February Vegan food swap and Birthday treats!

Sorry it's been a while, can't believe I haven't blogged for the whole of February! I have had a rather busy month.

On 15th February it was my Goddaughter's 1st birthday and I was very happy that the local soft play centre offered soya milk so I was able to have a Mocha! They also had vegetarian meals for kids and adults although these contained Quorn so not vegan freindly, but a lot better then the usual offerings at these places.

I also spent an afternoon at my childhood friend's house in Brighton. Both her and her fiancé are vegan and we had a lovely roast consisting of sausages, roast potatoes, mustard glazed carrots and parsnips, garlic mushrooms, purple sprouting broccoli, rice & peas and vegan yorkshire puddings. It's a shame I forgot to take a photo!

When I arrived home from Brighton my Vegan foodswap parcel had arrived from Julie

 

I received seaweed rice crackers which were very tasty, a golden coconut dark chocolate bar (bountyish) this was lovely and I gobbled it down soon after opening the box. I also had apricot filled biscuits which were lovely with a cup of coffee. The dark chocolate contains raspberry pieces which I didn't realise at first as it didn't say on the packet (although there is a mssive raspberry on the front!) this made a nice change. The best part of the box was the homemade vegan fudge.

 

This was so nice it didn't take me long to finish off the whole bag, I did manage to share a couple of pieces with my Mum though! I asked Julie for the recipe so I can have a go at making this myself. I would say this was the best fudge (vegan or otherwise) I have ever tasted!

It was also my birthday in February. I received a lovely owl bag from my Dad from Vegan Cross, I haven't taken a pic yet but here is the item on their website http://www.vegancross.com/product_p/lftb0391.htm I also took a trip up there myself to spend some of my birthday money, I bought some soya spray cream, dark bubbly chocolate (aero-esque), cappuccino white chocolate, vegan oreos, hazelnut chocolate spread and vegan doner meat. I had the doner meat for dinner one night last week with crudite, houmous and a ciabatta roll, it was delish!

For my birthday meal my boyf took me to Manna in Primrose Hill http://www.mannav.com/
My phone had no battery so sorry for the lack of pics! For starter I had a cannellini bean slider with smoky paprika potato wedges and the boyf had mushroom and pepper quesadilla which he really enjoyed, I think this was the first time he had had vegan cheese or sour cream. For main I had the Caribbean platter which consisted of a stew, aromatic rice, a jerk tofu, roasted onion and plaintain kebab served with a pineapple, ackee and courgette salsa. The boyf had mushroom and asparagus risotto strudel served with a truffled jus, roasted tomatoes and seasoned greens. At this point I was starting to feel full but there was no way I was skipping dessert! We both went for the sticky toffee pudding with brandied pecan vice cream and caramel sauce and it was truely divine!

I have had a month off healthy eating owing to all the birthday celebrations, so I haven't weighed myself but will be back on it this month!

I have quite a vegan month coming up with Vegfest Brighton http://brighton.vegfest.co.uk/ and I am going on a forage in Essex at the end of the month.

Until next time vegheads!

Vgirl Xx



Itadaki Zen - Vegan Japenese in King's Cross

Now the weather has thawed out a bit (although the wind is blustering hard) vegetarian colleague and I decided to head North from the City to try out some quality Japanese cuisine.

Itadaki Zen is not far from King's Cross station http://www.itadakizen.com/ and their website says
"Itadaki means ‘to take the food life’; Zen means ‘to fix, to mend’. The primary end of the Itadaki-zen cuisine is not merely an agreeable taste, but its healing qualities."

