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Monday 30 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 30 - Tom & Dick

So I had a wicked weekend away with my gals, having some Britneys, putting on crazy makeup and dancing to 80s music.  The fact that I'm now sick in bed with lurgy means I don't have much for my last MoFo post.  So here's a few pics of some of the food we took with us when we went away.

I was gonna cook up some Linda McCartney sausage rolls but I couldn't find any in the 2 supermarkets I went to. So I grabbed some ready made puff pastry and made a tempeh filling and made my own.  Not great enough to give you a recipe but filled a gap.

Straight outta the oven


I did the cooking Thursday before we went away and I gotta say it was an evening of fails. I made some muffins that I overmixed - badly. They came out like hockey pucks so had to be binned.

Also, I had planned to make some tabouleh but it wasn't until after I'd poured the water over the bulghur wheat that I realised I didn't have the other ingredients to go in it! Doh.  Luckily my bff made a bean salad and so we mixed the 2 together and it was great.

I also made us the rocky road cookies from vegan cookies... and a veggie curry for Saturday night - both of which I forgot to take pics of. I suck, I am sorry.

Anyway, I've had a great time posting (almost) every day during MoFo. Thanks to everyone who read and commented and it was great reading so many new blogs as well.  MoFo always makes me super inspired to blog more but it doesn't always work out that way.

I am gonna try though but I also want to get my makeup blog back up and running and rededicated to just vegan makeup/beauty products.  So if you're into that, keep an eye out here for a link when it's ready to go again.

I'd also like to thank this website for providing me with lots of giraffes and helping me come up with post titles for MoFo.

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney Translations of the day
Tom & Dick = Sick
Giraffes = Laughs
Britneys = Britney Spears = Beers

Sunday 29 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 29 - Hangover Reg Varney

This was meant to go up yesterday but I couldn't get a good enough signal on my phone to publish it and today I'm sick so I am posting yesterday's rubbish snack.

About all I had brain power for yesterday.... PB & crisp sarnie.

Tomorrow I'll post actual food!

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translation of the day
Reg Varney = Sarnie

Friday 27 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 27 - Robin Hood

OK Crossing fingers, toes etc that this publishes on Friday because I'm away having a few Britney Spears at an 80s weekend (my friend's birthday celebrations) and can't guarantee I'll have internet connection on my phone.

So can you Adam & Eve it, it's almost the end of MoFo and as dull as most of these posts have probably been, I've enjoyed it as much as I do every year.

So as tomorrow's post will be about some of the food we're taking away with us, today's is a little post of my favourite things / store cupboard essential type things.  Not gonna lie, I'm totally ripping of Jojo & Mandee who've done similar posts this MoFo.

Starting with .. Nooch.  It'd be wrong of me to leave this out and also to not put it first considering my love for this flaky, funky smelling jar of rad.  To some it up, Daddy Alien once asked me "what does that bring to a meal?"  I said, "Dad, it brings the AWESOME!" And that's all I'm gonna say about that.  (OK Forrest, move on!) I don't have a pic so I'm stealing one off the interwebz.

Next up, Fry's Chocolate Creams. These come in plain, Mint & Orange flavours and although they're not the bested vegan chocolate you can find (and also they have some annoying labelling which might make you think they're not vegan) they are generally the only vegan chocolate bar to be found it crappy little shops / garages etc.

Lazy Days Chocolate Ginger Truffle Slices. You can find these in the 'free-from' aisle of your local, better stocked sainsburys or waitroses and they are GOOD.  Fudgy and gingery. Yum.  They make a vegan millionaire's shortbread and also a chocolate orange slice and slices of tiffin. All of which I'll happily scoff.

Mushy Peas.  I totally used to be a Bachelors Mushy Pea kinda gal but the last few tins we had were sucky as hell, so we switched to Harry Ramsdens and they are just as good.  I like them best on a potato waffle or two. 

Speaking of, Birdseye Potato Waffles. Because they're waffle versatile.

Tea. I prefer Earl Grey to regular tea nowadays.  I bought it as a change one day and I'm now addicted to it.  I normally just buy supermarket own brands ones but the ones pictured are good too - I think my dad nicked them from a hotel! ha.

