Vegeleanor- Q&A

Hello and welcome back to my final Vegeleanor blog post. I hope that you are all staying safe and happy and healthy. I am currently writing this post after having a minor breakdown over one of my uni assignments. Maybe I'll drop out of uni and take up blogging full time? Haha only joking....unless? Anyway, in this final post I will be talking about how easy it is to be a full time student, business woman, and CEO of a large supermarket, while living a plant based lifestyle. This will be done through answering some questions that Vegeleanor is frequently asked. 

Why be vegan?

There are many benefits that come with following a vegan lifestyle. For example, if you are looking to lose a bit of lockdown beef (even though you don't need to and I think you look gorgeous) cutting out meat and dairy can help shift the excess weight. Also being vegan is so good for the environment. We all love a socially responsible eco friendly warrior. Think of the animals as well! I firmly believe that all animals deserve rights, apart from spiders, they can choke. According to Google, living the plant based life can prevent some cancers, reduces the risk of heart disease, and ease the pain of arthritis. 

But Vegeleanor, what do you eat? 

Well reader, I eat a lot of nice things, and being vegan does not necessarily mean being restrictive. Nowadays, there is a substitute for almost every meat or dairy product. Just yesterday I ate a vegan mozzarella stick. It's madness. Since becoming vegan, I have noticed that I have been eating a lot healthier and incorporating more fruit and vegetables into my meals. I have also become obsessed with cooking for myself (probably to flex to my followers on my new instagram @vegeleanor follow me), and in the past month I have made my own soup, pasta sauce, cookies, muffins, pancakes, and even stuffed peppers. How exotic. For the first two years of uni I followed a strict diet of unseasoned fajitas and dragon soop, I feel like an entirely new gal!   

But what about when you go out to a cafe or a restaurant? What do you do? 

Due to the amount of people currently adopting a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, restaurants and cafes have been forced to adapt in order to remain competitive. Miller and Carter now offer some vegetarian and vegan options. Nandos have released a vegan 'chicken' burger. So have KFC. Dominos have come out with a fully vegan pizza. Times are changing. But just make sure you check the menu beforehand to make sure that you won't be disappointed.

But isn't being vegan expensive? 

Yes! But depending on where you shop. I get most of my shopping from Morrisons, Aldi, and Tesco because they are all within a 5 minute walk from where I live. But last year I lived really close to a Co-op and would always go there because it was convenient. However, this was silly because Lidl was equally as close and I could've got my shopping for a fraction of the price. I know that sometimes it's easier to just go to the closest shop, but just be smart. If it doesn't make financial sense for you to live totally plant based, even try take part in things like 'meat free Monday' or 'veganuary.' Every little helps. 

What do you eat at Christmas? 

There are plenty things to chose from. I usually have a vegan steak pie and all the other bits, but you could opt for a nut roast or some of that Tofurkey Miley Cyrus chats about. Stunning. Next. 

If you were on a night out and wanted food at the end of the night, or even in the middle of the night as you have been known to do that before, what would you get? 

Chips and curry sauce if you have it on good authority that the curry sauce is vegan? McDonalds? Heat up some spring rolls when I get home? (if my landlord is reading this, for legal reasons this is a joke)

What about when you're hungover?

Since the second I turned 21, I have been started experiencing the worst hangovers that leave be unable to eat or move for sometimes up to two days. So that's no issue. But if I'm up to it I might have a slice of toast and spaghetti hoops

But how do you get protein? 

There is actually many foods that are high in protein for vegans to eat. For example, chickpeas, lentils, seitan, legumes, tofu, nuts, and many more. I was worried about how I was going to get my protein in, but I started making lentil soup, eating more tofu, and making other little changes. Also, little Vegeleanor life hack, if like me you HATE chickpeas, stick them in the air fryer for half an hour. They taste totally different and lovely and they count as one of your five a day! 

Would you ever go back to eating meat? 

Personally probably not. Although you can never really tell. I haven't eaten meat in a really long time and I really don't miss it (apart from pork pies for some bizarre reason). Due to the amount of substitutes and alternatives available these days I think that I'd be a clown to start eating meat again. Also, I cannot risk ever being fed my mum's peri peri chicken or minestrone soup again. Truly rancid. 

Thank you all so much for reading my blog posts and engaging with me. I have really enjoyed doing this and I appreciate you all for your feedback and suggestions along the way. If you are already too invested in my vegan life to the point of no return, you can follow me on my Instagram where I will continue rating daft things and being silly and showing things I make. So I'll obviously see you all there!

Over and out, 

Vegeleanor