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There are several reasons you might be thinking about switching to a vegan diet; kinder to the animals, the planet and kinder to your health. If you’ve read 7 Ways You Can Lead A More Sustainable Lifestyle you will have seen how much impact a vegan diet can actually benefit the planet.
It can be difficult to make the changes for your diet to become a vegan diet and you may not have a clue where to start. This post will explore different ways you to help you feel more confident about where to start and how to continue with a vegan diet.
Alternatives
Think about what you usually eat in a week and try and find a vegan alternative that you like. With the ever expanding range of products there are now so many more brands and flavours to choose from than there were a few years ago making it easier than ever. Many supermarkets now even have their own vegan brands which is great for a cheaper alternative:
- Tesco – Plant Chef
- Asda – Plant Based
- Aldi – Plant Menu
- Sainsburys – Plant Pioneers
There is also a huge range of branded alternatives about such as Vivera, Wicked Kitchen, ToFoo Co, Beyond Meat, Mighty Pea, Violife and many more. If you want to shop for specifically vegan foods you should check out The Vegan Kind Supermarket which is a whole online shop just for vegan foods.
Try, Try, Try Again
When you first try some vegan alternatives you may be a bit shocked by the taste as some products can taste slightly different to what you’re used to. Don’t let one product put you off though, try a different brand or flavour of that product to find one that you love.
The first vegan cheese alternative I tried was the Tesco Free From Coconut Oil Alternative To Mature Cheddar and to be honest I absolutely hated it. At that point I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat anything with vegan cheese in, however, I went to try other flavours in that range and found one I could actually eat. I also tried different brands of vegan cheese when they were on offer and I enjoy them. My go to brands for vegan cheese now are Violife, Applewood, Vitalite, Green Vie and Sheese.
Check The Label
If there is a food you think is vegan and it doesn’t state that it is vegan then check the label. There are some foods that may seem vegan but actually contain milk or eggs, for example some crisps actually contain milk even though they are a salt and vinegar flavour.
Keep A Record
Every time you try a new vegan alternative make a note of the brand, flavour, and whether or not you liked the food. This will help you keep track of what to buy in your weekly shop and what alternatives to avoid if you know you don’t like them. I would also recommend keeping a record of foods that you thought were vegan but turned out not to be after checking the label.
Make Food From Scratch
When you make meals from scratch it is so much easier to make sure there isn’t any dairy or meat in the food. You can also make sure you incorporate the vegan alternatives you love and experiment around with different foods to find your go-to! There are so many recipes you can follow about on the internet so if you wanted one of your favourite meals as a vegan alternative there is bound to be one! If you want fish and chips on a Friday night – there’s a vegan alternative recipe for that! Or even if you wanted an omelette, there’s a vegan alternative recipe for this also!
Here are some suggestions for vegan meals to have:
- Jacket Potato With Kidney Bean Chili
- Butternut Squash Pasta
- Chickpea Curry
- Puff Pastry Pizza
- Cauliflower and Spinach Curry
- Vegan Burrito
Find Vegan Ready Meals
If you absolutely cannot stand cooking, or don’t have the time or energy then there are still several brands that do vegan ready meals. You could even join a subscription service such as Root Kitchen or The Brook to have plant based meals delivered to your door at a schedule that suits you.
Vegan Essentials
There are some things that I always like to keep in the house so I know I can always have meals throughout the day that incorporate enough protein. Here are some things I keep in:
- Cous Cous
- Chickpeas
- Frozen Vegetables
- Kidney Beans
- Flora Vegan Spread
- Multivitamins – I use the A-Z Multivitamins from MyVegan
- Plant-Based milk – I like to use Mighty Pea Might Milk
- Kallo Vegan Stock Cubes
- Bread
- Potatoes
- Plant Chef Spiced Tikka Sauce
Switching to a vegan diet doesn’t have to be stressful, follow the tips in this post and enjoy exploring your new way of life.
I always love vegan meals. To me, vegan meals are more delicious than meat and chicken. Thank you for sharing. Good post. Btw, you have a lovely blog.
Amazing tips to follow, I thought a lot of turning vegan but my country doesn’t have many vegan items as much and there are not a lot of products here, but totally love the blog!
I have had Dairy free cheese lately and used soya milk a lot. Interesting article.