Broccoli. You might have noticed that broccoli features in the background of about 90% of my main meals.  I love it. Easy, quick to cook, tasty - what's not to love?

Jazzy. I know she's not food but isn't just so freakin adorable.  This is her "Why are you talking to each other - LOOK AT ME!" face. Or "Blue Steel" for short.

OK I'm outta here. Time to heat up the crimpers, put on the leg-warmers and start the Duran Duran blasting!

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day
Robin Hood = Good
Britney Spears = Beers (my favourite phrase so far!)
Adam & Eve = Believe

Thursday 26 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 26 - Dinner in a Bob Murray

This is what happens when you get home late and can't be arsed to cook.... A couple of slices of seitan dipped in cornmeal and then pan fried, green beans and pasta tossed in vitalite and nooch and big fat mushroom!

Easy, tasty but a bit Pirates of Penzance.

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day
Bob Murray = Hurry
Pirates of Penzance = Pants

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 25 - Red Red Rubies

So it's What I Ate Wednesday. Or technically Tuesday because it's what I ate yesterday.  Honestly I should probably do these at the weekend really when I eat more interesting stuff because weekdays are usually pretty samey.

Let's start when I get up at the buttcrack of dawn (ok, 6.15 am, ish) to make my food for the day and go to the gym.  I mix 2 tsps. of instant espresso powder with a little hot water to dissolve it then make it up to 500ml with cold. Then add a scoop of chocolate protein powder and shake that bad boy.  This gives me some caffeine to wake up with and some protein to get me through my workout.  Also, I'm generally not ready for solid food at that time of the morning and I can drink this on the way to the gym.
I use this one at the moment, it's Holland & Barrett's own chocolate soy protein.

Breakfast when I get to work - porridge. If I remember, at night I mix together the oats and soymilk and leave it in the fridge overnight. That way it just needs to be nuked for 2 minutes in the microwave, in the morning, some additions added and it's done.  I put in 2 tbsp. powdered peanut butter that I  mixed with water and a tbsp. or so of agave nectar.

I had a yoghurt at about 11.

Lunch and it's cold enough for soup again.  I didn't have time to make a pot of homemade this week so I had a tin. For tinned soup this ones actually pretty good! I had a couple of slices of bread too as it's basically just broth with some wantons in, so I'd be hungry after 5 minutes!

Snacks during the afternoon were a pack of snack-a-jacks and a pink lady apple.

Dinner was AFR's brussel sprout & potato hash, which is pretty rad.  I had it with steamed broccoli & green beans sprinkled with nooch and some sticky tempeh (basically just marinated in veggie stock, balsamic, soy, agave and a bit of thyme, then fried in a bit of cooking spray then throw in the marinade and reduce it till it's thick and coats the tempeh - this is my go-to tempeh recipe when I'm in a hurry and it rocks!)

Tempeh close up WAAAHHHHHHHH!  Saucy.

Hash close up WAAOOOOAAHHHHHHHHH!

When I got home from salsa/kizomba class I was Hank Marvin' so I shcoffed the last pizza tofu fillet. yes.

I'm sure I don't normally eat this much processed food. Or maybe I do - eek!

Kat Slaters
xXx

Once again, today's post title has no relevance, just picking funny ones at this point!
Cockney translations of the day
Red Red Rubies = Boobies (heheheh)
Hank Marvin = Starvin

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 24 - Patrick Swayze

So when I'm feeling lazy or am in a rush (this happen pretty frequently and usually it's the former!) I bust out some version of what I had for dinner last night, depending on what I have in the fridge.

Basically it's just egg-free wheat noodles, they only take 5 mins to cook and I chuck a stock cube and usually some red or green thai curry paste into the cooking water. Then some chopped up veg and something proteiny like leftover tempeh, tofu or some beans.  Then add whatever I've got open in the fridge to cream it up a bit like some coconut milk, soya cream or yoghurt.

It's done and in the bowl in less than 10 minutes and it's usually pretty yummy.

