I am absolutely never going to be ready to start Veganuary on the 1st January (or to start any resolutions in fact). So, I usually aim for the first Monday/whenever I start back at work. Like the rest of the public, I am also usually hungover on the 1st, meaning I’m fragile enough without having to cry over halloumi. In my hungover state, I actually ended up having a lovely takeaway pizza on the first day of 2021 to soothe my poor alcohol-ridden liver.

I also couldn’t be bothered to go to the supermarket over the weekend so I started off a lot more underprepared than I would have liked. But thankfully, I have been vegetarian for around 12 years and have tried doing the odd vegan month over the years, so I knew what to expect. To keep me motivated, and perhaps inspire some other people, I decided to keep a track of what I’m eating over the next month. Enjoy!

Monday 4 January

I started off with a lovely cup of tea, which I have had with oat milk for the past few years so that wasn’t much different. I wasn’t prepared at all for breakfast, but I spotted a sexy looking avocado which I proceeded to smash the sh*t out of. My favourite thing to smash an avocado with is black pepper, salt, chilli flakes and garlic granules. I smeared this on some wholemeal toast, and then discovered some cherry tomatoes which I chopped up and fried in some olive oil, salt and pepper.

I went for a walk at lunch and stopped in at M&S where I picked up their No Egg & Watercress sandwich which I was actually very impressed with. The filling is made up of tofu, cannellini beans and watercress that is seasoned with turmeric, salt, nutritional yeast and soy sauce, amongst other things. Anyone that knows me knows that I would gladly live off of egg mayo and cress baguettes (especially the ones from Wenzel’s). Whilst there I also picked up the new Melt in the Middle No Fish Cakes, Peri Peri No-Chicken Pieces, and some plain No-Chicken Pieces all of which will be perfect for lunches or dinners.

For dinner I made a Shepherd’s pie using Vivera’s Veggie Mince, red and brown lentils, carrots and vegetable stock. I just mashed the potatoes with some oat milk and then whilst it was baking, I steamed some broccoli and green beans to have on the side. Delicious.

After dinner I was absolutely hankering for some chocolate or sweets, basically anything to take the edge off, but I had absolutely nothing in. So, I went on to good olde Amazon to get some treats for tomorrow like any normal person would do and went to bed starving.

Tuesday 5 January

I started the day with a cuppa and did a couple of hours of work before making myself a delicious oat milk latte thing (I say thing because I am no barista, but I do have a semi-fancy coffee machine with a milk steamer). In terms of actual food, I had a bowl of porridge topped with banana and a few squares of dark chocolate.

For lunch I made a baby bowl of pesto pasta that I topped with some vegan cheese, nutritional yeast and black pepper. I did pick up a three pack of vegan cheese the other week that was in the sale at Tesco for 88p – lovely Christmas leftovers. I was pleasantly surprised with the cheese as usually vegan cheese is not my favourite. I washed it down with a green tea.

 For dinner I made a Chinese feast consisting of tofu in black bean sauce, fried rice and stir fry veg. I got the black beans a few weeks ago again from Amazon (sorry! Not very vegan, I know). If you get the same black beans that I did, then I recommend soaking them in some water before and giving them a rinse as they are extremely salty straight out of the packet. This also helps to soften them pre-cooking. I used this Gok Wan recipe which is actually really tasty and simple to prepare – I just leave out the oyster sauce. I know Gok Wan is a bit rogue and used to dress middle aged ladies on TV, but he’s just brought out a cookbook and I am here for it.

When cooking tofu, I usually always do the same thing – I just change up the spices depending on the dish. Firstly, squeeze the tofu with some kitchen roll to get rid of the excess water, then cube and put in a bowl with a sprinkle (random measurements only) of chilli flakes, salt, pepper, Chinese five spice, and a nice heaped tablespoon of cornflour. Mix it all up so the tofu is completely covered and then put in a baking tray with a fair amount of oil in (usually vegetable or sunflower) and shove it in the oven for around 30 mins on 180 degrees, making sure to shake it a couple of times so it doesn’t stick. I then made the black bean sauce following the recipe and added in the tofu towards the end. For the fried rice I just cooked some basmati rice up and then fried it with oil and a mix of light and dark soy sauce till it went crispy. Then I shoved a bag of stir fry veg in a wok with some oil, soy sauce and siracha! Bone apple tea!

I then devoured a bag of the sweets I ordered last night whilst catching up on the newest episodes of Below Deck – highly recommend.

Wednesday 6 January

After I dragged myself out of bed, I made a cuppa and did some work till around 10am. I then made the exact same breakfast as yesterday: porridge topped with sliced banana, dark chocolate and some peanut butter.

For lunch I had my leftover tofu in black bean sauce with some leftover fried rice. Unfortunately, there was no veg left, so this was a relatively beige meal.

And for dinner, sorry to bore you but I actually had leftover Shepherd’s pie with some broccoli, cauliflower and carrots on the side.

