The Veganite

Where have you been?

2010-10-06T08:43:00.001+01:00

That's what I'm sure you are all crying at the moment. Short answer - not blogging. Slightly longer answer, between houses for months without internet, eating lots of lovely stuff and pulling sad faces that I can't blog about it. But here I am, in, wait for it... my own home... sigh! Ready to blog my bot off. So ladies and gents, weep no more, expect much, and you shall receive. That's a promise. Erm, not right now though - I'm off to work.

But before that I will be having nettle tea and a bowl of porridge, FYI.

Much love ♥

Brought to life with cosmic dust...

2010-05-20T08:14:00.000+01:00

Alright, so I don't want to jinx it, but since being vegan I haven't been ill. When I started I had the hangings on of a cold, but after that, not one cold. Which for me is incredible. I'd normally get a cold a month, and a 'generally run down' couple of days a month. Not any more!

Now, I won't lie, I've had a migraine. An absolute killer of a migraine. But I get headaches from stress as it is. And my allergies haven't gone. (Why would they? I've had eczema since I was born. I have the photos.) Nonetheless, this is the longest I have ever gone without a cold, or tonsillitis, or flu, or an ear infection or sinus pain.

I do not agree with Tommy's mother's methods of healing. Especially the 'hey, use paper and plastic then throw it away!' methodology. It's a cold, not diphtheria!

Evidently dairy is not for me. Which is something PETA agrees on- http://www.milksucks.com/

I can't say that it's down to a sudden increase of the intake of fruit and veg, because all I've done is switch milk for soya milk, Quorn for Tofu, chocolate for dark chocolate, and cut out eggs. And honey is now agave nectar. I don't eat vegan cheese (too expensive and inevitably dodgy) unless it's Parmazano, which is maybe once or twice a week. I weigh exactly the same as before as well (more's the pity!)

If only I could cut out refined sugar too (gives me headaches and aggravates the eczema) I'd be a very healthy lady! Oh and bread, cut out bread and I'd lose the pot-belly. One day, my friends, one day...

The corner-stones of childhood health.

Pizza [Advertising causes therapy]

2010-05-19T18:25:00.001+01:00

I've been craving pizza like a crazy lady lately. I even had a takeaway one from Dominos with my good friend Mr W on Saturday.

All my pizza dough attempts have been somewhat poor, so I gave in and bought a base and...

mmmm. Lazy.

It would seem however that wasn't enough to satisfy the little man shouting pizzapizzapie in my head, so I did something I've frowned at when I've read of it, grimaced when I've heard of it. How can it support the weight? Doesn't it taste weird? .... I used a tortilla as a base.

And it was ace! I made two!

Pizza goodness. Here's some SOAD for you. Ahh, barbecues in secondary school with SOAD and lager. I want lager now...

Massive Catch Up - Savoury

2010-05-18T01:27:00.000+01:00

Back, blah blah, you know the score...

And once again I begin with something non-food. Toothpaste. Non-vegan toothpaste can contain all sorts of nasties like animal glycerine, and big corporations like Aquafresh are owned by even bigger ones like (evil) GlaxoSmithKlein. So, I bought myself Kingfisher mint toothpaste. Yes it still contains SLS but I like my toothpaste foamy.

I also have a new(ish) set of vegan friendly hair care things. They smell good and do the job, I just wish the conditioner were more conditioning!

Lentil, kidney bean and oat spicy sausages with sweet potato and green veg. These freeze brilliantly, I just shape the uncooked putty substance with cling film, freeze until firm, unwrap and freeze in a tupperware tub. Means I can re-use the clingfilm and they won't get freezer-burn.

Pasta mess. I got sick of spices and just wanted the whole wheat pasta and the veg. There isn't even salt on this. Shock horror!

Cauliflower spinach mess. I can't remember making this or eating it or what it was. Ideas, anyone?

Oh my god I love kale. I'd never had it, and it was reduced to 50p in Morrisons, so I found this amazing recipe, added tofu, more spices and some seeds, and good god.

