Vegetarian Foods Archive

For us, the 1st of December signals the beginning of Christmas in our home and thoughts towards giving, as well as receiving and remembering those no longer with us. The 1st of December   is also the day that we drag the Christmas tree from the attic and decorate it.  I have still to pick out something new for the tree this year, but here are a selection of foodie related things from past years.  We have various nuts to crack from the shells, but the reason I share these walnuts are for comparison.  My mother harvested the large ones with my sister in law last month at a park not far from where she lives, the smaller ones are supermarket brand.  Do you not think the difference in size is amazing?   I do.   This is not a sponsored blog post Last month, my oldest nephew  the one that used to come up and visit me when I lived in Scotland, gave me some edible gifts.    Five jars of Stokes  Relishes and Chutneys.  Above are Piccalilli and Sticky Pickle.  Red Onion Marmalad

Gloucester's first ever Vegan Market took place over the weekend and I was there.  Gloucester Vegan Market was held at Blackfriars in the city centre. There were over 50 stalls selling diverse cuisine from the Caribbean and India, as well as burgers,, hotdogs, pies, falafels to sweet treats such as raw chocolate, cupcakes, cookies and fudge to drinks from mulled wine, Prosecco to kombucha. Here are a selection of decent pictures that I managed to take during the heightened excitement. Happy Daisy.   #BeTheChangeFoods  were selling cookies - I got given one complimentary, so long as I promoted BeTheChangeFoods on social media.  I keep my promises and yes, the cookie was Delicious.  I saw them both later in Gloucester city centre proudly wearing their Vegan Runners gear.  I was super excited to finally meet and see fellow blogger Sharon who blogs over at Bit of The Good Stuff which also happens to be the name of her first  plant based cookbook .  Here is a peek ins

I have not spent much time in the kitchen recently, as I want to rest at the weekends and be proper lazy.   So I share this  Pomegranate Molasses Bulgar, Chickpeas, Red Chard and Vegan 'Lamb' aka Seitan that I made from scratch a few weeks ago, when I had energy and inclination to both potter and experiment in the kitchen.  The pomegranate molasses gave that sweet twang. chickpea always give nuttiness, but so did the Bulgar.   Its nice warm, but its also good at room temperature as a salad, but do keep the mock lamb sitting on top, so not to go too soggy from the red chard, which by the way from the garden plot. The seitan mock lamb was surprisingly succulent and so much superior than those from the supermarket.  In fact I wish I had made this seitan mock meat for my vegan Plum and Lamb Curry . I am sharing this  Pomegranate Molasses Bulgar, Chickpeas, Red Chard and Vegan Seitan 'Lamb' Sa lad  with   Kahakai Kitchen ; and My Legume Love Affair #114    hosted by 

I ts been snowing since the moment  I woke up and as I type this and look out the window, the snowflakes are still falling albeit slowly.   I went out into the garden briefly, the snow was soft and slushy.  I saw some people with children walking up the lane with sleighs to go up in the hills.  Its not for me.  I have never really liked the snow, even when I was a child - I really disliked playing snowballs, all that cold ice trickling down ...even the snow angels don't sing to me. I a m hoping the snow will remain slushy and melt away and not freeze and turn to ice over night, as driving to work tomorrow in the early hours will be dangerous as many parts of the UK have been issues with an Amber Weather Warning.   I hope your all safe and warm, wherever you are.  I have decided to share with you a Amber Warming Creamy Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Mango Pearls.  This Amber Warming Creamy Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Mango Pearls was most welcome.  The mango pearls of course

The snow from last week has all melted away - although when I look outside the window the snow head and melted body of a snowman remains still intact in one of the neighbours front garden, an indication of how cold it is still here.   We managed to get the car started, turned around and carefully down the skiddy icy road and get into work.  I have been feeling a little seasonally under the weather, however each morning I somehow manage to drag my sorry backside out of the bed and get into work.  When I am there I wonder why I have bothered when a half the office staff have rung in sick.  I have only ever been off sick one day in the four years I have been working there.   Work has been terribly busy, but it is slowing down finally for more reasons than one. I am not so secretly looking forward to the break come Christmas and the New Year.  Our meals in the evening have been relatively quick.  We have had vegan   Puttanseca  three times last week and  Double Potato Bake with Pep

These are peanut butter cups disguised as chocolate snowflakes.   Very festive don't you think?! These are my first ever attempt at making peanut butter cups, not that difficult I hear you say - but how about making the Peanut Butter Cups in the shape of intricate Snowflakes - a little fiddly to make, but well worth the effort.   I found the snowlflake s ilicon moulds at Flying Tiger designed for ice cubes.   It worked very well for these chocolate snowlflakes. D gobbled a piece in one go, which surprised me as my Chocolate Snowflakes were a lot more deeper in depth than traditional mini bite size Peanut Butter Cups.   I am more of a lady and ate mine a small bite at a time.   I am sharing these with Tin and Thyme for    I am hoping to make Peanut Butter Cups again, but net time with a vegan Mousse filling .

Today was my last full working day at work and so the holidays begins. Like many I am looking forward to the festive break.  We are travelling tomorrow, to spend Christmas with my mother in law.  I am looking forward to seeing her, but no so much the travelling there, but it must be done.  I cannot remember the last time I made or had mushroom pate, so with Christmas beckoning, I thought I would make some enhanced further with some  Black Truffle oil  - its Christmas after all. I would also and to wish my readers a Happy Christmas with your family, true friends and loved ones. Perfect for crusty bread or on crackers.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a session through work called 'Christmas Cooking On A Budget'.   It did not go accordingly, as the Tutor who usually runs the Cooking On A Budget session had not purchased the ingredients and there seemed to have been an overspend by the organiser. I did not want to embarrass the organiser, so did not get round to asking the Tutor in private what the cost of Christmas Cooking On A Budget should have been for up to 12 people. Regardless, it made for an interesting day.  It got me to reflect on how lucky I presently am to have a home, able to buy things I want and food I want to indulge in.   However,  I share with you a  Link to a website calle d Family Lives and their article on Christmas On A Budget with some tips that may be helpful in the future if you have to Cook On A Budget. This was my vegan Christmas On A Budget plate, yet to be smothered in gravy. Roasted potatoes and parsnips. A tip that was shared was to soak the potatoes

Here is my first ever attempt at Seitan Roast with Stuffing.     A celebratory Seitan Roast with Stuffing to be served with all the vegetables you find at Sunday Roast Dinner.  Talking of celebrations, let me wish all my readers  A Happy New Year - 2018.    I must confess, I am so glad to see the back of 2017 and am genuinely excited at 2018. 2018 will be a year of change for me and a year of new beginnings, but more about that later.  I have been playing around a lot with seitan recently and have been pleased with the results. This Seitan Roast was enjoyable, but it was not perfect.  If you look closer the  vegan filling made from onion, breadcrumbs  and rosemary get a bit lost. This Seitan Roast with Stuffing was enough for 8 - 10 servings.   I will be making this Seitan Roast with Stuffing again and next time, I will add some green and red to the stuffing so that it is more standoutish.  Also I will upgrade it to a Seitan Wellington by covering it in puff pastry.  I