Hey everyone! Welcome to the start of a new year. I hope you all had safe yet enjoyable New Year’s celebrations. In alignment with the Veganuary trend, I am today going to share a week of vegan breakfasts. These are all going to be realistic, budget-friendly and energising!

Just to clarify, I am not a vegan. As a teenager still living at home my parents simply can’t accommodate for a vegan diet. Although, I am vegetarian and this year will be my 3 year ‘veggie-versary!’. I am looking forward to making some veggie themed posts for that celebration on August. 

Meals I make myself (breakfast and lunch) I always try to make vegan. It’s a simple little lifestyle change I have been implementing for some time now. It’s really important that when trying to eat with more environmental consciousness, you don’t go in with an all-or-nothing mindset. Change is gradual and should be treated as a journey. It’s not a simple ‘flick-the-switch-and-done’. Rather than become fixated on a diet – like veganism – I think more about short term impact. If there was a chocolate bar made by a local farm, I would choose it over the plastic wrapped vegan choice (recyclable or not). Cow farming is of course destructive to the planet, but so is sourcing virgin plastic, growing soy plantations and shipping these beans to the UK. Balance is integral to sustaining good choices. So don’t be deceived by heavily processed vegan products! 

I don’t eat fruit with my breakfast to make a ‘health’ statement, it’s just simply because I love it. My vegan tendencies are made because I care about the ethical nature behind food. 

If you find the mention of food triggering to your recovery or otherwise, kindly click off this post. We won’t be discussing disordered eating but it is nonetheless important to stay away from any potential harm.

I am so, so grateful to be in a position where I can eat without restrictions and not feel guilty about the food I consume. And it is worth pointing out in a post about food. Because ‘vegan’ has the connotations of being ‘healthier’ than other diets. But that’s entirely untrue. It might seem as if I am restricting myself through eating such a diet, but I couldn’t feel better. From starting this diet/lifestyle I have grown in confidence. I feel amazing. Even using the label ‘diet’ makes me slightly quiver. Because it is more than that. I wish we could remove the stigma around veganism as being ‘the healthy solution to weight loss’. It’s not that at all. It’s a lifestyle, and a choice, and not a fad.

But without further ado, I’d like it introduce to you Catherine’s Culinary Corner (the name is a work in progress XD)

Monday

Porridge is an absolute staple for my breakfast! I would have it for every meal if I could. Instead of measuring out my oats, I just pour the amount I’m feeling that morning. I make my porridge with a splash of water instead of milk and top with fruit of some kind. Today that was banana! Then alongside I sprinkled some vegan muesli stuff. I’m not a nutritionist and have absolutely no clue whether this bowl was balanced or healthy or anything. But it was tasty and filling (all that counts)

Tuesday

Shaking it up a bit today with a slice of peanut butter on toast with an orange. Since having braces this meal has taken longer to eat! But loving the excuse to read a few more pages before the chaotic day ensues. Reading while eating my breakfast is a habit I absolutely love.

To make the whole family happy, we buy this Roberts sliced white loaf that is vegan friendly and palm-oil free.

Wednesday

Back to porridge! Today I topped it off with some frozen fruit. These were quite sour by themselves although mixed with enough porridge it tasted yum.

Thursday

Cereal had to get a feature somewhere! Thursday’s brekkie was a lovely bowl of Bran Flakes with almond milk. If you can’t tell already, I’m obsessed with bananas 😂

Friday

End of the *working* week! And no better way to celebrate than with a filling bowl of porridge topped off with frozen fruit and more of that vegan muesli stuff that I LOVE!

Saturday

Nothing speaks weekend more than a good bowl of plain cereal. To incorporate some fruity goodness I sliced an apple (that I ate leisurely on the sofa as I read my book with a cup of tea). 

Sunday

Returning to my signature dish: porridge, for a cosy winter Sunday morning. Topped with some of the muesli stuff I love and a little bit of frozen fruit – it set me up for a relaxing reset. Using Sundays as an admin day is a great habit to help subside the potential stress on a Monday morning. And these mundane and repetitive tasks require nothing more than an energising bowl of goodness to get started!

Thank you so much for reading my week of breakfasts! I hope they inspire some of your own morning meals. Vegan doesn’t mean just eating a salad leaf – you can really enjoy food while being kind to the planet in the process. 

What’s your favourite breakfast?

Catherine x

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