Veganuary part 2: A week of gluten free & vegan meals

We are now 2 weeks into Veganuary and as I mentioned in my first blog post (click here to read), I’m going to blog throughout the month all about how I’m finding it and how realistic it really is to eat a totally gluten free and vegan diet. To start with I have to say, I’m finding it a lot easier than I thought it would be and I’m not having any trouble finding meat substitutes. The only slight difficulty is the amount of gluten free products that contain egg, which cuts out a lot of options! I have however, been making and enjoying lots of delicious meals, and this post will show you everything I ate for breakfast, lunches and dinners throughout my first week of eating vegan!

Day 1

My week started with a big Sainsbury’s shop, which is where I seem to have found the most gluten free and vegan options. Their gluten free ‘baked in store’ bread is also naturally vegan which is great because it’s my favourite gluten free bread alternative! For breakfast I toasted the Sainsbury’s bread with peanut butter and raspberry Cham (Chia jam). For lunch I picked up some of the Ugo Thrive pumpkin filled pasta which is Free From all 14 major allergens as well as being vegan, I served this with Free From green pesto and peas. For dinner that evening I made a lentil shepherd’s pie using a recipe in the Food Medic’s cook book, with a few adaptations to make sure it was gluten free and vegan! The base is basically a lentil, mushroom, carrot and onion mixture with a creamy mash potato topping. This was such an easy meal to make, as well as being cheap and providing enough portions for the next 2 days of lunch!

Day 2

The following morning was my first day back at work after Christmas, so for breakfast I brought with me a jar containing Alpro vanilla soya yoghurt, Nutribrex (basically a gluten free Weetabix alternative) and blueberries. For lunch that day I had leftover lentil shepherd’s pie from the evening before and for dinner I needed something quick and easy so had the Kirsty’s gluten free and vegan pizza! If you haven’t tried this pizza yet, its my absolute favourite and available in Tesco for £3.50. I topped mine with some of the Sainsbury’s Shroomdogs (Mushroom sausages) and extra cherry tomatoes. This was served with some of the Chippa vegan mayonnaise, which unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of!

Day 3

I started the day with a bowl of Alpro vanilla soya yoghurt, frozen blueberries and Nature’s path gluten free and vegan granola (I was taste testing for a new range coming out next year!). For lunch I had the last of the lentil shepherd’s pie with lots of vegetables and for dinner I made chickpea, carrot and coriander burgers! To do this I added 1 fried onion and 1 fried chopped garlic bulb into a food processor along with a tin of chickpeas, 2 slices of gluten free bread (made into breadcrumbs), 1 tbsp tahini, the juice of 1/2 a lime, a handful of coriander and a grated carrot. I mixed this up in my food processor until it was all fully combined then rolled the mixture into 6 burger shapes and cooked for 20 minutes. I served this in a Schar brown ciabatta roll with Violife dairy free cheese, Hellman’s vegan mayo and salad with some sweet potato squares and salad.

Day 4

The day started with overnight oats which I put together the night before using rude health almond milk, gluten free muesli, berries, maple syrup, chia seeds, sultanas and a few almonds. This is such a quick and easy breakfast idea to grab and go for work! For lunch I made myself a lunchbox full of leftovers from the night before, the carrot, coriander and chickpea burgers with the potato squares, hummus and salad with a Bfree pitta bread. For dinner I had the Meatless Farm burgers which I picked up in Sainsbury’s in Schar Ciabatta rolls with Violife cheese and salad. I love these burgers and would definitely recommend picking them up as a great meat alternative!

Day 4
 
The following day was the weekend so I started the day by making some chocolate twists! To do this I simply used the Jus Rol gluten free pastry (which is naturally vegan too) and spread this with Nature’s Store dairy free chocolate and hazelnut spread. I then folded the pastry in half so the chocolate mixture was inside the pastry, cut the pastry into strips, twisted into chocolate twist shapes and cooked for 15 minutes. For lunch I made a gluten free and vegan ‘fry up’ using the Sainsbury’s Shroomdogs, Promise vegan toast topped with Vitalife dairy free spread, baked tomatoes, mini hash browns, mushrooms, spring onions and baked beans. Dinner that evening was a huge pile of pasta (I used the Sainsbury’s own brand Free From pasta) with Mamma Flora tomato pasta sauce, peas, Shroomdogs and Violife dairy free cheese.

Day 5
 
The next day started with gluten free toast (using the Sainsbury’s fresh gluten free bread) topped with Pip and Nut peanut butter, raspberry Cham, banana and cacao nibs. Lunch was Promise gluten free toast topped with hummus, garlic mushrooms, baked tomatoes and mini hash browns. For dinner I made a lasagne using the Meatless Farm mince (which tastes just like normal mince!),  Asda free from lasagne sheets and white lasagne sauce. I made the base by frying the meatless farm mince with onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, passata, carrot, pepper, herbs and spices. I then built up the lasagne and topped with Violife cheese before baking for 45 minutes and serving with vegetables, this made enough for lunch the next day too!

Day 6
 
I started the day with breakfast at my desk which included Nature’s Path gluten free granola and soya milk plus an Alpro Go yoghurt. For lunch I had the leftover lasagne and veggies and for dinner I had more leftover lasagne which I served with a jacket potato and lots of roasted vegetables (courgette, broccoli, tomatoes, pepper, onion).

Day 7
 
A day working at home was fueled by a late breakfast of rice flake porridge which I made with almond milk and topped with banana, peanut butter, Cham, blueberries and some almonds. For lunch I had a classic beans on toast using the Promise Vegan loaf, Heinz beans and Violife cheese slices. For dinner I made one of the recipes from my blog, my sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry served with rice and Whole Creations GF and vegan naan bread. Click here for my recipe. 

So there you have it, my meals for the first week of Veganuary! I’ve been really enjoying everything I’ve eaten throughout the week. Please let me know if this has been useful and if you would like to continue seeing blogs posts like this.

Alice x