Wow, it's been a while! Rather than rambling about why I've let this slip and waste time making promises to keep it up for real this time, let's just get stuck in...
Fake meat products are flooding our market and they're getting more realistic all the time. This is awesome to me - meat didn't stop being delicious just because I stopped eating it, so this gives me a way to completely satisfy my cravings without compromising my ethics. However, as these products become closer in taste and texture to actual meat, I find myself longing for something else entirely. To explain further I need to indulge in a little nostalgia...
Way back in my childhood (specifically late 80s and early 90s) I have fuzzy memories of going to stay with my Auntie Christobel for a few days. My recollections from that time are patchy at best - I recall a giant teddy bear, a bar of soap with a little plastic spider inside, and finding "petit pois" an enormously amusing name for tiny peas - there is something that stuck with me. I remember being served "Veggie Burgers" and "Veggie Bangers", which was an entirely new concept to me, and I enjoyed them immensely. In the years that followed, my school began serving vegetarian options that seemed the be more or less the same thing (albeit coated in breadcrumbs) and they were always a favourite of mine. They were lightly spiced and sort of fell apart in your mouth.
With the advent of Quorn (which, obviously, is off the menu for myself these days) and whatnot these products fell out of favour and I missed them terribly. That is, until today.
We found a box of Amy's All American Veggie Burgers by the good folks at Amy's Kitchen. We bought them out of curiosity (oooh, new food!) and I dished them up today (bunless) with home-made chilli potato wedges, baked beans, and a healthy dollop of Tiptree brown sauce. The meal itself took me right back to my school dinner days, and as someone who LOVED school dinners this is no bad thing. However, it was that first bite of the burger patty that sent me spiralling off into paroxysms of sheer nostalgic bliss. There it was! That flavour that I've been pining for all these years! It was exactly how I remembered it, that warm and comforting flavour, that lovely crumbly texture... perfect!
I love these patties not just for turning my tummy into a swirling vortex of happy memories, but also because they don't try too hard to be meat-like. Anyone who prefers their fake meat products to be chewier and closer in flavour to the real thing may find these disappointing. However, taking them at face value (a meat-free burger patty, nothing more, nothing less) will probably find these a welcome alternative to the better-known products currently on the market.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Thursday 23 September 2010
Product Review - Lily Lolo Mineral Make-up
I have fairly recently discovered this new-fangled invention called "make-up" that has this wonderful ability to make me look fresh as a daisy even when I feel like utter crap.
Veganism does place some restrictions on which products I go for. Beeswax is out, as are products containing things like carmine (that's okay, I don't want powdered beetles on my face anyway). Furthermore, picking a make-up company that is cruelty free can be a bit of a minefield. Thankfully, it's getting easier all the time.
Yesterday I received some samples and brushes I ordered from Lily Lolo, a company specialising in mineral make-up who also stock some synthetic-hair brushes. I've never even considered minerals as an option but found myself drawn to their products. Only a few of their products are not vegan-friendly (some eyeshadows, blushes and lipglosses containing carmine, as well as a couple of brushes) but these are clearly labeled. Furthermore, they have the stamp of approval from both BUAV and PETA, which gives me a great deal of confidence in their anti-vivisection policy.
I've had a play with their products this morning and I am totally sold. I've tried out a foundation (in their lightest shade, "Porcelain", for those among us who prefer to remain pale and interesting), a couple of colour-correcting concealers ("Peep-O" for dark undereye circles and "Blush Away" for correcting my perma-redness) and a matte finishing powder. The application method for minerals is a little different than for regular make-up but it's very easy. The result is absolutely flawless. I'm completely sold.
Their prices are very reasonable and they sell mini samples of their products to try before you splash out. I highly recommend them and shall definitely be using their products for the forseeable future.
Veganism does place some restrictions on which products I go for. Beeswax is out, as are products containing things like carmine (that's okay, I don't want powdered beetles on my face anyway). Furthermore, picking a make-up company that is cruelty free can be a bit of a minefield. Thankfully, it's getting easier all the time.