Tofu scramble! I wish I'd had the prerequisite turmeric to give it that eggy glow. Shortly after this photo was taken I drowned it in ketchup. It was good. Doesn't really taste like scrambled egg but the texture is bang-on.

Worryingly, Morrisons are selling off their health food and free-from items. Non-vegan, gluten laden cereal bars are filling their shelf space. I feel a letter coming on... Anyway, the above chutneys were dirt cheap, and I do loves me a dip selection! The dipping bowl set was a fantastic birthday gift from my sister, it's been great for bread with olive oil and balsamic too.

Massive Catch Up - Sweet

2010-05-17T20:19:00.000+01:00

Okay, too long, too long, various excuses, blah blah blah. This will be a post on sweet food. Now, down to business!

Or not. So this isn't food. And it's only half sweet, half savoury. What it is, is my quest to replace everything I run out of with vegan alternatives.

First up, None of Your Beeswax lip balm from Lush. Intended to replace my beloved Carmex, of which I've been a devotee since the days Junior Wind Band, aged eight. (Clarinet, in case you wondered.) It tastes nice, I rather like the texture, but it just isn't as good at combatting the dryness. And I miss that telltale Carmex tingle. At £4.75 a pop too it isn't exactly the most purse-friendly alternative. But Yaoh's balms resemble chapsticks, which I hate, so what is a vegan to do? Persevere I suppose in hopes my lips will adjust. Le sigh.

Oliva has been more of a success. I like clean smelling soap. In particular, I like Dove's clean smelling soap. But, Dove is evil, and contains all these ingredients. Oliva contains olive oil, water, and mineral salts. They smell no-where near the same but it feeds my clean soap smell craving and is nice for my sensitive little handies. And it's 89p at Holland & Barrett.

Okay, down to the food!

Vegan easter egg! As requested by me as my birthday was on Easter Sunday. It was eaten very quickly and was made by Celtic.

Okay so I've forgotten what went into this milkshake. Soya milk and banana, and presumably something else given it warranted a photo. Perhaps agave nectar, my recent investment and a damn good replacement for honey.

A half-eaten brownie cupcake! Amy M's hand modelling skills on display there. This recipe is fantastic, use it. Use it now. I've tried a lot of duds and dud this was not.

I made iced tea! Now this recipe needs some work, so I won't give you it until I've worked it out. I think it needed more sugar, or maybe a better quality tea-bag to get it to the Liptons quality I love so much. However this was still good, I drank it all to myself.

Next time... savoury, which will be distinctly more exciting...

Cookin' good!

2010-04-01T20:06:00.000+01:00

In direct contrast to my last post, this is all very much cooked food.

First up, mashed butter beans with roasted red onion on Biona Organic Amaranth/Quinoa Rye Bread with a little tomato and lettuce salad with balsamic.

A terrible photo of an amazing garam masala curry. Peas, green beans, broccoli, onion, mushroom, tomato. Niiice.

Potato salad. With marjoram. Good. 'Nuff said.

Quite an ugly looking stuffed mushroom. T'were good though.

Okay so this looks awful, it isn't, it's lovely! Couscous, olives, tofu, peppers, and mushrooms.

Macaroni 'cheese', made with proper macaroni pasta. I wish I could eat this every day.

Butter bean stew, with butter beans (unsurprisingly), red onion, tomato and tofu.

As featured in the butter bean photo, here is my latest investment. An aluminum water bottle. I read these articles ( http://bit.ly/16Fy7R http://bit.ly/cNHPNs), and decided it was time to change. And this bottle is so pretty I know I'll remain committed to the plastic bottle ban. The books on the left are birthday presents I received from my friend Lotty today in the post, among many other things in the box of joy. La Dolce Vegan! is immense, beautifully put together, great ideas, really inspiring.

So yeah, the raw thing didn't stick fully. Apart from for breakfast and snack-o-clock!

Raw-r!