We went for the Kansei-han Tanno set at £17.00 and the Kimpab Chapche set £ 15.00 and shared it all

The Kansei-han Tanno set consisted of Kansei-han -Blended barley, millet, yellow split, peas, lentils, golden linseed, bulgar wheat, konbu seaweed, umisiba seaweed, mung beans, rice, mochi rice and black rice Ryokusaimaki - Fresh roll, cabbage leaf lightly boiled sheet enfolding Okara and vegetable filling
Seasonal vegetables with marinated peanut dressing, Marinated peanuts, Tofu with Yangyeom sauce & 3 vegetable dishes with delicate dressing or special salt seasoning and miso soup

The Kimpab Chapche set consisted of Chapche - Fried Noodles made of sweet potato starch cooked with vegetables, Kikurage (Mushrooms) and Shiitake mushrooms, Kimpab, 2 deep-fried spring rolls and Miso soup

Everything was delicately flavoured and went well together. It was nice to be able to order these set menus rather than selecting a number of dishes from a long menu. There were a number of other set menus ranging for about £12 - £28 so everyone would find something within their budget. For dessert I had a light, soft and sugar free cake, made with Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), jujube and chestnusts; topped with tofu and vanilla cream which was served warm. It was delicious!

The staff were very friendly especially as we were very late for our reserved booking! The restaurant was quite small but there were quite a few customers for a Tuesday evening. I would definitely recommend and will be sure to return when I am in the area.

In the building I work in there is a parade of shops at the bottom. A new food place has opened up just yesterday in one of the previously vacant unit. They were giving away free lunches so unsurprisingly the queue went around the block! www.abokado.com they are a healthy food enterprise and have a few vegan options. They do soups, salads, wraps, sushi and shwraps which are like a big sushi rolls along with healthy snacks and treats. I had their udon and dumpling soup today and was quite impressed. All their vegan options are clearly marked and the staff were very helpful.

On the BBC site today they had an article about taking photos of food http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21235195 definitely one for me! I haven't ever seen somebody else take photos of food in a restaurant but I often see the results online so we are a growing breed! I'll use these tips and see if my food photography improves in future posts!

On Saturday I'm going to Brixton so will share all the delights I sample there in my next post

Until then Vegheads!

Vgirl Xx

Blue Monday Motivation?

Yesterday was Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the new year. The weather's still bad, bills have started to come in after Christmas and most people are starting to give up on their resolutions.

At work if we meet or exceed our monthly targets the company buys us breakfast one day the following month. As we exceeded our annual 2012 target the management declared yesterday "summer in the city" we were bought breakfast and a buffet lunch and we had to dress up in summery clothes. In our team the girls were in summer dresses and the boys in shorts and even a couple of the guys had come dressed for cricket! We had inflatable parrots, pictures of palm trees up and even a lilo! Our efforts didn't go unrewarded and we won best dressed team. We will get a 2 hour brunch on the company sometime soon. I managed to join in foodwise too! I had beans on toast for breakfast and at the buffet they had vegan falafel wraps, crudite and houmous and some crisps.

When I weighed myself yesterday I had lost 2lbs! This is the first time since about November. So only 12lbs to target! Got a couple of weeks til I do my measurements so hopefully they will have improved too!

I also sold some clothes on eBay so this is helping towards my saving mission for the year. I have been trying to run down my cupboard and make as many meals from staples as I can. Lots of bean soups, breads and dips. This should also help towards the weight loss mission.

I had been very unmotivated with my studying. I started an assignment got stuck on the second question and gave up. I managed to write a few pages of notes on a chapter but haven't picked it up since. I spoke to my study buddy yesterday and we're meeting on weds so last night I managed to get my re-write done! Two of my colleagues are sitting the other unit I'm sitting in April so I think that will help with motivation. I have 7 assignments that need to be completed by 22nd March and I need to write up notes on 6 chapters. I have to book my exams by 27th Feb so hopefully I will be in much better place by then!

How are you getting on with your missions/goals for 2013? Have you started to waver or are you still going strong?

Let me know Vegheads

Until next time

Vgirl Xx

Jan 2013 Vegan Food Swap

This month I received my parcel from Christine, in my special requests I asked for no chocolate as I have loads left over from Christmas, and said I was interested in trying halva, coincidentally Christine had just returned from Turkey and had brought some home with her. She put together a nuts and seeds themed parcel and it was great!

