I'm back! But I hate vegans??

At the beginning of 2016, I wrote a post here on why I've decided to go vegan...absolute cringe at that...you'll see why if you click HERE. But through trials and tribulations, slip ups and finding my own flair, I'm proud to call myself vegan!

I personally think I'm a pretty good vegan, imo, FYI...just saying.

Now I know there's apparently "different" types of vegans which I feel is kinda elitist and snobbery. If you're vegan, in my opinion? Doesn't matter whether you're an ethical vegan or not. The end goal and outcome is the same. We don't eat/consume animal products and we're doing our best to be more environmentally friendly. I went vegan for purely personal reasons but just because my initial mentality for doing so was selfish per say, I'm not vegan for the right reasons? Bullshit. (There's no filter on this blog, btw.) I'm still vegan for health, but also for ethical and environmental grounds too.

The end goal is EXACTLY the same as us vegans, in one way or another, have the same end goal - whether it be for health, ethics, environmental reasons or whatever, none of us are contributing to the cruel industry of animal production for selfish gain.

Now, forgive me for any grammatical errors or if anyone takes offence to this (I'm ranting without the editing), however, self righteous "I'm ONLY vegan for the animals and health vegans are sooooo annoying" vegans need to step back down off their high horses. Instead of denigrating those in a community that we are ALL apart of, let's uplift each other and unite to try and spread awareness to those not engaged with veganism. You want to eat kale salad everyday? That's cool. You wanna eat potato waffles and vegan nuggets all the time? You do you. You want to spend your free time preaching the benefits of veganism whether it be for for the self or the ethics? Also good. You wanna sit and drink three glasses of vegan baileys whilst writing a blog post? Well...ok? Anyways, let's stop criticising each other on "who's a better vegan" and just make like a smoothie and chill :)

Let's sway veganism from the superfluous, prestige and borderline charm offensive omniscient flair us vegans more often than not get categorised as. Let's spread ALL the benefits of veganism that have benefited us and can benefit others too!

Notting Hill Carnival, 2017

Anyway, rant over. I'm *hopefully* back and ready to blog about all the food, fashion, beauty etc etc etc so I'm hoping anyone crazy enough to even read my blog, will find something helpful...or probably somewhat hilarious. Here for your entertainment. Follow me, it's free ;)

♡ Peace n love ♡

(Ps - was defo drinking a lot of the new vegan baileys, so excuse the rambling. Btw, It's lush...blog post on it soon, probably 4 bottles later...)

Five Bean Chili (Vegetarian and Vegan friendly)

Here is a quick, easy and healthy style five bean chili served with rice and quinoa!

Ingredients:

-Mixed Bean Salad

-Chopped Tomatoes (I made mine from scratch which I liked better than regular tinned ones!)

-Rice and Quinoa (I used leftovers)

-Onions

-Garlic (I used garlic paste)

-Herbs and spices (I used: mixed herbs [thyme, coriander, oregano, basil], paprika, cumin, tumeric, chili powder, salt, black pepper)

Method:

-If you do not have pre-cooked rice and quinoa. I recommend 'Tilda's' own brand which I have used in the past, or make your own blend which should take around 20mins to cook.

-In a pan, melt some oil (I use coconut oil), sauté a generous amount of chopped onions and add a dash of salt, black pepper and garlic to the mix.

-After washing and draining them, add the beans to the pan and cook for 5mins.

-If making the chopped tomato sauce  from scratch, blend four medium sized tomatoes with some mixed herbs and salt. Pulse the blender for about ten seconds so the tomatoes are not 'runny'.

-Add the tomato sauce to the pan after the beans have. and reduce the temperature to a low heat so it can simmer. (Add mixed herbs in at this point if using tinned chopped tomatoes)

-Add paprika, cumin, chili powder and tumeric to the mix.

-Serve the chili over the rice and quinoa, and enjoy!

Nutritional Values per serving: 280cals/44g carbs

Cheeky chips - guilt free

Actually waiting for them to cook as I write this...I'm so hungry!

Anyway, I don't like sweet things, 10/10 a savoury girl here! Therefore, I'm a massive potato lover: chips, crisps, cheesy mash, dauphinoise, baked, jacket, whatever, you name it, I love potatoes *insert heart eyes emoji*.

So what's a great alternative to your typical white potato meals that are filling, AND guilt free?