2010-03-31T20:54:00.001+01:00

I'm now an avid follower of many a vegan blog, and I spend far too much time on vegan websites. Through these fonts of information, I've come across a lot of hype about the benefits of raw veganism. Which means not eating anything that has been heated above 46 degrees celsius, as apparently this destroys important enzymes in food and can even create harmful by-products.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sold. Yes, all these promises of eternal youth and endless energy were intriguing, but I find it difficult to feel full when eating cold food. Case in point, raw apple- not filling, barely a snack to me. Baked apple- incredible filling, practically a dessert.

But anything that can increase my energy is worth a go in my book, so...

Breakfast! Banana, raw almond milk (made by me!), blackberries and red grapes.

Lunch: Massive pickle-y salad. I love my pickled veg, though apparently it is a carcinogen. Oh well.

Some sort of snack-o-clock: Pear juice. Or juiced pear. Or something. With lime and ginger. Tasty, though in need of a better blender.

Dinner: I didn't know chili sauce could be non-raw, I've no idea whether mine was or not. The bottle was pretty though so... that makes me think it's posh which in my twisted world therefore means it's raw. Ahem. Broccoli, peas, green beans, cabbage, raw red skin peanuts. I actually really enjoyed this and would have it again. Perhaps when the weather is warmer.

Late evening annoy the neighbours snack: banana, dried dates, blackberries, raw almond milk. Yay.

I also had a nakd raw fruit bar and an apple during the day. I didn't feel particularly energised during the day, which was frustrating. on the night though I didn't feel warm and full and therefore sleepy after dinner. Though I'm inclined to think this was less to do with the sudden energy burst provided by raw food and more to do with that fact that I felt rather cold!

I will try and incorporate more raw food into my diet, mainly because if something's raw then it won't be filled with chemicals and what-not. And I enjoyed the smoothies. And it stopped me eating bread for a day, which can only be a good thing!

More raw me? Yes

Fully raw me? Not any time soon!

Lazy vegan

2010-03-11T12:40:00.001Z

I took on a bit too much at once these past few weeks, which not only resulted in potentially the worst essay I have ever submitted, but also sheer laziness when it comes to cooking. Or in fact, not cooking. This upsets me greatly, as I'm so passionate about eating well, and thinking back to what I've shoved down my neck whilst dashing around, it's shameful. So I'm going to absolve my sins, and post what I've been eating.

Image courtesy of Pure

Far too many of these have been shoved in sandwiches. They're okay, I've just wanted something filling and therefore overdid it somewhat.

Image courtesy of Natural Balance

Okay, so these raw wholefoods bars aren't bad for you, in fact one bar equals one of your five a day. Eating them at the expense of eating real fruit though, probably isn't the best decision.

Image courtesy of Provamel

These 250ml milkshake cartons have made me very full and very happy, they taste exactly like non-vegan milkshake. But in non-vegan days I didn't have milkshake often, maybe once a month. Make me busy, make these cheap, and I'll go milkshake mad apparently.

Image courtesy of Nairns

Dubbed as a healthy alternative to crisps, and containing no animal ingredients, these tasty oat bakes have been clutched in my little paw as I tramp across the city far too often of late.

Image courtesy of My Supermarket

Not an intentionally vegan product, but worthy of a mention given I've got through two jars in as many weeks...

Image courtesy of Divine

Mmmm...

Being busy is no excuse for such a lax approach to eating, and these habits must end! Starting today.

Shrove Tuesday... and some other days...

2010-02-27T11:21:00.004Z

I missed pancake day. By about a week. Eventually though, I did get around to it, and found a vegan pancake recipe. For the filling I made creamy spinach, and topped them with Parmazano- a tribute to my mum as this is her favourite way to eat pancakes!

Tastytasty!

I had no idea that flour tortillas were so easy to make, and I'm so pleased I learned to make them. They tasted way better than the pre-packed variety, and work out far cheaper.

I added herbs to the dough, I think I'm going to attempt a tomato flavour batch soon.

Incredibly messy, but check out my massive plate of whole-wheat pasta with a 'cheesy' spinach sauce, carby good.

Green.

Another messy plate coming up, pitta with homemade vegan tzatziki over lettuce, homemade houmous, and a homemade salsa-bean-mix-thing. Yay!

I love home-made salsa now, dead easy, dead good.

