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