Christine made me some almond cookies which tasted great and I've never received something homemade in my swap before. The halva contained pistachios, I tried a bit out of the packet which was great and then I looked online to see how it was supposed to be eaten, most people said just on its own so I grabbed my spoon and dived right in!
I had some instant porridge with brown sugar, nuts and dried fruit. Really easy, just add boiling water. Great for busy mornings.
Also in my parcel was some trail mix, I don't think this had a proper name in the UK just fruit and nuts. I think I'm gonna add this to my porridge otherwise I'll just munch through the packet in one sitting.
Last but not least was the smoked almonds, I love smokey flavours and this make a nice change to just salted nuts.
I sent my box to Zoe and she requested a healthy theme. She received miso noodles, chai green tea, mango yoyo's, berry nakd bar, mints, berry goji energy brownie, seed/fruit mix and vegan pesto.

I made some bread today, I just use the dough from a pizza recipe, with some houmous and edamame dip. All from cupboard/freezer store. Hopefully will do me a few lunches this week.

Vegan drinks this week organised by www.fatgayvegan.com at Tibits, can't believe its come around so quickly!

Hope you have a great healthy week

Until next time Vegheads

Vgirl Xx

Vegetarians Paradise Bhel Poori

Last night on my vegetarian colleague and my monthly veggie meal out tried this vegetarian Indian restaurant in Bloomsbury.
It was a nice sized room and there were a few diners there when we arrived around 6.
They serve a lunchtime and evening buffet both reasonably priced and this is what my colleague opted for. There was a variety of curries with rice and breads and mixed starters like onion bhajis, samosas and pakoras.
I went a la carte and had a potato cake on a bed of chickpeas to start followed by a masala dosa, a pancake made of lentil flour filled with a spiced mashed potato, I also had some chana masala (chickpea curry) the waiter did point out I'd ordered a lot of chickpeas but I was aware of this and hey I love them!
It was all very good food. I think the dosa could have been half the size as it was enormous and just been filled with the potato it was a bit samey, the coconut chutney that came with it was really nice and quite sweet.
We were well attended to and not rushed at all, I think we were there over two hours chatting! I had masala tea and my friend had a coffee as we were too full for dessert.
Prices were very reasonable and our total bill came to £22 incl soft drinks.
This is a great place for veggies and meat eaters alike. Great tasting reasonably priced food with service to match!

Next month we're checking out the Japanese restaurant in Kings Cross

Til next time Veg heads

Vgirl Xx

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant Islington

I've been a bit slack since Christmas, but got lots of vegan related things going on so will be posting more. Last night I went to see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty at Sadler's Well in Islington with my Mum. It was AMAZING! A truely modern interpretation set from 1890 to 2011. (A real 100 years sleep!)

Beforehand we went for a meal at The Gate. I have been to their branch in Hammersmith twice, always good when seeing a show at the Apollo. We booked as I know they get busy and last night was no exception. They had a pre-theatre menu for £15 for 2 courses. This was what my mum went for, there were 2 choices for each course (1 vegan option each) but unfortunately the soup of the day was Mexican bean and the main was tacos, as much as I love beans I didn't want a double helping! My Mum is omni but regularly enjoys vegetarian food and looks up new recipes online for when I go to hers for dinner.

She had the Mexican soup and Butternut, Sage and Stilton Risotto. 

I had carciofini -baby artichokes stuffed with a mushroom duxelles with a lentil salad and aioli. It was heaven! When I get a free afternoon I may try stuffing and deep frying artichokes and this is something you will want to try again! And I love artichokes just eaten straight from the jar!

For main I had Roasted Vegetable and Chickpea Tagline with pomegranate tabbuleh. The tagline was quite sweet with dates and really rich, took me straight back to Marrakech! The tabbuleh was refreshing with parsley and the pomegranate and it complimented the tagine nicely.

The only disappointment was the dessert menu, there were no specially vegan dishes, only ones that could be veganised, and those just seemed a bit standard. I'm not usually able to eat dessert in a regular restaurant so veggie places normally go all out. Well it saved on the calories at least!

I'm on my monthly meal with my vegetarian colleague tonight to Vegetarian's Paradise Bhel Poori House. So will let you know how that goes!

Til next time vegheads

Vgirl Xx

Missions for 2013

I don't really do resolutions but I'm going to set out my goals for the coming year.

Lose another stone in time for my holiday to Jamaica in May, I've managed 2 stone so far and once I achieve another that will be 3 in a year. I've lost 3 stone a few times in my life (although I'm only 6lbs off my lowest adult weight) so the real mission will be to keep it off.

