Southampton Vegan Festival

This weekend just gone was the first Southampton vegan festival and my husband and I (yep, we got married! More on that another time though!) got in the car, drove the hour or so to get there to check it out.

It was worth the trip, we ate some really good food and always spent way to much moolah on stuff to take home. Here's what we got...

We started with some Greek food from Greek Vegan Deli Specialities; having just come back from our honeymoon in Crete, we had to! And we were not disappointed. We both got a pitta (which was amazing!) filled with tofu halloumi, falafel, salad and a bunch of dips including vegan taramasalata! avocado, some sort of sweetcorn relish and what I think was beetroot hummus.

It was so good, I mean look at it! (I love that they gave us a fork too, as it was a messy sucker!)

I also grabbed some of their baklava to take home, which Simon and I ate for lunch the next morning.

After we ate, we decided to have a leisurely wander around and this is what we bought:

We got a couple of pieces of cake from Vegan Sweet Tooth, London to share. We went for the pistachio, pomegranate and rose cake. The frosting tasted like straight up soya yogurt to me, which I wasn't a fan of at first but actually it worked well with the cake. The cake was really tasty and I liked the rose flavour.

We also bought a piece of the nutella brownie which I wasn't a huge fan of, it just tasted healthy, if you know what I mean! haha. It was good but I'd have preferred it to be sweeter.

Then we found the VeggiJelli stand which interested Simon, as he has requested a trifle for his upcoming birthday! We got 4 packs to take with us.

And some ready made to eat then and there. It was pretty good and they told us it works well for trifle as the fruit won't stop it setting. The more important question I forgot to ask was will vodka stop it setting (like the sachets of veggie jelly crystals you can buy in holland and barrett!!)?? I'll let you know!

Jellyyyyyyy

Then we went to the Eden stand so I could get a new bottle of their J'adore copy! I ended up buying that and their copy of Flower Bomb. Plus two for Simon! I've been trying to find a copy of his Mont Blanc aftershave for ages and after a chat with the lovely owner, he advised me that one of their Abercrombie copies is actually exactly the same. And it is pretty spot on!! So yay. We also picked up their copy of Jean-Paul Gaultier's classic for men.

I spotted a stand called LoveSeitan and as I do, I had to give it a go! I bought a half loaf of the original seitan, but they had a curry version, a smokey and a couple of others.

Then one of my favourite things, was some fudge from Slab! I got two bars of the Tiger Butter (chocolate and peanut butter), a cookies and cream and a salted caramel. Honestly I thought the tiger butter would be my favourite and it is really really really good, but the salted caramel was my favourite! SO good, I will definitely be ordering some more of their vegan bars from their website.

We also of course had to pay a visit to Hannah Banana's stand, as she made our amazing wedding cakes last month and we are big fans! We grabbed a couple of cupcakes, not picture, for a friend of ours working on the Sea Shepherd stand, as she missed out on our wedding cake and we also grabbed a slice of the Speculoos cake and some jaffa cakes. We did have a jaffa cake cake at our wedding, but all the jaffa cakes were eaten before I got a chance to have one, so I was really pleased that Simon spotted these - and they were yummy!!

Lastly, we managed to snag the last Drunken Mushroom Pie from the Mr Nice Pie stand; Simon and I ate this last night and it was really good!

Then before we snuck off, we grabbed a burger to share from Got No Beef (which also had a FroYo section too, but I forgot to get some). Lighting was crap so my pics are not so great, but hopefully you get the idea. This was a tasty burger! We got cheeseburgers, with the mild cheese and all the toppings :)

The lighting really was shite!

So all in all it was really good and worth the trip!

I believe the venue will be different next year, which is probably a good thing. There were definitely a few issues, it was in a nightclub so lighting was low, hence my even shitter photos than ususal and although apparently the venue said the parking was free beforehand, they changed their minds on the day - not the fault of the organisers though and I don't remember it being particularly expensive to park!

Did anyone go? What did you think?

Laters
Sal xXx

What I ate in London!

This past Saturday I went to London to meet up with my friends Jojo and Randi. Jojo has been travelling the world for a while now and I hadn't seen her since last September and it had been even longer I think since I saw Randi, so it was awesome to catch up with them both.