Spicy parsnips and sweet potato chips (well more like wedges because I'm too lazy to chop them up finer. Brilliant).

Came home from the gym starving, and I've been craving parsnips for the past week or so (weird craving right?), and i just wanted something light to snack on whilst doing my dreaded uni work, so I decided to make this little guilt-free treat.

Ingredients:

-Parsnips

-Sweet potato

-Herbs & spices (I used paprika, basil, black pepper, cumin, dairy free cheese powder, garlic granules - but, each to their own! Maybe I'll make a post on my condiment cupboard...)

Prep time: 25mins

Method:

-Preheat your oven to 200 degrees for 10-15mins 

-Cut up your parsnips and sweet potato as chunky/small as you like them and put in a pot to simmer for about 7-10 minutes until they soften, but are still firm (keep checking them, as you might find that the parsnips soften quicker, and will therefore have to remove them from the pot earlier.

-Lightly grease or spray a tray with an oil of your choice, and transfer all the wedges to the tray.

-Lightly dust the herbs and spices over the wedges, and place them in the oven for approx. 15-20mins,

-Regularly check after 12mins to see whether any thinner slices are cooking quicker (or burning in my case...oops.)

-After the wedges have 'browned', take them out of the oven, and let them stand for 1-2mins.

-Dust with some salt, and enjoy!

How To: 10 minute banana cake!

Clean, easy, simple cake/muffin in only 10 minutes!

Ingredients:

'Cake mixture'

- Three heaped tablespoons of old fashioned rolled oats

- Three heaped tablespoons of cornmeal (or another two heaped tbsp of oats)

- Three medium bananas

- Eight dates

- Handful of sultanas (optional)

- One small/medium egg

- Cinammon and nutmeg

- 1tsp Vanilla bean paste 

- 100ml Almond/hazelnut/soya milk (or normal milk if you prefer)

- 50ml Water

- 1tsp Baking soda

'Frosting'

- Greek yogurt

- Honey/Maple syrup

Mix the dry ingredients and the sultanas together in a ramekin dish. Blend the bananas, dates, vanilla bean paste, egg and milk together and slowly add it to the dry ingredients. Add a level teaspoon of baking soda and water, then 'whisk' the mixture with a fork. (If you're a sweet tooth add a tablespoon of honey/maple syrup to the mixture)

Pop the mixture in the microwave for 2.5mins on the penultimate highest setting, then for another 2-2.5mins on the highest setting, keeping your eye on the mixture. Whilst its cooking, mix together Greek yogurt and honey to your level sweetness in a separate bowl.

You know it's cooked when the mixture starts to come away at the sides of the ramekin. Place a plate on top of the ramekin and flip it over so the cake is on the plate. 

Spoon the Greek yogurt and honey mixture on the top (plus any other toppings you wish to add too.) and you're done!

Enjoy!

Veggie roast!

I love roast dinners. Especially when it's cold, I always crave hot, crispy veggies to warm my stomach! Whatever the weather, roasted vegetables are easy to prepare, extremely filling and satisfying and can be used in so many ways!

-As a (small portion) starter/side dish to a main meal

-Part of your main meal which should consist of 50% vegetables 

-Leftovers for lunch

-A snack for when you're feeling peckish

Its also an easy way to get your 'five a day' of veg in!

Ingredients:

-Carrots

-Butternut squash

-Celery

-Leeks

-Sweet potato

-Red onion

-Herbs (ready to use) parsley, oregano and thyme

-Gluten free Couscous (or any other side such as quinoa for the carb conscious, rice, bulgar wheat, chickpeas, pasta...the list is endless!)

-Vegetable stock/salt/olive oil (optional)

Preparation: (preheat oven to 250F)

-Wash thoroughly and chop up the veggies as small or as chunky to your preference.

-Mix them together in a suitable oven dish and sprinkle the herbs over them.

(Optional) Drizzle/spray a bit of olive oil and a dash of salt on the top for that extra crisp.

-Cook for 15mins, mix/turn over the vegetables and cook for another 7-10mins.

-Whilst the vegetables are in the oven, cook the couscous with vegetable stock. Should take about 3-4mins. (I personally pour boiling water over couscous in a Pyrex glass dish)

Tip: If you're a bit lazy, supermarkets often sell frozen vegetables or fresh ones that already washed/cut up - less cost effective but an even quicker preparation process!

Serve and enjoy a quick, easy meal!

Fay xo