Pass four modules, I'm planning on taking two in April and two in October. If I achieve this I will only be two modules away from being an associate of my chartered institute.

Save enough money to take my boyf to Russia for his graduation trip and do the following works on the flat:
Replaster the hallway
Replace the floor in the living room
Redecorate the bedroom
Replace the bathroom suite

Apart from that I want to continue with my journey of vegan awesomeness, actually make lots of dishes from my library of cookery books and not buy anymore until I have.

Following on from my last post here are some examples of what I did with the seitan I made including my vegetarian colleague's teriyaki marinated seitan

I hope everyone has a happy Christmas and a wonderful new year!

See you in 2013 vegheads!

Vgirl Xx

Praise Seitan!

Fed up of your usual processed faux meat? Then making your own seitan may be for you! Seitan or Wheat Gluten is a protein source that has been made for centuries in the far east originally for Buddhist monks who didn't eat meat. Traditionally you would wash the starch from flour (a process which takes a couple of days) and use the remaining gluten to make your seitan. For those of us with less time you can buy vital wheat gluten (I got mine online) which has already had the starch removed. 

The recipe I've used is by Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World Fame, from Vegan with a Vengeance

Ingredients:

225g vital wheat gluten flour

4 tbsps nutritional yeast

2 tbsps plain flour

250ml cold water or vegetable stock

125ml soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Stock

3 litres water or vegetable stock 

120ml soy sauce

Mix together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast and plain flour in one bowl and the remaining seitan ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine 

Knead the dough for 5 mins until spongy and elastic 

While the dough rests put the cold ingredients for the stock into a pan. Roll the dough into a log shape 10in (25cm) long. 

Cut into 6 equal (ish) sized pieces

Place into the stock and bring to the boil, lower the temperature and allow to simmer for an hour.

Once it is cooked allow to cool completely to make a firmer texture

Slice the seitan however you want, I usually do half cutlets and half cubes for different uses. You can now prepare the seitan however you want, fry, grill, bake, batter, the choice is yours!

The seitan will last for 5 days and should always be stored in stock in the fridge.

I baked my first cutlets and smothered in Worcester Sauce Glaze from Marks and Spencer

So it really is that easy! You can add herbs and spices into your seitan when you make it for different flavours. There are a multitude of recipes online and in bookshops on how to use seitan in your cooking. I hope you enjoy making seitan and leave the processed chemical-filled faux meats in the supermarket.

Until next time Vegheads

Vgirl Xx

December Vegan Swap and Mission complete confirmed!

I got my exam results on Friday, which confirmed I had passed my Insurance Law exam and in doing so I had completed my Diploma in Insurance! This also means my lovely company will give me a £600 in my January pay packet, just what I need to clear my Xmas bills!

Also Friday was my team do. We went to Roadhouse in Covent Garden and had a great time. I looked at the menu in advance so knew I had to have two lunches as there wasn't any vegan friendly food. In the evening I had some chips and even those I had to ask for without cheese! (who doesn't have normal chips on their menu?!)

When I got in on Friday I was delighted to find my Vegan Food Swap box had arrived. http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/uk-vegan-food-swap/ from Laura http://icahlua.blogspot.co.uk/ 

I quickly tried the Belgian dark chocolate with hazelnuts from Waitrose, which was delightful, basically a dark choc version of a Cadbury's Whole Nut which I used to gobble down by the truck load with my house mates at university. I also quickly chomped my way through the dairy free chocolate covered raisins. I'm not a great lover of milk chocolate as I find it too sweet but these were lovely as I don't think I've had choc covered raisins like this since going vegan. I loved my hickory smoked primal strip, last month I had the BBQ one in my vegan box. These are a great snack and I think I'll have to work my way through the rest of the range. I fell in love with chipotle sauce at www.fatgayvegan.com 's Dia de los Muertos fiesta in November and have been meaning to buy some ever since so I was excited to see a chipotle tabasco in my parcel, I tried it on my McCain Smiles and think it won't last in my cupboard long! The hot and sour Ainsley Harriot soups are coming  straight to work with me as I get a mid afternoon slump that usually sends me down to Starbucks for a soya latte (with sugar free hazelnut syrup!) So this will save me time, calories and money! I have had harissa in shop bought sandwiches and at restaurants, but I have never cooked with it at home so I'm looking forward to trying this out and adding it to a few dishes. The pack recommends mixing it with mayo to make a dip and I have an unopened bottle of vegan mayo so I'm going to give this a go. The product I'm most looking forward to try is the Worcestershire Sauce Glaze from Marks & Spencer. I have been meaning to make some seitan from scratch (with vital gluten flour, I don't know anyone with the time to separate the gluten from normal flour!) and this has given me the motivation to do it so I can slather this glaze on. Results to be shown in my next post.

