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

Keep on keeping on

I lost a pound this week, so that's 1st 5lbs in total! Hopefully it'll be over 1 and a half stone ready for my Goddaughter's baptism at the beginning of October.

Tried a few good new foods this week. After our work night out I discovered this find at Liverpool Street Station  - Spinach and Potato Wrap with houmous from http://www.mediterraneanfoods.uk.com only 205 calories for the pack, great after the night out!



I also tried a couple of New Covent Garden Soups, its a bit annoying having to trawl through the ingredients and allergies to make sure it was vegan. One was Butternut Squash and Black Turtle Bean, 82 calories per half carton and the other was Jammin Jamaica - it was sweet potato and chilli with coconut milk, it was very tasty and 162 calories per half carton. I tried to find pictures on their website but couldn't find anything - so hopefully these aren't just a seasonal thing and will be in the range permanently!

I made some Sainsburys love veg Moroccan Style Burgers in pitta with chilli jelly and spinach with Mediterranean couscous with extra veggies. This was a very large meal, but I'm off to Zumba tonight so will easily work it off. My sister-in-law has been ill so we haven't been for 3 weeks, so hopefully it won't be too hard!

  


Until next time Veg heads!

Vgirl Xx