Vegan Challenge - Week 3

   The half way point! Being a vegan had now lost its novelty, and the prospect of a further two weeks without meat and cheese gave me an empty feeling in my stomach (exactly where I wanted the milk and cheese to be..). But, alas, I was determined to continue... Especially with vegan burgers, hot dogs and kale chips! 
   Our trusted vegan brownie recipe also featured again this week, along with an AMAZING homemade vegan lasagne (if I do say so myself!). 

Meals eaten this week:

   This week, my motivation came from a generous donation and encouragement from my Dad, and the promise of donations from friends if I could complete the entire month. Also, cooking vegan burgers and hot dogs lets you forget, albeit for a few minutes, that you're eating a meat-free diet. 

   3 weeks down, 2 struggling vegans, 1 deserving charity but no signs of cracking... This week anyway!

If you would like to donate to help me through this challenge for the very deserving Meningitis Research Foundation, it would be greatly appreciated! Link: https://www.justgiving.com/GeorgeMuscatt/

Thanks for all the support,

George :)

Vegan Challenge - Week 2

   Evident by my late post this week, a combination of a heavy work load and extra-curricular commitments has ensured a very stressful few days. Subsequently, my diet transformed from an enthusiastic I-will-cook-a-new-meal-every-day to what-can-I-cook-and-eat-within-half-an-hour? Despite this, I have enjoyed my second vegan week, and explored the world of 'Frozen Vegan'! 

   Turning down cakes, chocolates and biscuits became second-nature this week, which was probably for the best, as failing after a week would have been worse than living without the treat. That said, this week my flatmate and I have loved gorging on dark chocolate (fun fact: chocolate with at >70% cocoa content are dairy free!!) and the subsequent egg and butter-free brownies! 


Meals eaten this week:

   Due to my busy schedule and lack of motivation this week, meals have mainly been made from the freezer. Thank God vegans are able to each chips, or else I would have broken! We did, however, make a lentil cottage pie, made with mash containing soya milk and vegan butter. I say "we"... It was actually my fabulous flatmate Carrie who made this triumph of a dinner, whilst I cried in the despair of a pending lab report deadline.

Difficulties faced this week:

• Lunch - mornings lack the enthusiasm, inspiration and time to prepare vegan lunches. There was never anything wrong with a ham and cheese sandwich, which obviously isn't too great without the ham and cheese.. That said, a late discovery of smoked soya cheese (which is actually edible!) satisfied my sandwich craving.
• Cheese and Onion crisps - turns out, there IS actually cheese in Walkers crisps! The familiar smell of these crisps as they were opened was very hard to ignore..
• Speedy food - the ease of snacking on biscuits, cereal bars etc. has had to be traded with the preparation of vegetable sticks. 
• Fish fantasies - one of the biggest cravings I've experienced this week has been fish! Surprising myself, I have indeed fancied some grilled salmon and rocket salad.. *stomach rumbles*
• Viali's* burger - yes, another post-clubbing temptation! The burger and chips became just chips, which my wallet was thankful for..

*For non-Warwick students, Viali's is the one-and-only fast food restaurant that BEGS to be visited after a night out in Leamington. 

   This week my motivation has centred around finding surprising vegan-friendly foods. As mentioned, dark chocolate, whilst not being my favourite, has been a great comfort food on a diet which seems to have limited options for comfort eating. Further, Tesco value Bourbon Creams do not contain ANY dairy. Yes, you heard right. And my stomach was suitably satisfied. I can see these being a staple for the next few weeks! 

   Also, a very kind donation from my Mum has pushed me to the end of week 2, where I look ahead to my third of five weeks as a vegan.

If you would like to donate to help me through this challenge for the very deserving Meningitis Research Foundation, it would be greatly appreciated! 

Link: https://www.justgiving.com/GeorgeMuscatt/

Until next week,

George :)

Vegan Challenge – Week 1

   An idea that had initially sounded daunting, finding vegan recipes and persuading my flatmate to join in with me left me excited to start my vegan journey.

   Getting into the vegan mind-set was difficult this week. Turning down chocolate, and other snacks with hidden dairy, was both hard to remember, and hard to want to remember! But nevertheless, it has been an interesting week where I have tried some cool recipes with flatmates, and surprisingly enjoyed eating vegan. I just hope this optimism will carry me through the coming weeks!

   Finding the ‘Free From’ section in Tesco, where I have been able to pick up vegan-alternatives to many favourite snacks and ingredients, proved to be a lifesaver. Trading soya milk for cow’s milk, and purchasing soya yogurt, dairy free butter, and dairy free cheese, has allowed me to eat fairly similarly to normal.  

Meals eaten this week include:

   Despite my enjoyment of the first week, difficulties were abundant, and started from day 1…

Difficulties faced this week:

•  Birthday Caterpillar cake – a family favourite shared out for a flatmate’s birthday. Instead, I enjoyed a soya vanilla dessert pot, an excellent dupe for custard.
• Post-POP!* Burger van burger – how else would you end a fantastic night of popping? Chips alone luckily amused my fast-food craving.
• Homemade Bailey’s Hot Chocolate – reaching by hands before I realised it contained milk! Soon replaced with a refreshing green tea.
• Parmesan-less risotto – last term I got through several blocks of Parmesan. However, I sufficed with the vegetable flavour this time.
• ‘Haribo’ snacking during lectures/workshops – a tradition made last term with a few course mates had to leave me out. This was a surprisingly tough temptation to swallow… or not, as it were!
• Vegan Cheese – yes, it tastes as bad as it sounds! I shall have to complete this challenge without a cheese alternative.

*For non-Warwick students, POP! is the ‘midweek mayhem’ of cheesy pop tunes in the SU each Wednesday night.

   This week, my motivation was mainly stubbornness; I did NOT want to give up before I’d finished at least one week! Also, the novelty of trying dairy-free alternatives was fairly fun (minus the vegan cheese tasting…).

   One week down, I look ahead to a week surely more difficult than the one just passed. Wish me luck!

Donations to my JustGiving page for the Meningitis Research Foundation would be much appreciated, and will encourage me to keep up this challenge! 

Link: https://www.justgiving.com/GeorgeMuscatt/

   George :)