Yesterday I received some samples and brushes I ordered from Lily Lolo, a company specialising in mineral make-up who also stock some synthetic-hair brushes. I've never even considered minerals as an option but found myself drawn to their products. Only a few of their products are not vegan-friendly (some eyeshadows, blushes and lipglosses containing carmine, as well as a couple of brushes) but these are clearly labeled. Furthermore, they have the stamp of approval from both BUAV and PETA, which gives me a great deal of confidence in their anti-vivisection policy.
I've had a play with their products this morning and I am totally sold. I've tried out a foundation (in their lightest shade, "Porcelain", for those among us who prefer to remain pale and interesting), a couple of colour-correcting concealers ("Peep-O" for dark undereye circles and "Blush Away" for correcting my perma-redness) and a matte finishing powder. The application method for minerals is a little different than for regular make-up but it's very easy. The result is absolutely flawless. I'm completely sold.
Their prices are very reasonable and they sell mini samples of their products to try before you splash out. I highly recommend them and shall definitely be using their products for the forseeable future.
Saturday 18 September 2010
Recipe - Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
We have recently reinstated our weekly veg box deliveries from the lovely folks at Abel & Cole. It's a rather more expensive way of doing things than picking up your bits and pieces at the supermarket, but I really don't mind. It's nice to know I'm doing my bit to support British organic farming, and the produce is always damn tasty too.
We were lucky to enough to receive some sweetcorn last week. I've had corn on the cob before, but had ever even seen it still in its jacket. A&C always send us gorgeously fresh food and I was really excited about sinking my teeth into this.
I decided to do something a bit different with this. The recipe was pinched straight from the A&C website, but I left out a little unnecessary preparation. It was so, so easy and quick to prepare, and so delicious! I'll definitely be doing it again...
Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
Take one decent sized chunk of your favourite butter substitute (I'm currently on Pure Soya) and add a really good-sized pinch each of chilli powder, ground cumin and ground coriander, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all together (I found the back of a metal spoon worked best for this). Use it to slather a couple of corn cobs, sling them in a little roasting tin and cook for around 25 min at gas mark 6. That's it. So easy, so tasty!
The original recipe suggested wrapping the corn cobs back up in their many leafy layers after buttering them. I decided this was too much effort and I'd just wrap them in foil... before realising I had no foil. They did just fine with no wrapping though.
We were lucky to enough to receive some sweetcorn last week. I've had corn on the cob before, but had ever even seen it still in its jacket. A&C always send us gorgeously fresh food and I was really excited about sinking my teeth into this.
I decided to do something a bit different with this. The recipe was pinched straight from the A&C website, but I left out a little unnecessary preparation. It was so, so easy and quick to prepare, and so delicious! I'll definitely be doing it again...
Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
Take one decent sized chunk of your favourite butter substitute (I'm currently on Pure Soya) and add a really good-sized pinch each of chilli powder, ground cumin and ground coriander, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all together (I found the back of a metal spoon worked best for this). Use it to slather a couple of corn cobs, sling them in a little roasting tin and cook for around 25 min at gas mark 6. That's it. So easy, so tasty!
The original recipe suggested wrapping the corn cobs back up in their many leafy layers after buttering them. I decided this was too much effort and I'd just wrap them in foil... before realising I had no foil. They did just fine with no wrapping though.
Thursday 16 September 2010
Restaurant Reviews
Life has been very full and exciting of late. As such, this blog was sort of put on the back burner a little. Now I'm back, I'm quitting Facebook and I hope to devote a little more time to getting this this up and running.
I'd like to start back with a couple of restaurant reviews.
Eggless Dessert Cafe, Adelaide, South Australia
During my "down time" The Beard and I went to Australia with his family, to visit some of their relatives. A wonderful time was had by all. Australia is absolutely excellent for vegan food. The nearest big city (Adelaide) had a whole tonne of veg eateries and the supermarkets were positively brimming with delicious animal-free goodies.
As soon as it was decided that we were going, we did our usual thing of hopping on to happycow.net to get an idea of where to go. This place really stood out and we looked forward to it for months.
