The most January, January ever lived #Veganuary

It just keeps on getting more depressing doesn’t it? Every week that passes in January, I think, surely this is it now? Surely this is the worst week and it’s going to get better from now. But it just continues on that downward trajectory. Plus, I’ve noticed that when I have been in a particularly bad mood, my food has reflected that by being extremely boring.

However, in terms of the actual point of this series, I am still not finding the vegan life too bad. I am starting to miss cheese more as the days go on, particularly halloumi which is always a struggle. I could go and explore different vegan cheeses, but I just can’t be bothered for the disappointment. Terrible attitude, I know. Conversely, I have been enjoying finding some new recipes, particularly when baking, with pancakes being a highlight this week. I am going to try and make my last week more interesting and spice up the lunches a bit because they are definitely the most boring part of my day.

Monday 18 January

Breakfast was porridge… I am starting to get slightly bored of the combination now.

Lunch was a toasted bagel with avocado and fried cherry tomatoes. I am really not impressed with Tesco’s avocados. One had literal mould on the inside and they were extremely brown and horrible. I still ate it. But I got more and more annoyed with each mouthful.

I was working late so this was a really easy simple dinner to put together and is actually one of my favourites – when I’m not being vegan, I usually add a lot of cheese. I boiled some linguine and then, in a separate pan, I heated some olive oil and added garlic (probably about four cloves, I don’t need to explain myself), chilli flakes, grated courgette and loads of salt and pepper. When the pasta was cooked, I dropped it into the oily, garlicky goodness, mixed in a few splashes of pasta water and another glug of olive oil. I had this with some rocket on the side.

Image: Chocolate courgette cake

Tuesday 19 January

Porridge. Not much else to say here.

A bagel Richmond sausage sandwich followed by three Oreos which I dunked in a cup of tea. When I first did Veganuary a few years ago, Oreos were one of the things I was so shocked were vegan and so I ended up eating like 5 packets a week – maybe a slight exaggeration.

Tesco had my favourite burgers on sale (Beyond Meat), so I picked up a pack when I was there last week. Usually they are £5 for two burger patties but I think I got these for around £3 which is great. So, on this fine Tuesday I fried one up, shoved it in a bun with loads of vegan mayo, sliced red onion and lettuce with some chips on the side and yet more salad. I recommend buying yourself a jar of the Nando’s Peri Peri Salt to add to your homemade chips. It really elevates a potato-based meal.

The chocolate courgette cake from last week is still going strong. I had a slice later in the evening with some Oatly cream drizzled over the top, enjoyed with a cup of tea and the new episode of Below Deck.

Wednesday 20 January

I realised that my last two pain au chocolats were going out of date on Thursday, so I decided to have them for breakfast today. I couldn’t wait for them to heat up in the oven, so I had a piece of toast with Flora to tide me over for all of five minutes.

Image: Tofu in black bean sauce

For lunch I had a wholemeal wrap filled with a couple of slices of Quorn ham, mayo and spinach. I should have probably tried that new TikTok trend of folding the wrap into four sections, but I really could not be arsed. I also had a packet of Walkers prawn cocktail crisps. I do miss just regular cheese and onion Walkers, but unfortunately, they use milk powder to make the flavourings stick. Bastards.

I was craving the tofu in black bean sauce again, so I made the exact same meal as a couple of weeks ago. The full description and links to recipe are in my first post here.

Thursday 21 January

Porridge with banana. All my berries went mouldy. I hate Tesco at the moment. I will never forgive them for how shit their fresh fruit and veg has been this week. Back to Aldi next week.

After a nice lunchtime walk in the rain, I fried two pieces of Quorn vegan ham and made a “bacon sandwich” in a toasted bagel. I always forget to do this and whenever I do, I realise how tasty it is. I also find it quite ironic, as throughout the 12 or so years that I have been vegetarian one of the most common things people ask me is if I miss bacon. I always say no, I never liked bacon, so I found that really easy to give up. But here I am now making fake bacon sandwiches.

For dinner I made a vegan spaghetti bolognese, made with the Naked Glory mince and a mixture of red and brown lentils. Plus, of course had some some garlic bread to accompany it. A dinner is not a dinner unless it contains at least two carbs, preferably three. This garlic bread was homemade, consisting of chopped up garlic and parsley mixed with Flora spread over a sliced-up ciabatta. I sprinkled over a tiny bit of grated Violife cheese on my pasta and it was extremely satisfying.

Image: Quorn vegan ham and made a “bacon sandwich” in a toasted bagel

Friday 22 January

That bacon sandwich was so good that I made another for breakfast, because it was Friday and I was in a bad mood. Down with the porridge. I am on strike.

I went back to an easy favourite of pesto pasta for lunch as I was in a rush when I got back from a walk and I couldn’t be bothered to think up anything funky. Lunch is going to require some pre-planning next week because I am getting slightly bored.

It’s Friday and so after a full week of cooking I ordered a takeaway. I got some vegetable spring rolls, steamed jasmine rice and Thai green curry with lots of vegetables. When ordering, I checked that everything was vegan and no sneaky fish sauce was being used in my dishes.

Saturday 23 January

For breakfast, I had a craving that I had to fulfil: pancakes. I used this recipe to make kind of American-style pancakes which actually turned out really nicely. I just halved all the ingredients as I didn’t need 16 pancakes for just me. I should have probably halved again but I was hungry and wanted a STACK, like the kind of ones you see in an American diner. I didn’t have anything funky to add in terms of toppings, so I just poured loads of Golden Syrup over them. These were enjoyed from bed whilst trying out the new BBC drama The Serpent. I am only a couple of episodes in, but really enjoying so far.

I went for a lovely walk in the afternoon and so didn’t really have lunch. But when I got home, I snuffled a bag of prawn cocktail crisps as I really couldn’t wait for dinner.

Image: American-style pancakes

Dinner was a vegan classic which I am actually surprised it’s taken me this long to have – falafel. I did want to try making the falafel from scratch but in the end, I couldn’t be bothered and so just had some shop bought ones. I heated them up in the oven and smushed them into a wholemeal wrap loaded with hummus, salad, red onion, coriander and some vegan mayo. I also had some stuffed vine leaves, chips and more salad on the side.

Sunday 24 January

It took me a while to realise that snow was pouring from the sky this morning. So, after I ran about screaming like a five-year-old for a while, I had a piece of toast and a cup of tea. Sometimes on the weekend, if I wake up hungry, I just have a single piece of toast to tide me over until I have the energy to actually make something nice.

I decided to make more pancakes at around 1pm because even if I can’t go out for brunch, I can still eat brunch. I used the same recipe from yesterday but adapted it slightly. Again, I halved the ingredients apart from today I kept the amount of sugar the same and added 250ml of oat milk instead of 200ml of soy milk. They were even fluffier and tastier than previously.

Dinner was another roast vibe but with some Richmond sausages and gravy this week. Nothing really beats roast potatoes on a Sunday, of which I probably ate about seven. I was very hungry from doing absolutely nothing. Weirdly, I didn’t have a sweet craving this evening and just drank water. Am I okay?

 
Words and Photography by Mollie Cohen