Posts

Showing posts with the label vegan

Best Vegan Gravy from scratch

Image
Vegan gravy that tastes like proper gravy! With Christmas just around the corner, and the days drawing in, I thought this was a good time to share my gravy recipes with you. Especially as shopping is a bit more difficult at the moment, this is a very simple but stunningly delicious gravy recipe that you can whip up with a few cupboard essentials. No more panicking when you run out of Bisto! This recipe does use wheat flour, so if you need a gluten or wheat free option, try my Onion Gravy recipe. Although not quite instant, this is very fast to make, so I recommend not preparing this until near the end of your cooking time.  I'm something of a gravy lover, and although I'm from the South of England I do make quite a lot of it! I am quite fussy though, it needs to have a good flavour with real depth and I like it THICK! Gravy makes anything comfort food for me, and I've most recently been pouring this over some homemade root vegetable pasties. Although it might seem intimidat

Garlic & Coriander Naan Bread (Vegan)

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

Meatball Subs & Charity Shops Vlog 25th January 2020

Image
Took a little trip into town to see if I could find an adequate deodorant as I've run out of my favourite one from Lush! I'm also looking to replace my plastic storage containers with glass & metal alternatives, so the charity shops are a great place to start. I really want a big cheese bell! Subway have just brought out their Vegan Meatball Marinara AND there's a gluten free bun option - check it out!

Banana & Mango Nice Cream (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

Image
Now you won't often hear me bemoaning my diet, because to be honest I love being vegan and wouldn't change it for the world.  Something I have really missed since going vegan however is decent ice cream.  Even in today's veganuary-gripped world, the vegan options in the freezer cabinets are still woefully limited and horrifyingly expensive. Last summer I promised to buy myself an ice cream maker and have a go myself, but I never managed to muster the cash or the enthusiasm for it.  But now things have changed - I've discovered a way to make a whole array of frozen desserts without an ice cream maker and I'm hooked! Now spoiler alert - you do need some specialist equipment for this, but few vegan households are without one. Yes, you know what I'm about to say - this recipe uses a high powered blender. As a vegan who has always been on a budget, I balked at the prices of some of the branded blenders by Vitamix and others. Much as I'm sure they'

The pitfalls of Veganuary

Image
It's 1st January and along with many other New Years Resolutions that seem hard or even impossible to achieve, I'm aware that lots of people - probably more than ever before are taking on the Veganuary Challenge. Now you'd think that as a vegan I'd be all for this, and one the one hand I am. But I can also see how this challenge can bit a bit too...er challenging? When I went 100% vegan in September 2012, I'd already switched to a vegetarian diet in the January before that and quit dairy shortly afterwards. Going vegan for me took some time, and I didn't have the money or desire to throw out everything that would be considered "non-vegan" as that would have been more than I could cope with or afford. So is it wise to ask people to go a full 30 days completely vegan? Well I'd say if you've had time to prepare for it, then quite possibly, yes. All the better if your significant other is already vegan, or you have vegan friends and co

Whisky Cream Liqueur - (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

Image
*I just edited this recipe on Christmas Day because I've found the perfect proportions! No Christmas would be complete without a few glasses of your favourite tipple, and I've been missing this classic for a few years now. M&S do a very good alternative but it's hard to get and they only keep it in around December so I thought I'd have a go at making my own. Most of the recipes I've found use coconut milk as this seems to do a good job at being creamy and relatively stable, but they have a nasty tendency of hardening when chilled so I've used a cheapy Coconut Milk here which stays liquid at room temperature. It's not pure a coconut milk, but it does the trick very nicely and at 59p from Pound Stretcher it also suits my budget! This is the updated recipe that uses a proportion of Alpro Soya single cream. If you don't have any of that, you can just use 400ml of coconut milk instead. So here is my version of this classic creamy booze

Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

Image
Risotto has to be one of my favourite dinners these days - it's easy to make (especially the slow cooker method!) and can be made with leftovers in the cupboards too! This is a recipe that can be made oil free quite easily, especially if you're using a slow cooker. Serves 2-3   Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed 250g Chestnut Mushrooms 100g Asparagus tips 1 ¼ cups/220g Arborio rice 1 cup/250ml vegan white wine (plus more for drinking later) 3 ¼ cups/810ml hot vegetable stock (I use 2 stock cubes and boiling water) Method: Warm the olive oil on a medium heat in a large frying pan or non-stock wok and chop the onion, mushrooms & asparagus. Fry gently until tender and the onions are translucent and slightly yellow in colour, then add the garlic and gently fry for a couple more minutes. Reduce the heat and add the rice to the frying pan and stir until it’s completely covere

Easy Jowar Roti - White Millet (Sorghum) Flatbreads (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

