Homemade veggie burger

Boredom, procrastination...oooh I have chickpeas!

I've always wanted to make a burger from scratch, because although I love (I mean REALLY love) the Quorn Southern Fried Chicken style burgers, they're not coeliac or lactose intolerant friendly...aka they have wheat, gluten and milk in them *cries*.

So, out of what I call, 'constructive procrastination', I attempted these vegan, gluten, wheat and dairy free spicy burgers!

Ingredients: (I rarely ever measure so this is a 'decent' guestimate)
-100g chickpeas
-150g buckwheat
-1 egg white (or vegan egg constitute replacement)
-Diced onion
-Seasoning; salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, basil
-PATIENCE...seriously

Method:

Soak the chickpeas overnight, then with fresh water, bring to boil for 10mins, then simmer for 2hrs.
Add the buckwheat to the chickpeas at 1.5hrs to simmer.
Make sure the chickpeas are fairly soft before draining them.
Drain the chickpeas so there is no liquid whatsoever left (important!), so the mixture will be firm enough to mash and bind.
Add a little bit of seasoning and onions (I forgot this stage so you can always add it later on in the process), and proceed with mashing the chickpea and buckwheat together with a potato masher (thought there was a more technical term for that utensil...apparently not!)
Once they are at a firm consistency, scoop the mixture into cling film and mould into a circular figure. (If you have a lid or any circular mould in the kitchen, it might be easier to form a 'burger' shape. I did both ways and they were both easy to mould the mixture.)
Once moulded and wrapped in the cling film, place in the freezer for 1hr (check at regular intervals so they are not freezing completely.) This binds the mixture.
Preheat the oven for 10mins at 180 degrees, unwrap the burgers onto a lightly greased tray, and place in the oven for 20-25mins.
Take the burgers out of the oven (don't scorch your arm like I did *cries*), and leave to cool for 10mins.
Whilst waiting for them to cool, get your egg white. add the seasoning to it and mix it in a bowl. Saute the onions in olive or coconut oil in a frying pan.
Dip the burger in the egg mixture until it is completely coated and place it in the frying pan with the onions, 2-3mins on each side. Repeat for all burgers and let them stand before serving. Makes 4 large burgers.

Enjoy!

(Ps, I had butternut squash and sweet potato left over from the night before, which I also mashed into the burger mixture - definitely gives the burger a more moist texture which is nice!)

Prudish Pin-up

So, it was the first day back (of my last ever semester) at uni *panics**screams*, and it was lovely to see everyone! On the other hand, it was so cold and I was in a rush for a lecture (I'm not even doing anymore??), so I decided to wear my work clothes from the day before! (I'm lazy ok.)

It was so cold, my photographer's breath made a little appearance ;) nice effect regardless, eh?!

My housemate is now my new personal photographer, she's a little wonderful at this, I must say!

Jacket/Blazer: H&M

Faux fur stole: New Look

Cardigan: Vintage

T-shirt: New Look (Mens)

Midi skirt: New Look

Suede Chelsea boots: New Look

Necklace: Topshop

Bag: Charity shop (brand new!)

Bandana: Vintage

Watch: Tesco (£6 omg!!)

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!

Resolutions

So, it's 2015 and I've decided, as most do, to make some goals for this year, which I thought I'd share.

One of them is to be more interactive with regards to blogging/Instagram, as I have strayed away from doing so in the last six months or so (sorry for the following backlog of posts). If I'm honest, not posting was due to a confidence flaw type thing, but why should I care what other people think? I'm almost 21 now *panic attack*/*hyperventilates* and they say that the 20s are your selfish years. Me, me, me. Who cares what other people think? (Within reason.) Time to focus on what makes me happy!

Anyway, I'm going off at a tangent so here are my resolutions/general aspirations/goals as of this year.

-Be more positive (goodness me this is a toughie)

-Be more conservative with money (but the sales...HELP)

-Be more resourceful

-Say YES to everything (WITHIN REASON OK)

-Make an effort to socialise more (lunch breaks do not count anymore)

-Actually use my gym membership (gonna be looking/feeling like a VS model this summer totally ;))

-Work hard and stay focused for my exams/essays etc

-COMPLETE DISSERTATION. (Help me.)

-Do that grown up thing and um, grow up a little? Hmmm.

-Get work experience. 

-Move to Brighton.

-Get a sustainable job.

-Apply for uni (again...damn you UCAS!)

That's as far as I've gotten right now, it's almost midnight so there's probably a load of grammatical sleepy errors, and that's all I can remember at the top of my head for now (I actually hand-wrote a list, that I did ;)) -watch this space- I might add more!

 

Ps. Oooh I forgot one - to be happy. Don't let anything get (me/you) down :-)

Indian Summer

Y'know when you put on an outfit and you feel full of sass? I even rang my mum to say how sassy I felt that day. Cringe.

It was late September and 25 degrees which is unusual for that time of year, so I fully embraced those shaved pins of mine with this cheeky New Look number!

Whilst at work, I saw this hanging up, and was intrigued with the grid effect on this sheer tunic. Monochrome crazy, and always willing to be adventurous in fashion, I took a chance and bought it (being just under 5'10 n'all I got a size 20 for the length - part of the 'Inspire' @ New Look range that accommodates UK sizes 18-32). 

Although the tunic looked ok hanging freely, I wrapped your average skinny belt around the waist to add more definition. 

My university grounds is just beautiful, isn't it?

Tunic (as a dress): Inspire @ New Look

Sandals: New Look

Floppy Hat: H&M (20% student deal yas)

Sunglasses: Vintage (Camden Market)

Bag: Primark (from like years ago!)

Wimbledon 2014!

Pimms. Strawberries and cream. Green flying balls. Fit men in shorts. Adrenaline. Pimms.

Some people love Christmas. This is my Christmas, my absolute favourite time of the year - the most prestigious Grand Slam of them all, held in my city, in the district of SW19. 

I've watched the live coverage every year since birth without fail, due to my mother being a complete tennis fanatic. So to go onto the grounds, especially on the final 'Finals day' was truly an amazing experience that I'll always remember!

Sitting on Henman Hill/Murray Mound while the sun beats down, indulging in overpriced food/drink and watching the Men's final was so intense! Then getting to go on Court 1 AND Centre Court for free to see the last matches of the day was an added bonus! I was even on the BBC1 live coverage! Hopefully I can go to 2015 tournament too!

Of course I had to look the part:

And yes, the security did liken me to that of the amazing Serena Williams.

I even met Chico, who was with his son, and in my not so quiet demeanour when I recognised him, went 'OMG' and he came over and gave me a hug! #itschicotime

Bring on Wimbledon 2015!

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!