We of course ate some awesome food!

We met at Mildred's in Soho and I had the Polish burger. Which was a beetroot and white bean patty on an awesome focaccia bun, with lettuc and gherkins in and a side of fries with basil mayo. I probably wouldn't normally pick a beetroot burger, but altogether it was great and worked well. Awesome fries too!

The main reason for sticking to Soho was that we wanted to try out Yorica, which is an all vegan, allergy friendly ice cream bar! I got chocolate and caramel flavours of soft serve and for toppings I picked marshmallows and gummy bears! It was SO good. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!

I took some video too, so watch out for a mini vlog soon.

Have an awesome week :)
Sal xXx

Handmade Burger Co

So I've been seeing on various facebook groups for a while now that the Handmade Burger Co has vegan options! Simon and I had a day off work on Friday so we went on a day trip to Reading to find our nearest one.

We are fans of GBK, but their recent idiotic advertising shitstorm and the fact that they seem to have less and less vegan options lately, made us want to try elsewhere.

Back to HBC. They have 7 vegetarian options and 5 of them are vegan! Winners. Also, their fries are vegan and although their onion rings are not labelled veggie or vegan, I looked it up on their allergen menu and it's not because of any ingredients, but because they share a fryer with some non vegan items. If (like me) cross-contamination doesn't really worry you, the onion rings are fair game.

The 2 chilli sauces on the table are also labelled vegan

I went with the veg-mex. I was seduced by the idea of salsa and guac on my burger hahah. It was delicious and I loved the lime on a stick garnish!

I went for Peri Peri seasoned fries to go with it. The seasoning was awesome (really spicy) but the chips I must admit are not as good as GBK's - they were a little bit over-cooked though maybe.

All in all we liked Handmade Burger Co. Simon really enjoyed his burger but not the sides so much. We have 2 GBKs much nearer to us, so I'm not sure that we would always make the extra effort to travel all the way to Reading just for a burger. But it was good and I wouldn't hesitate about eating here again - after all, there are still 4 more burgers for me to try!! :)

Have a good week everyone.

Sal
xXx

Vegan MoFo: Brighton up your day!

haha Brighton Pier - I stole your 'genius' catchphrase!

Can't believe it's Monday already - where are the weeks going??

Yesterday, my friend and I headed down to Brighton for another PPK meet up. We went to the George, which is a veggie pub and has plenty of vegan options on the menu. I went for the chicken style burger with vegan cheese & bacon. Normally I am not a lover of fake meats (especially bacon) or cheese but this burger was really really good. And the cheese tasted scarily real.

We asked what brand they used and they said it was redwoods. Now we just have to work out which variety!

Here's my burger, with fries.

Close up of the burger!


We walked around and went to a few shops and then got cake from the Infinity Cafe to take down and eat on the beach. I got a slice of the banana chocolate chip cake and have to admit, I was disappointed. It was really dense and seemed a bit undercooked. And they were really stingy with the frosting. A bit more would have made it much better.

It was a really fun day and I love Brighton all over again.

Laterz
xXx

Squash tomatoes & stew

Morning all.

What a beautiful bright sunny morning it is! According to the radio station this morning, it is going to be the hottest day of the year so far for us (definitely for southerners at any rate!). Shame I'm at work, but ah well, at least I'm not looking at rain through my window.

There's no stew in this post, but there is squash and tomatoes! Hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

This week I bought a butternut squash and it turned out to be a right bargain. At £1.30, it has featured in a meal for me & my friends on Monday. Butternut Squash Couscous with spicy tofu, roasted asparagus and grilled courgette. The couscous was soooo good, I was wishing me & my friends hadn't finished it off so I could have had some for lunch yesterday. The recipe is at the end of this post. Sorry for crap pic, I was hungry and had hungry friends at my table too, so didn't have time to get a decent pic.



I had loads of leftovers so last night I made some soup with it. Sorry for the crap pic, I took it after I transferred it to a tupperware to bring to work with me today (and it was about 11pm!). Despite the rubbish pic, this tastes great and it was really easy. I already put it on Sparkpeople so I could just add it into my day planner, so if you want the recipe, it's here.


