What We Ate This Veganuary // Week 4

 

Veganuary - try vegan in January. It's that simple. Obviously, we are already vegan but I enjoy sharing vegan food ideas on this blog and it gives me an excuse to shout about veganism to everyone even more.

I don't know how long I've been vegan. Many people seem to know the exact date they made the change, however for me, it was quite gradual. I grew up eating chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese and chocolate. I went vegetarian around 2014 and in the following few years phased out milk and butter to vegan alternatives and then eventually the same happened with cheese (which was mainly only eaten on pizza anyway). Finally, after moving in with Mr H we both made the decision to finally bite the bullet and I cut out chocolate. Of course, there have been odd moments where chocolate or ice cream or a normal cheese pizza was consumed - no one is perfect - but I guess you could say I've been vegan for around 4 years. 

I'm also neurodivergent and grew up an extremely picky eater. Though I have gotten much better in the past 4 years (half due to veganism, the other half due to being married to a chef), I still find meal ideas and vegan recipes to be overly complicated or just downright gross. You don't have to live on tofu, chickpeas, mushrooms and cauliflower FYI!!

Anyway, just as we did in 2021 we're going to share what we eat during Veganuary this year. 

I'll only be sharing our joint evening meal as it is the main food of the day. It's nothing special and a good representation of our actual daily diets - hopefully, it will inspire you to try vegan when you see how easy and yummy it is!

Click here to see what we ate last week!

Day 23 - Lentil Soup
My go-to homemade soup.

Day 24 - Paella
Basic vegetable paella

Day 25 - Sausage Rolls and Siracha Mash
Homemade sausage rolls made with vegan sausages and ready-to-roll pastry. 
Served with siracha and spring onion mashed potato. 

Day 26 - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Gluten Free spaghetti, tomato sauce, sheese and garlic bread.

Day 27 - Broccoli Delight
Broccoli 'steaks' pan-fried topped with bacon and cheese. With garlic smashed potato.

Day 28 - Nuggets and Potato Pops
and marrowfat peas too!

Day 29 - Dump Bowl
Couscous, peppers, spring onion, bacon, potato and goodness knows what else.

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Again, these may look very beige, however, this is a realistic look at what we actually eat in our house. I am a fussy eater and eventually stick to the same foods over and over. If it wasn't for that we'd eat a lot differently, especially with Mr H being a chef!
Come the summer, we will have a little different variety with salads and the like but right now this is what we're eating. I'm also going through some health issues at the moment and some days I just want to eat nuggets and chips!

Click here to see what we ate last week!

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Check out my Veganuary posts from 2021 here and you can find all Vegan Food Idea posts here.

Until next time...

[Click the image above to enlarge the whole of Veganuary 2023!]

What We Ate This Veganuary // Week 3

 

Veganuary - try vegan in January. It's that simple. Obviously, we are already vegan but I enjoy sharing vegan food ideas on this blog and it gives me an excuse to shout about veganism to everyone even more.

I don't know how long I've been vegan. Many people seem to know the exact date they made the change, however for me, it was quite gradual. I grew up eating chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese and chocolate. I went vegetarian around 2014 and in the following few years phased out milk and butter to vegan alternatives and then eventually the same happened with cheese (which was mainly only eaten on pizza anyway). Finally, after moving in with Mr H we both made the decision to finally bite the bullet and I cut out chocolate. Of course, there have been odd moments where chocolate or ice cream or a normal cheese pizza was consumed - no one is perfect - but I guess you could say I've been vegan for around 4 years. 

I'm also neurodivergent and grew up an extremely picky eater. Though I have gotten much better in the past 4 years (half due to veganism, the other half due to being married to a chef), I still find meal ideas and vegan recipes to be overly complicated or just downright gross. You don't have to live on tofu, chickpeas, mushrooms and cauliflower FYI!!

Anyway, just as we did in 2021 we're going to share what we eat during Veganuary this year. 

I'll only be sharing our joint evening meal as it is the main food of the day. It's nothing special and a good representation of our actual daily diets - hopefully, it will inspire you to try vegan when you see how easy and yummy it is!

Click here to see what we ate last week!

Day 15 - Nuggets and Chips
A proper lazy tea to kick off the week! Nuggets, chips and beans. 

Day 16 - Homemade Pizza
As you'll probably be able to tell, pizza is a favorite in our house and without sounding big-headed, my own homemade broccoli pizza is my favorite! 

Day 17 - Burger and Pops
It's turning out to be a particularly unhealthy week it would seem...
Quorn hot and spicy burger, potato pops and broccoli!

Day 18 - Kiev, Potatoes and Veg
Found a new vegan 'chicken' kiev in Asda while looking at new Veganuary lines!
Had it with nice 'tatoes, broccoli and peas.