Last night's was really basic:  noodles, red pepper, asparagus, broccoli and a bit of thai 7 spice powder and soya yoghurt at the end.  It was nice  but was lacking the protein element as I didn't have anything that went with it.  So I ate one of these Taifun pizza tofu fillets while I was cooking, which I LOVE.


Told you I'm lazy!

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney Translations of the day
Patric Swayze = Lazy

Monday 23 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 23 - Arthur Fowler

I'm struggling for a post title so I decided to just pick one that made me laugh. 

I wasn't gonna post a pic of yesterday's dinner because it was another Sunday roast and very similar to the one I posted before.  But it was slightly different so here it is (same Seitan recipe, Vegan Diner chicken style roast, but this time with no tinkering).



Dessert and I had a Pudology vegan pudding.  I thought these were only available in Waitrose so I was excited to find these in Sainsburys.  I probably wouldn't have picked Banoffee but the other flavours were completely sold out!  So I'm keeping my eye out for the others.



Honestly I wasn't blown away by it. It was nice and I'm glad it was small because it was pretty sweet. Obviously I'll try the others for research purposes but to me it was not really worth the 290 something calories that are in that little pot.  Still a nice way to end a meal though. 


Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day
Arthur Fowler = Growler

Sunday 22 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 22 - Brady Bunch

Yesterday's dinner was a pretty yawn-worthy stir fry so here's a pic of me Brady bunch.

I was out shopping today and treated myself to a bowl of saien soba from Wagamammas. I had the swap the non-vegan noodles for rice noodles although you can't see them under all that other veggie / tofu radness.

Hope you enjoy what's left of your weekend. I'm off to finish watching Geordie Shore waiiiaye!!

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day
Brady Bunch = Lunch


Saturday 21 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 21 - Quentin Tarantino

So pretty much on a Friday night, we don't wanna do much more than pop open a bottle of Quentin or 2. Which is what me & mum did last night once I got home for work.



So we went with a super easy tea of homemade chips, just cooked in the oven with a bit of rapeseed oil, salt & paprika.  We had mushy peas with it too and I had a chip butty because chip butties are awesome.


Hope you're having a good weekend so far!

Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day
Quentin Tarantino = Vino

Friday 20 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 20 - Uncle Billy

I am going with the original post title I had decided on when I was planning yesterday's dinner (because I can't find a better one for what I ended up with).  Originally I wanted to make chilli, but by the time I got home I wasn't feeling it, so I made a burrito instead. YAY.

And I was feeling fore & aft so I made took step by step pics.

For fear of one day encountering the wrath of someone like this, I made sure to put the filling in layers. LAYERS!!!  I didn't want the worst burrito ever after all.

So first - rice, this was 1/4 cup brown basmati cooked with a stock cube and a tbsp. of tomato puree.

Chilli or other filling - this was just mushrooms, some Redwoods soya mince, kidney beans, pepper and sweetcorn sautéed with a shallot, a clove of garlic and bit of oil. Then I added some oregano and chilli powder.

Shredded raw white cabbage for a bit of crunch.

Salsa! Just the hot jarred variety.
 
In lieu of sour cream - soya yoghurt.
 
Hot sauce!  I used Cholula.
 
Tesco smoked cheese not cheezly white* :(

Then roll that puppy up tight!

Cut in half to make it easier to eat

AND SHCOFF, trying not to cry about the *cheezly mould that meant I had to use the hard old piece of Tesco cheddar from the back of my fridge instead.  I should know better than to leave an open block of cheezly in the fridge, that shit goes from 0-mouldy in less than a week.  (Usually I grate the whole thing and then freeze what I don't use to save my future self from times of cheezly mould sadness!)


Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day:
Uncle Billy = Chilly
Fore & Aft = Daft
(I know I know, chilly & chilli are not the same thing, but hey it rhymes!)

Thursday 19 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 19 - Jockies' Whips

I don't really like this post title,  not very vegan is it! But I couldn't find anything that relevant. Funnily enough there's no rhyming slang for polenta.

So here's last night's dinner; part awesome, part cheater stuff I pulled out the Bacardi breezer!  I found me a fry's burther and some granary rolls and defrosted those (that is Reggae Reggae Ketchup you see on the bun!).  While the burger was cooking I made some polenta and then poured it into small Tupperware to firm up.