This was actually the first meal I made with the squash (told you it was a bargain!!). It was roasted BNS & aubergine, with soft polenta and mushroom gravy. I know it looks like it's all gravy but there is actually loads of squash hiding under there. And the polenta was soooo good. It's become one of my favourit things lately.


That's 3 things I've done with the squash already - there's still another cup or so left! So I guess I'm having it roasted for dinner tonight! :-)

Last night's dinner was just a quick mish-mash. A seitan sausage, some steamed green veg and corn on the cob and some roasted sweet potato & tomatoes from my garden! YAY.

Here's a pic of the first crop of tomatoes. My chilli plant has also given me some chillis! I'm so excited to use them in something, I dunno what yet though.

And because sometimes you need fast trashy foodz! Friday when I got home from work I wanted something easy & quick before I met my friend for the gym. So I had a Redwoods Food burger with ketchup, mustard, gherkins and tomato. Easy, fast, trashy & awesome.

The fixings....

Assembled.... YUM.

I kinda wish I took a pic of my smoothie this morning cuz it was so awesome. A frozen banana, a cup of chocolate soymilk, a tbsp of protein powder and a dash of cinnamon. YUM.

Lastly, here's the recipe for the couscous. I think the same seasonings would work great with quinoa or brown rice, if you're gluten-free, but obviously the cooking method would have to change.

Roasted Butternut Squash Couscous
2 cups of butternut squash

1 tsp olive oil
1 smallish onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1¼ cups (310ml) veggie stock
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Pinch of red chilli flakes (optional)
3/4 cup dry couscous
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Start by preheating the oven to 200°C/400°F.

Peel & chop the squash into bitsize chunks, put in a roasting tin and spray with a little olive oil and a scant dusting of salt & pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes until tender.

Saute the onion, over medium heat, in the olive oil for a good 7 minues or so then add the garlic and cook a further 2 mins or so. Add the stock and spices and turn down the heat. Leave the stock to simmer for 10 minutes.

Put the couscous in a large bowl and pour the stock over it. (You may need to add some more water, you should have about the same amount of couscous as liquid, by volume.) Mix it well and cover the bowl with a plate or clingfilm. Leave for at least 5 minutes.

Fork through the couscous to fluff it up then add in the cooked squash, mix well with a fork and check seasoning.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Laterz

xXx

Well hellooooo

It's been a while but I am now all moved in, settled and almost completely unpacked!! I just have a few more bits (and a craptonne of bill-shredding) to do! The flat is looking gorgeous and I'm so happy with it! I haven't taken photos yet as it's not all ready but hopefully by next time I'll have some to share.

Also, I had my shoddy tattoo fixed on Friday and it now looks lovely, so once that heals I'll post a pic of that too - YAY!

It's great to have my own kitchen again and I've been really enjoying myself, thinking up menus and cooking. On my second day in the flat, I felt the need to make bread. I had some soup in the fridge and wanted some lovely rolls to go with, so I made some.

They were lovely and crusty but once cold, they were a little too dense so next time, I'll make 8 out of the dough instead of six. I sprayed them with a teeny bit of light olive oil and sprinkled some sesame seeds on them before I baked them.



Last monday, I made Jessy's butterbean burgers, I used yellow pepper and added in some fresh parsley because I had some in the fridge. These are soooo freakin good!



For lunch the next day, I had another patty of the beanburgers left and to make it a bit lighter for lunch, I didn't bother to cook it up, I just mashed half of it with some soya yoghurt to make a sandwich spread. YUM!!!!!! Seriously yum. I did the same with the other half the next day.



I had this big old bag of basil in the fridge becuase it was on special so I bought it and only used a little bit in the soup I made, more on that in a minute. So I thought I'd make some pesto and I had it mixed with some soya yoghurt and some fresh, shelled edamame that I bought in watroise, served over wholewheat rotilli. Nice but the beans were a bit, erm crunchy, despite following the cooking instructions like a good girl!!!


