Graduation, relocation and food creation.

It's now been two weeks since I moved to Brighton (with 5 smelly days at Bestival squeezed in somehow) and I feel I haven't even scratched the surface of this cosmopolitan metropolis. There's a wholefood store about the same distance from my new house as the village shop used to be in my childhood home so I really don't have any excuse for boring easy food (overlooking my inherent laziness of course). After much hunting I've managed to wrangle myself a job and so I can now finally become more devoted to this embarrassingly neglected blog.

Firstly, check out these burgers (or sliders as the 'mericans call 'em). I've only recently discovered Chef Chloe and there's a whole host of dishes on my to do list but this was the one that caught my eye first and I am soooo glad it did! It's not a cheap or quick dish to make (if you use dried black beans they need to soak overnight) but it will keep for a day or so in the fridge and makes about 8-9 pattys.

Wonderful gloopy goodness.

The mac 'n' cheese is next on my to-do list - watch this space.

Winter Treats

I had a request for a cookie recipe (thanks Lisa flower1!) and this week I've made two batches of yummy cookies so I'm happy to oblige.

Firstly I made some chocolate cookies using a recipe from Veganomicon:

This recipe made about 12 this size but I usually make more, smaller cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raspberry Preserve

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil - I had to buy this specially but it has lots of other uses, vegetable oil can be substituted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa powder + 2 extra tablespoons (Use less for less rich cookies)

1&1/2 cups plain flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix together sugar, oil, preserve and vanilla extract.
2. Mix all the other ingredients in a separate bowl and gradually stir this into the wet mixture
3. Make golf balls from the mixture, flatten to required shape (the cookies will keep the same shape in the oven) and place on a baking tray.
4. Put in the oven for 10 mins and you're done!

A lovely easy recipe - great with a cuppa on a freezing morning/afternoon/evening ;)

On Wednesday I made peanut butter cookies, something I've been meaning to get around to ever since I moved in in October!

Despite being super yummy, a surprising proportion of the people I know don't like peanuts :O so I ended eating a few too many myself...I adapted this recipe as I didn't have any brown sugar and produced about 14 cookies.

No fancy ingredients in this recipe:

75g marg

50g peanut butter

100g caster sugar

100g plain flour

pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 200C
2. Mix together marg and peanut butter thoroughly.
3. Mix in sugar.
4. Mix in flour (mine were still quite sticky at this point so I added extra flour).
5. Make ping pong sized balls and place on a baking tray with a good 5cm between each. Flatter slightly with a fork in different directions to create a pattern. These cookies will spread out in the oven but if they touch they should be quite easy to break apart.
6. Leave in the oven for 15 mins and check progress. Leave in the oven for up to 5 mins longer until they are a lovely golden brown.

Sorry for the rubbish photography!

Apologies for the lack of my usual wit and excitement, the cold weather has frozen my creative juices!

SUPER-drug

I don't know how I've managed to avoid posting about Superdrug over the last 4 months because I buy pretty much all my toiletries there!
Reasons I love Superdrug

1. They label their products vegan
2. They are BUAV approved. i.e. NO ANIMAL TESTING!
3. I can buy their toothpaste in the happy knowledge that it contains no animal bits
4. They have a massive range of own brand lovely cheap bubbly things!

LUSH, Sainsbury's, and the CO-OP don't test on animals either and so make a good alternative if you don't have a Superdrug nearby.

It's very easy to plead innocence about animal testing. Unless it says on the bottle 'we tested this on a little bunny rabbit' then how can you know?! From the research I've done, almost all companies that don't say 'Not tested on animals' have tested on animals. If you had a great ethical company you'd boast about it!

the Little book of cruelty free gives a list of lots of companies that have been checked out and properly approved though I haven't heard of most...

Also worth checking out are Eyes, Lips, Face as their make up is good quality and surprisingly cheap - look out for the occasional 40% off voucher codes!

Dawwwwww

5 portions a day

I've been trying to be more healthy recently, more vitamins = less chance of getting an icky cold, but my love of toast and potatoes means I often don't make it to the magic 5 portions of fruit and veg a day.
My solution? Cheat!

Charlotte's cheeky cheats for a champion constitution.

• Dried fruit - just one tablespoon is a full portion according to the NHS.
• Fruit Juice - who doesn't love a glass over cereal?!
• Frozen sweetcorn - In the pan whilst pasta is cooking, too easy.
• Banana & custard - Pudding lovers (Alpro ready made cartons- wonderfully comforting on cold days!)
• Tinned fruit - Sugar on grapefruit or maybe cinnamon on pears.
• Satsumas/Clementines - Can anyone tell the difference?! Their natural outfit means they can go travelling!

The NHS site I linked suggests the fruit and veg in pre-prepared food counts too but we don't need to count that now we have soooo many options!

Despite trying to avoid traditions, I'm hoping that I can stick to a resolution this year to think more about what I eat, what nutrients it contains and what I miss out on when I'm lazy and eat naughty food... we'll see.

yumyumyum

Excuses, excuses.

Oh you wonderfully faithful few, my loyal blog readers, I can only apologise for leaving you so empty handed on these cold winter nights.
Perhaps this might cheer you up? It's a list of all the vegan own brand products that Sainsbury's stock, neatly ordered under their departments. Don't use Sainsbury's? The other main supermarkets have lists too, have a google.
I've been looking into vegan ready meals recently, and i'm always on the look out for vegan fast food. Might also mention here that my new years resolution is to start planning my meals with the aim of becoming healthier...
Anyway from the list I've just linked there's just one frozen meal: Basics Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce
Not the most appetizing. Wouldn't it be nice to have a hearty curry or pie in the freezer? - at least by making our own we know exactly whats inside, healthy or otherwise.
Despite the poor choice of frozen meals there's a surprising amount of fresh meals, all the obvious Indian snacky bits, mediterranian pasta, all sorts of pots of beans and some couscous which I've had before, good for a snack on the go, shared with a lovely vegan companion of course!
Anyway although the list takes some sorting through it's worth a look. It's always nice to find inspiration in the form of something you haven't eaten in years or hadn't even thought to investigate (raspberry sorbet - mmm)

Tonights dinner - Tesco's prepared stir fry mix with cauldron marinated tofu and a chow mein sauce. Fridge to plate in under ten minutes :) x

Who knew a photo of lions could hold such emotion?

Unannounced hiatus

I've had a wonderfully hectic month off blogging, dissertation meetings galore, organising SL, running for environment officer with the student union and trying to fit some lectures in too. Over the coming weeks I'm hoping to give more tips on making vegan lives/changeovers easier and try not to bombard with too many recipes.
I'm gunna hit you with one now tho, as it's my first ever cooking video! The SL team promoted a meat free meal as part of our project and we sold the all the ingredients for this casserole at our university farmers market for 50p! (Normally would cost around a pound)
Surprisingly tasty for something so simple x

Quick Beany Lunch

I <3 quick AND healthy food so I thought I'd share my lunch (not literally!) with you today.

First I spread a couple of tortilla wraps with houmous, added some 'napolina five bean salad', chopped green pepper and baby spinach leaves. It's as easy as that. Minimum time, minimum washing up, minimum ingredients... Maximum yummyness! :D