This week it’s time for my lovely friend Lyndsey’s food diary. Lyndsey and I met when we did a skills swap about 3 years ago. Her online gardening shop is full of beautiful gifts and handy tools for the garden. I’m so pleased that we went vegan around the same time, we spend hours (and hours) talking about the subject – although it’s mainly about food! 🙂  Over to her…

Name: Lyndsey Haskell

Age: 34

Occupation: Photographer and owner of online gardening shop What You Sow.

Vegan since: November 2015 when I watched Cowspiracy.

 

Switching to a vegan diet was so much simpler than I had imagined it would ever be. We’re very lucky here in Brighton – vegans are well catered for and most restaurants seem to understand the language of plant-based requirements due to the massive volume of vegans in the city.

I was definitely one of those people who thought it would be impossible to give up dairy (particularly cheese) and eggs but once I decided to do it, I have never looked back. There are a few game changers that I can recommend – that is, staple vegan food switches which make it simple to life a plant-based existence: koko coconut spread instead of butter, provitamil oat milk instead of milk and violife vegan cheese being the main ones. Once you have discovered those, it’s easy being vegan!

My diary this week is a little bit fancy as I had a friend to stay and the Monday was a bank holiday so we went out to eat a couple of times and had time to cook nice things together, but it gives a fairly decent reflection of the kind of stuff I eat.

Day 1 / 2/5/16

Breakfast: Pan con tomate, latte with oat milk

Lunch: Homemade vegan chilli w. vegan mince and black eye beans. Served with rice and tortillas.

Dinner: Leftover chilli.

Snacks: Crumpet with choc spread & peanut butter, rice cake with cashew butter and violife cream cheese.

 

Day 2 / 3/5/16

Breakfast: Soya latte

Lunch: Baked potato with baked beans

Dinner: Vegan pizza at Purezza with broccoli and seitan salami

Snacks: apple, nakd bar, coconut icecream with loads of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

 

Day 3 / 4/5/16

Breakfast: Bran flakes with oat milk

Lunch: Vegan fish & chips at Loving Hut plus salad

Dinner: Homemade sushi (including avocado, cucumber, mango, tofu, rocket and violife cream cheese)

Snacks: Dark chocolate alpro pudding, sweet and sour balls from Loving Hut

Day 4 /  5/5/16

Breakfast: Scrambled tofu on toast with spinach and tomatoes. Latte with oat milk.

Lunch: Salad, hummus and violife cream cheese sandwiches + leftover sushi and fruit

Dinner: Quinoa salad w avocado, tomatoes and herbs plus pomegranate seeds on top.

Snacks: vegan sausage roll, nakd chocolate bites

 

Day 5 / 6/5/16

Breakfast: Big vegan fry up from Kensingtons in the North Laine incl. soya latte.

Lunch: Nothing (still full from breakfast!)

Dinner: Special Vegan Udupi Banana Leaf Thali from Chilli Pickle, tandoori roti plus tasters from what my friends ordered. Yum.

Snacks: Trek bar

 

Day 6 7/5/16

Breakfast: Toast with avocado and tomato

Lunch: Sandwich with avocado, rocket and roast veg

Dinner: Buddha bowl of rice with various sides – greens, beans, salad

Snacks: Chocolate brownie (made by Gabriella!)

 

Day 7 / 8/5/16

Breakfast: Soya latte

Lunch: Risotto with rocket and toasted walnuts

Dinner: Pasta with chilli passata

Snacks: Homemade granola bar