Simple Green Smoothie Bowl

This is a simple delicious with four ingredients that will vitalise you and help you to become the best version of yourself. Add whatever ingredients you want to the top to make it become instagram- worthy. I choose a chopped banana, chia seeds and pomegranate seeds.

Ingredients:

• 4 chopped bananas, frozen for at least 2 hours
• 2-3 bunches of kale
• 100g of coconut water
• 1 tsp of wheatgrass powder

1. Add in the kale, coconut water and wheatgrass powder to your blender. Blend them up.
2. Add in the chopped bananas. Adding them last will make them easier to blend.
3. Pour into a bowl and decorate however you want to make it pretty for the pictures.

How to Make Almond Milk Frothy Barista-Style

This is just a quick how-to on making almond milk look frothy and pretty for instagram purposes. What you'll need is a Kilner jar or an empty jam jar or something similar. Add the amount of milk you want for your tea or coffee, make sure the lid is on tight then shake it up. Then microwave for about 20 seconds with the lid off, then add to your drink.

I sprinkled cinnamon on top of mine. If you have one of those things that create the shapes on top of the froth, definitely use one. I didn't and also, I'm lazy. But I was still very happy with mine anyway.

This method will almost definitely work with whatever type of dairy free milk you're using, not just almond milk.

Fried Plantains

I recently discovered plantains and I fell in love. They look like bananas but they taste like potatoes! It's the weirdest experience for someone who eats a lot of bananas and isn't too cultured when it comes to exotic fruits and vegetables. They're starchy and in my opinion, these fried plantains taste just like chips in the shape of chopped bananas.

I served mine with homemade salsa and guac. Recipes for those might come some time in the future. They don't go too well with the plantains so perhaps they're not the perfect recipes to go side by side.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of olive oil (for a healthier option, try coconut oil)
• 1 plantain

1. Chop the ends of the plantain, then cut a line down the middle, breaking the skin but not digging into the fruit. Then peel it off in one go.
2. Chop the plantain into smaller pieces.
3. In a frying pan, fry the oil then place the plantains in the oil and fry for 2 minutes or until brown on one side.
4. Flip the plantains then fry on the other side for a further 2 minutes.
5. When they're done, place on kitchen roll to drain away the access oil.
6. You're done!

Almond Dream Ice Cream Review

Recently I bought some Almond Dream vegan ice cream from Waitrose and I thought I'd share my opinions here. The flavours available were praline crunch, salted caramel, mint chocolate chip and vanilla. I got praline crunch and salted caramel. They were delicious and creamy.

I particularly loved the way the salted caramel one had drizzles of caramel sauce throughout, my only complaint was that it didn't taste salty at all. It might as well have just been caramel ice cream. The praline one was crunchy and delicious.

I will definitely go for Almond Dream ice cream again simply because the flavours were slightly more interesting than the other vegan ice cream brands in the UK, I just wish they were a little bit cheaper.

Life In Plastic

Anyone who knows me will know I'm obsessed with shoes and my favourite shoe brand of all time has to be Melissas, a Brazilian company who have had numerous designers such as Vivienne Westwood, Karl Lagerfield, Jason Wu and plenty others collaborate with them to make unique, beautiful designs that are unlike any other shoe brand today.

If, like me, you love all things vegan and glamorous, keep reading for my review on Melissa Shoes.

Cacao, Date and Chia Seed Banana Bread

This banana bread is gooey, bananary and packed with goodness. It's oil free and vegan (obvy) and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

• 250g of wholewheat flour
• 50g of raw cacao powder
• 2/3 of baking powder
• 2/3 of bicarbonate of soda
• 3tbsp of chia seeds
• 120g of almond milk (you can use any non-dairy milk)
• 200g of medjool dates (chopped and stones removed)
• 5 ripe bananas

1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line your bread tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a jug with 120g of water, soak your chia seeds for 15 minutes. They should go goopy and start to stick together.
3. Meanwhile, sieve the flour, cacao, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir.
4. In a blender, add the bananas, almond milk and dates and blend together.
5. Pour out the blender mixture and stir into the dry ingredients.
6. Add your chia seed 'eggs' and mix together. Make sure everything is well combined and light and fluffy.
7. Cook in the oven for roughly 45 - 60 minutes. It can vary depending on your oven. I ended up cooking my bread for just over 2 hours. You will know when your bread is done if you stick a cake tester (or a chopstick) into the bread and it comes out clean.
8. Serve with banana slices on top! Or not. This last part is completely optional.