Day 19 - Mash and Veg
Can't really get more basic than mashed potatoes, broccoli, sprouts, peas and gravy!

Day 20 - Quesadillas 
Quesadillas made with soy pieces with mushy peas and pan-fried potato strips.

Day 21 - Curry
It's technically curry, but also not really.
A smooth curry sauce with rice and homemade garlic naan bread.

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I'm just going to repeat exactly what I said last week - These may not be the healthiest nor the most diverse nor what you may deem appealing meals, however, these are realistic, easy meals that we actually eat in our house. It's January, therefore cold and comforting, warming meals is what we want. In the warmer weather, we do eat salads and the like but right now this is what we're eating.

Click here to see what we ate last week!

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Check out my Veganuary posts from 2021 here and you can find all Vegan Food Idea posts here.

Until next time...

What We Ate This Veganuary // Week 2

 

Veganuary - try vegan in January. It's that simple. Obviously, we are already vegan but I enjoy sharing vegan food ideas on this blog and it gives me an excuse to shout about veganism to everyone even more.

I don't know how long I've been vegan. Many people seem to know the exact date they made the change, however for me, it was quite gradual. I grew up eating chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese and chocolate. I went vegetarian around 2014 and in the following few years phased out milk and butter to vegan alternatives and then eventually the same happened with cheese (which was mainly only eaten on pizza anyway). Finally, after moving in with Mr H we both made the decision to finally bite the bullet and I cut out chocolate. Of course, there have been odd moments where chocolate or ice cream or a normal cheese pizza was consumed - no one is perfect - but I guess you could say I've been vegan for around 4 years. 

I'm also neurodivergent and grew up an extremely picky eater. Though I have gotten much better in the past 4 years (half due to veganism, the other half due to being married to a chef), I still find meal ideas and vegan recipes to be overly complicated or just downright gross. You don't have to live on tofu, chickpeas, mushrooms and cauliflower FYI!!

Anyway, just as we did in 2021 we're going to share what we eat during Veganuary this year. 

I'll only be sharing our joint evening meal as it is the main food of the day. It's nothing special and a good representation of our actual daily diets - hopefully, it will inspire you to try vegan when you see how easy and yummy it is!

Click here to see what we ate last week!

Day 8 - Dump Bowl
In our house, a dump bowl is usually a mix of veg and something like rice or cous cous to use up things that may be nearing the end of their usability...though sometimes it's just what we fancy to eat.
This dump bowl consited of cous cous, broccoli, peas, boiled potatoes, spring onion and nuggets.

Day 9 - Homemade Chicken and Bacon cheesy bakes.
Made with quorn vegan soy pieces, vegan bacon and sheese.
Served with broccoli, peas and green beans. 

Day 10 - Pizza and Wedges
I usually make homemade pizza but we thought we'd try this new frozen pizza from Asda's new OMV! range with some potato wedges. 

Day 11 - Fried Rice
Mr H's yummy fried rice with (my obvious favorites) broccoli, peas and spring onion.

Day 12 - Creamy Broccoli Soup
Homemade creamy broccoli soup with baguette.

Day 13 - Wraps and Potatoes
Using up some of the left over fried rice, we had wraps with a little added sheese and boiled garlic potatoes.

Day 14 - Pasta
Gluten free fusilli with peas, breadcrumbed 'chicken' pieces and sheese.

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These may not be the healthiest nor the most diverse nor what you may deem appealing meals, however these are realistic, easy meals that we actually eat in our house. 
It's January, therefore cold and comforting, warming meals is what we want. In the warmer weather we do eat salads and the like but right now this is what we're eating. 

Click here to see what we ate last week!

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Check out my Veganuary posts from 2021 here and you can find all Vegan Food Idea posts here.

Until next time...

What We Ate This Veganuary // Week 1

 

Veganuary - try vegan in January. It's that simple. Obviously, we are already vegan but I enjoy sharing vegan food ideas on this blog and it gives me an excuse to shout about veganism to everyone even more.

I don't know how long I've been vegan. Many people seem to know the exact date they made the change, however for me, it was quite gradual. I grew up eating chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese and chocolate. I went vegetarian around 2014 and in the following few years phased out milk and butter to vegan alternatives and then eventually the same happened with cheese (which was mainly only eaten on pizza anyway). Finally, after moving in with Mr H we both made the decision to finally bite the bullet and I cut out chocolate. Of course, there have been odd moments where chocolate or ice cream or a normal cheese pizza was consumed - no one is perfect - but I guess you could say I've been vegan for around 4 years. 

I'm also neurodivergent and grew up an extremely picky eater. Though I have gotten much better in the past 4 years (half due to veganism, the other half due to being married to a chef), I still find meal ideas and vegan recipes to be overly complicated or just downright gross. You don't have to live on tofu, chickpeas, mushrooms and cauliflower FYI!!

