Guide to Going Vegan: What Should You Know?

Whether you’re going vegan to eat healthier or it’s an eco-conscious effort to reduce your carbon footprint, the transition will take time. You can’t make a complete shift overnight. Plus, you should reflect on other everyday habits that affect the environment.

This article features a few tips and tricks on cooking vegan dishes. We also share the importance of sustainable choice—like vegan cutlery.

 Here’s what you should know:

Going Vegan: Smart Tips for Beginners 

A vegan diet can sound daunting if you plan on limiting your meals to salad bowls and fruit platters. Learn how to keep things practical, healthy, and fun with these tips:

Take Things Slowly, Focusing on One Meal at a Time

If you’re thinking about going vegan, you should keep a slow and steady pace during the first few months.  It’ll be easier to switch smaller portions of your meals, and you get sufficient time to learn.

Here’s how this works:

• Dedicate one or two days of the week for vegan meals (like Meatless Mondays or Veggie Wednesdays).
• Swap sugary and salty mix of snacks for healthier plant-centric options (like nuts, seeds, and kale chips).
• Begin your mornings with dairy-free and pro-vegan breakfasts before incorporating plant-based elements into other meals.
• Master a few simple recipes like sandwiches and burgers before progressing to complex vegan dishes.

Taking small steps will whet your appetite for tastier vegan treats.  Subsequently, purchasing plant-based alternatives for your pantry will become simpler. That’s because you become more aware of what works and what doesn’t for your palette.

Read the Labels to Avoid Rookie Mistakes

Years ago, going vegan wasn’t easy. Now, it’s practised by thousands of people in the UK.  The rising popularity resulted in high demand for vegan renditions of commercial products. You can find an assorted range of resources for vegans. 

Nevertheless, many store-bought ingredients aren’t as green and sustainable as you think. You might unwittingly bring cans and packaged products that contain animal fats. These include gelatin-based sweets, Worchester sauce, onion soup, and non-fat yoghurt. These products have one or more animal-based ingredients to retain texture and thickness.

Moreover, many Asian cuisines rely on fish sauce and anchovy-centric dressings. Therefore, opting for a vegetarian version of your favourite dish wouldn’t be the best decision. Likewise, anything fried in animal-based cooking oil should be off your meal plan.

Learn the Art of Cooking Vegan Food at Home

Most vegans cook at home these days.  That’s because you don’t have to second-guess your food choices when you’re stirring the pot. 

You might go through several trials and errors when you’re cooking plant-based meals. The taste and texture will change drastically when you change a significant amount of ingredients in a dish. Plus, everyone has a different palette. That’s why tweaking tasty vegan recipes you find online works better for many people.

Here are some things that will work in your favour:

• Start with Familiar Dishes.

First-timers often stumble across obscure dishes and items as substitutes when going vegan. There’ll be plenty of time to experiment with those ingredients. We recommend picking apart dishes you already know. Like a shepherd's pie, pasta, beef burger, or mince pie.  Learn what you can change to change traditional recipes into meatless versions without compromising taste.

• Don’t Forget to Add Proteins to Your Plate.

Your protein intake shrinks when you start a vegan diet. That’s because you’re removing the main protein sources (i.e., poultry, seafood, and meat) from your meals. Luckily, countless natural food options can fill this nutrient gap. Nuts, seeds, whole grains, peas, beans and other legumes are a good start.

• Get Creative.

Beets and jackfruit are the stars of meatless burgers. They are juicy, have a good texture, and are nutritiously tasty. Experimenting with flavours and plant-based ingredients can result in some unique combinations. That’s what makes cooking vegan meals exciting!

Lastly, ensure that you’re maintaining a well-balanced diet. Take equal portions of fruits, plant-based proteins, good carbs, and essential vitamins.

Thinking Beyond Food: Should You Invest in Vegan Cutlery?

Going vegan has become a lifestyle for eco-conscious families and individuals. That means you need to find how to evaluate what you buy, wear, and do. Self-assessment ensures that none of these activities have a harmful impact on the planet.

That’s why you should not only look at what goes into the plate but also what you use to eat the food.

Our vegan cutlery offers cruelty-free, environmentally-safe solutions. We sell handcrafted bamboo cutlery items to cook here, serve here, and eat here food with sustainable products.

Advantages include:

• Reduced carbon footprint
• No aftertaste
• It comes in a naturally-dyed hemp pouch to minimise dust
• Reusable vegan cutlery

The home and kitchen category gets extended to theeating-on-go here options. In this way, you have everything from spatulas, tongs, and knives to forks, spoons, straws and reusable chopsticks.

Parting Words

In the end, going vegan will be far easier when you take it one meal at a time. Start with sandwiches and bliss bowls before moving on to more wholesome and fulfilling meals. Also, don’t shop without checking the labels. These things will make reliance on plant-based food more successful.

Moreover, purchase vegan cutlery to practise cruelty-free, plant-powered cooking methods.

Are you ready to make the switch? Get started with these kitchen essentials.