Cooking Green

What, VEGAN? Like no milk, no eggs, no butter, no chocolate, no cakes, no cheese, no pizza, no NOTHING?!

That was my reaction some years ago when my boyfriend went through the same phase of trying this mysterious way of life out. Back then I thought the whole idea insane, and couldn't come up with a single dish without animal products. I am still not imagining this to be easy but it's definitely worth a try.

yellow curry with coconut milk in the making

Why do I do this? I'm not planning to become a vegan for the rest of my life. I have lost weight since I turned a vegetarian three years ago, have now lost a few more kilos and went down in bra size since the beginning of my studies. I love cheese, milkshakes and baking but I do want to change some of my eating habits permanently, however not with the risk of my health.

coconut-creamy mushroom sauce with rice

My big plan is just to minimize the usage of animal products in my everyday life. I think I will still eat them in the future but I want to cut down the amount and pay more attention to their origins. I am willing to pay more for organic products, knowing that the animals there hopefully get better treatment and attention than the ones in mass production. To get more into the scene I've decided to have a completely vegan month.

This way I have to spend more time and thought to keep my diet healthy. Talking from experience, I will now also develope a whole new view in food shopping and within 2-3 weeks see more variety and options in vegan cooking. I've been to my local supermarket last week to check out their supplies for vegans and believe it or not, they have made it actually quite easy for us!

pancakes from soy milk, water and egg substitute flour - as tasty as ever

Instead of cheap Ja!-cow milk, I now picked soy and oat milk into my basket and replaced cheese with tofu and got even soy yogurt for breakfast. As easy as that! If I had wanted, I could have taken tofu sausages, nuggets, burgers and gyros to fill my plate! The only obsticles till now have been a few cases of not being able to eat in a normal restaurant nor to buy something to eat at the University cafeteria. I have to plan my eating a bit more and double check everything I buy in case of half-innocent milk powder.

my vegan banana muffins look like shit but taste like heaven

I think I will have to go and check Habibi for their vegan ice cream this week! If you have any suggestions or nice receipes in mind, I'll gladly take any help I can get on my way in becoming a better person.

Have a great week buddies!