Eggless is a late night cafe that specialises, as the name suggests, in egg-free and vegan-friendly desserts. Its opening hours are listed as "8pm til late" and on the two occasions on which we visited there was a small gathering outside the door waiting for it to open. It is clearly a hugely popular little place (appealing to vegan, pure veg and asian communities as well as anyone else who just likes a good pud) and filled up very quickly. Despite clearly being run off their feet, the staff were very friendly and great at their jobs. They have a menu that changes month-by-month, as well as a short list of asian desserts and savouries that remain on the menu permenantly.
The food was out of this world. Between us, we powered our way through the Sticky Black Rice Sundae, Turkish Delight Ice Cream, Raspberry and Lemon Quinoa Cake, Chocolate Yogo Cake and Gingerbread Pudding. They were bloody gorgeous and the portion sizes were just right, as well as being very easy on the wallet.
I can't rate Eggless highly enough. If you're ever in the area, just go. You won't regret it.
My Kitchen, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex
Closer to home, My Kitchen is a long-time favourite of ours. We try to head there as often as we can. Thought I'd drop in a quick review as we went again recently and it rekindled my love for it.
My Kitchen is run by an impossibly energetic and slightly bonkers chef. He worked there back when it was still Cafe Pulse and took over to create a completely different beast. The atmosphere now is clean and stylish whilst still warm and welcoming - an ever-changing selection of art adorns the walls and the stereo purrs with delicious rootsy americana. The menu is sufficiently varied to cater to all tastes and frequently changes. Seasonal seems to be the key word here, but at the same time a few favourites pop up all year round.
Last time we went we both had the falafel starter. In a review of this restaurant I wrote for another website I waxed lyrical about the falafel, and I'm pleased to say that the quality of it has been consistently good on each subsequent visit. I don't know how he does it, but somehow it manages to beat the everloving crap out of any other falafel I've ever had (and I'm a girl that eats a LOT of falafel). Just grand.
For mains I had another staple favourite of mine - Mushroom and Ale suet pudding - while The Beard had the Beetroot and Red Pepper burger. The burger was absolutely unbelievable; it sounds like a really odd mix of flavours (especially for a burger) but it worked SO well. The suet pudding... well, it became my favourite for a reason. The pud itself was perfect - crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. The filling was perfectly flavoured and very more-ish.
Everything was served promptly and the staff were as friendly as ever. I'm sure I'll write more about this place in future posts as I'm hoping to go back soon. I absolutely adore My Kitchen and am always extremely happy to give them my custom.
That's all for now. Hopefully now that things are settling down a bit I'll have more time to update. There's a few recipes I'm keen to share soon, so stay tuned!
I'd like to start back with a couple of restaurant reviews.
Eggless Dessert Cafe, Adelaide, South Australia
During my "down time" The Beard and I went to Australia with his family, to visit some of their relatives. A wonderful time was had by all. Australia is absolutely excellent for vegan food. The nearest big city (Adelaide) had a whole tonne of veg eateries and the supermarkets were positively brimming with delicious animal-free goodies.
As soon as it was decided that we were going, we did our usual thing of hopping on to happycow.net to get an idea of where to go. This place really stood out and we looked forward to it for months.
Eggless is a late night cafe that specialises, as the name suggests, in egg-free and vegan-friendly desserts. Its opening hours are listed as "8pm til late" and on the two occasions on which we visited there was a small gathering outside the door waiting for it to open. It is clearly a hugely popular little place (appealing to vegan, pure veg and asian communities as well as anyone else who just likes a good pud) and filled up very quickly. Despite clearly being run off their feet, the staff were very friendly and great at their jobs. They have a menu that changes month-by-month, as well as a short list of asian desserts and savouries that remain on the menu permenantly.
The food was out of this world. Between us, we powered our way through the Sticky Black Rice Sundae, Turkish Delight Ice Cream, Raspberry and Lemon Quinoa Cake, Chocolate Yogo Cake and Gingerbread Pudding. They were bloody gorgeous and the portion sizes were just right, as well as being very easy on the wallet.
I can't rate Eggless highly enough. If you're ever in the area, just go. You won't regret it.
My Kitchen, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex
Closer to home, My Kitchen is a long-time favourite of ours. We try to head there as often as we can. Thought I'd drop in a quick review as we went again recently and it rekindled my love for it.