Finally, hows about a chilli? Not difficult or particularly exciting, but topped with an avacado-soya yoghurt mixture which was immense.

It's amazing how well avacado went with the chilli, I'd never thought of it before.

In amongst all this, I did make vegan cupcakes, but neglected to take a photo. They will be made again though!

Welcome to my kitchen

2010-02-20T15:00:00.002Z

I've had quite a few people ask what I actually eat. Other than the meals I upload, what about the in-between times? And so, I decided to take snaps of my cupboards and fridge, and let the photos do the talking!

Baking things, tins, condiments, herbs, spices...

Teas, pulses, grains, seeds, snacks...

The top shelf is mine, the one below is my flatmate's... (That worn looking Doritos salsa tub contains home-made salsa. Made by me. In my home. Couldn't be bothered with removing the label.)

Mm pickled red cabbage...

This is where I keep my fruit! And onions. Chucked other people's stuff for photographic purposes...

Ta-da! What I eat and that!

EDIT: I just found this photo to add too...

My vegan replacements for dairy products. With a backdrop of Nigella Lawson's cookbook!

Carb-a-licious

2010-02-12T22:19:00.006Z

This week started off so well, so healthy, with these delicious rice pancakes. I spread Thai green curry paste on the inside, then filled them with stir-fried veg I'd splashed with lime juice.

Not the best rolling skills, I'll have to practice.

This over-stuffed pitta of mayonnaise, lettuce, celery, carrot, gherkin, olive goodness. Gherkin and olive and mayo together is odd, I know, but so am I. The slices of cucumber have mushroom pate and linseed on them. Crunchy and fresh and dense all at once.

I'm so pleased I found Plamil mayo.

After this though, the carbs took over. Home made gnocchi with peppers and a creamy sauce. I would've had a tomato one, but I'd already been out and eaten penne Arrabiata that day!

Not the neatest gnocchi, but I added herbs to the mix, and it was ace.

And then, oh my, chocolate oat bites. Which refused to set, but nonetheless were fabulous. Sugar and spread and oats and raisins and redskin peanuts and dark chocolate and cocoa and vanilla and yay...

They were intended for post-wedding dress shopping treats with my friends, but were too gooey, so I took a few into uni today instead. And ate a lot at home.

Tonight, I finally got around to making vegan pizza, and it was lovely. BUT, I think the recipe called for too much baking powder, it had a bit of a tang. Thankfully the topping and the herbs I included in the base masked it!

Olivey!

As happy as all this foody goodness makes me, something very sad happened this evening. My oven door imploded. No idea why, I keep to the manufacturer's instructions, the oven had only been on 20 minutes, then BANG...
Nearly had a heart attack...

Sad.

RIP oven.

Here's hoping Mr Landlord will make it all better.

Cook the book, and some other stuff!

2010-02-06T21:17:00.001Z

My photography skills have been somewhat lax, mainly because these first two meals I'm posting were made after work. Meaning at 9.30pm and hunger trumps photography every time!

First up, it doesn't look exciting, but was sooo nice-

Pea, mixed country bean, and flagolet bean broth.

Okay mother, if you're reading this, try not to be too shocked by the next meal. It contains cauliflower! To all others, I am a self professed hater of cauliflower. I rely on frozen veg because even the smallest portions are too big for one Amy, and go off quickly. So, when I could only get frozen brocolli with cauliflower (boo) I bit the bullet. And it was surprisingly good when combined with green beans, peas, and onion in a Thai green curry.

Served with coriander sprinkled on top, and lime juice drizzled over. Bottled lime and lemon juice are also must haves for little cooks like myself!

Today, I had to return a beautiful bra which had a broken strap. It was in TK Maxx, and the only one, so I was very sad to have to get a refund. Therefore, I cheered myself up with a trip to Waterstones. Returned a bra, bought a book. A vegan book at that. 'Easy Vegan Cooking' by Leah Leneman. And following an incredibly easy recipe in said book, I made kidney bean burgers. Yumyumyum.

Another not-great photo, but you get the idea!

