It’s been more than a year since I shared a vegan food diary with you. I’ve been following a vegan diet for over seven years now, so I can’t imagine myself eating any other way. However, a vegan diet is not the norm in The Netherlands, unfortunately. In my direct surroundings I see things improving, people in my bubble are slowly moving towards a plant-based diet. However, this is not the case for everyone. Most people still have no clue to what vegans eat and what the possibilities are. And that’s why I share these food diaries. Here’s my vegan food diary for a week in March 2023.
My situation
Before you read the diary, let me give you a quick summary of my situation. I mostly eat together with others. I live in a student flat with 13 flatmates. We eat together about once or twice a week. I also eat together with my boyfriend or my family in most of the weekends and every Thursday I eat together with one of my best friends. The rest of the week I eat alone. I do groceries once a week at a food cooperative. I am 24 years old, 1.56 meters long and weigh about 61 kilos. At the moment I exercise 4 or 5 five times a week. I have a full-time office job (32 hours). Also important, this diary contains only food. I drink water every day and nothing else. If I did drink anything else than water, I listed it specifically in this diary. If not, it’s all water.
Note: everything in this diary is vegan. So when I say something like feta or burgers, they’re also vegan. Don’t be confused by any names. Also: the pictures get less by the day, I only took pictures of the new things I ate that day. If I would put in a photo of a brazil nut every day, that would be a bit boring.
Monday
9:01: I took my supplements for the day. I try to take a vitamin D pill every day, an Omega 3 pill every day and vitamin B12 twice a week. I also ate one brazil nut.
12:00: 4 slices of sourdough bread with pâté, cucumber and some lettuce. Today was a little boring because I ran out of tomatoes and sprouts. Alongside with the bread I ate a hand full of pecan nuts.
16:00: 4 passion fruits.
17:00: 2 golden kiwi’s and one cracker with pâté (the crackers are packed in plastic but they are honestly SO GOOD that they’re my guilty pleasure).
21:00: a poke bowl with whole-wheat rice, wakame salad, some cucumber, a small avocado, two nori sheets, marinated Peasmaker bits with soy sauce, sesame oil and agave sirup and some wasabi mayonaise.
Tuesday
8:00: a vitamin D pill and an Omega 3 pill.
10:00: a banana.
11:00: another banana.
12:00: some quinoa salad with vegetables, a grilled cheese sandwich and one slice of bread with filet americain, cucumber and alfalfa on it.
18:00: a hand full of pecan nuts, one brazil nut, two bowls of tomato soup and a jar of white beans in tomato sauce.
22:00: two dates, some nori snacks and some roasted, salted corn.
Wednesday
9:30: overnight oats with chia seeds, cacao, cinnamon, agave sirup and unsweetened soy milk. (I forgot to take my supplements today).
12:30: 4 slices of sourdough bread. Two with pâté, sprouts, cucumber, tomato and lettuce. The other two with egg salad, sprouts, cucumber, tomato and lettuce. Additionally I ate two golden kiwi’s.
15:00: a handful of pecan nuts, one brazil nut, some roasted, salted corn and nori snacks.
17:15: a few slices of cucumber with burger sauce, 4 corn waffles and two slices of sourdough bread with egg salad.
19:15: one plate of spinach ‘stamppot'(a Dutch dish, which is basically a vegetable, in this case spinach, with smashed potato, gravy, meat (in this case meatballs) and feta.
Thursday
7:20: overnight oats with chia seeds, cacao, cinnamon, coconut flakes, agave sirup and unsweetened soy milk.
11:00: a pear
12:00: a grilled cheese sandwich (with oregano and tomato flavor), two slices of whole-wheat bread with Oatly spread, cucumber, alfalfa and iceberg lettuce and some salad (see picture).
16:00: a cup-a-soup, tomato flavor.
18:00: one plum, one brazil nut and a handful of pecan nuts.
19:30: a green curry made out of spinach, tomato, garlic, coconut milk, soaked cashew nuts, garam masala and water. I topped the curry with tofu out of the air-fryer (this makes tofu very crispy!) mixed with garam masala, cumin, kala namak and garlic powder.
21:20: one pill of vitamin D and one pill of Omega 3 (I forgot to take them in the morning).
Friday
9:15: One vitamin B12 pill, one vitamin D pill and one Omega 3 pill.
11:00: two dates with peanut butter and two bananas.
13:00: 4 slices of sourdough bread with egg salad, cucumber, tomato, sprouts and lettuce and a brazil nut.
16:00: a handful of pecan nuts and some nori snacks.
17:30: two tiny slices of sourdough bread with burger sauce and two corn waffles.
20:00: the same curry as yesterday: a green curry made out of spinach, tomato, garlic, coconut milk, soaked cashew nuts, garam masala and water. I topped the curry with tofu out of the air-fryer (this makes tofu very crispy!) mixed with garam masala, cumin, kala namak and garlic powder.
22:00: one bonbon that I got from friends (I never buy chocolate for myself, I’m not such a sweet tooth).
Saturday
12:00: one whole-wheat sandwich baked in the air-fryer, with burger sauce, cucumber, tomato, sprouts and lettuce, one pear, one plain croissant from the air-fryer and one croissant with filet americain.
12:30: one bonbon.
15:00: a big fresh-made jus d’orange.
17:00: a mango, almond salad with spicy hummus and some slices of a whole-wheat baguette with peanut-sauce and baba ghanoush.
19:30: a pearl couscous salad with haricot verts, yellow paprika, dill, feta, olive oil, souq dukkah herbs and lemon juice.
Sunday
11:30: about five slices of brown bread with different spreads, from pâté, to chicken-curry, to baba ghanoush, to filet americain. On every slices I also put cucumber, tomato, sprouts and lettuce.
17:00: one pear.
17:30: some mini-spring rolls out of the air-fryer and some ‘bitterballen‘, which is a Dutch snack (made in the air-fryer), it’s basically breadcrumbs filled with ragout.
18:30: 1,5 hamburger (I made two for myself but I’m really trying to listen to my body more. Full is full, even if there’s food left) on a patty, with burger sauce, tomato, pickles, onion and lettuce.
This last day I forgot to take any photos of my food.
My diet in 2023
I have shared a vegan food diary in 2018, 2019 and 2022 before. For me personally this is interesting to look back at, as I can see how my diet changes. I am still trying to more towards a whole-foods vegan diet. I’m not at 100%, but I feel like I’m doing good. In October of 2022 I started a full-time job, after I graduated. This really makes me have a good rhythm when it comes to food. When I work I eat fruit in the morning, salad and bread during lunch, some fruit at 4p pm or so, and then dinner. In the weekends and on Wednesdays (when I am free) things are different, but that is okay.
I am quite happy with my diet right now. I take my supplements on a regular basis, I drink about 500 milliliters of water each morning, I eat a hand full of nuts each day, one brazil nut each day, I eat seaweed on a regular basis and I feel like I eat as much whole-foods as I can. There’s always room for snacks, as I am no longer fat-phobic anymore (it’s a journey, I am not perfect, but it gets better). One thing I do want to eat more is fruit, that will become my new focus for now. But overall, my relationship with food is healthy and I am happy with that! Anyway, I hope this vegan food diary gives you a better insight into what vegans eat.
Yours sincerely,
Romee
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