I sent my box (photo in last post) to my swapee Shadé on Monday so hopefully she receives it soon. I hope everyone enjoys their treats this month and it inspires more people to get involved!

Until next time Vegheads!

Vgirl Xx

Advent la la la la la!

I went out with my vegetarian colleague just after pay day to Loving Hut Archway and we were well and truly stuffed! I gobbled down everything so fast I only remembered to take a photo of the starter! We had the mixed hor d'ourves which consisted of samosas, spring rolls, crispy seaweed, faux prawn toast, faux spare ribs and faux battered chicken balls with sweet and sour sauce.

We then had faux duck and pancakes, followed by tofu with crispy noodles and vegetables and a hot pot made up of faux lamb, chicken prawns and veg. This was served with faux chicken fried rice.

We were too full to have any dessert but did manage some pu erh tea which is suppose to have lots of health benefits including aiding weight loss! On that note an update on one of my missions, I have not lost any more weight in the last month but I have lost 1.5 inches off my hips and 0.5 inch off my waist so all going well. 

I volunteered on the www.vegansociety.com stall at the Animal Aid Christmas without Cruelty fayre at Kensington Town Hall. We saw lots of people and gave out lots of information and advice, and managed to sell a few books and other bits to help raise funds for the society. I didn't buy anything but I did try a few samples of foods and had a lovely burrito from Shambhu's (www.shambhus.co.uk) 

I attended my cousin's wedding on Friday 7th December at http://www.theoldrectoryvenue.com/ I was served melon with a mango sauce for starters, a Christmas dinner with ratatouille to replace the turkey and fruit salad for dessert. The only disappointment was that there was no vegan gravy.

I sent off my vegan food parcel this lunch time so it got to my swapper in plenty of time. http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/uk-vegan-food-swap/ 

I can't wait for my Christmas parcel and will feature it in my next post.

I got our Advent Calendars from www.montezumas.co.uk in their shop in Spitalfields market. It's a right proper chunk of dark chocolate and I usually wait until the evening as its a bit much first thing!

I've also been enjoying some other Montezuma chocolate, their Lordy Lord (with cacao nibs) and Chilli. I've also had mini moos from Moo Free, the standard dairy free milk and dairy free milk with honeycomb, all delicious although I do prefer dark chocolate. 

Anyway that's me done for today, hope all your preparations are going well!

Until next time Veg Heads!

Vgirl Xx

fudgy chocolate brownies

Just posting this for someone who was after a brownie recipe. This was featured in Stylist magazine and was written by Gwenyth Paltrow
ingredients
200g spelt flour
100g cocoa powder
1.5tbsp baking powder
pinch salt
125ml vegetable oil
250ml maple syrup
125ml agave nectar
125ml brewed coffee
125ml soya milk
1tbsp vanilla extract
175g choc chips

method
pre heat oven to 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F or gas 4
grease baking dish with vegetable oil
sift flour baking powder and salt together
in a separate bowl whisk together the oil, syrups, coffee, soya milk and vanilla
mix wet ingredients into dry
pour half mixture into a dish and sprinkle half the choc chips on
then add the other half of mixture and sprinkle remaining choc chips on top
bake for 30 mins
cool cut into squares and serve
Voila!

Lots of cooking!

I have tried to cook lots of dishes recently. I really love cooking in Autumn and thought I'd share some of my dishes.

