Holistic Vegan

  I'm really excited to share this news with you all - I've finally made the leap and started a podcast to support all my spiritual & holistic peeps during these challenging times.  2020 has been one heck of a year for all of us, and I felt that there wasn't enough support and positive encouragement for those of us undergoing huge spiritual transformations, sensing the giant shifts and trying to hold the space for everyone else to evolve and ascend.  So the Spiritual Support crew podcast was born! Episode 1 - Holding the Vision is now available on the following platforms:  Anchor Breaker Google Podcasts   PocketCasts RadioPublic Spotify

The humble cornflour (cornstarch) has always been a staple in my kitchen, and I really don't know where I'd be without it sometimes! It's an unassuming white powder, reminiscent of talc (and yes you can use it as a natural talc - I do!) that I recommend always having in your cupboards.  It's a simple, cheap and gluten free and way to thicken sauces, stews, gravies and more.  If you're cooking a disk like a curry or a chili and it's a little bit too watery and you don't have time to reduce the sauce any further, then cornflour is here to save the day. The way to use it is incredibly simple - mix 1-2 tsp cornflour with a dash of cold water and mix together to form a thin paste that looks a bit like single cream.  It also makes your sauces a little lighter in colour and creamier, but without all the calories of actual cream! Here are three simple ways to thicken your sauces. Adding cornflour to a pan on the hob Bring your dish, sauce or  gravy to a simmer, and

 I've always loved a good chili, and as the weather is turning here in the UK and the days are getting colder, I'm finding myself fancying warm comfort foods more and more.  This is my version of the classic chili con carne, which translates from Spanish as chili with meat. I don't eat meat, I amended the name to "chili sin carne" or "chili without meat" which I think is a better name for a bean chili! This is a very easy and low cost meal that you can also make in the slow cooker in about 2.5 to 3 hours, so it's one that I use quite frequently because it's convenient and easy too. As with all my recipes, there is lots of room for you to tweak it, add ingredients you like or try new things and I would encourage you to do so. Most of my recipes are born from me basically trying stuff to see what tastes good, and the best recipes are the ones that we adjust for our personal tastes.  This dish goes very well with tortillas, boiled rice or on a jacke

I've tried a lot of oat biscuit recipes in the past, and some of them were really disappointing - I love oats in flapjack, but to make an oat biscuit I will enjoy, you really have your work cut out! These cookies are surprisingly nice, firm and not too "cakey" with a good spice mix and plump, juicy raisins. I was surprised how much I liked them, so I wanted to share this recipe with you all. I learned a few years ago that you should soak your raisins in water for 30 minutes then drain before adding to scone, cookie or flapjack recipes. It helps to stop them from burning or going too hard and getting stuck in your teeth. It really does make a difference so I recommend doing that for this recipe too.  This is a nice recipe for the end of the month when your cupboards are looking a little bare, and you've spent your budget, but you'd like something sweet to eat. You'll note I use flax egg for this recipe as I think it lends itself well to these cookies, but feel

Anyone who has ever been to my house and seen my spice cupboard will know that I'm a HUGE fan of all things Indian in the kitchen! This is my version of one of my favourite Indian breads. I've loved naan bread even since I first tasted it, and the shop bought ones are rarely very good so I decided it was time for a good quality vegan recipe to make at home. After a little research, I came up with this recipe which is always a hit.  This recipe doesn't use yeast, so it's quick to make and useful for anyone who can't tolerate yeast.  I use soya yoghurt for this recipe, but you should be able to substitute for a different plant-based yoghurt if you can't eat soya. You can actually omit this ingredient entirely, but the yoghurt makes for much fluffier and more moist breads so it's well worth adding.  The nigella seeds are the secret ingredient here that give these breads their authentic flavour, so these are well worth investing in if you don't have any. A s

These are definitely a favourite of mine, and in a year when everyone has been baking their own bread I thought this was one to share! I only use organic wheat now, as I explained in my blog Why I'm No Longer Wheat Free  and this is a recipe for wheat flour only.  If you are wheat & gluten free by necessity, you can find different flatbreads on this blog including Gram Flour Flatbreads  and Millet Flatbreads  and you can of course make traditional Corn Tortillas instead of wheat ones. I really like these, and they are quick and easy to whip up when you're a bit short of ingredients! Ideal for accompanying curries, chili, houmous and dips, these are a favourite in our household. Tortilla recipes tend to give you quite small flatbreads, not like the giant ones you may be accustomed to buying in the supermarket.  I normally use this recipe to make 6 flatbreads because I like mine on the large size, but you can make 8 smaller ones. Ingredients  9oz / 250g Plain Flour 1 tsp Baki

I've been addicted to these for brunch at the weekend ever since I went to stay with my friend Alexis when I was 14.  Her Mum (who was a loveable vegetarian hippy) made these amazing pancakes and I vowed to learn how to make them one day! When you think of pancakes, you generally think of all kinds of non-vegan ingredients like butter, dairy milk, eggs, but the good news is that you don't need any of those things to make stunning pancakes. Serve these up to guests and they'll have no idea they're vegan! This recipe works very nicely with gram flour too - it does have a slightly different flavour to wheat flour so I like to make the cinnamon or banana variation if I'm not using wheat. I personally prefer to use Orgran No Egg egg replacer for this recipe, but it will work with flax eggs or your preferred egg replacement too. Just make sure you adjust the water accordingly (see below.) Dry Ingredients 7 oz / 200g Self Raising Flour (For Gluten free you can use gram flo

Whilst this is a store cupboard staple for many of our friends across the pond, this was something that I had to research this year as I've never had it before!  Spoiler alert - it doesn't contain any actual pumpkin 😁 The ingredients were mostly the same in all the recipes I researched with the exception of one ingredient - Allspice. It seems that some people add it and some don't.  I didn't have any in my cupboard when I made my spice mix, so I omitted it and the spice mix is still delicious, so you can do without it. I've used larger quantities than many of the recipes out there, because I do a lot of home baking and I didn't see any point in only making a small batch! So here is my quick and easy recipe for Pumpkin Spice Mix for use in all your Autumn baking... Ingredients 4 tbsp Ground Cinnamon 2 tbsp Ground Ginger 1 tbsp Ground Cloves 2 tsp Ground Nutmeg 1 tbsp Allspice (optional) Method Mix all the spices together and store in a tightly sealed jar.  Can b

Pumpkin madness is still quite a new thing in the UK, and when I was a child Halloween was something that happened across the pond.   I'm relatively new to the whole pumpkins spice thing, but I have to say it's a spice mix that I find very enjoyable so I decided to make some cookies as we are streaking towards the vernal equinox and the cooler weather has arrived. Whilst the ingredients include golden syrup, this is a surprisingly easy dough to handle that doesn't stick to your hands nor does it require chilling before use. As an impatient soul, this is a bonus for me and keeps the preparation time down too. These lovely cookies also retain a little chewiness in the centre and are excellent dunkers.  If you don't have access to ready mixed pumpkin spice, it's very simple to make. I've included a Pumpkin Spice Mix recipe here  and you may be surprised to find you already have the ingredients for in your kitchen cupboards! You'll need two baking trays for this