Veganuary has started and for most this would mean the task to approach vegan recipes has begun. However, diving head first from full meat eating to vegan supplements and change can be extremely daunting. I will be attempting to go vegetarian this January having never gone a day without considering it, now is the time! From the research I’ve delved into research before hand and wanted to give you some tips incase you also were planning on going veggie this January.
Recipes
Going vegetarian isn’t just about cutting out meat from your ordinary meals. It’s not about taking out the chicken from your chicken tikka masala and just having sauce and rice, or living off pasta and sauce. You need substitutions! Whether it’s vegetables, tofu or beans and lentils, something protein-heavy needs to be the centre-piece of your meal. I thoroughly recommend ‘Vegetarian Nosh For Students’ by Joy May (pictured below). I picked this up from WH Smith for as little at £8.99 (although on Amazon it’s only £7.99 here). These are cheap, healthy meals with sufficient protein meant for students! There are tonnes of recipe books out there, especially for students. After all, we are all slowly becoming independent and learning to cook over time. This time of year there’s a lot of discounts on, especially in the New Year so have a look on Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith.
Money
Now food shopping will be a lot cheaper without the purchase of meat. Usually meat will be the bulk of my shopping cost, often taking up at least £10 of my £30 weekly budget. This can be replaced with a bulk of vegetables, often being cheaper if brought pre-chopped from the freezer aisle. You can buy many things frozen, pre-chopped parsley, coriander, garlic, ginger, etc. Not to mention chopped peppers, onions, carrots and usually every other vegetable! For stuff like this, I’d recommend going to Iceland or Farmfoods if you’re on a tight budget, as it can be a lot cheaper. Then lentils, beans, pulses are all sold cheaply in cans, often only costing 30-60p at a time! Going vegetarian will not only benefit health wise, but will be nicer on your wallet too.
For those of you doing Veganuary, whether that’s dipping your toes and being vegetarian or going all out an trying Veganism I want to wish you good luck and let us know how you do!
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