I also bought Plamil egg-free mayonnaise today, and it is damn good. It went with my burger, as well as lettuce, gherkin, Vitalite, passata sauce as a ketchup substitute (it's not vegan I realised!) and mustard. I like my condiments. I didn't have any breadbuns, so just used Nimble. Here's the inside of my messy burger-sandwich...

Messy but goody.

And here's the final meal! Sweet potato wedges, with salsa to dunk them in. And a little salad in a pot.

I wish I could eat this all over again.

The only criticism I have for the book is that there's no pictures. I love drooling over photos, so felt a little deprived when I couldn't. The range of recipes is vast though, none that I've fancied seem to contain any crazy (or expensive) ingredients, and the recipes are very clear. Some people may curl up with Cecilia Aherne tonight, I'll be with Leah Leneman!

My new friend, Flageolet!

2010-02-01T00:45:00.003Z

Only the other day, when browsing Morrisons, was it that I discovered the humble tin of Flageolet beans. Touted as "France's Favourite", I decided to part with my 50-odd-pence, and give them a bash! I have to say, the lunch I made around them was so nice, I considered making it again for dinner.

Sweet potato and swede mash:
I fried a white onion and one small carrot in a saucepan on a low heat until soft, whilst microwaving one small sweet potato. Once soft, I kept the mix in a bowl, and using the same pan, cooked 100g frozen diced swede in vegeable stock. When the swede was ready, I drained the water into a bowl for re-use in the green beans and flagolet recipe. The sweet potato was peeled and chopped, all of the above were mixed together and mashed, then set aside whilst I cooked this next bit...

Green beans and flagolet beans mixture:
I returned the stock to the pan, and added 80g frozen green beans along with 1/4 tin flagolet beans. I also added 1tbsp of the liquid from the tin. In five minutes, the beans were cooked, so I drained and mixed them.

Salt, pepper, and a bit of faffing later, this is what I got...

Tasty!

This will surprise my mum, as I normally moan about the blandness of rice, but for dinner I made this filling plate...

Yumyumyum.

Brown rice, with fried diced red onion and sliced mushrooms, mixed with olive oil, toasted pumpkin seeds, and linseed. And a nob of Vialite on top. So good.

Before rolling into bed, I have pre-made tomorrow's lunch. Sliced pickled beetroot, pickled red cabbage, grated carrot, and chopped celery in one box. Grapes, mixed dried fruit, dried apricots, and linseed in the other. And a ten calorie soup to mix with a 30p cup of hot water from the uni cafe. I love pickled things, for me this will be a tasty lunch! Though those soups are the consistency of stock, I prefer that to the gloopy ones. Bleugh. No matter what flavour (this one's 'chicken') they're all vegan too. Which says quite a lot about how much crap they contain, but never mind!

Preparation is key!

I can't wait to use the rest of the Flageolets.

P.S. In case anyone worries about the amount of frying going on, I use Fry Light "One Calorie Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray". It's easy, prevents waste, and is obviously not fatty! But you can't beat a bit of proper olive oil for dressing food. Compromise my friends.

Munchables

2010-01-30T16:16:00.002Z

I thought I'd post photos of some of the meals I've had this week. Only four, but I work through dinner, so normally make a salad sandwich before and after, which isn't very exciting!

Sweetcorn chowder. I love it! Recipe available here

A nice big lunch, veg with salsa, and a fruit mix with pumpkin seeds and soya yoghurt. Tea with soya milk on the side. Filling and lovely.

I don't have a recipe for this soup, but it was AMAZING. Broccoli, spinach, and potato, with linseed on top.

Rice noodles with grated carrot and celery, with a soy-lime dressing and yet again linseed features on top! It was so much fun mixing it all up, tasted good too.

Last night I went out with some of the old Optical Express peeps, and we ate at Blue Coyote. I got potato skins for a starter, used the bbq sauce and gave the pot of mayo to Linsey. For the main course, I went with the vegetarian pasta and asked them to skip the mozerella. Both were really tasty, eating at restaurants as a vegan doesn't seem too hard! I also had the strongest margarita in the history of time there, haha. Starter, main course, and cocktail, all came in at under £12, making me an even happier vegan lady.

