Holistic Vegan

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'

For new & budding vegans, it can be hard to get support if you find that people around you aren't interested in or worse actively oppose your new dietary & lifestyle choices.  I've found that YouTube can be a very useful place for inspiration, recipes and a bit of camaraderie, but it can also be a toxic mix of bad advice, attention seekers, hysteria and hypocrisy. I've spent a few good years sorting the wheat from the chaff, so as it's Veganuary and I know there are lots of new vegans out there looking for good resources, I'm going to share my favourite Vegan YouTube channels. Here we go, in no particular order... Happy Healthy Vegan Ryan & Anji are an adorable SoCal couple with two cats. Their videos are generally feel-good and positive, with great tips and sensible advice. Ryan also does response videos to some of the more controversial topics, and he's always well balanced and kind.  Definitely one of my faves. They're both m

When you go vegan, vegetarians really can be your best friends! Like many people, I went veggie before taking the plunge to go fully vegan. In fact I never planned to go vegan in the first place, that seemed "too extreme" to me. But once I switched to vegetarian, realised I had a milk allergy and ditched dairy quite early on, I only had eggs and honey left in my diet that weren't vegan. I did my research and a few months later decided to go full vegan. I think it was the videos of fuzzy chicks going into a grinder that did it for me...  But the point is I didn't go vegan from being a meat eater, I went vegan as a vegetarian .  We should remember that human psychology tells us that if you want to make changes, taking smaller steps over a period of time mean that the changes are more likely to stick. I get very frustrated when I see loud, angry vegans being mean to vegetarians about the fact they still consume eggs, dairy or wear leather. Firstly, you attr