Veganuary Update, Favourites + Giveaway

First of all, let's give you a little background information about me. I'm a vegetarian and I have been since I was around 11 or 12 years old *I can't really remember the exact date now* but I haven't always been the best vegetarian and even my dad terms my diet 'carbohydrarian' as I adore pasta, well, all the carbs and I didn't always love veggies as I do now.

Flash back to December 2015 and I was in full on vegetarian christmas mode which basically means eating all the chocolate, cheesy and creamy pasta and sweets but then I noticed bloggers on Twitter talking about this thing called 'veganuary' and I was intrigued so I deceived to take part and I was on Amazon looking for vegan cookbooks before you could say 'what's veganuary?'. Through my searching I discovered the cookbook that made switching to a vegan diet the first time round so easy and fun; it also made my diet much more varied compared to my vegetarian diet - that cookbook was Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz *go and buy it now*.

When I decided to become a vegetarian at a very young age, my parents were naturally quite concerned and there was the same reaction when I started to cut out dairy and eggs from my diet as well for veganuary but they soon realised how healthy and varied my new diet was. If you are in the same position I was as a vegetarian who was stuck in a rut, if you want to eat healthier or lose weight then definitely look into a vegan diet and I cannot stress enough how much Isa's cookbooks helped me through the process as it is quite a big dietary change - she doesn't use really hard to find ingredients or superfoods, just delicious vegan recipes with great ingredients.

Enough with the flashback now, veganuary so far this year for me hasn't been quite as successful as I have had the temptation of all of the christmas chocolates just staring at me around the house and I've had the worst period pain recently *TMI sorry* and we all know that the solution is chocolate and comfort food which to me includes noodles, chocolate and pasta but ignoring the little slip-ups last week (and by slip-ups I mean a few heavenly ferrero rochers), I am loving being back on a vegan diet. I feel better about what I'm eating, I'm loving discovering some of my favourite recipes from last year and I've discovered vegan chocolate (the Tesco free from milk chocolate) which is heavenly when melted over raspberries.

I was very kindly sent the loveliest veganuary package from the super generous people at Lush including the gorgeous Happy Hippy Shower Gel, Intergalactic Bath Bomb *which is one of my favourites* and two books which I have already read (you can see my ratings on GoodReads) and I'll have the full reviews in my January Reading Wrap-up post at the end of the month.

I was also sent some delicious Nakd bars which I've raved about on my veggie food blog and I can't recommend them enough as they are such healthy, yummy and portable vegan snacks (the Nakd Nibbles are so good too). The Burts Lentil Waves are also perfect vegan snacks, especially the lightly salted and thai sweet chilli flavours! Both Nakd bars and Burts Lentil Waves have been my go to snacks - you need to try them now. For quick weekday meal options, check out the super easy Thai Taste Easy Thai Green and Red Curry Kits and their rice noodles which I've bought myself and love as part of a veggie stir-fry!

I've already posted some vegan recipes on my blog including vegan mac 'n' cheese and vegan chocolate/cinnamon rolls! I'll have a couple of vegan basics posts as well as my favourite vegan beauty brands coming soon including Antipodes, Lush and Tisserand so stay tuned!

Now for the giveaway: the prize for my latest giveaway includes the Thai Taste Curry Kits and Burts Lentil Waves which are perfect healthy snacks! It's only open to UK residents (sorry!) and you have until the 1st February to enter. To enter all you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This winner has been contacted - thanks for entering!

Are you taking part in Veganuary this month? What are your favourite vegan or natural products/brands? What are your favourite Lush products?