipe for my chilli is below.
As I couldn't face another dinner of chilli I had a rummage in the cupboards and found some spaghetti and bolognaise sauce. I added onions, garlic, and spinach and ate that instead. It took all of 15 minutes to rustle up, so don't try that excuse of 'I don't have time'.
If you've been following my blog you'll know I've been doing this challenge to get healthy so I want to share with you a few things I've learnt. It's the stuff us serial dieters already know but choose to ignore, however, since actually following the rules I understand how important these things are to feel good about yourself.
1. Time yourself to eat every 3-4 hours! If you stay aware of when you last ate you'll realise you're not actually hungry and you don't need to eat that packet of crisps, or slice of toast. Just have a drink and find something to keep yourself busy for an hour.
2. Cereal for breakfast! I always used to skip breakfast and never believed the whole 'experts say skipping breakfast will make you gain weight' in my logic if I skip breakfast - which I'm not keen on eating anyway - then it's less calorie intake in the day anyway. But since eating a nice fibre-full breakfast most mornings I understand that it really does kick start your metabolism and set you up for the day. I think this is the main thing that's making me feel so much better about myself since the beginning of the challenge.
After the weekend when I tend to eat beans on toast for breakfast and more carbs than recommended I feel a bit bloated and begin to feel sluggish, but after a couple of days back on the healthier routine of cereal in the morning and eating once every 3 hours I feel much better again.
3. Vegetables vegetables vegetables! See my last blog post about the article I recently read. There's no harm in eating vegetables, and if you follow some nice recipes veg doesn't have to be boring. My family have commented on how great my skin is looking since the start of this challenge and I can feel much more energy in myself. Stopping yourself eating meat and cheese forces you to eat vegetables which means when I return to eating meat, I'll eat far less of it than before, and I have a whole load of new great recipes to replace the fatty stodgy comfort I used to eat and feel rubbish for afterwards.
Life is good!
Chilli Recipe:
Soya mince (I bought mine from Sainsbury's)
Onion
Garlic
Spinach (fresh or frozen)
Mushrooms
Chilli powder
Paprika
Green pepper
Tinned Tomatos
2 Vegetable stock cubes
Red Kidney Beans
Any other beans you might like
Marmite
1. I chopped the onion and fried with garlic until soft, in about a tablespoon of olive oil.
I think I used two cloves of garlic but I'm a bit of a garlic fiend.
2. Chop the green pepper and add to the onions for a minute or two.
3. Chuck in your soya mince.
4. After about 5 minutes add two tablespoons of chilli powder and a tablespoon of paprika.
5. Chop the mushrooms and add those.
6. After a couple of minutes add the vegetable stock cubes and a tin of tomatos. If you need a bit more liquid just pour a splash of water in.
7. Rinse your kidney beans and if you choose to add another kind of beans rinse those too. I used kidney beans and butter beans. As I've said on another recipe I'm not keen on rice so I added more beans as a substitute but you don't have to!
8. Add your spinach and season with ground black pepper, have a taste just in case you need more chilli powder or paprika.
9. Add a tablespoon or two of marmite. This might sound strange but I'd heard it had been done before and it really changes the taste of the chilli from a spicy tomato sauce to actually taste like chilli.
10. I preheated the oven to about 120 degrees and put the chilli in for about an hour. I was a bit wary that the mince would be quite bland so I wanted to keep it cooking for a while so it could soak up the spices.
And there you have it! Serve on it's own, with a jacket potato, with nachos, with rice, in a pitta, with chunky bread, or freeze it for another day! The possibilities are endless.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Day Twenty (and the past week) of The Great Vegan Challenge
I must apologise for the silence on my behalf for a whole week. You'll be pleased to know this isn't because I've given up. I've been extremely busy with Ellie Makes and my degree work.
To summarise the last week. I haven't stuck to my original plans to eat every three hours starting at 9am. I've been so busy I've done lots of snacking on humous, crisps, and whatever else I can grab on the go.
I have however, fallen in love with a couple more dishes. One of which being the tofu stir fry. It was so good I had to have it twice last week.
I also made a delicious soya meatball surprise. I love these soya meatballs from Sainsbury's they've probably been my favourite meat substitute so far. I used a bolognaise sauce - I would usually use tinned tomatoes and add garlic and herbs to taste but I was short of time. I added chopped onions and spinach, served on garlic bread with a side salad. Perfect if you're on the go, and because of all the strong flavours you don't miss the cheese at all (or at least I didn't).