Speaking of soup, this is it. I really struggled to get a good picture of it, as you can see! I roasted up some plum tomatoes and garlic cloves, then added them to my new blender with veggie stock, salt & pepper and a handful of cashews. It was good but my blender really couldn't cope with blending the cashews properly - my trusty old stick blender may have done a better job. It tasted rad though.

I made some VCON chickpea cutlets in the week too. I didn't have any breadcrumbs so I subbed in medium cornmeal. I had to double the water but I really like the flavour of this. It gave them a lovely crunchy edge as well. I always bake my cutlets, as I prefer them this way and I also halved the oil called for in the recipe.

The stir-fry was so good though, that it didn't even really need the cutlet. It was loads of veggies, cooked spelt wheat and some teriyaki sauce. MMM.

This is the spelt wheat - I saw it in Waitrose and had to give it a try - good stuff!!

And this was another Jessy recipe!! Jalapeno polenta with spicy black beans. I added some mushrooms into the black beans and also some fresh parsley as I still had some kicking around. This was gorgeous. I had the polenta cold for lunch the next day and it was just as rad. And the black beans were delicious - definitely a winner!

And shocker - no baked goods (aside from the bread)! I've been really trying to be good, as we have now picked our bridesmaids dresses for October and so I only have 6 months to drop some poundage!! I wonder how long that'll last!!

Freezer Burn

Last time I didn't post any baked goods so today I thought I'd start off with one this time. I mentioned before that I'm moving soon so I'm trying to use up stuff in my freezer and not be wasteful and when digging through my freezer I found a punnet of blueberries and some okara that I froze. So I made some okara brownies and added the blueberries & a tsp of orange extract to them as well. I had to cook them for 45 minutes as well, because of the extra liquid the blueberries provide. That still wasn't really long enough though, they are very squidgy - but I kinda like 'em like that!


This was last night's dinner and I REALLY enjoyed it. Jessy's post about her butterbean burgers made me want beanburgers but I didn't have any butterbeans cooked. I did have cannellini beans though, so I used those instead and because I forgot to print off her recipe, ended up chucking in stuff till it tasted right. So I don't have an exact recipe but in there with the beans went a matzoh, some ketchup, fresh thyme, paprika, an onion and a yellow pepper. Also I didn't have any burger buns, so it went on a folded up deli-wrap (something else I found in my freezer hehe).

Here he is with reggae reggae ketchup (my new favourite thing) and pickles....

And the whole shebang - with roasted potatoes & aubergines and sugar snap peas tossed in a little vegan margarine, sesame seeds & nooch.

This was Monday's dinner. It was a quick curry I knocked up to try and use up some veggies that were in the fridge but I added a bit too much water and it is more like soup. But hey, I like soup so it's all good. This had the other half of some tofu I had over the weekend (found in the overly frosty depths of my freezer, of course!), aubergine, peas, rocket leaves, orange pepper and mushrooms.

I cooked some chickpeas at the end of last week to make soup for mum & dad and I used some of what was left to make hummus. I added LOADS of lemon juice as I like it pretty tangy.


I had a few leftover chickpeas so I just sprayed them with cooking spray and shook in some cumin, paprika, salt, pepper & cayenne and baked them for 20 minutes along with dinner. They were a great snack.

This was dinner one night over the weekend. Just some tofu (the first half of the defrosted tofu that went in the curry) baked with some barbecue sauce spread on it and roasty new potatoes - which were awesome.

And this is a cake I'm working on - spiced apple with toffee sauce. I broke cake making commandment one - I overmixed and it was a wee bit tough. Plus I think there was too much liquid and it wasn't quite cooked enough - but as it was already a bit tough, this is probably a good thing. So the recipe is not ready to share yet but I think it's got potential.

I googled for a while to find the type of caramel sauce I wanted for this and when I tried it, I just ended up with a watery oily mess. So I decided just to wing it and it worked perfectly. It tastes more like dark toffee than caramel, so that's what I'll be a callin it when I get the cake bit right. Watch this space.

Oh and whoever stumbled upon my blog when they were trying to find out “how do u tell a alien how to make breakfast” - I hope you found some instructions!!

That's all folks.