 |
| Majority of pictures taken from the Veganuary website and Facebook page. |
Now...to get on with business, this month I have taken on
the Veganuary challenge, along with many other people around the world who had
signed up and are also taking part in the challenge.
For those of you who do not know what Veganuary is and why
everyone is talking about it, allow me to explain it to you: Veganuary is a
combination of Vegan and January together, hence Veganuary. This means you go completely vegan
for the entire month of January. Veganuary is chosen in January because it will
kick start your year of being a vegan for the rest of the year, if you feel the vegan lifestyle is perfect for you. Another amazing
part of taking the Veganuary challenge is that you can enter competitions
throughout the month and who knows? You might win yourself some vegan products!
There is a Facebook group called “Veganuary” where you can see what everyone who has taken the Veganuary challenge, is up to
with regard to what they are eating, their thoughts they’d like to share with the
group, some recipes they’d like to share along with many other subjects with
regard to veganism.
 |
| The amount of people worldwide who signed up for the Veganuary Challenge. Picture credit taken from the Veganuary Facebook page. |
The best advice I could give you is to go onto www.veganuary.com and there you will find different recipes, the humane myths about the animal industry
and also myths about being a vegan. Some of my absolute favourites on the
Veganuary website are what foods are accidently vegan, the vegan food
essentials, the vegan eating out tips and the vegan label reading guide. They
are all a huge help!
Ever since I become a vegetarian a few years back, I learnt
to read the food labels on every food I purchase as this doesn’t only show if
there are any dairy/egg/meat products in them, it also helps you to see what
you are putting into your body.
 |
| Picture stating the truth about being a vegan and the website underneath. Picture credit taken from the Veganuary website. |
Another amazing fact about Veganuary is that they have
launched different versions in other countries to help people who are in those
countries, to see what they can purchase in their own country, besides the products that
are available in the UK.
 |
| Veganuary has launched an SA version, among other versions worldwide. Picture credit taken from the Veganuary Facebook page. |
With regard to eating out at restaurants, it is not
impossible to have vegan food. All you
have to do is email the restaurants you mainly go to, then tell the
restaurant that you are vegan or you are taking the Veganuary challenge , then ask
the restaurants what they have that is vegan. If you are in a rush or you
didn’t plan on going to a restaurant or you go to a restaurant you have never
been to, look at the restaurant’s menu and see if you can subsidise the meals.
It is also important that you find out what the fries are
cooked with. If the fries are cooked with sunflower oil or vegetable oil, then
you don’t need to worry. If the fries are cooked in beef fat or palm oil, avoid
ordering the fries, but most restaurants cook their fries in sunflower or
vegetable oil nowadays. Just make sure before you order.
Unlike other countries, here in South Africa, restaurants
mostly cater for vegetarians, but if you want to subsidise foods, just ask your
waiter or ask for the manager to help you. Hopefully the waiter and/or manager will help
you out and not look at you with a blank face. Some restaurants are vegan
friendly and they do have vegan options on their menu, but if there aren’t any
vegan options on the menu, just see what you can do to subsidise the meals you are looking at. You might not be able to subsidise the meals as it will confuse the waiters, but ask the waiter/manager if you can subsidise meals.
For people who are either living or visiting South Africa,
you can go to these following restaurants/take-away places as they are vegan friendly:
Knead (Ask which bread options you can have as some bread contain animal protein)
PLANT (100% vegan take-away and sit down restaurant)
Portobello road (Has quite a few vegan options)
Call-A-Pizza (ask for tofu instead of cheese)
Raw & Roxy (100% vegan)
Simply Asia (Scroll down until you reach the VEGETARIAN section. There are vegan options to)
Woolworths cafe (can substitute vegetarian meals to make a
vegan meal)
PS: The best way to find out which restaurant/cafe is vegan
friendly, download the Happy Cow app and you can see which restaurant/cafe is
vegan friendly that is closest to where you are.
 |
| Mushroom Burger that is on the menu at PLANT restaurant. |
 |
| Number 409: Hed Phad Med Prik Phao at Simply Asia. |
Here are some tips for people who can make a vegan dish in
their own house (This helps if you are eating on a budget):
- Look around your house, see what you have, gather all foods you have that is vegan.
- Put all the food together or mix different foods and make your very own unique dish.
PS: You need to research veganism and know exactly what
foods you can eat and what you must stay away from, aside from the obvious.
This is very important as some people just switch to a vegan lifestyle, but
have no idea what the lifestyle is.
Animal by-products do contain vitamin B12 and protein, which many people say vegans will vitamin B12 and protein. This isn't true, protein is found in many products such as tofu, which is high in protein. Here are a few foods that contain protein as well: Peanut butter, peas, almonds, lentils, soy milk and baked beans.
As for vitamin B12, this is truthfully a bit harder to consume for vegans, but luckily you can get substitutes such as: breakfast cereals, soy milk, vegan cheese, soya burger and nutritional yeast.
