Turning vegan wasn’t exactly a choice of mine. As a previous cheese-a-holic, I was thrown into a whirlwind of my body dispelling any kind of dairy and not knowing the difference between Lacto-vegetarians, Ovo-vegetarian and vegan. I had to quickly learn the tricks of the trade, where to buy food, what is vegan friendly and how to keep my cravings at bay with a balanced diet.

Breakfast: Porridge

Ingredients:

• Porridge Oats
• Water
• Cinnamon
• Raisins

Sounds boring, but that slow burning energy from the porridge keeps you going through those early morning lectures and the raisons are a great added sweet treat without any of the refined stuff!

Lunch: Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• Quinoa
• Roasted Broccoli
• Lime Juice
• Spinach

Lunch is my favourite meal of the day by far! A hearty salad of quinoa, roasted brocilli and lime juice is just a dream. If you’re not a fan of quinoa, or are on a budget, swap it out for couscous. Couscous absorbs flavour really well, so you can cook it off in any vegan stock, or add your favourite spices to the water. Adding chickpeas is a brilliant way to get your protein involved at lunch too! And don’t forget to throw in a hand of spinach to keep your iron levels high (fun fact- always add a squeeze of citrus juice over your greens, this helps your body absorb the iron!).

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Dinner: Vegan Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 Potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 Onion
• Macaroni Pasta
• Nutritional Yeast
• Water
• 1 Garlic Clove

I only discovered this recipe the other week and I’m pretty sure I’ve lived off it since!  Boil off your veggies for 10mins, throw them all into a blender season with a clove of garlic and a bit of water. Cook your mac pasta according to the instructions, throw both of them in a bowl and cover it in nutritional yeast. Now then, nutritional yeast, this stuff is AMAZING! It has a nutty, cheesy taste to it. But has NO fat. NO sodium and is full to bursting of all your nutrients. If you get the MariGold Engevita you can even get it with added B12!

Snacks 

Despite the rumours, being vegan doesn’t necessarily mean clean eating. You can have as much sugar and fats until your heart is content. Coconut yogurts are pretty easy to come by these days and soya yogurts are brilliant too. Some potato chips do contain whey powder for flavouring, so be sure to check the ingredients. However, my personal favourite snack to make is a coconut chocolate tart and take a slice with me when I know I want something sweet.

Ingredients

• 1 Can Of Coconut Cream
• Readymade Pastry (this is usually vegan, but double check!)
• 300g of vegan chocolate
• 2 tbsp Agave Maple Syrup

Roll out the pastry into a shallow flan dish and bake according to instructions. Whilst this is going on, melt your coconut cream and chocolate. Add a few spoonfuls of agave or maple syrup. Feel free to add almond syrup or a handful of cherries at this point. Once your pastry is cooked, pull it out of the oven and let it cool a little. Pour the ingredients into the pastry and just let it cool. It’ll self-set with a little wobble and is a real crowd pleaser if you’re having friends over (they’ll never know that there isn’t any animal by-products in it!).