2023 Vegan Storecupboard Challenge

KajiKita

Brie said:

leftatthetrafficlights said:

I won't be continuing this thread beyond the end of 2023 - I'm going to be starting a new thread which incorporates the way I'm living and how I'm doing it 'old style' as it's tedious to keep several threads running at once!

Please do put a link to your new thread in here so we don't have to send out a search party!!!

Agreed! 😊

KK

K9sandFelines

gill5blue said:

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Made the chickpea flour tofu yesterday- nice but I preferred the lentil one...the chickpea one seemed crisper on the outside and had less flavour though so may be better at carrying a dressing 🤔 I'll try it cold today and see if I prefer it! 

I watched a documentary on Netflix last week called Health Of The Nation as it was recommended to me by a friend - some of the things on there shocked me despite me thinking that I had a reasonable amount of knowledge about nutrition!

Since then I've been watching and reading a lot of Dr Michael Greger's stuff  - I've got to say that the more I've learned (all of his stuff is evidence based from thousands of peer reviewed research papers, plus he gives all profits from his books/website/speaking engagements etc to charity so no financial gain for him) the more pleased I am that I'm vegan!!! 😳 

I went vegan originally for ethical reasons but looking at all the evidence I'm really glad from a heath perspective that I did and from now on will definitely be tweaking my diet to make sure that I optimise the healthy aspects veganism by eating more of a wholefood plant based diet! 

Hi,
I tried looking for the Netflix programme but cannot find it-it sounded like it could be interesting. Do you know when it will be shown again?
gill5blue

Try youtube for Dr Greger stuff. He has his own channel. I think called NutritionFacts.org
Not sure if Health of the Nation is on there though 

Also, another good one to watch is John McDougall. Lot of fact based stuff on there too - he also advocates for a WFPB lifestyle.

*Edited* obv. been established that it's What the Health and it's still running 

K9sandFelines

KajiKita said:

Used my new chickpea flour to make a pancake for breakfast this morning along with chia, poppy and cumin seeds, annotated with chopped, scrag end of last year’s shallots and grated smoked tofu, served with samphire (an unusual treat 😊), pickled red cabbage and brown sauce. Lush ❤️

KK

I love Samphire. Haven't had it in ages 

leftatthetrafficlights

Didn't get round to posting the piccie on Sunday so here it is! K9's, I love samphire too - i live in Norfolk and it grows wild on the marshes here - i occasionally go foraging for it. 

The new thread will probably go up in 2024 - i have visitors over the festive period so won't be online much but i will post a link once I have put up the new thread 

RHemmings

If it's OK, I will use this thread for an eating out of food supplies discussion once I get to my destination. I have a suitcase mainly full of food ingredients. But, today I'm just grazing on what I can find in local shops. Here is a far too sugary breakfast. 






The pineapple does not have honey in it. 

leftatthetrafficlights

RHemmings said:

If it's OK, I will use this thread for an eating out of food supplies discussion once I get to my destination. I have a suitcase mainly full of food ingredients. But, today I'm just grazing on what I can find in local shops. Here is a far too sugary breakfast. 






The pineapple does not have honey in it. 

Happy to have you! 😁 I hope you have a fab time! 

Yesterday I went shopping for the solstice festivities and was bitterly disappointed!! 😞 V-bites (formerly Redwood and producers of the absolute BEST vegan bacon ever made) have gone into administration and there are none of their products in any of the health food shops around here - I've looked online and the limited options I found were not practical due to the cost of delivery (I'm not prepared to buy stuff I don't need to make up the numbers!!) On top of that, the cheese I was planning on buying (Tyne cheese) is no longer sold by the shop I used to buy it from 🤦‍♀️ It seems that the influx of big players into the vegan market has started to take its toll 😔

Anyway, I ended up with a variety of other stuff, spent a fortune and was exhausted by the end of it all! 😳 Last night we had a takeaway curry bag from waitrose for dinner - the 'chicken' in the korma was a bit weird but the sauce was lovely as were the other dishes. Despite it being expensive (£11) it did dh and I a meal last night and there were enough leftovers for his lunch today too so reasonably good value for what it is. 

Tonight we're having cabbage and rice as I have half a cabbage from the garden to use up - I'm not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow as dh starts his festive break from work. 

Thursday we have an elderly relative coming to stay for a week so I've got to cook less adventurously! Thursday will be harissa roasted cauliflower, grains, bean puree and salad; Friday is solstice so we'll be eating Mediterranean tarts, mushroom and stuffing filo parcels, maple and wholegrain roasted onions, french beans and garlic crushed potatoes for dinner. Saturday will be a buffet with a selection of vegan party food (chilled and frozen premade stuff from waitrose and tesco), fake meats, hm macadamia and cashew cheese and some bought vegan cheeses, pickles and chutneys. Sunday will be pasta and bolognese and Monday we are having dinner with family. I haven't planned any further than that but I'm thinking that I'll do a 'shepherd's' pie at some point.

I'm very much looking forward to being able to not have to think about accommodating others - the relative is very judgemental about eating vegan despite loving everything I cook 🙄🤦‍♀️ 

Once the festivities are done, I will do a food inventory again to compare it to what I had at the beginning of this challenge - I'm pretty sure that there has been little change really - despite my good intentions at the beginning of the year to really utilise my stock, I have strayed constantly! 🙄 

2024 is going to be different - I really want it to be as frugal, low waste and sustainable as possible so it's massively important that I make the most of what I already have. My plan is to have a minimum of 24 strict wholefood plant based days every month so things I have a lot of which doesn't come under that banner (for instance sushi rice) will only be used on non-WFPB days and therefore only reduce slowly.

