Vegan Scaremongering

This is one topic I am very passionate about. Vegans have a very bad name for themselves. We are crazy outsiders who have wild outlandish views and shove those views down peoples throats. 

For most of us that isn't true. We are just regular people trying to lead a less damaging and more healthy lifestyle. 

There are a few Vegan out there who for whatever reason feel they are above everyone else, I like to call these people the Vegan police. You know what I am talking about, the people that comment on someone's photo on Instagram calling them a fake vegan or just hating on them for their simple and easy mistakes. 

Being vegan isn't about who can do it the best or be the purest. It is a community who should support anyone who wants to give it a go even if they only go vegan once a week or live the most Vegan lifestyle ever. 

A woman at work today asked me about being Vegan etc and said she had been put off doing it in case she did it wrong! How crazy is that. She was already a veggie but didn't want to make the leap for fear of being judged if she did it 'wrong' whatever that is. 

Being Vegan comes with guidelines but no set in stone rules. People should not be feeling like they cannot join the group because we will judge them when we find out they are not using Vegan shampoo because they cannot afford it! That is madness. 

We all know the harsh reality is that we will never be able to get everyone in the world to go Vegan but by making it such a selective group only open to the Vegan police we are stopping people from doing their bit to help even if it is simply meatless Mondays or going veggie. 

As a community it is our responsibility to welcome and help as many people as we can and not let newbies feel like they are outsiders or as if we will judge them for whatever aspects of being Vegan they try and take up. 

I don't want to be pigeon holed into a freak who hates people who don't follow the unspoken rules.

Fuck all of that. I am Vegan but I also make my own rules to go along with that and screw anyone who tried to tell me that I am not doing it right or what I do doesn't make me a Vegan. 

Rant over!

The hardest thing about being vegan....

The hardest thing about becoming a vegan is not giving up meat or animal products, it is finding a good place to eat out with friends. 

None of my friends are vegan so it can be a real struggle at times. A few will try vegan places with me but others are total meat eaters and would freak if I told them I was taking them somewhere where ribs would not be a staple on the menu. 

My advice for my fellow vegans who struggle with this is to do your research! A lot of places have vegetarian options on the menu that can be adapted to be vegan for example salads with cheeses or veggie burgers with cheese. And if all else fails, chips are always a winner! Restaurants are usually very accommodating to any changes you make to the menu so don't be afraid to ask, after all if you had a nut allergy or were lactose intolerant, you would make damn sure there was no peanuts or cheese in your food. 

Be careful with some menus though as I have noticed quite a few restaurants will say that have veggie/vegan food but then state on the menu they have no designated place in the kitchen to prepare this food. Does that really make it veggie/vegan then?! That is a little bit of a grey area. 

In this world we are never going to get away from meat and animal products, all we can hope to do is reduce the amount that is consumed. So if my food is cooked on the same surface as meat does that make it non vegan? I am sure some die hard vegans would say that it doesn't but to be able to still enjoy a social life, I have decided that for me, as long as the actual food I am eating does not contain meat or animal products then that is good enough for me. 

I would be so grateful for your thoughts on this and any helpful tips you have for eating out with vegan and non vegan friends. 

Vegan Curry

Curry - Simple, Warming and Perfect for a Friday night! This vegan alternative has it all. 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of Tikka Curry Paste (I use Sainsbury's) - you can use whatever type of curry paste you want e.g. balti, korma, madras. The spiciness is up to you. 

1 tin of Coconut milk

100g of Red Lentils 

2 medium sized Potatoes

Half a large sweet potato

1 large carrots (chopped)

Half a red pepper (chopped)

1 clove of garlic (pressed)

1 onion (chopped)

Serves approximately 4. 

Method

1. Add 100ml of boiling water to the red lentils in a bowl and put to one side. 

2. In a medium sized saucepan add the chopped potatoes and carrot (no need to peel - the skin has all the goodness!), add water and allow to simmer until vegetables are soft. This will take approximately 10 minutes. 

3. In a large frying pan/wok, add a splash of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, mushrooms and garlic. Once the onions have began to brown, add the pepper. 

4. Once the potatoes and carrots are cooked add them to the mushrooms, onions and peppers. To this add the curry paste and allow to fry for approximately 3 to 5 minutes. 

