Peanut butter, banana and chocolate chip cookies.

Hello, hello.
Sorry it's a late one today. Also I promise I will try to post things other than recipes soon. There is more to veganism than just food and this isn't just a food blog (...is what I tell myself.)

Anyway, I made some really great cookies yesterday. Remember when I was going to make cookies for my new housemates in third year at uni? Well I've finally made cookies for my housemates... One and a half years later. This is another recipe from allrecipes.co.uk - The ingredients will all be knocking around the kitchen so it's another (almost) no-effort yum fest!

I use dark chocolate from aldi and cut it up into small chunks. The 200g bar is vegan but the 100g bar is not... wierd. Anyway it works really well and I think it actually tastes better once it's been in the oven. These will still be tasty without the chocolate too.

Another sweet treat this week was a tub of ice cream from BohoGelato. It was reminiscent of ben and jerry's with little chunks of moreish dough but the ice cream itself was verging on sorbet and at £2.50 a pop I probably won't be having too many more!

Should perhaps have included a coin for scale!
FYI It was the size you would usually get at the theatre.

Adieu x

Fennel?!

A super quick post this week. What with being the birthday girl AND having just moved house it's all rather hectic.

After doing a little exploring on Saturday morning I came across a great little fruit and veg shop at my local market (Brighton Open Market). Feeling brave I bought myself some fennel and set about experimenting. I'd actually only had fennel once before and wasn't impressed so this was it's last chance!

I used this recipe after a quick search and was sooooo impressed! There were points during the cooking process when I thought we were doomed but it all came together into a really wholesome dish. I served mine with seeded toast but this is a whole meal in itself really. Half of the stated ingredients served two of us with a tiny potion left for my friend to try (and love!) .

That's all I've got time for tonight - Lots more to tell about all the places I've been eating out recently but that will have to wait till next time. Till Sunday x

Polenta.

This week I had lunch at The Gladstone, Brighton. Only one vegan option but a tasty one at that! Veggie sausages (the vegetable kind, not the fake meat kind) with polenta mash and an average vegetarian gravy. This was my first taste of polenta and I was impressed, the texture made for a more interesting mash and the seasoning was spot on.

I stumbled upon this recipe on - by now you know it's my favourite food blog - Chocolate-Covered Katie (She does savoury food too, who knew?!) and decided I should give polenta a shot in my cooking.

I changed the recipe to be one big pie rather than single serve and bought ready made polenta from Sainsbury's - way less aesthetically pleasing! I also used a tin of mixed beans in chilli sauce rather than pinto beans. I cooked up a few matchstick fries which added a nice crunchy texture on the plate. Overall though, I don't think the polenta added anything to the dish, perhaps I did something wrong (sliced and laid on the pie, how wrong can that be?) but the chilli filling was great and would perhaps have worked well with rice or nachos. If anybody has any polenta related stories, success or otherwise, I'd love to hear. Or if you want to tell me how much you love my blog or that it's super boring you can do so now - ANONYMOUSLY! The comment box is working yipee.

Warning: Moving to a new kitchen (and house) next weekend so my next post could be early - or, more likely - late.

Tofu - Sweet&Savoury

I haven't experimented with tofu as much as I'd have liked to - mainly because I always run out of patience trying to find it in Sainsbury's and they don't stock it in my beloved ALDI. Luckily Mum bought me some tofu last week whilst I was home which I ended up using in a mid week lunchtime stir fry. At some point I'll write a blog highlighting how to make it yummy and not just solidified yoghurt (when i've done a little more research) but for now feast your eyes on this awesome pie by chocolate covered Katie. I made this for a certain person's birthday a few years a go and it disappeared in the blink of an eye, luckily I still got to lick the bowl so I can vouch for it being super rich and delicious.

