The Vegan Thread

Yeah I like the olive tapenade roll too.

In some ways I'm glad to see them open veg shops like this; but the total proliferation of them is depressing. High Holborn feels like there's one every 200 metres.

This is so great to see, super happy that @tika has made the leap to full time baking!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/10/silvio-berlusconi-vegetarian-easter-lambs-italian

Thoughts?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/12/fake-fur-real-fashion-boycott-animal-killer

We're going to give the Fat Gay market a go tomorrow, as there's a vegan parents picnic organised in the park near the playground.

will be swinging by too Kev so will look out for you to say hello.

I'll aim to get there very early, hope I bump into you both/three/four/five!

It was a lovely morning at the market. Getting there early meant it was busy but not excessively so. It got much busier later, obviously, and the expected Easter Effect turned out to be a lot less than I thought--it seems as if most of the vegans stayed in London. Great to see Bea, jonny, Vicky, dubkev, and ms-chris, plus lots of other people and new acquaintances, like randomly bumping into people while wandering around and sharing food--way too many stalls for anyone to try on their own.

Likewise Oliver

Oliver said I missed you, hope life is good with you.

all good dude. glimpsed you in the crowd with your little one on your shoulder. but was entertaining mates 4YO and we had to crack on.

enjoyed some doughnuts and would definitely swing in again. though ended up spending more time, and money, in the bike shop there.

good to see you Oliver

Got there quite late around 2-3pm. A terrible mistake. But got some nice vegan food and met a lovley terrier so not all bad.

Sooo...
I grew up in the countryside, around hunters, poachers and all kinds of farming. I'm under no illusion about where food comes from.

Yesterday morning I had a bit of an epiphany and it's bye bye animal products! Not sure what triggered it but the time has come for me to up my game a bit.
I will miss chorizo and nesquik but hopefully not much else.

Wish me luck

Very good luck. Prepare to weep in the aisles when you next go to the supermarket and realise that animal products are in everything!

Yeah I'm aware of that. :/
I'm not expecting perfection overnight so gonna do my best. Aiming for vegetarian to start with just so I don't beat myself up if a customer makes me a cup of tea while I'm working. Always hated eggs and not a massive dairy fiend anyway. My day is van-based so the biggest trick will be avoiding pasties and other garage crap.
My skin is crap and the diet for treating psoriasis is basically vegan so may hopefully have some added benefits.
Have just downloaded Thug Kitchen....

Good luck @edmundro, it's gonna be a massive learning curve but stick with it and if you fuck up, don't worry about it. Thug Kitchen will steer you in the right direction though

All the best on the quest. Lets all meet up soon for some food please

Lots of new and newish options! Here's one I thought of yesterday--Essential Vegan on Stoke Newington Road. FGV says it's for six weeks only (edit: just spotted that it's until the 7th May), so we might still be able to get there before it moves on. (Hopefully, the venue will want them to stay, but I don't really know how these things work.)

http://fatgayvegan.com/2017/03/05/vegan-burger-at-london-kitchen-takeover/

http://essentialvegan.uk/haunt/

Anyone up for it?

Awesome, Ed. Very happy for you.

Yes, don't beat yourself up.

For food on the move, a good bet are the vegetarian (actually vegan) samosas you get in a lot of London food shops. They're one of my staples. Also things like Delphi salads. And always have a tub of houmous somewhere in the van. :)

Let us know how you get on!

Still eating food from the market yesterday. I couldn't finish it as the 'fish' and chips portion was so huge and didn't actually have any dinner, I was so stuffed by lunchtime. :)

I'm on 2 weeks of veganism after on and off vegetarianism for the past 32 years and it's totally fine, tbh. I also grew up in the countryside, never a big fan of farmers, but had a moment of clarity a couple of weeks ago and realised I'd reached the line I'd drawn in the sand for myself whereby if I ever started considering myself a vegetarian for moral, as opposed to taste, reasons, that I couldn't justify eating dairy and eggs either.

Hardest things so far have been not eating the haribo stashed everywhere, and not being able to eat loads of my favourite crisps because of whey powder. It also seems really hard to limit soy intake and get protein from other sources. I've not found it a massive transition in cooking, and it's quite nice not to just stick cheese on everything.

One thing I would advise, if you haven't already, is get a big tub of nutritional yeast. That stuff is fucking amazing.

Fitness wise, I haven't lost any strength as far as I can tell, and although my graphs suggest I'm fatigued as fuck, I have loads of energy and seem to be recovering better after big rides. Oh, and I've lost about 2kg and kept it off, it's amazing what not being able to snack on cheap chocolate and cheese does for you.

Regarding chorizo: adding ketchup and paprika when you fry veggie sausages is pretty good, and regarding nesquik (which is nestle anyway!): that 'freedom' chocolate sauce in your milk alternative of choice is pretty good, and the vitasoy chocolate soya milk from Asian supermarkets is far superior anyway.

Chocolate Oatly...get on it.
My kids love it. It's good heated up as hot chocolate too.

Thanks guys.
Made vegetable pasties and tempura broccoli for tea. It's certainly not a hardship on day 1.
We are gonna use up the remaining non-vegan stuff in the house tho. Pretty much just quorn and milk tho I think.
Gonna do a big shop tomorrow at sainos tomorrow...
What's the best option for saddlebag sweets? Are starburst and skittles the only easy to find option or are vegan wine gums a thing?

Are we talking those greasy 89p samosas from corner shop/garage? Love those things.