Read your labels!
Recently I did veganuary which was a little new year challenge I set myself, mainly to distract myself from lockdown number 3!
I have always wondered if I could go without meat for more than a few days. I have 4 sons all meat eaters so I have to cook meat every day the panicked look on their faces was quite something when I told them what I had planned, they where very worried that I would inflict my new eating habits on them.
So off I went to the to see what I could get. I was pleasantly surprised at what is now available in a normal supermarket and slightly overwhelmed by the choices that there where. Everything from foe tuna to vegan Baileys, who knew! I was also surprised by the amount of “normal” food which is actually vegan, did take a lot of label reading and checking on my friend google! One of the biggest challenges I had was finding a milk that I would like in my coffee, after literally trying nearly all of them I did find a couple of great ones. Another thing I found interesting was just because you are eating vegan food it does not necessarily mean you are healthy, you could just live off ready meals, fake meat, bread, chip and ice cream!
I must say I really did enjoy my vegan month and I’m sticking with quite a few things and products I discovered. It now makes sense in my mind what a huge difference it could make to the planet and to nature If we all just ate a little less meat and dairy and where more mindful about what products we use on ourselves and around the house. Here are my tips.
1. Swap your milk of a non dairy version. The brands I like ‘rude health’ ‘innocent’ and ‘minor figures’ also ‘oath’ for the cream
2. Have one or two meat free days a week or even two meat free meals a day, everything makes a difference.
3. Eat more fruit and vegetables try an organic box deliver, we get Able and Cole.
4. If you choose to eat meat try to get organic make sure that is sourced locally and is grass fed and free range. Able and Cole Asli do meat and sustainable fish.
5. Change to a more eco friendly range of cleaning products, there are so many to chose from!
6. Check your skin care Brands are not used on animals and have eco friendly packaging. I recommend ‘Balance Me’ and ‘Tropic’.
7. Try to be more mindful about how much you cook so you don’t waste too much and love your leftovers!
I hope this was helpful, watch out for some more vegan and Vegetarian meal ideas coming soon!
T x
Vicky
February 12, 2021
Thanks, Tina. All very interesting stuff. I’m certainly trying to do 2 days a week meat-free. I would love to hear more about the substitutes you find, especially the weird ‘fake meat’ products. Cant believe they’re very good for you!
TinaJacklin
February 20, 2021
Your right Vicky a lot of meat replacements are high in sugar and salt so it’s very important to read the labels, or make your own where possible. It’s always better to use fresh ingredients if you can and finding good quality tofu or jack fruit instead of meat.