The third favourite dish of the week was a simple jacket potato with buttery (soya butter) mushrooms and onions. So easy, but so good. I hated mushrooms before this challenge but I've realised the more vegetables I eat, the more variety of dishes I can eat.
Would you believe a mere four years ago the only vegetables I would eat was broccoli and cauliflower and that was only on a Sunday! It's a wonder I was thinner then than I am now! All my friends have been very impressed by the fact I've been able to do this challenge with such ease. Back when we were at school together I ate chicken and cous cous, supernoodles, and not much else! Even I am proud of myself for going this long with not one egg (although I may have had a couple of slices of cake in the last three weeks, but if I didn't allow myself a little I would have given up and taken the lot), no meat, and no cheese.
I also mentioned in my last post the article I read by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall . I've decided after these 30 days I'm going to continue this way of life by not eating meat, cheese, or eggs throughout the week. I may continue for a further three weeks because I feel great for losing weight and eating healthy, and I don't want to gain any before Christmas! But it's definitely changed my feelings towards vegetables and veganism.
He says in the article to "Just ask yourself if you, or anyone you know, might be in danger of eating too many vegetables. " The answer is no. There's no harm in eating more vegetables. You don't have to become vegan to help your health and the environment. Just try it, open you're mind to more vegetables. It's achievable on any budget too. In approx three minutes you can google seasonal vegetables. Pop down to Lidl or Aldi and pick up two or three vegetables. When you get home google some recipes and you're guaranteed to find at least one that is easily achievable and that tickles your fancy. Or, what I tend to do when the funds have all but disappeared, have a rummage in the kitchen for any kind of key ingredients and google (or www.pinterest.com) recipes. I don't believe anyone can't cook when there's so much advice on the internet.
A couple of years ago I began Meat Free Mondays. Theres' a start. It won't harm you. In fact, you might thank me for it. Have a look at my first blog post and hopefully you can see how far I've come. I used to be just like you and laugh in the face of veganism. But after forcing myself to eat more vegetables I feel fantastic and don't ever want to go back to eating meat and cheese and very little veg in every meal.
To summarise the last week. I haven't stuck to my original plans to eat every three hours starting at 9am. I've been so busy I've done lots of snacking on humous, crisps, and whatever else I can grab on the go.
 |
| My favourite breakfast, beans, mushrooms, and a soy latte! |
I have however, fallen in love with a couple more dishes. One of which being the tofu stir fry. It was so good I had to have it twice last week.
I also made a delicious soya meatball surprise. I love these soya meatballs from Sainsbury's they've probably been my favourite meat substitute so far. I used a bolognaise sauce - I would usually use tinned tomatoes and add garlic and herbs to taste but I was short of time. I added chopped onions and spinach, served on garlic bread with a side salad. Perfect if you're on the go, and because of all the strong flavours you don't miss the cheese at all (or at least I didn't).
The third favourite dish of the week was a simple jacket potato with buttery (soya butter) mushrooms and onions. So easy, but so good. I hated mushrooms before this challenge but I've realised the more vegetables I eat, the more variety of dishes I can eat.
Would you believe a mere four years ago the only vegetables I would eat was broccoli and cauliflower and that was only on a Sunday! It's a wonder I was thinner then than I am now! All my friends have been very impressed by the fact I've been able to do this challenge with such ease. Back when we were at school together I ate chicken and cous cous, supernoodles, and not much else! Even I am proud of myself for going this long with not one egg (although I may have had a couple of slices of cake in the last three weeks, but if I didn't allow myself a little I would have given up and taken the lot), no meat, and no cheese.
I also mentioned in my last post the article I read by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall . I've decided after these 30 days I'm going to continue this way of life by not eating meat, cheese, or eggs throughout the week. I may continue for a further three weeks because I feel great for losing weight and eating healthy, and I don't want to gain any before Christmas! But it's definitely changed my feelings towards vegetables and veganism.
He says in the article to "Just ask yourself if you, or anyone you know, might be in danger of eating too many vegetables. " The answer is no. There's no harm in eating more vegetables. You don't have to become vegan to help your health and the environment. Just try it, open you're mind to more vegetables. It's achievable on any budget too. In approx three minutes you can google seasonal vegetables. Pop down to Lidl or Aldi and pick up two or three vegetables. When you get home google some recipes and you're guaranteed to find at least one that is easily achievable and that tickles your fancy. Or, what I tend to do when the funds have all but disappeared, have a rummage in the kitchen for any kind of key ingredients and google (or www.pinterest.com) recipes. I don't believe anyone can't cook when there's so much advice on the internet.
