Family of five going vegan for two weeks #1

For the next two weeks our family of five will embark on a vegan exploration trip. We will try to live as vegan as possible.

We do this because we have tried to cut down on our meat consumption for almost three years now. To be honest we have not found the journey easy. We all enjoy a great variety of vegatables but breaking free of old habits and favorite dishes have proven more difficult than first expected.

We want to eat more plant based because it is better for the environment. Producing meat require a lot of land and leads to high carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile we also believe more plant based foods will be beneficial for our health.

Status quo

Today we eat meat free dinners 1-2 times a weeks and going further have proven difficult for us. For lunch we still feel quite stuck in old habits of eating a lot of traditional Danish cold cut meats and some caned or smoked fish. 

Our goal

We aim to get a lot more plant based food into our eating habits while having fun exploring new foods. It is important to us that we use our curiosity during this test period.

We don’t expect to go all vegan after our exploration trip but we hope a lot more plant based products will find their way into our diets when animal based options are left out for two weeks.

I once heard a doctor say that children choose from whatever they have available. I very much believe this is true and hope once there is no meat available their natural curiosity will lead them and us for that matter towards some new plant based favorites.

Our youngest daughter is only 7 months at the beginning of this vegan exploration trip. She will try the food we eat but will besides that follow the national nutritional guidelines and get meat, fish, oils and supplements. Our other children are 3 and 7 years old. The eldest will eat almost fully vegan as we prepare the food he eats during school. Our eldest daughter is still in kindergarten where her lunch will be prepared. Her afternoon meal we prepare and this will be as vegan as possible.

Ups and downs living vegan

I hope to write a few more posts on our ups and downs during this journey but turning 38 this March I have finally got to know myself well enough to know that my ambitions are always sky-high and over optimistic. Somehow it is like I’m 18 again when I sit in from of my macbook. In reality many years have passed and three wonderful children take up a lot of my time leaving almost no time for hobbies like writing this blog.

Not a scientific study

Our vegan journey is by no means a scientific study and should not be seen as an attempt to claim that a vegan diet is more healthy than the diets suggested by health organizations around the world.

I highly recommend seeking guidance if you want to go all in on the vegan lifestyle for a longer period.

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Gluten and dairy free buns based on oat and quinoa flour

These delicious gluten free buns are incrediblely easy to make. Within less than two hours you have 15 delicious buns ready to eat. For this recipe I have used psyllium husks, popped quinoa and dried dates, figs and apples.

The buns are intended to be eaten as they are and are ideal for on-the-go like the children’s lunch box. They however also taste wonderful with butter, jam or chocolate.

What to add

15 g of organic yeast

5dl lukewarm water

20 g of psyllium husks

20 g of popped quinoa

150 g of quinoa flower

200 g of oat flour

50 g of dried fruits

1 teaspoon of salt

What to do

1. Mix water and yeast
2. Add psyllium husks and quinoa flour. Whip to an even and sticky paste. Leave for 5 minutes
3. Add the remaining ingredients but hold back a bit of the flour. Knead until the dough is even.
4. The dough is still sticky but adding water onto your hands you allow you to shape 15-16 buns
5. Let the buns rise for 45-60 minutes
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 200ºC in a preheated hot air oven

The buns stay fresh and soft for a few days but may also be keep in the freezer if needed.

For this recipe everything except for the yeast and psyllium husks are from Urtekram

Enjoy as they are or add your favorite butter and some organic fairtrade chocholate

There’s no allergy towards gluten in our family. My reason for experimenting with a recipe for gluten free buns originates from my curiosity and my belief that it is better to eat a wide variety of foods to avoid later developing allergies. In many aspects of life I believe more focus on preventing than curing no matter if we are taking illness, bullying or car accidents would be beneficial and effective.

Links

For this recipe I went all in on products from Danish based Urtekram. Everything except from the water, yeast and psyllium husks are Urtekram products which are always organic.  I’m a big fan of their products.

The butter on the photo is Lurpak. Probably the best butter in the world ♡

Last but not least I have to mention our favorite chocolate slices (pålægschokolade in Danish). Wonder what to call this great product as I believe it does not exist outside Denmark. Hope you get what I mean. It is thin slices of chocolate to put onto bread like a slice of cheese. We have fallen in love with the 72 percent dark chocolate from änglamark which is organic and fairtrade.

Though it could look like it this post contains no affiliate links. It is the results of my honest opinions, experiences and beliefs.

I hope you enjoy