Would you become a Vegan, part 1?

It appears that more and more people are becoming vegan or at least trying to reduce their meat intake. Being completely honest, I like my meat, especially a tasty Sunday roast. However, I have reduced the amount of meat that we eat in our house. Our meals for the week have a good mix of fish, vegetarian and even vegan dishes. And I’d say, on average we only have meat a couple of times a week.
Now you know I love cooking. So, I’ve enjoyed the challenge of cooking a wider variety of dishes. Plus, I’ve invested in a couple of fab cookbooks. I highly recommend The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer.

Having spoken to a couple of friends recently, who are vegan, it’s a lot easier to be vegan nowadays. The amount of good produce that is now available and meat substitutes is quite impressive. You can even get good vegan cheese, apparently. I love cheese and I love a cheese board, so this is probably a deal breaker for me.
However, if you’re not keen on cooking there are now a number of vegan restaurants that are popping up. I’m yet to try one, however, there are a few to choose from here in Bristol like VX BRISTOL, Koocha Mezze Bar and Earthcake. I also want to recommend Greggs vegan sausage roll. It is really good. What makes it good, is that it has a meaty texture plus it’s really tasty. Why not try one and tell me what you think?
According to the Vegan Society, animal welfare is not the only reason to consider changing your diet. It’s also about doing out bit for our environment. They say that ‘one of the most effective things an individual can do to lower their carbon footprint is to avoid all animal products.’ It’s amazing the impact that animals have on this earth. The supply chain involved in the production of meat is really quite surprising. I’d never really considered this. The number of resources to feed, water, rear and transport animals.
So, I decided to talk to my good friend Ann-See Yeoh who is living the vegan lifestyle about her decision to be a vegan.
How long have you been a vegan?
For a few years in my late twenties and now, since 2013.
Why did you decide to become a vegan?
I went on a vegan diet in my twenties purely and simply because it is also an alkaline diet. However, back then it required more prep and there just wasn’t as much choice available and I was travelling a lot for work. So I went back to eating some fish. Then 8 years ago, my partner went through open heart surgery, and cutting a long story short, he wanted to come off statins and said he wanted to give a vegan diet a go to see if it would make a difference. I knew it would and within six months of changing his diet, he did.

It used to be difficult to get vegan food, how have things changed?
It’s so much easier! My options years ago when I was travelling was to get some bags of chopped broccoli, cauliflower and carrots from a supermarket and hope they had hummus! These days, even Greggs offer vegan options.
How do you know you’re getting enough of the right nutrients like protein and calcium?
Eat a rainbow! And eat a variety of foods, rather than have the same few favourite dishes. And because I am busy and still travel for work occasionally, and I’m a tad lazy in the kitchen to be honest, I do take a vitamin and mineral enriched protein smoothie a day.
What’s your favourite meal you like to cook?
Ooooo … a Malaysian curry.
What’s your favourite meal you like to eat out?
I do like spicy foods, so anything south East Asian.
What advice would you give anyone who’s thinking of becoming a vegan?
Give it a go! Eat whole food where possible as it’s easy to be a junk food vegan, which is so not healthy.
So as far as I’m concerned we definitely have lots of options. You can choose to become a vegan 100% or you can choose simply to be more conscious about what you’re eating.
That’s ‘Would you become a Vegan, part 1’ according to Mummy on a Break.
How much meat do you eat during the week?
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