A Guide for Veganuary: Part Two

 
  

Photo by Heather McKean on Unsplash 

Hopefully you enjoyed Part One and found it a useful starting point for entering Veganuary! The next stage involves practical advice about the food part of your new plant-based diet. Eric is definitely one of the go-to volunteers for recipes so it’s no surprise he had so much to offer! Pen and paper at the ready…

Part Two: Explore Your Fridge and Cupboards

In this section I focus on the most exciting part of becoming vegan – you get to explore! As I mentioned previously, switching to a full vegan diet can be quite daunting, especially as it’s often presented as just tofu, lentils and lettuce! Despite tofu being one of the most versatile and protein-rich vegan foods, you still have plenty of other ingredients to pick from. So, before trying to adapt completely new vegan foods, it can be useful to go through your cupboard and fridge to look for ingredient which may already be key parts of your usual diet e.g. pasta, rice, canned beans, oats. This will make the transition process far easier, since you’re already used to eating those foods.

 

(Yes, No, Maybe So? Tofu is highly controversial, so just try it, and then decide for yourself) @weak_by_nature

Likewise, the first few visits to the supermarket will be just as exciting. Even though you might feel somewhat restricted or like entering the unknown at first, you might want to have a shopping list to hand to guide you through the first few trips. Also, while the vegan section might be enticing with it’s bright colours and all sorts of meat/dairy substitutes, these can add up the £££s quickly, and won’t solely supply you with the recommended daily nutritional intake. So if your old diet was heavily meat-based, you don’t simply want to replace that with meat substitutes – remember most vegan dishes are constructed completely differently and don’t rely on such replacements. The choice of course is yours, though, and many tasty alternatives have appeared on the shelves in the past few years. Simply make sure to keep it balanced. The vegan food guide below gives you a handy overview of all the things to consider during your shopping:

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/

Some other things I personally would include are: natural sweeteners (agave or maple syrup), carbohydrates (rice, pasta, bread), snacks, and lastly your old reliable plant-based milk (see our Ultimate Guide to Milk to assess your options!). Additionally, one of the many tips from the MinimalistVegan is to represent as many different colours of the rainbow in your fruits and veg selection; since your greens, reds and yellows will contain particular nutrients and vitamins vital to your health.

In starting veganism, I used the opportunity to explore the Indian and East Asian cuisine more since many of their dishes revolve around vegetables. At the same time, I took a couple of traditional dishes from my home-country of Germany, and created vegan versions of them. Both approaches are fun, but ultimately it's about exploring and experimenting with what you have and what new foods you want to include in your diet. It’s great to learn from others, but pick what fits you best and try to establish some new humble favourites.

And that's it for part two – practical food advice! Hopefully you now feel more equipped to explore the supermarket with confidence and branch away from only buying the packet vegan substitutes. Share with us any experiments or successful recipes you try over on our socials or by email at wantnotwastemanchester@gmail.com – it will help all of us make the most of this Veganuary!

Author: Eric