(I'll have a photo of me with my cocktail once Facebook stops being stupid and lets me view them!)

Oohh, oohh, Veganite!

2010-01-26T13:54:00.000Z

This post is on my other blog (http://amykins-writefromthebeginning.blogspot.com) too, thought I'd transfer it over here. I don't know how long this blog will last, but I want to keep a record of how my newly vegan life goes. So here we are, with post #1!

" [...] The decision [to become vegan] came after nine years of vegetarianism (with some occasional bouts of pescetarianism when tuna beckoned). Around New Year though, I just didn't want any animal products what so ever. No dairy, no eggs, none of it. On top of that was an existing knowledge that dairy aggravates my eczema, and after a cheese binge I feel like death. So, on Friday 15th of January, I made the change.

Image courtesy of JustVegan

So after the pre-amble, I suppose I should outline the pitfalls, the problems. Only I really haven't had any. On the second day I ordered a Domino's Vegetarian Supreme with no cheese. After a little confusion on part of the girl taking the order, the pizza arrived, and was fine. Didn't miss the cheese. Did notice how crazily sweet their tomatoes are. And when everyone else was wolfing down their Diablo pizzas at the SU, I had tomato garlic pizza bread. Cheaper, tasted good, doesn't make for the best breath, but none of the pizzas do! Getting fed in uni has been a bit of a problem, there is not one vegan sandwich or wrap or panini. So preparing food at home is no longer just the result of lack of funds or an overstocked fridge, it's a necessity.

Obviously, though better prepared than most for veganism, I have still spent twenty years with dairy as part of my life. So I've had to opt for non-dairy alternatives. Olive spread changed to Vitalite. Not much difference, quite fatty though. Milk changed to sweetened soya for cereal and tea, unsweetened for wherever cooking calls for milk. I made a very nice white sauce the other day actually. However, 'Pure' creamy soya spread (a cream cheese substitute) is vile. Stay far, far away. I'm still reeling from the taste! Parmazano though, really good! Alpro's dairy free yoghurt is pretty good too. Oh and Morrisons do their own brand dairy free coconut biscuits, which are amazing. In fact everything I've bought has been from Morrisons. It's such a minor change overall, I don't see the need to buy out Holland & Barratt. Perhaps when I get chocolate cravings I'll have to head somewhere specialist!

Image courtesy of Zazzle

Overall, veganism has been a successful venture so far. I feel happier in myself, and though it could be down to some other factor I haven't picked up on, my eczema on my legs has improved. I haven't lost or gained any weight, and although yes I do have a cold at the moment, it's been lingering for a couple of weeks waiting to pounce anyway. For now, I'm a happy vegan lady.

Here's a list of vegan websites I've found useful-
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
http://veganmenu.blogspot.com/
http://www.veganfamily.co.uk/index.html
http://www.theppk.com/
http://twitter.com/amyeek/vegan (List of vegan Twitterers I follow) "

About Me

2010-01-01T00:00:00.001Z

Writer.

That's it in a word really, but that doesn't make for a very good About Me page now does it?

Short fiction is my passion. Getting a collection published is the dream. I battle with poetry, trying to make it work. It doesn't come as easily as prose, but I still love it. I would like to learn more about short film, there's two scripts under my belt so far, and the production side is something I want to explore also.

Currently on the cusp of graduating from English Literature and Creative Writing at Northumbria University, I need to find a way to fund a Creative Writing MA.

I review for www.bookmunch.wordpress.com
I have recently begun writing articles for www.mookychick.co.uk
I'd love to take on other similar roles, so if anyone knows of some, get in touch!

I've been involved with various volunteer projects aiming to improve literacy in both compulsory and post-compulsory education, as well as those in the arts sector.

The other blog aims to track my engagement in the arts in Newcastle upon Tyne, and serve as a reminder to myself of all the wonderful things I've been up to, where this one just tracks my vegany goodness.

I'm a friendly type, so if there are any projects or submissions you think I'd be interested in, my email address is-

amyekins@hotmail.com