Ta dah!!

Well, that's all folks!

A full month of vegan and gluten free.  When I think back to that first weekend of misery!! But we turned a corner, and dare I say it, actually enjoyed some aspects of VGF living.

The plus points include, feeling like I've got more energy.  In fact, I'm often still buzzing going to bed and that's without any caffeine.  We've enjoyed some really tasty dishes.  And as Kate said, you feel quite pure and a little smug at how 'good' you've been.  Denying yourself those sweet treats becomes a way of living, and you stop battling the "should I or should I not" argument in your head.

That said, there have been a few disasters, the pancakes and the bread were two pretty soul destroying events!  The amount of planning, shopping and preparation is difficult to cope with.  Sometimes you just want a ready meal from m and s, no hassle!  I've not really craved anything other than a bit of normality.  I also think that if I was VGF permanently then it would affect how Doug (husband) and I share and enjoy food.  

The way forward... Try and include some VGF days in to my week.  I'll definitely keep my caffeine levels down with the help of peppermint tea.  I'm also growing fond of almond milk so it can stay.   A few more nuts in my life won't hurt either and those tasty lunchtime soups and dips are a real must!  Best shared with my pal of course.  The granola and peanut balls are likely to feature highly.

So give it a go readers, have a day of feeling pure and try the VGF way of life.  One day won't hurt...

Thanks for reading.  On to our next challenge.

Foodbag Kirsty x

Day 31 - we did it!!

Wow.  We made it.

Lunch today more yummy swapsies and then the mythical vegan gluten-free Pizza Express pizza for my tea:

Feeling kind of mixed about the end of this month.  I've really enjoyed it in many respects - experimenting with food and sharing the highs and lows with Kirsty, and I will miss that. It's made me think a lot about what I actually put into my body, and has opened my eyes to so many different options.  I've been surprised by how full and satisfied VGF food can make me feel, but also how time consuming and sometimes how monotonous it feels to make pretty much all of your food from scratch.  Physically I feel healthier and I'm not really sure quite how to describe it - sort of cleaner or more vigorous or something like that. On the other hand the digestive side effects have been difficult to deal with and I won't be sorry to go back to normality in that respect!

I've been amazed at how little I've missed meat, and really haven't had the cravings for forbidden foods that I expected to have.  I would say the thing that I've missed the most has been milky tea, and I'm sure looking forward to having a cup of that this weekend.

I think quite a few of the recipes I tried out this month will make it into regular rotation, and I will definitely try to cut down the amount of meat and very processed food that I eat.  Also Kirsty and I hope to continue our vegan lunch-sharing... and now need to get on with planning our next challenge!!

Thank you for reading :D

Kate xx

Day 30- happy non vegan eve eve

Great day with Kate on the swapsies front.  We pinched some rice cakes from our secretary, Sylvia- very generous lady.   This VGF thang has got loads of people talking and thinking about the food they buy and eat, which is a good thing, leaves room for stealing to odd item here and there.  I will definitely use some (and hopefully add) to my VGF reportoire.  Be warned future VGFs, you must be prepared and happy to do loads of food shopping.  Kate said that the manager of her local lidl might come looking for her after this experiment is over!  Still, at least he won't need to search in the loo, because things should have returned to "normal" (Kate hopes).

Day 30

Our penultimate day of veganism... both amazed we have got this far relatively unscathed!

I say relatively... Over dinner at Wagamama's tonight (VGF of course) Kirsty and I were discussing the highs and lows of the last month. One of the biggest issues with the whole vegan-gluten-free thing has been...how to put this delicately in a blog where people are expecting photos of tasty food...the, um, bodily side effects.  Think human compost heap but much worse. At times rather dismaying and certainly impressive in a sort of horrific kind of way. 

Anyway! Back to the food :D. Today was the best day of the VGF week, i.e. Wednesday swapsies day!

Today we feasted at lunch on spreads, crackers, felafel, raw chocolate and peanut and cacao cookies:

And then for tea mmmm Wagamama's: yummy rice noodle dishes and tasty fresh juice:

Day 29

I had a delish dinner tonight.. Homemade falafel on a (very expensive) vegan and GF focaccia with homemade tomato sauce and left over salad dressing (both detailed in earlier posts).  The falafel recipe was from Honestly Healthy.  They really taste good.  Bit of a faff, but what's new??  Looking forward to non vegan eve eve with Kate tomorrow.

Day 28

This is the final week of Veganism as I know it.  Will defo be using some recipes and principles (more on that in my reflection blog) but won't be as restrictive as this month has been.

Here's dinner...

Baked tattle with homemade tomato sauce and nooch.  Also getting quite in to my salads.  Good idea to roast some nuts, make some buckwheat ( thanks Kate for the boil in the bag stuff) and some sort of beans (I've been using black eyed beans).   Then throw in whatever.  I've been enjoying a sesame oil dressing with tahini, tamari, garlic purée, maple syrup and lemon juice.  Yum!

Day 29

Sometimes the simple things are the best...

Sweet potato roasted in coconut oil with chilli flakes...

And delicious mint raw chocolate.