A couple of years ago I began Meat Free Mondays. Theres' a start. It won't harm you. In fact, you might thank me for it. Have a look at my first blog post and hopefully you can see how far I've come. I used to be just like you and laugh in the face of veganism. But after forcing myself to eat more vegetables I feel fantastic and don't ever want to go back to eating meat and cheese and very little veg in every meal.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Day Twelve of The 30 Day Vegan Challenge
So after a weekend of indulgence it's a real struggle to get back onto the healthy eating train, and I'm failing to do so. My biggest downfall for unhealthy food has always been breakfast. I never ever just fancy cereal and especially as I'm currently out of work and out of routine why would I eat cereal when I have the time to throw together a sausage (vegan of course) sarnie or beans on toast. That's probably just me making excuses. I know I feel so much better if I avoid the bread in the morning and go for some nice fibre-ful cereal but less healthy food is so much more appealing. I know bread isn't unhealthy but personally, it's not good for me, I just can't help it!
So, yesterday, as I've been craving pizza and the other half had gone and bought a nice meaty pizza I got food envy and decided to make my own vegan pizza. When I cook I like to just throw things together and see what happens so my pizza was a bit of a mish-mash but I enjoyed it!
I used the vegan cheese I bought from Holland and Barrett and I have to say, I wasn't impressed. I could easily have done without it. There was nothing offensive about it but I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't there. I don't think I'm going to get that cheesy satisfaction from anything other than cheese. Unless you can suggest something to help me? For now, until the end of this challenge, I'm just going to stop chasing the cheese or it'll haunt me until this is over!
Now, that sounded as though I was being negative about the challenge. This is not the case. I read an article by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (spelling ja ja), recommend to me by someone in The Great Vegan Challenge FB group, and it's inspired me to write another blog post about the satisfaction in vegetables and how I plan to live my life after the challenge. So keep your eyes open for that in the next couple of days.
Thanks for taking your time to read and let me know how you're getting on.
Food Diary:
Brunch: Beans on Toast
Snack: Soya pate and crackers
Dinner: Vegan Pizza (recipe below)
Ingredients:
Two tortilla wraps
One clove of garlic
A pot of mexican salsa
Half a red onion
Half a red pepper
1.5cm slice of Tofu (that's a guestimate, don't get the tape measure out.)
Jalepenos
Frozen chopped spinach (use fresh if you like)
1. Using two tortilla wraps as the base I spread crushed garlic onto one of them covered by a layer or vegan cheese.
2. I then placed the second tortilla wrap on the top and put a thin layer of tomato puree on it and a layer of salsa on top of that. In hindsight, the puree was probably unnecessary.
3. I chopped some red onion and red pepper and sprinkled that over the salsa base.
4. I squeezed the moisture out of some tofu and coated it in curry paste - this was probably my biggest fail, I should have thrown some jalepenos on the pizza and left the tofu plain as the mix of indian and mexican wouldn't be to many peoples tastes ha! So if you intend to make this pizza, do as i say, not as i do.
5. I defrosted some chopped spinach, sprinkled vegan cheese onto my pizza and blobbed the spinach on the top.
6. Place your pizza in the over until the edges of the wrap brown and the "cheese" softens.
I did enjoy my pizza, but next week I'll make another one, just a bit more sensible...
So, yesterday, as I've been craving pizza and the other half had gone and bought a nice meaty pizza I got food envy and decided to make my own vegan pizza. When I cook I like to just throw things together and see what happens so my pizza was a bit of a mish-mash but I enjoyed it!
I used the vegan cheese I bought from Holland and Barrett and I have to say, I wasn't impressed. I could easily have done without it. There was nothing offensive about it but I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't there. I don't think I'm going to get that cheesy satisfaction from anything other than cheese. Unless you can suggest something to help me? For now, until the end of this challenge, I'm just going to stop chasing the cheese or it'll haunt me until this is over!
Now, that sounded as though I was being negative about the challenge. This is not the case. I read an article by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (spelling ja ja), recommend to me by someone in The Great Vegan Challenge FB group, and it's inspired me to write another blog post about the satisfaction in vegetables and how I plan to live my life after the challenge. So keep your eyes open for that in the next couple of days.
