A vegan week - Eating vivid, eating variable, eating vegan

I have been a vegetarian for over one year now, but I had never eaten much meat in general. Apart from that I have always followed a healthy diet. So when the question came up of what project I could do to make a difference, I thought of leaving out animal products completely and eating vegan for one week. I read about it in some books, for example VEGAN FOR YOUTH by Attila Hildmann, or in blogs like “Healthy Happy Life“ (http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com) and it didn’t sound that complicated.

I wanted to do this project because you make a difference for yourself (you do your body a favor) and you do something for the environment and the animals. I watched some videos about this topic as well, and I couldn’t believe how unhealthy milk is and how (as everybody knows) the animals from which our breakfast eggs come from, are treated horribly. Moreover their meat is full of hormones.

It was important to me to eat vegan and healthy, because of course you have to make sure your body has enough vitamins and nutrients and you don’t have a deficiency. So during my vegan week I ate a lot of legumes like lentils, beans and chickpeas. I also tried a lot of unusual cereals like quinoa and millet and didn’t eat any wheat but spelt. I ate minced soy and tofu as well. Instead of having milk in my coffee I drank oat milk and I tried a lot of vegan spreads instead of having cheese and butter on my bread, for example with pepper, mushrooms or hummus. 

For me it wasn’t very difficult to eat vegan. I liked most dishes, e.g. pizza with potatoes (it’s been my absolute favorite pizza for many years) and I love oat milk in my Sunday morning coffee - I actually prefer it over soy milk. The only thing I really missed was a slice of bread with butter and salt, because after a few days the spreads became very annoying. :-)

My result is: I can’t imagine eating vegan all of the time, but I will do it once or twice a year to cleanse my body, because you do really feel fresher. And I would recommend a vegan week to anybody who wants to make a small difference, because as I said you change your way of living and do something good!

One of my favorite recipes: Self-made wraps with vegetables and chili con soy

8 wraps

320 g spelt flour

45 ml olive oil

a pinch of salt

150 ml warm water

Mix the flour, the salt and the olive oil and add some water to it. You should get a soft pastry. Then you have to put the pastry into the fridge for 30 minutes or longer. After this, you have to form eight balls and try to make eight round and very thin wraps out of it. In the end: fry the wraps without any more oil or butter in a pan. You have to wait until some bubbles are produced. Then turn it and fry from the other side.

Chili con soy

150 g minced soy

tomato sugo

2 onions

garlic

olive oil

thyme

pepper & salt

Steep the minced soy in hot water for 10 minutes and saute the garlic and the onions in the olive oil. Then roast the soy and add the tomato sugo. Put the thyme, the pepper and the salt into it. The whole sauce has to be cooked for 10 minutes. It’s a wonderful filling for the wraps.

During your waiting time you can prepare some salad, tomatoes, beans, peppers or whatever you like.

Have fun and enjoy your meal!