5. Next drain the red lentils and add to the curry. Following this add the coconut milk and allow to simmer and thicken for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. 

6. Enjoy! Your vegan curry is ready to go! Serve with rice, popadoms, nan bread, pitta etc. 

Tip - this curry freezes really well so if you are like me and love to have food ready to go in the freezer this is a winner! 

Vegan Pizza

Pizza, the food of gods! Simple and easy to grab from a take-away or eat in that is of course unless you are vegan.

Norwich however has two amazing pizza places that make amazing pizzas for both meat eaters and vegans.

     
            (Voodoo Daddy - Vegan Mafia Pizza)                                    (Brick Pizza - Vegan Pizza)    
                                                    

I first stumbled across Brick Pizza (which is located on the Market near Sir Garnet Pub) when I heard they offered suspended pizzas. You pay £4.00 and get to write on their wall and someone who cannot afford food etc gets to come in and have a free pizza. Their pizzas are freshly made and stone baked. You can eat in, take away or get it delivered (although they don't have many seats so if you really wanna eat in and its a weekend, you might wanna book). I went with family and whilst they all tucked into their delicious looking meat covered pizzas, I got to tuck into my amazing vegan pizza. A tomato base covered in onions, peppers, olives, basil and mushrooms topped with vegan cheese. Amazing vegan pizza for only £8.00. If you are in Norwich and want somewhere to try, I would definitely give this a go.

Next I discovered the wonders of Voodoo Daddy pizza! Known for the outlandish names and excellent toppings. When trying to decide where to order pizza from on a girls night in, I suggested this place as trying to find good vegan take out pizza is a chore. What a top choice I made. An absolutely loaded pizza with amazing flavors. It is a tomato and garlic base with basil, courgette, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers and olives. A steal at £8.50! Again if you haven't tried Voodoo Daddys Vegan Mafia pizza, it really is a must.

Definitely my go to take out pizza places. A perfect take out for both vegan and non-vegans!

Becoming Vegan

After being a meat eater for approximately 20 years, I made the decision in October 2015 to go vegetarian. At that point, I thought going veggie would be enough of a struggle without throwing in all that you have to give up going vegan.

How wrong I was. I actually found going veggie really easy. Once I had watched enough documentaries and youtubers talk about the issue surrounding eating meat and animal products, I found that I had this sudden will power which meant that I never looked back. Not even once. Of course I had the odd craving for bacon and chicken but this soon passed and now I never really think about meat. I find myself having a much happier and positive relationship with food. I love to cook now and talk about food.

After spending about 3 months as a veggie, I found that it just wasn't enough for me. I continued to do my research into being a vegetarian/vegan and all it seemed to point towards was that being vegan really was the best. I therefore decided at the end of January that I was going to go the whole way and become vegan.

I would suggest to anyone thinking about becoming veggie or vegan to properly do your homework. It is not a choice to be entered into lightly. If you do it on a whim without much knowledge you will struggle. But don't fear, there is loads of material on the internet to help you.

The documentaries that really hit home for me and made me really question my meat eating diet were Cowspiracy (of course, yet to meet a veggie/vegan that doesn't rate this!), Seaspiracy, Vegucated and 101 reasons to go vegan (the vegan atheist on Youtube). For me these documentaries really made me think about the lies that we are told about the meat industry. We all know deep down that animal cruelty will always exist and that free range is a pretty much a lie. But what I really didn't know was the damage that consuming animal products has on the body. Drinking cows milk can actually lead to loss of bone density. There is no actual health benefit to eating animal products. Madness.

After hearing all of their views, I found myself feeling ashamed that I had been ignorant for such a long time. If we don't need it for our health, then why eat it. Eating animal products only leads to animal cruelty, environmental damage, poverty and poor human health. The only thing consuming animal products does is put money in corporate bastards pockets. 

Most of my friends are meat eaters and I am not here by any means to shove being vegan down anyones throat. It is entirely a personal choice and I don't judge people for continuing to eat meat.

Hopefully through this blog I can go a little way to educating perhaps a few more people on the vegan lifestyle and just how simple and easy it can be.