THE brief was one week: ‘Write a story about going vegan for seven days.’
It was not surprising I was assigned such a story. I have always wanted to be vegan. The reasons are varied and include the fact that, through self-diagnosis, I believe I struggle to digest meat, especially beef.
I once made the mistake of voicing it out loud in the office: ‘I want to become vegan’.
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What a mistake – the naysayers attacked. ‘Oooooh, why would you want to give up such a wonderful thing like meat? I could never give up meat – it’s too nice. You think by you giving up meat, you’re going to save all the animals on the planet?’
It’s akin to a person saying, ‘I don’t want to smoke anymore,’ and people chastising you for not wanting to smoke.
Now back to my trial of trying to go vegan for a week. I changed the brief to three days. I had an inkling on day one that I would not survive a week but I pushed on.
Typical daily diet for me when eating animal products:
- 10:00 – 2 boiled eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, kefir
- 12.30 – smoothie with any fruit or vegetables I have in the house with full-fat yoghurt
- 15:00 – tuna on rye toast, or chicken with vegetables, or chicken curry and rice, but mainly it involves a form of white meat – red meat does not feature big in my diet
I usually do intermittent fasting, so 15:00, on a good day, is my last meal for the day. I fill up on water until I sleep and start eating again at 10:00 the following day.
So I had a hefty portion to cut out.
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Going Vegan, Day 1:
- 10:00 – coffee with almond milk – I buy a brand called Butta Nutt – it’s delicious. The price is not so sweet though, retailing at R39.99 from Checkers. It’s a bit steep on my pocket and almost double what I usually pay for my Clover lactose-free milk which retails at R19.99 at most supermarkets.
- Smoothie made from: ginger, lemon, kale, mango and pineapple. I skipped the yoghurt, of course, and this was another breeze – my smoothie tasted great with just water to form the liquid.
- But I was still hungry and was craving eggs so I opted for a packet of Spookies pele pele flavour – if you haven’t tried Spookies, then get to your nearest Spaza shop – they’re just R5.
I have been reading up on veganism for a while so I have a fairly good understanding of the concept.
I decided not to read any recipes in the run-up to my trial and thought rather to prepare meals as they came to mind – but definitely to prepare ahead. So when 13:30 rolled around, I whipped out my full vegan meal. Mozambik serves a mix of chickpeas, brinjal, carrots, green beans, baby marrow and red onion – I know, I counted one day. They are the best I have tried when it comes to vegetables; I think it’s the sauce that seals the deal. I usually order mine with their classic lemon, garlic and herb sauce. This recipe had been percolating in my mind for years – now was my time to shine.
These vegetables have been a firm favourite of mine for some time. Not only because it’s a vegetable dish devoid of spinach and butternut but because it’s one of the best side dishes I have had at a restaurant. I have nothing against spinach and butternut; it’s just that I would love to be presented with different options as a side, rather than the usual, ‘cream spinach and butternut’.
It’s usually served with chicken, but since chicken was out, I had mine with basmati rice.
Needless to say, this was the first dampener on my journey because my Mozambik veggies tasted nothing like the real Mozambik veggies.
Day 2
A repeat of day one.
Day 3 was the test
I ate all my Mozambik vegetables, and I hadn’t prepared anything else. It was at this point that I decided I would convert my seven-day trial into a three-day trial.
Breakfast was the same as Day 1 and Day 2; lunch was the challenge, and I rushed to the Spar across the road from work and ordered roasted vegetables and rice. I also added in a banana, another packet of Spookies pele pele, and for dinner, toast with peanut butter and jam.
Have I abandoned my journey? No.
Will I persevere? Yes.
Do I fail regularly? Unfortunately, yes.
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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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