My Kitchen is run by an impossibly energetic and slightly bonkers chef. He worked there back when it was still Cafe Pulse and took over to create a completely different beast. The atmosphere now is clean and stylish whilst still warm and welcoming - an ever-changing selection of art adorns the walls and the stereo purrs with delicious rootsy americana. The menu is sufficiently varied to cater to all tastes and frequently changes. Seasonal seems to be the key word here, but at the same time a few favourites pop up all year round.
Last time we went we both had the falafel starter. In a review of this restaurant I wrote for another website I waxed lyrical about the falafel, and I'm pleased to say that the quality of it has been consistently good on each subsequent visit. I don't know how he does it, but somehow it manages to beat the everloving crap out of any other falafel I've ever had (and I'm a girl that eats a LOT of falafel). Just grand.
For mains I had another staple favourite of mine - Mushroom and Ale suet pudding - while The Beard had the Beetroot and Red Pepper burger. The burger was absolutely unbelievable; it sounds like a really odd mix of flavours (especially for a burger) but it worked SO well. The suet pudding... well, it became my favourite for a reason. The pud itself was perfect - crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. The filling was perfectly flavoured and very more-ish.
Everything was served promptly and the staff were as friendly as ever. I'm sure I'll write more about this place in future posts as I'm hoping to go back soon. I absolutely adore My Kitchen and am always extremely happy to give them my custom.
That's all for now. Hopefully now that things are settling down a bit I'll have more time to update. There's a few recipes I'm keen to share soon, so stay tuned!
Wednesday 7 July 2010
The Ethics Of Vegan Pet Food
We have recently taken on a cat. This was not a decision we made lightly - could we justify feeding an animal a meat-based diet when we ourselves are so vehemently against supporting the livestock industry?
On the surface of it, vegan pet food seemed to offer the ideal solution. There are a couple of different brands out there as well as masses of anecdotal evidence suggesting that not only is it possible, it might actually be beneficial. However, something about it just didn't sit right with me, and I just couldn't put my finger on what it was.
Cats need meat: Correct. Cats are obligate carnivores, purely and simply because they do not produce their own taurine. Vegan cat food companies seems to circumnavigate this conundrum by supplementing their products with artificial taurine. It is very easy to have a protein-rich vegan diet (scores of vegan bodybuilders are living proof of this) and the addition of taurine seems to fill in the gaps.
It's not natural: Take a look at some of the canned crap people feed their cats. Can you honestly say that's natural? And biscuits? Even worse! Pet food is so heavily processed that it's barely recognisable as meat at all.
Cats aren't designed to eat vegetables: True, and we aren't designed to drink the milk of other species, but that's not seen as weird at all.
It seemed like every way I looked at it, feeding vegan was the way to go... until I considered one big issue.
Choice.
I lead the lifestyle I lead because that is what I've chosen. Is it really fair to force my ethical standpoint onto an animal that has no such choice in the matter? I honestly don't think it is. I'm pretty sure that if I put down a bowl of vegan cat food and a bowl of the nastiest cheapest meaty food I could find, he'd probably go for the meat regardless of quality. I thought about the vegan food, I really did, but the more I thought the more wrong it seemed.
So what do we feed our cat?
Contrary to everything we stand for, we feed him the food with the highest meat content we can find. Cats ARE obligate carnivores and we owe it to him to feed him the food most suited to his dietary needs. Hell, if I thought I could bring myself to do it, I'd feed him on a raw meat diet.
There is an outstanding website that lists the pet food brands that best fit in with an ethical lifestyle. Furthermore, Pets At Home and Zooplus (as well as some of the larger supermarkets) stock a range of "premium" pet foods with fantastic ingredients. We like to give Spock a little variety so have sampled a few different brands - I have to say, some of them have actually looked better than people food!
At the end of the day, I don't worry about the fact that the food we give our cat isn't vegan-friendly - if it were really that bothersome, we'd have got a bunny. I'm just proud that we offer him a happy, loving home.
On the surface of it, vegan pet food seemed to offer the ideal solution. There are a couple of different brands out there as well as masses of anecdotal evidence suggesting that not only is it possible, it might actually be beneficial. However, something about it just didn't sit right with me, and I just couldn't put my finger on what it was.