I may donate some stuff to the local community fridge (I donated some lentils and buckwheat recently) as they run a homeless outreach programme that feeds people. I have to be realistic about how much food I can get through in a reasonable amount of time! 

RHemmings

I'm now fully at my destination. My suitcase was mainly cooking ingredients. I don't need to get through all of these as they will get used over time even after I leave. But, I'm going to start thinking and planning about making food. Both for eating here, and on short trips to other parts of the island (Sumba). 

What I have bought from the UK includes (from memory):

Box of Oxo cubes

A number of boxes of curry spice mixes. More than I remembered packing.

500g gram flour 

Reasonably large bag of chick peas

Half-finished bag of red lentils (clearing out cupboards)

Tri-colour pasta

2x tubes of tomato paste 

Two bags of dried soya chunks (I want to try making some soya chaap)

2kg bag Laila XXL Basmati rice

2kg bag Laila brown Basmati rice

2x blocks Stork baking block

1x Cathedral City vegan cheese - after the debacle of the supposed 'vegan cheese' I bought in Bali a year ago

2x boxes dried falafel mix

5x buttermilk chocolate bars (fake Mars bars etc.) There were six.

2x boxes sweet chili burger mix (only flavour they had in my local shop)

2x vegan biscuits (there were three)
Wholemeal couscous 
Some Blue Dragon noodle sauces 

What I picked up in Bali includes:

Broccoli (fresh) - not available here

Chili hummous - I haven't tried it yet, but I predict it's proper hot unlike some 'spicy' hummous from the UK

Cookies and Cream Chocolate - as above - will probably be eaten straight not cooked in food

What is easily available here that I will select from as I go to add to the supplies:

Very thick coconut milk/cream (but, no coconut oil - I may try making some)

Unflavoured soya milk may be available - must visit one supermarket that had it, and then didn't later on

Flavoured soya milk

Soya beans - they must be available as there's so much tofu and tempeh here including a factory down the road from me

Practically infinite amounts of tofu and tempeh

Tiny green beans - my jetlag addled brain has forgotten what they are called. Mung beans? 

Red kidney beans

Cocoa powder

Sugar (will look into using palm sugar for everything)

Kikkoman soy sauce (I'm not a fan of the more common sweet soy sauce)

Bread and cake flour

Bread yeast

Rice noodles

Indomie instant noodles

Onions/carrots/mushrooms/potatoes/tomatoes/corn/lettuce/bell peppers/chili peppers/long green beans/aubergine/other vegetables (but not broccoli and a number of other common UK vegetables such as beetroot, leeks, and Brussels sprouts)

Local fruits including mango, jackfruit, bananas, papaya, rambutan, durian, grapes, oranges, lemons, and more

Banana flowers 

Ginger and garlic (fresh)

Sushi nori 

Peanuts 

I guess Peanut Butter, as it would make it easier to make peanut sauce

Spiced flour mixes, for coating chicken but work for tempeh and tofu. Nothing dodgy in the ingredients (as per other things in this list)

Cashew nuts (on the west side of the island, there are trees everywhere)

Vegetable oil 

A very primitive looking dark cooking chocolate

Baking powder 

Powdered vanilla 

Not sure about vegan margarine - I hear mixed things about particular brands and flavours 

So, I've sort of  created a storecupboard challenge for us (myself and my partner) here. 

I haven't succeeded making cakes here. I thought about bringing self-raising flour from the UK to remove one variable, but it didn't happen. Last time I was here a lot of curries, bhaji, and samosas were made. Among many other things. As I'm off work, there is more time for experimentation. Particularly when my partner is at work. 

In Bali where there are lots of vegan restaurants and cafes. I was a bit disappointed with the bao buns that I ate at one such place, and believe that I can do better. I will try. 

It's 2:26am here, and I'm wide awake. I'm thinking of trying the red lentil 'flatbread' plus the hummous for breakfast. The internet is broken, so who knows when this will get posted. 

I was disappointed about VBites going into administration. A local store near me had a good supply of their products, and I bought one each of the Lincolnshire and Sage and ... something sausages. Unfortunately the vegan market got way oversaturated with products compared to the number of vegans in the population. And, with major non-vegan brands adding vegan products and with supermarkets selling more own-brand stuff, there was always going to be some ... changes to the market. And, brands and products disappearing was the inevitable result of the oversupply. To my eyes it looks like there was a bubble in the vegan market, and it is now bursting. 

leftatthetrafficlights

That's quite a stash for 3 weeks @RHemmings!! 

Dh felt rubbish yesterday so wasn't hungry - thankfully he's feeling better today so we ate the cabbage and rice dish 😋 it's so cheap and so lush I could eat it every day!! 

RHemmings

Yes, and already we're behind schedule on eating it. I made a lentil dish with some very odd looking ginger. After I had peeled it I found out it is natural galangal, which I'm not familiar with. I went ahead and it tasted fine. 

I'm told that here nobody specifically grows galangal. There's plenty of it growing wild all over the place and people just pick it and sell it in the market. 

The food we don't eat in three weeks won't get wasted. Some also, such as some of the chocolate bars, have been given away. 

Dinner tonight was yellow rice from the fridge, and an attempt to reproduce the tofu korma from the airplane. The 'korma' probably wasn't a korma at all, but was nice enough. I must make more curries with just coconut milk, as I typically mix some form of coconut with tomato paste. Tonight 

The tofu too was nice, though it is in the back of my mind that the brand name for the best local tofu I know is 'Poo' brand. 

RHemmings

Breakfast this morning from the supplies bought from the UK, and local fresh vegetables. Risotto, with (vegan) cheese.