Anyway, just as we did in 2021 we're going to share what we eat during Veganuary this year. 

I'll only be sharing our joint evening meal as it is the main food of the day. It's nothing special and a good representation of our actual daily diets - hopefully, it will inspire you to try vegan when you see how easy and yummy it is!

Day 1 - Pumpkin Soup
Made from the Pumpkin I carved for New Year! 

Day 2 - Wraps and Potatoes
The cupboards were bare and dying for a food shop so this was a scavenged meal.
Cous Cous and black-eyed beans, seasoned, in wraps with some our staple 'nice tatoes' which are boiled potatoes with garlic and parsley.

Day 3 - Spaghetti
We'd been away for most of the day and was able to pop into a shop and grab a packet of gluten-free spaghetti, broccoli and a loaf of tiger bread so that made for a filling tea with some vegan cheese.

Day 4 - Roast Veg
Some fried potatoes rounds along with garlic roasted sprouts, broccoli and peas!

Day 6 - Burger and Chips
My favorite burgers are the Quorn hot and spicy burgers and are pretty much the only ones I will eat. Texture is a huge thing for me and many of the vegan alternatives are too like real meat which I don't like at all. 
Mr H made some homemade chips too and we had a side of mushy peas. Mine in a separate pot because I can't have them touching anything else haha!

Day 7 - Breakfast for Dinner
I had planned for a more veg-focused meal tonight but it was a rubbish day with some bad news so a comfort meal was called for in the form of breakfast for dinner.
Vegan bacon, even though it may not look appealing, is SO good and I love it crispy. 

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You may have noticed that Day 5 is missing. We actually had a Dominos as they had buy one get one free on pizzas and it actually included vegan pizzas. It was alright. I feel like the person working must have been new and had no idea how to make pizza but it filled a hole!

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Check out my Veganuary posts from 2021 here and you can find all Vegan Food Idea posts here.

Until next time...

Vegan Meal Ideas - Potato Edition!

 

I love potatoes. I'm sure many people love potatoes. In all their different forms! I'm not into all this no-carb life and cutting out entire food groups (minus animal products obviously haha) and although this post may make it seem otherwise, I do like to try and live by 'everything in moderation!
As the weather is cooling down and yet again it's been far too long between my vegan food posts, I thought it was the right time for some comforting, potato-filled, vegan inspiration.
Here are five different ways we've eaten potatoes recently... 

Potato Latkes
My take on the traditionally Jewish fried potato pancake or fritter that is often eaten over Hanukkah.
Obviously, it contains no egg and so is vegan. 

Cheesy Broccoli Mashed Potatoes
Another variation of mashed potatoes including cheese and broccoli mashed in - so good!

Cheesy Potato Bake
I wasn't sure what you'd call this but I guess it is kind of like a pasta bake but with potato rounds instead.
Thin round slices of potato layered with a homemade cheesy sauce, oven-baked, and topped with garlic & parsley.

Fried Garlic and Chive Potato Pancakes
Rather than grated potatoes like the latkes, these are essentially mashed potato versions.
Mashed potato with spring onions fried in a frying pan and topped with parsley.

Green Lentil Shepards Pie
A shocking entry on this list for anyone who knows me and probably the first 'pie' I've ever eaten.
I wanted to try this to add a quick, easy, filling meal option to our list of recipes.
Made with green lentils, peas, and onion and topped with mashed potato!

I now have a whole host of different vegan food posts here on Underland to Wonderland and countless options for many different people and their needs including fussy eaters, easy-to-cook, gluten-free, healthier options and comfort foods.
Click this link here for a lot more posts - Vegan Food Ideas!

You don't have to be vegan to try any of the foods in my posts and you don't have to go fully vegan to add more plant-based meals into your diet. It's common knowledge that a vegan diet literally helps to save our planet so without getting on my soapbox and ranting, I do implore you to try and increase your vegan intake and decrease animal-derived ingredients from your life.

Hopefully, my posts help to show that we don't just eat seeds and leaves. So many things that non-vegans eat either are also vegan or can be made vegan very easily. There are more options now than ever so try something vegan!

Until next time...

Vegan Meal Ideas - Comfort Food Edition

 
My last vegan meal idea post was the Disney Inspired Vegan Meal Ideas which I really enjoyed sharing. After that, I wanted to share some more day to day easy meals that I feel prove the narrative of 'vegans only eat rabbit food' wrong. This post is packed with not the most healthy, but very delicious, filling, comfort foods. Just because we are vegan does not mean we do or should miss out on anything, especially our favourite foods from previous years. 
We love pizza in this house and although there are more frozen options being released they still all seem to be 'veggie supreme's or covered in stuff like jack fruit. Therefore I make my own and can top them with everything from just cheese to chicken and bacon alternatives and not miss out on a tasty pizza! That is just one example of why I do these posts. You don't need to resign to the given options. Homemade is simple and easy and provides so much more variety! See below for more ideas...