Cats need meat: Correct. Cats are obligate carnivores, purely and simply because they do not produce their own taurine. Vegan cat food companies seems to circumnavigate this conundrum by supplementing their products with artificial taurine. It is very easy to have a protein-rich vegan diet (scores of vegan bodybuilders are living proof of this) and the addition of taurine seems to fill in the gaps.
It's not natural: Take a look at some of the canned crap people feed their cats. Can you honestly say that's natural? And biscuits? Even worse! Pet food is so heavily processed that it's barely recognisable as meat at all.
Cats aren't designed to eat vegetables: True, and we aren't designed to drink the milk of other species, but that's not seen as weird at all.
It seemed like every way I looked at it, feeding vegan was the way to go... until I considered one big issue.
Choice.
I lead the lifestyle I lead because that is what I've chosen. Is it really fair to force my ethical standpoint onto an animal that has no such choice in the matter? I honestly don't think it is. I'm pretty sure that if I put down a bowl of vegan cat food and a bowl of the nastiest cheapest meaty food I could find, he'd probably go for the meat regardless of quality. I thought about the vegan food, I really did, but the more I thought the more wrong it seemed.
So what do we feed our cat?
Contrary to everything we stand for, we feed him the food with the highest meat content we can find. Cats ARE obligate carnivores and we owe it to him to feed him the food most suited to his dietary needs. Hell, if I thought I could bring myself to do it, I'd feed him on a raw meat diet.
There is an outstanding website that lists the pet food brands that best fit in with an ethical lifestyle. Furthermore, Pets At Home and Zooplus (as well as some of the larger supermarkets) stock a range of "premium" pet foods with fantastic ingredients. We like to give Spock a little variety so have sampled a few different brands - I have to say, some of them have actually looked better than people food!
At the end of the day, I don't worry about the fact that the food we give our cat isn't vegan-friendly - if it were really that bothersome, we'd have got a bunny. I'm just proud that we offer him a happy, loving home.
Sunday 4 July 2010
"Don't you miss cheese?"
The question of what I miss is one that comes up pretty regularly. My answer is always the same.
I don't miss any particular food, generally. What I miss is the convenience of non-vegan food. Once upon a time if I was out for coffee and fancied a big slab of cake with it, I could have one. I could eat anywhere I wanted without worrying about what they might be sneaking in to my dinner. I could buy shoes all over the high street, suffering cows be damned!
Now I'm forced to think more carefully about where I eat, drink and shop. This isn't entirely a bad thing - it has cut down on impulse purchases and needless snacking. However, I'd be lying if I claimed I didn't occasionally feel a tad angry with the world for their failure to cater to me. A little self-centred, no? It's not a massive problem though, if anything it has forced me to be a little more creative in the places I visit. That can only be positive.
I don't miss any particular food, generally. What I miss is the convenience of non-vegan food. Once upon a time if I was out for coffee and fancied a big slab of cake with it, I could have one. I could eat anywhere I wanted without worrying about what they might be sneaking in to my dinner. I could buy shoes all over the high street, suffering cows be damned!
Now I'm forced to think more carefully about where I eat, drink and shop. This isn't entirely a bad thing - it has cut down on impulse purchases and needless snacking. However, I'd be lying if I claimed I didn't occasionally feel a tad angry with the world for their failure to cater to me. A little self-centred, no? It's not a massive problem though, if anything it has forced me to be a little more creative in the places I visit. That can only be positive.
Saturday 3 July 2010
The Obligatory Introduction
I've been meaning to start this blog for a long, long time.
I went vegan in February 2007. I clearly remember the journey I took getting there - every new nugget of information that encouraged me, every lesson I learned, every question I answered (and asked!) along the way. I have never regretted it.
Veganism is now one of the biggest defining factors in my life, so what better to write about? I hope this will become somewhere that I document recipes, restaurant/shop reviews and general lifestyle information. Here goes...
I went vegan in February 2007. I clearly remember the journey I took getting there - every new nugget of information that encouraged me, every lesson I learned, every question I answered (and asked!) along the way. I have never regretted it.
Veganism is now one of the biggest defining factors in my life, so what better to write about? I hope this will become somewhere that I document recipes, restaurant/shop reviews and general lifestyle information. Here goes...
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