Green Juice

Ingredients:

• 3-4 bunches of kale
• 1 celery heart (with the end cut off)
• 1 large pineapple (with the skin removed)
• 1/2 a large cucumber

1. Juice the kale first. I find it can be messy and leaves jump all over the kitchen and into the jug of juice. So I always juice the kale first so I can pick out any leaves then continue with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Juice the celery, pineapple and cucumber.
3. You're done!

Benefits

• Kale is arguably the healthiest food on the planet. It has vitamins A, K, C and B6, potassium and more calcium than a glass of milk (it has 150mg per 100g while milk only has 125mg).

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

I'm bad at taking pictures of food. Particularly baking. I swear to you, this picture took over half an hour to get right. And it's still rubbish. But, the good news is that the recipe is delicious and not only is it raw and vegan, it's packed with super foods and is perfect for a treat or for entertaining friends.

Ingredients:

• 170g of rolled oats
• 2tbsp of maple syrup
• 140g of raw cacao powder
• 75g of raw hazelnuts
• 170g of raw cashews (soaked overnight)
• 70g of medjool dates (stones removed)
• 50ml of water (alternatively you could use raw almond milk)
• 1 ripe banana
• 2tbsp of coconut oil

1. To make the base, add the oats, dates, hazelnuts and half of the water to a food processor and process till the become a stodgy mixture. You can add more water if you like to get the desire consistency.
2. In a cake tin, scoop out the mixture from the food processor and line the bottom of the cake tin. This will become your base.
3. Store in a freezer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
4. Add the maple syrup, cashews, cacao, coconut oil, banana and the remaining water to a food processor and process till all the ingredients are combined. Again, you can add more water if necessary.
5. Add the next layer to your cake tin and freeze over night.

Good Guys Don't Wear Leather

Today I'm going to review one of my favourite brands of vegan footwear. Good Guys Don't Wear Leather. They are a French company who make gorgeous, classic faux suede and faux patent shoes made from vegetables. They make shoes for all the genders and many of their classic designs are unisex, which is perfect.

I've been wearing my plain black canvas shoes since January, mostly for work (which is a shame because they're the only fashionable part of my uniform) but also for days when I just feel like I need a sturdy, comfy pair of shoes for either nipping to the shops or to uni. They're amazing quality, they can withstand rain and they didn't get ruined when an industrial amount of jalapeño juice exploded on my feet at work (that happens at all work places, right?), I'd recommend them completely.

Although these shoes are on the pricey side (usually around €150 or around €100 for sale items), they're good quality and it's worth investing in if you want a good, sturdy pair of shoes that won't get ruined easily.

Super Healthy Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 4 bunches of kale
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 handful of spinach
• 1 tsp of wheatgrass powder
• 1 tsbp of maple syrup/agave nectar
• 50g of almond milk

1. Steam the kale for 5 minutes, or alternatively, boil for 2 minutes then drain away the water. The kale will taste less leafy this way and make the smoothie extra delicious. It will taste a lot less like sticks.
2. Add the kale, spinach, banana, wheatgrass, almond milk and sweetener of your choice to a blender and blend.

Beetroot, Plum & Ginger Juice

This is the nicest juice in the entire world. Trust and believe.

Ingredients

• 4 large beets
• 6 plums
• 1 unwaxed lemon (the wax often isn't vegan)
• 1 thumb of ginger

1. Cut off the skin from the lemon then add to juicer.
2. Destone the plums then add those to the juicer.
3. Peel the skin from the beetroots then add the skinned beets to the juicer.
4. Finally, add the ginger and then you're done.

Benefits

Beetroot contains potassium, magnesium, iron, antioxidants, folic acids and protein. It has been know to lower blood pressure. And it tastes a-may-zing.

Vegan Lingerie: Lost in Wonderland

I'm a the-knickers-must-match-the-bra kind of girl and I wouldn't be caught dead in nudes, whites or blacks. I'm obsessed with all things girly, cute and lacy. Lingerie lingerie lingerie. All day every day. Unfortunately, most lingerie companies use silk or some kind of non-vegan dyes. It's difficult to find cute, vegan lingerie that isn't boring. But luckily, companies exist and today I want to introduce you to a gorgeous brand that I just discovered. Lost in Wonderland.

They are a German company that make beautiful, sexy, ethical and cruelty-free lingerie for girls who don't want to be caught in boring underwear. Here's a link to their website. And below are some of my favourite designs by them. (Warning: Might not be safe for work)