Stephen Elliott

Star of our new recipe videos

My partner Kelly and I went vegan about two and a half years ago. We watched a few documentaries and the next day we said, “Right, we’re going vegan.” And we’ve not looked back since! The transition for us was really easy – we just dived straight into it.

To start with, we were eating quite a lot of processed meat replacements, but now we’re trying to include as many whole foods as we can. I do all the cooking in the house and being involved in the Vegan and Thriving campaign has helped me to expand my knowledge.

Since going vegan my energy levels have been really good. It’s also helped my mental health as well – that might be down to the fact that I’ve had the energy to exercise more. I certainly think that it’s related to my diet.  Especially as recently we’ve been eating less processed foods and knowing exactly what’s going into all of our meals.

I still cook a lot of meals that look like the meat dishes we used to eat, like mince and tatties, and chilli. And on Wednesdays, we have fajita night. I make seitan sometimes too.

The kids have been surprised a lot of the time to hear that the meals are vegan. I want to show them that these dishes don’t taste any different and can actually be a lot better for you.

Thriving recipes

I really enjoyed hosting all of the recipe videos for Vegan and Thriving. I have my own YouTube recipe channel called Sporran Again Vegan, which is a nice creative outlet, so I did have a bit of experience. I’d never done anything so high production before though, so it was a bit nerve-racking! But on the day, it was such a laugh. I really enjoyed getting the nutritional facts in and trying out all the recipes.

The meals are all so tasty, and really straightforward too. I’ve made several of the recipes since. The falafel burgers are so easy – you can just dump the ingredients in the blender. The tofu pancakes with plum sauce was my favourite, and my daughter Phoebe’s favourite too. I made them again recently and I had leftover pineapple in the fridge, so I swapped the plum sauce for pineapple and chilli.

New vegans

My advice for any new vegans would be to keep it simple, and check the labels. And don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake – forgive yourself and learn from it, and move on.

Finally, find a really good source to educate yourself from. There are some great resources here on Vegan and Thriving, so take a look!