Watercress soup with homemade flatbreads

 Roasted tomato, pepper and lentil soup with extras for vegetarian colleague!

Pesto Pinwheels, easiest snack ever, roll of jus-rol puff pesto jar of Meridian pesto slather it on roll it up cut and bake for 20 mins at 180 degrees!

Homemade pumpkin ravioli (a first!) in tomato, chilli and olive sauce

Sausage hot pot, easy dinner on a school night

Even omni boyf has been getting on the act and made me this lovely roast! next is to work out vegan yorkshire puddings!

The other lovely foodie thing this week was receiving my vegan food swap box from Jojo in Brighton (http://www.veganinbrighton.blogspot.co.uk/) http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/uk-vegan-food-swap/ 

I had only tried two of these 10! (count them!) treats before, the pop chips and the fruit yoyos, which were as lovely as remembered. The apple crisps were really tasty and sweet and a lovely mid-morning snack at only 66 calories. The trek bar was a great breakfast replacement and reminded me of a giant nakd bar. The clearspring seeds with cranberries and soya were different from your normal seed mix and again a great office drawer snack. The primal texas bbq soya jerky was a great savoury snack, its not as chewy as its meaty counterpart but I loved the smoky taste and its a flavour I really crave. The chocolate covered raisins were a delight and the bitter chocolate and raw cacao powder is a nice contrast to the sweet raisin. I only need a couple of these to sate any sugar craving so I think they'll keep me going for a while! The strawberry pepper dark chocolate had a nice flavour but I couldn't really taste the chocolate. The two treats I have yet to try are the raspberry brownie and chocolate, raspberry bar, but I'm sure they will be just as tasty as the rest of the box. Can't wait for next month's Christmas box!

Hope you've enjoyed the pics

See you next time Vegheads

V Girl Xx

a very vegan week

I made a stew with dumplings last week and I'm definitely going to make this more often. So warming on a cold winter's night.

As Thursday was World Vegan Day I baked some cakes for work and gave out a few leaflets.

I made Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Peanut Squares, Brownies and a Raw Chocolate Ganache that all went down really well. 

On Thursday evening I went out with my vegetarian friend to Amico Bio www.ammicobio.co.uk we had a groupon voucher which entitled us to 3 courses each and espresso for £12 each. We both had the polenta with mushrooms to start, then I had roasted seitan with roasted parsnips, carrots and potatoes while my friend had spaghetti with white beans and courgettes. The portions were really small, I only had half a roast potato! For dessert I have cinnamon and sharonfruit ice crean and my friend had a rum baba. I was surprised there weren't more vegan options for dessert as usually vegetarian restaurants are quite good for them. We both felt we could have eaten double, which is definitely rare for me when I've had a three course meal. On the bus home someone got on with a bag of chips and I had to contain myself not to reach over and nick a handful! It was an ok meal seeing as we only paid £12 but I wouldn't pay full price. 

On Friday I attended Fat Gay Vegan's (www.fatgayvegan.com) Dia de los muertos (day of the dead) Mexican Fiesta. We were served up 7 courses of deliciousness, starting with fried potatoes with sauces. Followed a bean soup and a dish of corn cooked with chilli and lime smothered in vegan mayonnaise. After that we had jackfruit taquitos a re-working of the pulled pork version and for dessert we had churros with chilli hot chocolate all accompanied with tequila. It all tasted great and I met some lovely people. 

Yesterday I met up with some people in Brixton to go to the Vegan Tart stall. www.thevegantart.co.uk I had the savoury mushroom and spinach tart and bought the spiced cake to take home. I also had some Ethiopian food consisting of lentils, okra and vegetables in bread. I had a look in at www.mscupcake.co.uk I've never been to the shop but I've tried their cakes at different events. I didn't buy anything as I already had the tarts. After that we headed to the pub to defrost after being outside for a good long while and I again got to chat to some lovely new people. 

Today my Dad is coming over for dinner, the boyf was supposed to be cooking a pork joint for the pair of them but as he was really ill last night he is still in bed so think I'm going to whip up a shepherdess pie as the meaty version is one of my Dad's favourite (and signature) dishes. 

Until next time Veg Heads!