The coleslaw was just single serving made of a handful of carrot, a handful of shredded cabbage, a teaspoon of vegan mayo and a tablespoon of soya yoghurt then a bit of salt & pepper.  The sweetcorn & beans just had a bit of salt, vinegar and sriracha on to make them less boring.


Then I cut up the polenta into fries and pan fried it in a bit of cooking spray just until it browned up a bit.  Man they were SOOOOO good. I need to do this more often.

Close up of the polenta jockey whips (sorry!)
 
And to make up for the post title, here's a little pic of me Postman Pat, who was looking very lost this morning, as Daddy Alien is away for a few days. She was just wandering around looking for someone to give her attention, I felt mean having to leave her and go to work!
 
Kat Slaters
xXx
 
Cockney translations of the day
Jockies' Whips - Chips
Bacardi Breezer - Freezer
Postman Pat - Cat

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 18 - Brussel Sprouts

Oooh happy hump day everyone!

I went shopping yesterday lunchtime in the hope that dinner inspiration would strike but all I could think of was the mac n cheese & roasted Brussels from River's blog the other day. They looked so good that I stole her idea.

Only I didn't have any chipotle so I was gonna put a crap tonne of sriracha on the finished article... but I forgot, doh.

Anyhoo, I just made a quick sauce with some soymilk, cornflour, a crumbled up stock cube and a lotta nooch and for the last 5 minutes of cooking time I threw in some peas, chickpeas and broccoli with the pasta.

While all this was cooking, I roasted my Brussels to throw on top.  It was most excellent and as usual I made WAY too much sauce. But I love a saucy bowlful.



Kat Slaters
xXx

Cockney translations of the day
Brussel Sprouts = Scouts  (See, there you were thinking I'd forgotten my theme!!)

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 17 - Trouble & Strife

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while, you might remember my previous adventures in wedding food; some good, some bad, some pretty freakin fugly.  Well forget all that, because the last wedding I went to the food was pretty freakin great.

My big brother and his lovely new wife got married just over a month ago (where has that time gone) and it was the best day.  The weather was beautiful, the ceremony was lovely, the speeches were funny, the band & dj were rad, it was great.  Lots of happy tears cried and not just by me.  Also, the food!  The caterers were brilliant, they had a vegan menu with more than 1 option!  I even got dessert and not a speck of melon in sight HURRAH!

The main course was kind of a spicy veggie tagine with couscous.  For a food blogger I suck at descriptions but sufficed to say, this was pretty freakin tasty. It had squash, peppers, courgettes and chick peas in and it was spicy but not crazy hot.


Dessert and I got 3 of 'em! YEP 3 and none of them were melon - did I mention that?

There was a plate of 3 mini desserts, a crumble, a rice pudding and 2 mini treacle tarts. 

The treacle tarts were a bit chewy but I thought that was nice and they were good & sweet. And I love me some pastry!

The rice pudding was lovely but it was really sweet, so the amount I got was perfect because anymore would've been way too much, I think.

The 3rd one was a berry crumble.  I was totally stuffed by this point so couldn't eat it but I did have a spoonful and it was delightfully tart with a nice crunchy topping.

Lastly the cake.  Or cakes; instead of a traditional tiered cake they had towers of cupcakes.  After tasting Jojo's cupcakes at Vegfest earlier in they year, they were so impressed they asked her to make the cakes for the wedding and she did an awesome job. They looked beautiful and they were delicious.  I had 4! Yep, 4 baby. 

The flavours you see are chocolate with peanut butter icing (my favourite), coconut & lime, raspberry and chocolate mint.


If you're lucky enough to live in Brighton or are visiting, you can order cupcakes from Jojo's not-for-profit bakery, Operation Icing.  You can also find them in Wai Kiki Moo Kau on selected days too so keep an eye Operation Icing's twitter for info on availability (she's away at the moment so if you were hoping to do this immediately, you're probably shit outta luck, soz).

Kat Slaters
xXx

oh oh, edit, for Randi.... the hat says it already!



Cockney translations of the day
Trouble & Strife = Wife