Hannah and Clare are two real foodies who have become vegan for a month to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. They’ve decided to make the most of this opportunity and are on a quest to find really good vegan food. Follow their progress in their weekly column to see if they really can find vegan food that satisfies the meat-eaters among us.

Hannah’s Cheap and Easy Vegan Mediterranean Couscous – serves 1

Ingredients - 70g giant couscous - Drizzle of olive oil - 1 crushed clove of garlic - 1 courgette - 1 can of chopped tomatoes - ½ teaspoon of sugar - 1 medium red onion - Pinch of salt 1. Fry couscous (2mins) in oil or until golden brown, before covering in water (approx. two times the volume of couscous) and boil until soft. 2. Chop onion into chunks, sweat in oil until soft. Chop courgette into chunks and add to onions along with the crushed garlic. 3. Drain chopped tomatoes and add to vegetables. 4. Add sugar and season before cooking until piping hot. 5. Mix in soft giant couscous and serve.

This was the first week of our vegan challenge to raise money for the MS Trust. Although we were dreading it, we secretly hoped that this new lifestyle would make us feel healthier, slimmer and happier; so far it’s been a bit of an uphill struggle.

Although it’s been tough, we have discovered the delicious Bear Granola Nibbles sold in SAF (the tropical crunch flavour is particularly good). They serve as a really good snack to satisfy our food cravings, and on the back of this we thought we’d sample some snacky dessert delights. In Wholefoods we bought a “Banoffee Cream” Tart and a Banana Walnut “Chocolate” Chip iced cupcake. To be honest both would be topped by a good hobnob, but if we had to pick one it would be the “Banoffee Cream” Tart. It’s fresh, creamy and would be satisfying for any sweet tooth. On the down side we don’t like that we can’t figure out what the “creamy” topping is made from, and to be honest there’s an overriding sense that the whole thing is artificial.

For now our quest to find amazing vegan food is still ongoing. Tune in next week! For now we’re off to make a cup of tea (with soya milk of course), and remember this is all for the MS Trust so please sponsor us at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/goingvegan.