Going VEGAN

I’ve made what has been both a difficult decision as much as it has been an easy one – to go vegan!
Well, to do my best to anyway. There are a lot of reasons for this.

The main one really being that I have been feeling genuinely guilty when I eat meat or drink milk. 

This was off the back of watching a documentary made by vegan activist Earthling Ed called “Land of Hope and Glory”.

I found it genuinely troubling.

I won’t go into graphic details as I don’t think it’s fair or right to do so. However, even as a meat eater I found myself covering my face and feeling compelled to look away. We all know where meat comes from at the end of the day but when the cold truth of it is put in front of your face, it’s not something that any of us particularly want to look at.

Going Vegan is something I have come across more and more people doing, which made it all the more appealing, as vegan diets aren’t the anti social lifestyle choice they once were as little as five years ago.

Things have seemingly come a long way. With my boyfriend eating little to no meat anyway, he’s more than happy to jump on board to a certain degree. He still wants to have milk in his tea though. He can’t see any other alternative. Being the avid tea drinker he is, I completely get it. I’ve got my cookbooks at the ready. First one is “Vegan Cakes and Other Bakes” by Jerome Eckmeier and Daniela Lais which has the best part of 100 recipes in it. I’ve also bought “Dirty Vegan” by Matt Pritchard. So, I should be spoilt for choice. There is also a YouTube channel “Sweet Potato Soul” which gives some great recipes and life hacks on how to get by and make the transition to veganism. So I’m doing a lot of research and making sure it’s something I’m going to be able to manage. I’m definitely not going to be able to go whole hog and go with no wool no leather straight away. I’m not perfect and by no means a saint. But I want to do my bit to help the environment and for my own health. It also gives me something to focus on. Where it’s all so new, there’s so much to learn and I love that. I have something to really sink my teeth into.

I love to bake, so there’s a whole new way of baking, a whole new way of cooking and even things like drinks and alcohol to look at (thankfully I’m not a big drinker anyway). Thankfully I’ve got the Plant Kitchen range from Marks & Spencer to fall back on. I was eating that long before a vegan diet was even so much as a consideration. So, I have an absolute abundance of learning to do. I’m quite excited about it. But, I’ll be sure not to preach to people. I just want to do my bit and make myself feel better in turn. However, I wanted to write a little something about the choice I have made and the reasons I have for making it.

Watch this space for my appallingly low standards of cooking!