Image
Since wheat has been very much off the table for me for a while now, I've been searching high and low for a good flour to use to make flatbreads for wraps and sandwiches. Much as I love gram flour (chickpea) flatbreads , which are delicious with curries, they don't have the right consistency and structural integrity required to make a sandwich wrap.  I wanted to find something that was closer to the wheat texture and taste that I've been missing but without the uncomfortable effect on my tummy. After a lot of searching, I kept coming across a mysterious flour called sorghum, but it always seemed to be mixed with other flours in bread recipes, and often with wheat - ugh! So I decided to go global, and search for traditional recipes from India that would be delicious, tried & tested and more importantly wheat free.  My Google search didn't disappoint! I soon found a whole array of recipes using Jowar Flour which I discovered was the elusive sorghum or wh

Gram Flour Flatbreads (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

Continuing my new obsession with gram flour , it was brought to my attention by a lovely person on Instagram that I haven't shared this recipe yet! I don't even have a photo, because whenever I make these they get eaten far too quickly for Instagramming. These are a satisfying and tasty flatbread that is the perfect accompaniment for curries and spicy foods. They also have a very slightly eggy flavour to them which makes them very good with tomato based curry. These cook very much like a pancake, but are quite firm and cannot be rolled up to use as a wrap. They are better torn or cut into quarters and dipped into delicious sauces or chutneys. This is another recipe that I have to credit to the amazing Ghazalla who was kind enough to teach me some of her traditional Persian and Indian recipes. It's definitely one of my favourites because they are very filling, satisfying and make the perfect contract to a hot and spicy curry. Makes 6 Ingredients 90z/255g Gram

Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Balls (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

Image
I really love chocolate peanut butter cups, but I'm trying to be a bit healthier lately so I decided to have a go at making energy balls instead. Also, I had no chocolate in the house, so it was a desperate moment! The premise is pretty simple, you start with dates and add whatever flavours you want.  I fancied chocolate and peanut butter, partly because I knew I had the ingredients to make something flavoured with those things in my kitchen cupboards and partly because it's an epic combo. This is of course gluten free, wheat free, grain free, soy free, refined sugar free, dairy free, egg free and vegan.   The milled linseed (flaxseed) I used is from Lidl and the Coconut Cacao Spread was one I picked up at Holland and Barrett a while back and was wondering what to do with. This seemed the obvious use for it! You can change and mix up the ingredients however you like.  This is a recipe I devised using up leftovers in my cupboard so don't worry if you d

The Vegan's Guide to Holistic Therapy

We live in a day and age when people are increasingly becoming interested in wellness therapies and healing modalities outside of the mainstream. As a professional  Holistic Therapist , I've been lucky enough to try many different alternatives to mainstream treatments provided by doctors and the allopathic health service. I firmly believe that Holistic Therapy should be used alongside allopathic medicine. Much as the pros and cons of any pharmaceuticals should be carefully considered, I feel it would be extremely foolish to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. The rising number of people training in various alternative methods of healing and wellness is testament to people's need and desire to find better ways to take care of themselves. Whilst many of these treatments are "natural" they aren't necessarily vegan friendly, so that's what I wanted to address today. Many of the hands on on energy healing types of treatments are totally vega

Wheat Free Bread Recipes with Freee (Vegan, Wheat Free, Gluten Free Option)

Image
Wheat free bread suitable for vegans is horribly expensive, not to mention hard to get hold of. Tesco make a passable loaf but the price is about 5 times what I would have spent on a wheat loaf, and you gate about one third of the quantity. It's far from good value! I decided to have a go at baking my own wheat free bread, so I invested in some Freee gluten free bread flour and started experimenting with my bread maker. Whilst I used to make all my bread by hand, I tend to use my bread maker these days for convenience and speed, so the bread maker method is the one I will be focusing on in this blog. The Freee flour made by Doves Farm, is made from blend of rice, tapioca and potato flour, with added xanthan gum.  If you're not familiar with xanthan gum, it's an additive that adds the elasticity missing from most gluten free flours and stops your baked goods from crumbling to bits when you touch them. Freee have a standard recipe for a white loaf on the packet w

Satay Tofu with Special "Egg" Fried Vegetable Rice (Vegan, Wheat and Gluten Free option)

I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to satay sauce! It's long been one of my favourite flavours and I've been searched high and low for the perfect recipe for some time. Jars of satay sauce never seem to have the deliciously thick and creamy taste you want from this special sauce, or the powerful punch of fragrant spices that should accompany it. A big thank you must go to my friend Lindsay who not only helped me to go vegan, but who also introduced me to this mouth watering satay sauce recipe that I've made my own.  This is a dinner that I have occasionally as a bit of a treat. It's very satisfying on every level - filling, creamy, fragrant and delicious! I also like to eat the rice on it's own as a light meal. You can play around with the vegetable mix you put in your rice, but I recommend always using frozen peas. Their sweet taste adds the perfect flavour, and they are sturdy enough not to get squished, unlike tinned peas.  Serves 2 Ingredi