For me early morning is the best time  to relax and think of new ideas, my day ahead and also remember all the  friends and family who have touched my life in some way.  I have some friends and family  who I don’t see a lot but whenever we meet we get on so well that I don’t feel that I had not seen them for a couple of years. Today, I was thinking of them as I was thinking of how the food scene in UK has changed since the 70’s.  Life has taught me to take one day at a time and that’s how I have tackled the changes I had to make for my life in UK.  I took it one day at a time and that’s how I have tackled my Vaganuary journey .  I have tried a lot of vegan recipes – some I have enjoyed and some I haven’t.  I have never been too keen on ready meals especially the meat substitutes that look like meat.   I have not tried those but close family who have tried the Quorn range assure me that it tastes nice.

When I began my veganuary journey, I was disappointed that some of the coffee shops weren’t ready for Veganuary .  But as the month has progressed, my research has shown that this Veganuary, the choice of ready meals in most supermarkets has been great and I am sure that has helped a lot of new vegans like me.

This week, I met a journalist, Sylvia De Luca,  from That’s TV Cambridge.  She wanted to do a feature on Veganuary.  We met in a lovely vegan cafe called Stem + Glory .  Here is the link to the interview Sylvia did with me and  the owners of a New Vegan place, called Ta Bouche,  that just opened in Cambridge. We talked about my blog and the inspiration behind my vegan journey and also about some of my recipes but not all of this was captured in the final video that was created – but that’s fine as I really enjoyed the experience.  Do checkout my interview over a cup of tea and leave some comments on the YouTube link.

After the interview I decided to go to my favourite shop Marks & Spencer as I had seen a video of some celebrities trying out their range of  vegan food.  I was really amazed at the range of Vegan food which came in different sizes.  They had small ready to eat quick lunch meals, starters and main courses.   I had worked at M & S for short while one Christmas years ago and have noticed that now their choice of  Indian vegetarian range had also increased.  It’s great that M & S has embraced the diversity of people in UK and included so many ready meals for vegetarians and vegans.  It’s certainly made my Veganuary journey easier.

When I first arrived in UK in the 70’s- a lot of people didn’t even understand what vegetarian meant and probably had never even heard of vegans!!  So when I see the main stream stores stocking Indian  vegetarian and vegan food – I get excited just like I used to get excited in the 70’s when I used to travel to  Wembley or Southall for my dose of Indian food like samosas and pakoras.  I wasn’t such a confident cook in those days!!

Usually, I am not too keen on ready meals but my excuse for buying them this month is to research what is available and what tastes good enough to buy again.  Ready meals can be a great help for working mums.  I bought quite a selection of vegan meals and have tried two – The Cauliflower Pop Corn and the Sweet Potato Katsu Curry. 

I followed the instructions and heated the food. Both dishes were cooked to perfection and tasted great.  The cauliflower popcorn was lovely and soft and went well with the dip.  I could have done with more spices on the popcorn coating but that’s a personal taste.

The Katsu curry was tasty too. I loved the taste of the Katsu curry sauce. My only criticism was that both dishes didn’t look that great when served.

I will still buy these dishes for my quick meals but not when we have guests.  When you are a foodie – your guests have great expectations from you when they visit you and I try not to disappoint them.

Have you found any great Vegan ready meals this Veganuary?

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Disclaimer: This post and recipe is shared as I liked the product. I was not paid or sent any free samples by the company. The views and comments are mine.