Also see what vegan foods you can buy as supplements or substitutes to get your daily nutrients in your system.
Animal by-products do contain vitamin B12 and protein, which many people say vegans will vitamin B12 and protein. This isn't true, protein is found in many products such as tofu, which is high in protein. Here are a few foods that contain protein as well: Peanut butter, peas, almonds, lentils, soy milk and baked beans.
As for vitamin B12, this is truthfully a bit harder to consume for vegans, but luckily you can get substitutes such as: breakfast cereals, soy milk, vegan cheese, soya burger and nutritional yeast.
Also see what vegan foods you can buy as supplements or substitutes to get your daily nutrients in your system.
One of the best vegan food sources that will help you with
your vegan lifestyle would be Fry’s Family Food. Their food is 100% vegan, and
some of the foods are high in protein as well. I can guarantee you now you
won’t taste the difference between Fry’s Foods compared to a dish which
contains meat. An example would be you won’t taste the difference
between a Fry’s Food Family curry pie to a normal meaty curry pie. They look the same,
except the one is helping the animals to survive!
You can find out what different products they have here:
www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/product-category/our-food/
www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/product-category/our-food/
For January 2016, I am 100% vegan, and it feels good!
After January I would then become about 85% vegan, which means cooking my own
food with vegan ingredients, but if I really cannot help it, I would then eat
vegetarian foods should I go to a restaurant or someone’s place. This is what I
would call a flexetarian. I know that is not a word, but this word means I eat
either like a vegan or a vegetarian.
The reason most people go vegan is because of the cruel
treatment that the animals have to go through so people can have meat on their
plate. I can understand way back in the day that people went to kill #1 single
animal and make leather out of that animal and also eat that animal, and use
every single bit of that animal to make whatever they needed to, but in today’s
world, we have exploited this fact and have made slaughtering houses where
millions upon billions of animals get slaughtered, and the worst part of all
this, the meat is wasted and thrown away! An example of meat wastage would be if you gave a plate with
meat on to a child and the child doesn’t want that meat or if you have meat in
your fridge and the meat goes off, you then throw the meat away. In my eyes, I see
that animal dying for no reason; he/she was slaughtered just to get thrown in
the rubbish bin.
It isn’t just meat we have to worry about getting thrown
away; it is also food wastage that is a huge problem! Try to avoid food wastage.
The animals also are aware of where they going when they go to get slaughtered. There has been articles stating animals try to escape the trucks they are crammed in to avoid being slaughtered. Also, the slaughterhouses can be contributing towards destroying the environment due to the gas fumes etc.
The animals also are aware of where they going when they go to get slaughtered. There has been articles stating animals try to escape the trucks they are crammed in to avoid being slaughtered. Also, the slaughterhouses can be contributing towards destroying the environment due to the gas fumes etc.
 |
| A picture stating a fact about chickens. Picture credit taken from the Veganuary Facebook page. |
If you want to be 100% vegan, it doesn’t just mean not
consuming meat, eggs and dairy products, it also means to wear and use vegan
products/items. If you consider yourself a hardcore vegan, don’t wear fur,
wool or any other animal skin/coat. Also, if you wear make-up, use products
that are cruelty-free and don’t wear make-up that is not cruelty-free. You can
find many faux/artificial fur and fake leather at many shops, and you can also see which
companies sell cruelty-free products by going onto the http://www.leapingbunny.org/ . If
you’re in South Africa, you can go to http://www.bwcsa.co.za/ to see what products you can
buy that is cruelty-free, and if you want to see which shops sell animal skins
and fur, which you would want to stay away from, you can go to www.furfree.net
 |
| Top left: Beauty without Cruelty logo. Bottom left: Fur Free SA logo. Top right: Leaping Bunny logo. Bottom right: Veganuary logo. |
Here are some recipes I made during the month of January:
Overnight Oats:
Ingredients:
Rolled oats – about half of the jar size. Do NOT fill up the
entire jar! (I used Woolworth’s rolled oats)
Alpro soya chocolate drink – enough to cover the rolled
oats.
1 tbsp maple syrup (I subsidized and used maple flavoured
syrup)
1 tsp ground flaxseed (I used Nature’s Choice ground
flaxseed which you can purchase from a health shop)
Method:
Combine all ingredients into a jar and refrigerate
overnight.
The next morning, you can put soya yoghurt or put berries or
whatever you wish on top of your overnight oats and that's all there is to it.
 |
| Overnight oats in a jar pictured above. |
Curry with salad:
Ingredients:
Fry’s Food Family curry pieces
Various vegetables (I used McCain stew mix + chopped
potatoes)
Oil (I used coconut oil)
Boiled water
1 Banana or coconut cream
Anything you wish for a salad, but make sure it is vegan.
Anything you wish for a salad, but make sure it is vegan.
