£10 dinner for 5 people.

5 Housemates £10 = Making a yummy dinner for everyone!

So everyone i live with are omnivores, but they are open to try vegan foods, and so to cheer us all up at the weekend i decided to cook us a budget meal.

Breakdown:

Falafel dry mix: £0.98

Pitta bread packets x2: £0.58 Each

Vegtables mix to roast: £0.75

courgette: £1.00??

Stock cubes: £1.00??

Salad x2: £1.00 Each

Spring onions: £1.00???ish?

Couscous: Free, already had it.

Tomato mixed mushrooms and peppers: Made by Housemate Robyn.

Houmous: Made By Housemate Josh

Everything was cooked with garlic, olive oil, herbs and stock cubes. and it took 45mins!

Sucess!!!!

Oh and everything was eaten!!!

Cookies!

(Who thought about baking cookies in the shape of men? Cannibals perhaps?)

Not Gonna lie, burnt the first batch, but dipped in tea they were EPIC.

• Recepie:
  2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
  1 cup sugar
  1 1/2 cups syrup or melted molasses sugar
  1 1/2 cups vegan margerine
  
  -Mix, roll out, bake at 160 degrees (gas make 5ish?) until they look golden (but not as dark as these!! haha)

I love baking....can you tell???

Growing Up

So i thought i'd do a post about what it was like growing up a vegetarian.

From the age of about nine i stopped eating meat and i didn't eat many eggs, only in baking and such (hate the taist!).
A few of the most hurtful comments came from the most ignorant people, unfortuantly, these people were often family friends and parents of my friends.

• 
  
  I was once told by a man in his 60's who worked for St Johns Ambulance that i was going to die before i got to 50, that i was going to be so weak i would have to be in a wheelchair, that my brain would shrink and i would become mentally incompetant because my body would be so deficciant in nutrience.
  (Whaaat a load of bull! and he apparantly learned this during nursing training??)

• 
  
  Another one i was told was that i would go blind.
  A woman told my mom this, so my mom became very reluctant to allow me from abstaining fish, cheese and eggs.

• 
  
  At a friends house i was told i wasn't allowed to leave the table until i ate the meat they were served, even though i explained i didn't eat meat.

I guess i didn't have it too bad, my mum let me eat what i chose to, but always bought me veggies and nuts and quorn products, and there were a good number of vegetarian children at my school.

People are learning slowly, and now i'm an adult i can make my own choices, bring my own food to events and teach people what i know.

I hope that in another 10 years or so, people will be able to look past all the myths we somehow get sucked into about a vegan diet and a humane lifestyle.

Uk Vegan Make-up

So since i've been vegan i have still been using my previously bought make-up.

NOT because i think it's ok to put crushed up bugs and animal fat on your face, but because throwing it away would be wasteful and because i was not prepared to go out and buy a whole new set of make up.

Since then i have done a little research and as my foundation runs low and i am searching for new eye colours or lipsticks, i can make informed choices.

Even if you're not vegan, buying ethical products helps stop animal cruelty.

Cover-ups:The Animal Aid Shop (animalaidshop.org.uk) do a large range of inexpencive foundations, tinted moisturiser, powders and concealers, although i have not tried them, this liquid foundation is the closest "style" to what i currently use with a loose powder on top to get medium/high coverage.

Urban Decay also have a small range of Vegan cover-up's, i have not used these either, however i have been told by a friend that they are not of a great standard.

Eyes:
BarryM Cosmetics do not test on animals and SOME of their products are Vegan.
Look out on the web link below for more info on which are vegan! (also vegan products come with a little green V)
I have a couple of the Dazzle Dust pots that are Vegan and i swear by them, they really are awesome!

Lips: Detox your World do this range of flavoured vegan lipbalms.

most lip products contain either Beeswax or Lanolin (wool oil).
Though there are Vegan lip balms out there (check links below!)
I have been told by a Vegan friend that some Cath Kidston lip balms are vegan, i can't find an ingredience list though so i have to take her word for it.

Lush Cosmetics also have some, but please check the packet!!!

Toiletries:
Their website is currently down, but LUSH is the only uk highstreet company which not only has none of their products tested on animals, but none of the ingredience have ever been tested either.
All of their products are Vegetarian, and about 75-80% are Vegan. All of which are clearly labelled.

Original Sorce has many vegan products for hair/bath/shower. They are vegan society approved, just check the labels! Some products contain honey.


Links:
www.animalaidcosmetics.org.uk/cosmetics.htm
(Mascara, Brushes, Foundation, Eye shadow, lipstick, nail varnish)

www.urbandecay.com/vegan.cfm
(Eyeshadows, Eyeliner, Mascara, Lipgloss, Bronzer, Mineral make-up, Nail Varnish)

www.barrym.com/info/animal-friendly.asp
(Eye shadows, and other products, slightly confusing list though...)

www.detoxyourworld.com
(bits and pieces, vegan lipbalm)

Happy Annerversary!

