Holistic Vegan

*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

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

Forgiveness seems like such a noble concept doesn't it? You forgive somebody for wrong doing, and everybody moves on with their lives happier and a little bit closer than before. When you're a child it seems so simplistic and it's portrayed as something you just have to suck it up and do, whether you want to or not. But what if the person or people who wronged you did something really terrible? Something really harmful, abusive or cruel. Should you still have to forgive them? Most major religions seems to say that you should, and this is where the whole concept of forgiveness becomes rather problematic to say the least. We've got forgiveness all wrong I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that the type of forgiveness we were taught in the playground is not the kind of forgiveness we need as adults. It's noticeable that people in the holistic or "light worker" communities like to talk about grand concepts like unconditional love an

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

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

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you! I've spent some time over the past few weeks experimenting with cornbread, learning what it tastes like and trying various sweet and savoury versions. It's certainly an interesting texture but some have more flavour than others. This is my own recipe for the slightly more flavoursome Mexican style cornbread, and it's definitely my favourite savoury version so far, and makes the ideal lunch for work or when you're out and about.  I haven't added any chili to this one because I don't find that improves the flavour, but feel free to chuck some jalapenos in if you're feeling spicy! Check out my vintage Pyrex, bishes! Cornbread has been a godsend for me since I first started baking it. I can't eat wheat anymore, so it's been tricky finding something that is easy to make, has good structural integrity and has the sort of taste and texture combination I want. I love this one so much that it

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