However, before dinner I finally got my arse in gear and went to do some food shopping. I have seen some incredible Veganuary launches from Aldi on Instagram, so I decided to check it out. I got loads of stuff (all vegan obvs) including pain au chocolats, chocolate cookies, sausages, nuggets, ‘fish’ fingers, red pesto, tofu, rice noodles, yogurt and a variety of plant milks. It was all great value and I highly recommend visiting if you want to get some new bits in – they even had packs of vegan protein. And as a post dinner treat, I had a couple of the cookies dipped in a cuppa and I can confirm they are like a double chocolate Maryland.

Thursday 7 January

For breakfast I made porridge, yet again. But today there was some slightly more interesting toppings thanks to my raunchy Aldi shop. I stirred in some golden syrup into the porridge as it cooked then topped it with sliced banana, raspberries, blueberries and almond butter.

I then drank approximately 17 cups of tea (slight exaggeration) whilst working and then went for a walk to return a parcel and finally source some vegan mayo and butter as they were the two things I couldn’t find in Aldi. I found both in my local Co-op and also picked up some bagels and some spinach. When I got home, I made lunch which consisted of two of the red pepper and butternut squash sausages, a toasted bagel topped with smashed avocado and some cherry tomatoes.

For dinner, it was a kebab vibe but cheaper and hopefully somewhat healthier. I made chips which really were *chefs kisses* heavenly. I was devoted to the humble Maris Piper, but now I might have found a new love in Albert Bartlett. I then fried up the fake chicken pieces from M&S with chopped courgette, red pepper and red onion. I sprinkled in a load of random spices including cayenne pepper, chilli powder, chilli flakes, mixed herbs, garlic powder and of course, salt and pepper. It could have done with some paprika, but sadly I didn’t have any left. I also made a salad which was just leftover avocado from lunch, tomatoes, red onion, sliced beetroot and two types of lettuce. I shoved the ‘chicken’ and veg mix with some salad into a toasted pitta with some vegan mayo and hummus, and then shoved it directly in my mouth.

Friday 8 January

Breakfast was the exact same porridge with fruit as usual, but today as my Holland and Barrett order arrived (yes, you heard me, I am literally so healthy) I added a sprinkling of flaxseed and chia seeds into the mix. I have no idea what they do or why they are good, but I know that I felt morally and physically superior after eating them.

Lunch was a sausage sandwich with the Aldi sausages and a bagel. Quick and yummy. Was slightly peckish after though so had another cookie dipped in a cuppa.

Dinner was a homemade Indian feast. I made a huge vegetable curry with chickpeas, red and brown lentils, aubergine (which I shoved in the oven a bit before with some turmeric, oil, salt and pepper and chilli), potatoes, carrots, spinach. I also made a jackfruit korma with Oatly cream which turned out so nicely considering it was the first time I have cooked with jackfruit – very impressed. Then I cooked some basmati rice with bay leaves and turmeric, I won’t be rude and claim it was pilau rice, but it was a half-arsed attempt and was still tasty.

My favourite thing about eating Indian food is having about seven different curries on my plate at once, so I also picked up a tarka dhal and aloo gobi from Waitrose along with some naans and onion bhajis. It was spectacular and just shows how easy it is to be vegan when eating Indian food. Predictably, later on I was in the mood for something sweet so I tried one of those naughty looking caramel melt in the middle chocolate puddings from Aldi. I heated it up in the mic-ro-wav-ehy and dribbled some Oatly cream over it. I burnt my tongue because I was being a philistine and couldn’t wait; but luckily, I didn’t burn off too many tastebuds and still lived to tell the tale.

Saturday 9 January

Although I am now the vision of health with my flaxseed and chia seeds, as it’s the weekend I went for a slightly less health-conscious breakfast today. I shoved two of those vegan pain au chocolat in the oven to get them a little melty on the inside but crispy on the outside. But I just can’t escape the nutritious side of myself and also had a handful of raspberries and blueberries on the side. Of course, this was accompanied with a cup of tea and a glass of apple juice. I love having multiple liquids on the go.

Lunch doesn’t usually exist as a concept for me on the weekend as I wake up a lot later. But at around 4pm I got rather famished post-bath so had two slices of wholegrain toast generously spread with some Flora.

 Dinner was a whole load of leftover curry. The exact same as last night just without the onion bhajis to start. Yummy.

Sunday 10 January

For breakfast I got in my favourite ever vegan product: Richmond vegan sausages. I fried three of them (slice them in half once they’re cooked and fry the insides too for extra deliciousness). Only two sausages fitted in my toasted bagel, so I just chomped on the other one like a (vegan) neanderthal.

Again, lunch wasn’t required as I had breakfast at like 1pm. I did however try my hand at some baking, combining Veganuary with my first lockdown obsession – doughnuts. I tried out this Jamie Oliver recipe and I was very impressed. They definitely don’t have the same spongey/doughy texture as ‘normal’ doughnuts, but they are a lot quicker to make and require a lot less effort than what I was making before. I didn’t bother with the raspberry dipping sauce, but I think it would actually have elevated the doughnuts significantly.

Dinner was this Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Chicken Bucket (which is also suitable for vegans) with a dollop of mashed potato, beans and mayo. Perfect Sunday night. All finished off with some more doughnuts and tea.

Words and Photography by Mollie Cohen