I know we’ve not even left 2019 yet, and it is still December. But if you’re as excited for Veganuary 2020 as I am, then you’re starting to pack those cupboards with vegan friendly deals as and when they’re cropping up. 2019 Veganuary brought us the legendary Greggs Vegan sausage roll, which was both life, and game changing! McDonald’s have already got ahead of the game by announcing a vegan society approved vegan meal (previously the veggie wrap could not be classified vegan as the tortilla passed through machinery that processed dairy products), but it is all go go go! I don’t know about you, but i’m excited to see what vegan goods come out in the New Year.
Now, I’m not even vegan. I’m just a standard vegetarian, or as I sometimes refer to myself, plant based. I love cheese. I hate labels. But generally I don’t really eat dairy products (cream, yoghurts, milk etc), and some days I will unintentionally go full vegan without even realising. However I just cba with putting a label on it, and sometimes life just IS too short to say no to the cheese. It is always the cheese. More often than not, the only thing that holds me back from going full vegan is a) cheese and b) laziness. Scouring those labels a little more, buying slightly more pricey products and researching alternatives a bit more. But once you’ve found some go to faves, it definitely makes your life easier, especially for the sweet treat snackers amongst us…
However, this January I am going to try a little more, and be a touch more conscientious, and try to explore vegan meals a little more. To set myself up, I placed an Ocado delivery with a few vegan snacky cupboard essentials from Valsoia (stocked on Ocado), to keep myself inspired and sorted for days when I can’t really be bothered! But I have no excuse, especially when I have things like the Valsoia bechamel sauce to hand in the cupboard to throw in the pan…
I was recently introduced to the Valsoia brand, stocked on Ocado, a lactose free vegan Italian brand, with soya based products. I decided to try out their version of a magnum/choc ice, the light soya milk and the handy 200ml cupboard bechamel sauce. I was very impressed with the ice creams as they were so creamy, and the chocolate coating was lush! Just like a classic choc ice on a stick. Not quite a magnum, but I’ll take it.
Other vegan cupboard essentials that I find curb any cravings you may have are naturally sweet healthy things like raisins, but obviously those don’t always fix all of your problems. And more often than not I love to turn to some trusty faves. Top of my list has to be lotus biscoff biscuits AND the spread smeared on top (also, baking essential!), Candy Kitten sweets, honestly you wouldn’t even think they were vegan, and the new vegan Galaxy bars….. At £3 a bar they are certainly not budget friendly. But if you value the environment and animals over a few £, it’s definitely a worthwhile swap that you wouldn’t even notice. And if I fancy a chocolatey fix during the day, or even for breakfast, I love the Oatly chocolate milk with oats as porridge, or heated up in the microwave as a delish dairy free hot chocolate.
And failing all of that if you need to eat out, loads of places in January launch specific vegan menus and my favourite Wagamama has loads of great options!
Have you ever tried Veganuary? Is it something you would even consider?
Sophie x