(Let's Assume this is a vegan cupcake)

So today is my one month Vegan Annerversary!

(exciting!)

Although i have been vegan before, this is the longest i have been vegan without a slip-up!

Also it means i have been vegetarian for almost 12 years! Thats mad!

I can see this being forever,

With the knowlage out there these days it's easy to see the real facts about nutrition and health.

Although arguably biast, there are also documentaries that expose the true nature of the human race as a consumer.

I know i have a long way to go, and loads more to learn about additives, make-up and beauty products, clothing and ethics, i'm just glad i'm on my way, and not just dealing with the industry how everyone else is, by ignoring what they want to.

So, to any vegan reading this, i have so much respect to you! Because i am climbing the same ladder.

Coconut Curry

ok, granted it looks awful, but whatever.
I'll make it better later and put a recepie with it!

Soup glorious Soup!

My Aunt made me some wonderful Vegtable soup and bread with soya butter so i thought i'd give it a mention!!!
She is a wonderful cook!
Mainly lentils, carrot, aubergine and broccoli!

5 Vegan things I cannot live without!

1. Vegan egg replacer: cannot live without it! How else would i bake??!?
2. Dark chocolate: because it satisfies my chocolate craving and doesn't taist like cardboard...
3. TOFU: because, frakly, you can make anything with it!
4. Pumpkins: Anyone who knows me knows i go mad every autumn because i make a mean pumpkin curry, pie, stirfry and so on...
5. Advacado: Taist great in salads and as a dip!!!
   

LANDAAAAN

ehem, ok so as part of my university course I have to do a 1month work placement.
Meaning I am living in London for the month (woooo)!

Now with no time to shop propperly, I am buying from the M&S across the road.
Hmm....well i figured beforehand, with no time to cook i'd buy those innocent curry pots, but i can't find them close by *sadface* so i spent a good 20mins looking for vegan M&S options.

Basically my diet consists of:
Nuts
salad pots
fruit

epic.... *another sadface*
I miss cooking already!!!!
Gonna pick up some soup and bread for dinner. Need bread.....!

Coconut cakes!

To make 12 coconut cakes:

• 2 "eggs" worth of egg replacer + water
• 4oz self-rasing flour
• 4oz sugar
• 4oz vegan butter
• 2-3oz shredded dried coconut
• dark chocolate

To cook:

• Mix everything dry in a bowl, then mix with butter, then add water last till a smooth-ish texture.
• Scoop into the cases
• bake at 180 degrees for about 30mins, or until brown
• melt dark chocolate over a bowl of hot water
• drizzle with a spoon!
  

These cakes turn out really light and fluffy! I have baked vegan cakes for years and can never get this light fluffy texture without the use of egg-replacer, i have tried oil, soya milk and banana alternatives but egg-replacer works best in my opinion!

Even my non-vegan housemates love them! (in fact i had to cook two batches in two days!)

Banana Bread!

Ok, so it was supposed to be banana cake, but i apparantly forgot how to cook it and had banana bread instead.

go figure.

I can't tell you how to make it because i didn't mesure anything o.O but i can tell you whats in it!

• Molasses sugar
• 3banana's
• 2 teaspoons of oil
• self-raising flour
• baking powder

Think thats it... if you think anything here isn't vegan, hit me up, there are always those sneaky little non-labled things.

It wasn't bad, if left overnight then sliced thinner, it makes a good sweet breakfast bread for jam!

An introduction.

Welcome to my vegan blog!

Me:

I am a student studying fashion design, I live in a house with lots more wonderful students, none of which are veggie or vegan. I like tea-cups, sewing, tattoos and cats.

I also love cake and desserts

(i will try and make a vegan version of everything i swear...).

Why I am Vegan:

I was brought up a meat-eater, at the age of 9 I stopped eating meat, from the age of 16 i have yo-yo-ed from veggie to vegan to lacto-ova-something or others and so on.
I have decided (at the ridiculous age of 20) to get on it and finally beat those vices and become a full time Vegan.
I also watched Earthlings, a highly-biast vegan pushing doc. about how humans use animals.
It works.
Don't wanna go back to animal products? Watch Earthlings.
oh yeah "why" i'm vegan:
Because it's a better way to treat yourself and the rest of this world.
Have some respect!
(i'm not gonna get philisophical don't worry, if you go vegan, you know your reasons)

Why I made this Blog:

• I like blogging.
• I have alot of things to talk about.
• I ask alot of questions.
• I LOVE to cook.
• More people need to know Veganism is easier than you think!
• It's fun.

Yeah you probably think i'm a hypocrite:

• Tattoos are not very often vegan.
• I did not throw out all my non-vegan belongings, i see no point in creating more landfills because i changed my moral views.
• I will buy second-hand non-vegan clothing products, it's recyling, thats my personal moral view.