Veganuary Day 5

It's Monday and I'm not looking forward to my first full week back at work since Christmas. I started the day with a bowl of 'Shredded Wheat' bitesize and a cup of tea. When I went shopping yesterday I picked up a pot of houmous which I haven't had in a while and thought it would make a nice change to my lunch. I chopped up some carrot sticks and added some celery. The packet of dried apple crisps replaced ordinary crisps which I don't normally like eating a lot of, surprisingly on the back of the packet under allergens it says 'may contain milk' but I wasn't too bothered with that as I think they just add it as a precaution. I have noticed this on a lot of vegan products.

I got home after 7pm so I wanted to prepare something quick and easy so salad was a no brainer. I used mixed salad leaves and some Olive tofu chopped into cubes with a sprinkle of mixed seeds and a drizzle of olive oil. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

I hope I'm not boring you too much with these posts, I don't want to start sounding too samey. Please feel free to comment about any of the products I have used and I also welcome any recommendations.

Making Changes

I've become increasingly conscious about what food I consume lately after watching various documentary films such as 'Vegecated,' 'Cowspiracy,' and 'Hungry for Change' to name but a few. Over this weekend I have made some drastic changes in the types of food I've been buying and so I carried out a mass shop at Tesco. This is another big step in my transition from vegetarian to vegan. Until now I have been predominantly vegetarian but I'm hoping that I can continue to maintain a mainly vegan diet while I continue to research products and recipes. At the moment if a label doesn't state that a product is vegan then I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. Obviously this is something I will learn with time but at the moment it doesn't stop me feeling a little frustrated.

I'm hoping to incorporate raw food in with a regular vegan diet with a little bit of junk food as a treat. My shop mainly consisted of fresh fruits and vegetables, some organic, some not. I have heard that it's best to buy organic produce as they haven't been grown using harmful pesticides... but have you seen the prices? I would love to buy all organic but when you are working on a budget, it's just not possible. The photo below features just a small portion of what I actually bought so I thought I would include my shopping list. It's pretty impressive if I don't say so myself.

1 bag Curly Kale

2 Avocados

3 lemons (organic)

1 bag spinach (organic)

1 bag of mixed leaves

1 bag carrots

1 cucumber (organic)

3 pack of mixed peppers

1 red cabbage

celery

broccoli

1 pack of baby corn

1 pack of asparagus

1 bag frozen sweetcorn

1 bag of mixed seeds

1 bag cashew nuts

1 bag of walnuts

garlic

1 bag of chick peas

1 bag of couscous

1 bag of lentils

1 bag of dairy free pasta

1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil

1 watermelon

1 Galia melon

1 honey dew melon

1 pineapple

1 mango

2 large oranges

2 large pears

1 pack of dates

1 loaf of Hovis wholemeal bread

1 pack of wholemeal noodles

Blue Dragon chow mein sauce

Blue Dragon Kung Po sauce

Blue Dragon Cantonese sauce

I understand that there is going to be a bit of trial and error but what better way to start. I plan to create some great salads to take to work with me as I want to be able to eat one raw meal a day. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the vegan sauces for jazzed up vegetable and noodle dishes. Last night I tried Kale for the fist time by making a curly Kale and avocado salad with mixed seeds, it wasn't too bad but I found it a little tough raw, I still managed to polish off the plate though.

I have also replaced my non vegan breakfast cereal with more exciting vegan options such as Muesli by 'Dorset Cereals,' 'Quaker Oats, Oat So Simple' and 'Shredded Wheat Bitesize.' I really want to make this new diet work so I'm going to try my best to stick to it. The next thing on my list is to buy some recipe books and other informative vegan books so if anyone out there has any recommendations please let me know.

And the Winner is...

As you may of read in one of my previous review posts about 'Rice Dream' I have been on the look-out for the ideal milk alternative. Over the past few weeks I have tried and tested three more cartons and have finally reached my verdict. I shall start with 'Oatly' oat drink. This milk is made with oats, Swedish oats to be precise and contains a nutritional balance of protein, carbs, fibers and healthy fat. Although it states on the website that you can use this drink in the same way as "old school milk," when I poured it into tea it curdled quite badly. Unfortunately I decided to tip my tea away and give in to cows milk yet again. This was disappointing because it tastes great on cereal.

The next time I went shopping I decided to go for 'Good Hemp' which is described as "creamy, nutty and tastes delicious" on their website. Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't recognise any of these qualities. I didn't like the taste of it very much on both my cereal and in my tea. However,it's a good source of Omega 3 but I won't be purchasing it again.

So now this brings me to my third and final choice and the winner of my taste buds... 'Almond Breeze' Original by 'Blue Diamond Almonds.' 'Almond Breeze' is a natural source of calcium and is low in saturated fat. It's great on cereal but it will take a little more getting used to in tea but it works well and doesn't curdle. I will be sticking to this brand in the future.

All three of these milk alternatives are soya free and can be purchase in 'Tesco' where they provide a wide range of brands to choose from, Do you have a favourite?

Review: Rice Dream

As part of my diet I would like to consume less dairy products for ethical reasons. I began this by exploring milk substitutes. I have never been that keen on 'Alpro', maybe because of the consistency or texture although I have recently taken a liking to 'Alpro' vanilla but I couldn't quite see myself pouring it on my breakfast cereal as it's quite sweet.

When I was in 'Waitrose' the other day I decided to try a different brand and picked up 'Rice Dream'. It contains less sugar than 'Alpro' (only containing natural occurring sugars). Other benefits are that it contains calcium with vitamins D2 and B12, it's low in fat and has all natural ingredients with no stabilisers or emulsifiers. It is gluten free and can be used in baking (recipes on their website).

The first thing I did when I got it home was a taste test. I shook it first (always shake) and poured it into a glass. My first initial thought was 'yuck' but I put aside the watery appearance and the little white bits and drank it. I could definitely distinguish the rice taste (probably because it's made with rice haha). I could tell that I preferred it to Alpro but I wasn't entirely sure I had come to the end of my quest to find a milk substitute that I love.

It was great on my cereal but in my tea I wasn't convinced. It turned it dark brown but it was drinkable (but I don't want to settle with drinkable). So before I consider returning to 'Rice Dream' (winner of superior taste award 2012) I will continue to try other brands. Wish me luck!