Vgirl Xx

One Mission Complete (hopefully!)

I sat my insurance law exam on Tuesday. It went quite well I think, I get my results in December so fingers crossed! If I pass I will have my Diploma in Insurance and my company will give me a £600 bonus! Need to sign up for my next module ready for the next exam season in April.

I also received my first vegan food swap box on Monday. This is the swap scheme run by www.tohappyvegans.co.uk I received my box from Sarah at www.dadavegan.blogspot.co.uk

I had the Hazelnut Nougat & Dark Chocolate Bar on the way to my exam (I needed the energy!) it was really nice, like a nutty mars bar. I do find vegan nougat bars a bit heavier than conventional bars but they are usual smaller so its not an issue. I have tried the moo free honeycomb bars before and enjoyed them. The dark chocolate cover rice cake thins were great, a lot thinner then a regular rice cake but hit the spot and only 55 cals each! I really like Panda raspberry liquorice and have never seen this cherry version so I was really excited! (Cherry is one of my favourite flavours) These again hit the spot in a small volume (I am a vegan dieter after all!) and contain cherry juice so its a natural flavour. I haven't tried the soya meat yet although I am interested in trying it, hope I don't love it too much as Sarah found this on her travels in Sri Lanka! The nakd bar is rhubarb and custard flavour, I haven't tried this yet but I have loved the other flavours I have tried so I'm sure this will be equally tasty.

 Another first this week was the London Vegan Meetup drinks, a monthly event run by www.fatgayvegan.com at http://www.tibits.co.uk/e/ I met a lot of new interesting people and some I had spoken to previously. The food was lovely and I tried a vegan cider called Wyld Wood.

I have a very vegan time coming up. I am baking some treats to celebrate World Vegan Day on 1st November and going to Amico Bio with a friend. I have Fat Gay Vegan's Mexican Fiesta for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and then I am going to Brixton market and the Vegan Tart stall http://www.thevegantart.co.uk/

Lastly I want to mention my best friend's husband who has come further on his own food journey this week by learning the difference between an apple pie and an apple crumble. As crumble is one of his wife's favourite desserts I am surprised how this has escaped his knowledge. But yay for more food discovery!

Until next time Veg Heads!

Vgirl Xx

AUTUMN!

I can't believe tomorrow is October 1st! Where has the time gone? Although I do love Autumn, partly because it was around this time of year I met the boyf, yay 6 year anniversary soon! But generally I just love autumnal food and getting home when its cold and windy outside and having something scrummy to eat or drink.

Progress report - I did my measurements yesterday and had only lot half an inch off my waist and nothing off my hips although I have consistently been losing weight so I am not too disheartened. My exam is two weeks on Tuesday, I'm pretty confident but will still be revising lots, I have my cue cards in my handbag for my commute! I even had a question on the quiz machine in the pub today that related to my studies!

On Thursday one of my vegetarian friends and I went to SAF in Kensington http://www.safrestaurant.co.uk/ as we had a voucher. I've been wanting to go for a while but it is a bit pricey so was saving for a special occasion, but with a voucher it was way more budget friendly!

To start I had Pesto au Poivre - Basil pesto between layers of cashew cheese with a dehydrated pink peppercorn crust, served with rocket salad, raw flaxseed crackers and drizzled with balsamic glaze.
I really enjoyed it, but felt there could have been a bit more cashew cheese compared to the amount of crackers you got. I wouldn't describe it as "cheese" it tasted more like a paté to me but had a real depth of flavour.

My friend has the Dolmades with Tzatzyki - Vine leaves filled with cauliflower rice, pine nuts, cumin, lemon juice and dill served with a vegan yoghurt and cucumber dip. These weren't your run-of-the-mill dolmades, they were very falvourful and I was really impressed.

For mains I had Slow Roasted Asparagus Farinata - Slow roasted asparagus tips in a chickpea farinata crepe served with lemon tarragon aioli and house salad. Again I thought this was delicious, the crepe was a lovely consistency - not too thick and the vegetables inside really shone. The aioli was a nice addition and I really loved the dressing on the salad.