Loaded Sub 
Made with part-baked baguette, vegan cheese, vegan bacon, soy 'chicken' pieces, iceberg lettuce and cucumber.

Mac and Cheeze
Made with Macaroni pasta, homemade Béchamel sauce, vegan cheese, and vegan bacon.

Homemade Sausage Rolls

Made with Linda McCartney sausages and Jus-Rol pastry.

Potato Nacho Bowls
Made with baby potato slices, vegan cheese, Quorn hot and spicy burgers, vegan bacon, spring onions.
Tomato, avocado and jalapenos on right bowl also.

Homemade Mickey Pizza
Made with homemade dough, BBQ sauce, vegan cheese, breaded soy 'chicken', spring onion, sriracha. 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with Ice Cream
Made with vegan dough recipe, mint dairy-free chocolate and smashed vegan Magnum. 

So yeah, vegan can evidently be pretty unhealthy too! I must mention that all of these meals were not made and consumed consecutively in one week, rather over a few months and spaced out with some equally as yummy but much more nutritious foods. 
You can check out all of my Vegan Meal Idea blog posts by clicking here!

Until next time...

Disney Inspired Vegan Meal Ideas

 

Oh gosh! I can't believe it's been since way back in January for the Veganuary posts that I last posted a vegan meal idea post. I have a folder accumulating photos of meals that I haven't shared before etc for another 'Easy Vegan Meal Ideas' post, and today's post has been in the works almost as long...well since the very beginning of  March.
I'm not sure how it's taken so long for me to come up with this but it actually ended up coming about by accident when I made the first dish you see below for my tea one night. I swore it was a thing and then it clicked where I'd heard of it before. Hence this whole idea being sparked. For now, we have 5 dishes whose usual counterparts aren't all normally vegan but I made them super easily as fully animal/cruelty-free! 

Broccoli Pizza inspired by Inside Out
This was the item that started it all! And I can hand on heart say it was so delicious!
I always make my own pizza base with a very basic recipe of strong white flour, yeast, salt, water and oil. When I make a batch it is enough for 4 pizzas so after Mr H and I have one each, I freeze the other 2 balls of dough for future use. That means if you have pre-prepared dough this is a very quick and simple meal! For these toppings, I have a small amount of vegan cheese, broccoli, spring onions and chilli flakes.

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Spaghetti and Meatballs inspired by Lady and the Tramp
Can you think of foods from Disney movies and not think of this?! From such a famous scene, it had to be recreated.
We always use gluten-free pasta due to my slight intolerance, so the spaghetti is gluten-free which so some reason makes it look very yellow in photos! The sauce I made with tinned crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, onion, garlic and seasoning. Finally, the 'meatballs' were a store-bought vegan alternative (Mr H had the meatballs and I just the sauce so I can't vouch for their flavour).
Another fast, fun and simple, filling meal.

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Spinach Puffs inspired by The Emperor's New Groove
Spinach puffs aren't exactly something I'd usually gravitate towards, nor is The Emperor's New Groove one of my favourites, though after researching other options for this post I had to give these a go.
Luckily it's 2021 and there are so many more options that meant I could use a non-vegan recipe as a base just substituting vegan alternatives. My main ingredients were ready-made puff pastry (Jus-Roll Chilled Puff Pastry Sheets are accidentally vegan!), vegan cream cheese, vegan bacon and spinach.
My filling looks much darker than many other examples online and I account this to my subtraction of the use of feta cheese or similar.

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Ratatouille inspired by Ratatouille
Would there even be the point in this post if I didn't include an already vegan dish?!
I've only ever had Ratatouille once...that was in Bistrot Chez Rémy at Disneyland Paris, so the expectations for my own recreation were not high. I don't usually like aubergine or tomatoes and seeing it in the pan I wasn't exactly excited for tea. However, I was pleasantly surprised once it was time to eat.
Something I'd like to mention is it is nigh on impossible to plate Ratatouille to look like it did when Remy made it haha!

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Succotash inspired by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Although only mentioned very briefly, it was in a Disney movie none the less and that's enough for me! 
There were many other dishes much more prominently featured in their movies but with my picky palette, why make something that isn't going to be eaten? So Succotash it is!
Originally a Native American recipe this dish can have many variants, though is always based around corn. We used Sweetcorn, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Edamame, Red Onion, Green Onions and seasonings.
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What do you think? Would you try to make any of these vegan versions of popular Disney movie foods? What other Disney foods come to mind when you think of the movies? Keep an eye out for more posts like this in the near future!