Thanks for taking your time to read and let me know how you're getting on.
Food Diary:
Brunch: Beans on Toast
Snack: Soya pate and crackers
Dinner: Vegan Pizza (recipe below)
Ingredients:
Two tortilla wraps
One clove of garlic
A pot of mexican salsa
Half a red onion
Half a red pepper
1.5cm slice of Tofu (that's a guestimate, don't get the tape measure out.)
Jalepenos
Frozen chopped spinach (use fresh if you like)
1. Using two tortilla wraps as the base I spread crushed garlic onto one of them covered by a layer or vegan cheese.
2. I then placed the second tortilla wrap on the top and put a thin layer of tomato puree on it and a layer of salsa on top of that. In hindsight, the puree was probably unnecessary.
3. I chopped some red onion and red pepper and sprinkled that over the salsa base.
4. I squeezed the moisture out of some tofu and coated it in curry paste - this was probably my biggest fail, I should have thrown some jalepenos on the pizza and left the tofu plain as the mix of indian and mexican wouldn't be to many peoples tastes ha! So if you intend to make this pizza, do as i say, not as i do.
5. I defrosted some chopped spinach, sprinkled vegan cheese onto my pizza and blobbed the spinach on the top.
6. Place your pizza in the over until the edges of the wrap brown and the "cheese" softens.
I did enjoy my pizza, but next week I'll make another one, just a bit more sensible...
Monday, 12 November 2012
Day Eleven of The 30 Day Vegan Challenge
How to survive a hangover whilst remaining vegan.
Warning - I never said it was going to be particularly healthy...
Another Sunday, another hangover, another day of carb overload.
Beans on toast for breakfast again, which I have to say I am finding much better than the full English I used to eat when hungover. The thought of a big fat meaty breakfast when hungover is much better than the reality. After a full English I just want to sleep and feel just as bad as before I began eating it than I did to begin with. A simple portion of beans of toast sorts out the stomach and gives me a bit of energy and I'm ready to go!
For lunch I met some friends and again, eating out is difficult but I was hungover so curly fries I was fine with.
Then we went to my boyfriends mums house for a Sunday roast. I just avoided the meat and had veg, roasties, and gravy. I shouldn't have had the gravy as it was made using the meat juices but I didn't want to be difficult. Next time I'll probably just take my own vegetable gravy granules.
Then during my Sunday night in front of the tv I chomped on crisps and humous.
Once again I've over eaten but I'm hungover so I don't really care. Usually I'd eat this amount four times a week so to only do it once is pretty good.
I know I'll feel a bit sluggish again tomorrow but that'll pass within a couple of days back to eating healthier.
How are you getting on with your vegan challenge? Let me know in the comments below!
Food diary:
Breakfast - Beans on toast
Lunch - Curly fries
Dinner - Roast dinner (veg and potatoes)
Snack - Crisps and humous
Also, I've joined the Great Vegan Challenge Facebook group and everyone is so helpful. Lots of handy tips and inspiration. Follow the link to join in!
Day Ten of The 30 Day Vegan Challenge
I went to meet the boyfriend for lunch today but due to the very little vegan options (on a tight budget) when out and about I ended up just eating the toast on his Full English.
Then I met my friend who gave me the inspiration and idea to begin this vegan challenge, we went around to a couple of supermarkets because she needed some ingredients and it gave me a chance to buy a couple of vegan alternatives to things I was craving.
We went into Holland and Barrett and I bought some vegan Brussels pâté, I have to say, it was pretty convincing. However, it was quite dry so if you want to use it on toast I'd recommend lots of soy butter with it. It wasn't quite as good as the real thing but I was happy with it.
The other thing I bought was vegan mozzarella, I haven't used that yet but I'll let you know when I do.
I went out for a few too many drinks that evening and managed to avoid the cravings for a burger or pepperoni pizza afterwards and settled for chips and ketchup. It did the job. I don't think I'd survive nights out as a vegan if it wasn't for chips!
All in all today although I've not messed up the vegan front I've been terribly unhealthy. All I've eaten is bread and chips! Monday is a new start so ill be back on it and hopefully be bringing you more recipes and interesting vegan food instead of 'bread, beans, and leftovers'.
Breakfast - Toast
Lunch - Toast and vegan pâté
Dinner - Leftover curry (see yesterdays blog post)
Drunken snack - Chippys!
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