(The quantity of ingredients depends on how much you want.)
Method:
Put oil into a pot and add the vegetables in the pot until it starts to heat up.
Add Fry’s Food Family curry pieces.
Add boiled water and allow food to simmer, but stir every
now and again until the vegetables and curry pieces are soft and ready.
You can add either banana or coconut cream in the food and
stir until food is ready.
SALAD: The salad is optional, and you can add whatever you wish to your salad. I had the following: couscous; cucumber; tomato; kale and peppadews. The quantity depends on how much you want to have.
SALAD: The salad is optional, and you can add whatever you wish to your salad. I had the following: couscous; cucumber; tomato; kale and peppadews. The quantity depends on how much you want to have.
Optional:
You can add sweet chilli sauce while the curry is still
cooking for flavouring.
Add maizena if the food looks too watery.
 |
| A plate of curry with a salad. |
Salad sandwich:
Ingredients:
1 Grated carrot
1 -2 leaves of kale
1 tsp Hummus
1 tsp Couscous
2 -3 Tomatoes
2 -3 Slices of cucumber
2 slices of toasted bread
Method:
Place hummus on the toasted bread, and then add in this
order onto the sandwich: Cucumber, tomatoes, grated carrots and then the kale.
Add the other slice of toasted bread on top of the salad and
that’s all there is to it.
Optional:
You can even add grounded flaxseeds onto your salad, which
will add Omega-3 in this meal.
 |
| Pictured above is a salad sandwich. |
Ingredients:
1 – 2 Bananas
3 – 4 Blocks of vegan melting chocolate
Chopped nuts– quantity depends on how much nuts you want. (I
used chopped raw cashew nuts)
Method:
Cut up 1 – 2 bananas and place them into the freezer and
leave them for about 2 hours.
After about 2 hours, take the bananas out of the freezer and
blend in a blender until it forms a creamy texture.
Place banana ice cream into a bowl, and start to melt your
vegan chocolate in a pot (you can also melt your vegan chocolate while you wait
for the bananas to freeze).
Place melted chocolate on top of banana ice cream, and then add
the chopped nuts.
 |
| Pictured above is the Easy Peasy Banana Ice Cream |
Ingredients:
2 -3 Slices of lettuce
4 -5 Olives
Spices (Pick any spices you want, but make sure it is vegan)
3 -4 Tomatoes
3 – 4 Peppadews
2 -3 Slices of cucumber
2 – 3 tbsp Tomato saucy pasta
Method:
Place the ingredients in this order into a bowl: Lettuce,
tomato, peppadews, cucumber, olives, tomato saucy pasta and then the spices.
 |
| Pictured above is the salad with tomato saucy pasta. This recipe was put together by just looking around the house and seeing what was available to have. |
Ingredients:
Kiwi fruit
Grapefruit
Orange
Pineapple
Sweet Melon
(The quantity sizes of these fruit depend on how much you
want.)
Blueberries – to sprinkle on your plate.
5 -6 tbsp of Granola cereal
Method:
Slice the fruit and put all fruit on a plate.
In a separate bowl, put the granola cereal in the bowl.
Put the bowl onto the plate (or don’t) and enjoy!
 |
| Truthfully I didn't make this exact dish in the picture above, but this is what it would look like when you make your fruit salad with granola cereal. |
Vegan burger with salad:
Ingredients:
Vegan burger patty (I used Woolworth’s vegan burger patty)
1 tsp Couscous
2 – 3 Slices of cucumber
3 – 4 Tomatoes
1 – 2 leaves of kale
1 tsp Hummus or about half an avocado (I used hummus)
Method:
Fry or heat up the vegan burger patty or however you would
like to heat up your patty.
Before placing the patty on the roll, first spread hummus or
avocado on the roll, and then you add the patty to the roll.
You then add the kale, cucumber, tomatoes and couscous to
your roll.
The salad can be your choice, excepting no meat/dairy/egg
products. You can add foods such as lettuce, more tomatoes, quinoa and much more variety of foods to your salad. You can even make a fruit salad instead, or just the burger.
 |
| Pictured above is the vegan burger patty with butternut and a potato on the side. Perfect if you go camping. |
Just think: If everyone in the world took part in the
Veganuary challenge, imagine how many animals we will be saving and how much we
would be helping out the environment as well!
If you would like to know more about Veganuary or you maybe
want to contact them, here is their official website, along with their social
media pages:
Official website: http://www.veganuary.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Veganuary
Facebook Veganuary Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/veganuary/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreVeganuary
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareveganuary/
I thank every single person who took the time to read this
blog!
I do hope you gained some information about this blog and
will maybe try out these recipes I have shared, and maybe for those of you who
haven’t yet, will take on the Veganuary challenge next year!
I appreciate every single person for reading this blog and
taking the time out of their busy schedule to read this blog, it means so
much!!
Thank you again to everybody!