Chocolate Fudge Pie

Stir fry is a great transition dish to showcase how similar dishes can taste/smell/feel once veganised, my basic process for stir fry is below but really it can be however any other recipe advises sans the meat and ensuring egg free noodles are used. Another plus, not much washing up!
I always start with roughly 1 tbsp each of sunflower oil, white wine vinegar, sesame oil and 2 tbsp soy sauce. After I've drained and pressed the tofu to make it firmer, I cut thin slices and fry until well browned (got to be patient here, takes longer than you want it to!) I remove the tofu from the pan for the rest of the stir fry preparation as it's kind of a wimp if you go near it with a spatula too many times.
The rest of the ingredients include some of the following depending on my mood/whats in the fridge:
thinly sliced carrot
thinly sliced celery
mushrooms
mange tout
baby corn
Once everything is nearly cooked to my desired level I add noodles, these ones from ALDI are cheap and easy and they've started doing wholegrain which are even tastier.

Then once the noodles have warmed through I add the tofu carefully and usually add a little more soy sauce. Et voila!

P.S. For my loyal readers, I'm working on making the comment box work - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Ipaddling

I've definately not got the hang of this yet, I don't like having my spelling corrected when I'm trying to create a cringy pun!

This weekend I've been back in the homeland, living the village life and watching Dr Who.
I did manage to do a little cooking, nothing too strenuous, just trying to make the most of what I've found in the fridge and settled on a rustic mushroom soup.

I used some tiny homegrown onions (4), a clove of garlic, three big handfuls of mushrooms, veg stock and soy milk.

Sauté the onion and garlic until translucent, roughly chop the mushrooms and add to the mix. Leave until well cooked and squishy. Add 1/2 pint stock and simmer for a couple 'o' mins. Then add 1/4 pint soy milk, simmer for another 5 mins and blend. This was a thick soup so if you prefer a thinner soup add more stock. You could also substitute a different milk provided the flavours will make friends with each other.

I made some croutons to accompany the soup, just cubed some old bread, tossed in oil and stuck them in the oven for ten mins, turning once halfway through - really simple - Dad loved them though!

New Animal Testing Ban

So it's taken me a while but of course I need to mention the New EU ban on animal testing which came into effect on March 11th:
'As of today, cosmetics tested on animals cannot be marketed any more in the EU'
This is obviously WONDERFUL news which I think we need a thirty second dance party for!

I've got to admit I my lack of knowledge surrounding law etc made me sceptical but after speaking to someone in The Body Shop today I believe:
-All new cosmetics sold in the EU cannot be tested on animals
-Old products that have been tested on animals can still be sold
-We won't be able to tell specifically if a product was tested before or after the EU ban.

I always avoid companies that test on animals for fear of encouraging them that this is a good way to act. Now that they legally cannot test on animals I am considering abandoning my boycott, even products that have been tested in the past as this will likely have no impact on the future. I'll always pick my favourite ethical brands over others of course - there are other issues other than testing, ingredients, workers rights and environmental impact - but in a selfish way I'm glad that I won't have so much to avoid when buying something new.

Definitely great news - I only hope that when the next big achievement for animal rights comes, I will have been part of the effort to deliver it.

5-a-day Chili

Just a quickie this week, been flat hunting and French learning (and ipad playing) this weekend but still found time to make this, a great easy healthy meal which freezes really well.

Ingredients to make 4 portions:
1 Onion
1 Clove of garlic
1 Pepper (I used half a green and half a yellow)
1/2 Chili pepper -  I'm quite a wimp but mine was super mild, use more or less depending on your spice threshold.
5ish Mushrooms - any variety
1 Tin kidney beans
1 Tin baked beans
1 Tin chopped tomatoes
Chili powder
Olive oil

1. Chop onion and mince garlic, fry in 1tbsp olive oil with the lid on until translucent.
2.Chop pepper into small slices, chop mushroom into 8ths, chop chili finely - add all to pan.
3. Fry for approx 5 mins until mushroom is cooked. Add kidney beans and baked beans and simmer for 5 more mins.
4. Add chopped tomatoes and after 5 mins add 2 tsp chili powder.

 5. Leave for another 5 mins and taste for spiciness, add more chili powder if required. Leave to simmer for another ten minutes and you're done, pretty quick ey?

Served with sweet potato chips

 If you fancy making these sweet potato chips, (they're nutritious chips, who wouldn't!) Just peel sweet potatoes, cut into desired shape, boil till just soft, toss in olive oil and roast in oven until they reach your desired crispiness (12 mins pour moi).

And here's a little something cute:

A beautiful spring posy
from my mummy