My friend has the Saf Pad Thai - Julienne strips of carrot, courgette and mange tout with sprouted lentils, mung beans, enoki mushrooms and spicy cashews, tossed in chipotle almond sauce topped with fresh coriander, red chilies and nori. My friend said this wasn't what she was expecting, but she didn't know what she was expecting. The waitress told us this is one of their most popular dishes. The sauce was chipotle rather than a traditional pad thai sauce which I thought was a bit of a shame as it didn't resemble much of what you would associate with a pad thai you may have experienced before. 

What we had would have come to £43.30 including two soft drinks but as we had our voucher it was only £24. We had to add on desserts as well especially vegans are rarely able to have dessert in a regular restaurant. 

I had White Chocolate & Jasmine Tart - White chocolate and jasmine cream with cacao nib crust, caramelized apricot sauce and espresso syrup. This was a really nice cheesecake style tart. It had a rich flavour but didn't have the cloyiness you get with dairy. After my meal I felt full but not heavy, and definitely not guilty! I went over my calorie allocation for the day but not by much and I had less calories on other days to compensate. 

My friend had Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake - Rich and creamy  chocolate ganache, with crushed hazelnuts on a cashew, hazelnut and agave crust, served with orange coulis. I didn't try any of this myself, but how can you go wrong with chocolate cake?! The desserts were £5.50 each

Saf is situated above the Wholefoods Market on Kensington High Street with other restaurants. So after we had finished eating we decided to take a look around. We were pretty impressed at the sheer size and extent or the departments on offer. Lucky it was the day before payday else I could have ended up spending the mortgage money in there! I only spent £12. I bought a Coconut and Raspberry cupcake made by The Cat and The Cream which I ate the next day. It was delightful, not too heavy and not too much frosting as I find some cupcakes go a bit a mental and the frosting is double the height of the cake. I also bought a Luna White Chocolate and Macadamia nut bar. This was like a cereal bar with a white chocolate base and a drizzle on top. I found the white chocolate very sweet and I couldn't actually taste much in it. But overall it was enjoyable and I would definitely have it again. Lastly I bought two harlequin squash. I had one for dinner last night stuffed with curried lentils, onions, mushrooms and spinach. I love squash in all its forms and its one of my favourite things about autumn. 

I have signed up to take part in the Vegan Food Swap run by To Happy Vegans http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/uk-vegan-food-swap/ and have already been looking at products I want to send in my box, I'm really looking forward to this and will let you know what I send and what I receive in my package. 

I have written a lot so really need to go and do some studying now!

Later Veg heads

Vgirl Xx

Holidays

Last week we went to Center Parcs in Elvelden Forest, Suffolk. We stayed in the hotel so had to rely on the restaurants for food. Most were fine, I only had to make adjustments a couple of times like no cheese on pizza and no sour cream with Mexican. The only awkwardness I had was when I asked for a cheeseless pizza from the takeaway service. The operator asked why I needed it to be without cheese and told me "Well it will burn". When it arrived it was fine and loaded with toppings. I don't know if this was the usual amount they put on or whether they just did it because there was no cheese on it. Either way I way very happy with it. There were lots of places offering coffee but it seemed that Starbucks was the only outlet offering soya milk. The only other disappointment was that there weren't many lunch options, it would do well just to have a café with sandwiches, jacket potatoes etc. We did get a free bottle of wine and chocolates from the hotel as apparently one morning there wasn't any hot water although we weren't affected by it. The staff also put my teddy bear Edward in a funny position which made me and the boyf laugh as he is constantly leaving him in silly positions. There was lots of wildlife about and we saw a variety of birds as well as squirrels and rabbits and even a peacock!
We came back yesterday after a dreadful train journey with lots of signalling problems and delays. Today I have treated myself to a new handbag from New Look made even better with my student discount! Although the shop assistant did eye me suspiciously as I unfortunately no longer look 19! I also got some great handbag size handcream in M&S for £1 and BUAV approved as well, along with some gorgeous tarka dhal soup which went down well for lunch.
I got into a pair of cropped white linen trousers which I bought last summer and have never been able to get into! It's measurement time next weekend so hopefully this is a good sign!

Until next time vegheads

Vgirl Xx