Lentil and Vegetable Pasties

In my year seven food tech class, I was labelled the pasty queen. I burnt my cupcakes, I somehow managed to scramble my quiches and boil my brownies (I know, right? How does that even happen?) But trust me when I say, pasties were my jam.

These pasties were an experiment because I had some random veggies in the fridge and an ever-looming best before date on the puff pastry. I decided to have a little bit of fun and created these magical little things which are, by far, the most delicious things I've ever made.

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of Jus-Rol Puff Pastry
• 1 tbsp of plant based milk
• 2 tbsp of vegan gravy graduals
• 1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
• 1 tsp of nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 potato
• 1/2 carrot
• 100g lentils
• 1 leek
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 1 tsbp of flour

1. Chop the potato, leek and carrots into small cubes. Sweat in a pan with the coconut oil, then pour in some boiling water and boil for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
2. Meanwhile in another pan, cook the lentils for roughly 10-15 minutes. Before you do this, make sure you rinse the lentils as they contain an indigestible starch.
3. Cut your pastry into 6 squares and set aside to soften.
4. Once the lentils and vegetables are cooked, drain the water and mix together in a bowl.
5. Cook your gravy, stock, nutritional yeast and flour together in a new pan, until it is thick and there is no lumps.
6. Pour the gravy over the vegetable and lentil mixture. Mix together and cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. When the mixture is cool, add a spoonful to the middle of the pastry squares and fold down the top corner to reach the bottom corner to make a triangle shape.
8. With a fork, indent a pattern on the edge of the pasty where the pastry meets.
9. With a knife pierce two holes in the top of the pastry. I like to make a 'v' for vegan shape.
10. Brush the pastry with the plant based milk.
11. Cook in the oven on gas mark 7 for roughly 20 minutes or until they are browned. Enjoy!

What I did/ate in Provincetown

From what I've heard, Provincetown is like the Brighton of Massachusetts. All year round, it's pride time and there's no stopping the rainbow flags, the day time drag queens, or the proud flamboyance. However, despite the progressive liberal take, it's still Cape Cod, and that means one thing. You're having fish for dinner. You're a vegan, yeah, we don't care, you're eating fish.

Luckily, thank goodness for Happycow am I right?, we managed to find an amazing little vegan place  called Grab 'n' Go along the main road. I ordered a vegan acai bowl, and if it had not been for the magnificent portion sizes, I would have ordered everything else on the menu. Smoothies, soft serve ice cream, raw vegan tacos, and so much more. My friend ordered a chocolate serve so I did get to try some. Having never been a fan of soft serve, I have to say, that stuff could have turned me.

I have to say, Provincetown was beautiful. It was definitely out of the way but I think it was well worth the drive. There, I purchased a vegan cookbook (you can see it in my bag on the picture above) and I tried paddle boarding for the first time. We hired the boards at Provincetown Aquasports, and the whole experience was extremely well priced. I expected to pay a lot more than $20 for an hour boarding, a locker and a waterproof case to put my phone in. If you're not into paddle boarding, they also offered canoes and kayaks for people a little less lazy than us. If you want to see the video I filmed of our time in paddle boarding, you can watch that here, although be warned, it's a lot of shaky camera work and trying to figure out how GoPros work.

Golden Ponies Shoes

I know, I know, I'm talking about shoes again. I can't stop, guys. I have a real problem.

This shoe brand is a Guatemalan company who make affordable, cutesy made-to-order shoes and accessories including bags, coats, socks and more. You can visit their website here or their etsy account here.

Here is a selection to show you some of their shoes and what they have to offer.

Raspberry, Almond and White Chocolate Smoothie Bowl

I feel like I've outdone myself for this bowl, not only is it delicious and beautiful, it's pink! Pink, guys, get excited. This is the second smoothie of autumn and it's perfect for mornings when you have some extra time, or you're feeling particularly decadent.

Ingredients

• 1 handful of frozen raspberries
• 1 bar of vegan white chocolate (in the UK, these can be found in the freefrom section of supermarkets, but only around Easter and Christmas. Around October time they start selling white chocolate father christmases. I used one of these)
• 10-15 almonds (that have been left to soak overnight)
• 100ml almond milk
• Coconut shavings for garnish
• freeze dried raspberries for garnish (can be found in the baking section of most supermarkets)

1. First, melt your white chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds.
2. In a blender, blend together the almonds, raspberries and almond milk.
3. Pour the smoothie into a bowl.
4. Add the melted white chocolate to the centre of the bowl and create a marble effect with a chopstick or the back of a spoon.
5. Garnish with coconut shavings and freeze dried raspberries.

HOW TO GO VEGAN

This is a post for all of the lovely people thinking about going vegan, but aren't quite sure how. It can be quite daunting at first if you're not used to checking labels or restricting what you eat, but trust me, once you know what you're doing, it's the easiest thing in the world.

The Tree Kisser: Vegan Fashion

Today I want to introduce to you a company that I love. The Tree Kisser. They make beautiful, well-made American Apparel shirts, hoodies, tanks and more. Take a look at some of their designs on their website here or see some of my picks below.

 

Apple and Blackberry Smoothie Bowl

Autumn is officially here. The clouds and rain were so heavy this morning, the so called "natural light" didn't want to cooperate and I was left with a mediocre picture and very little time to eat and get to work.

Enough complaining from me. This is my new seasonal smoothie recipes series. I'm going to make ten recipes per season and to start off Autumn, here is a very simple, fruity recipe to get you in the mood.

Ingredients:

• 1 pink lady apple, cut into chunks (save a small slice for garnish)
• 1 handful of blackberries, washed (save 2-3 for garnish)
• 1 tsbp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 100ml almond milk
• 2 tbsp of soy-based yoghurt. I used Alpro vanilla (for garnish)

1. Add your apple, blackberries, almond milk, maple syrup and cinnamon to a blender and blend until smooth. You can add more almond milk if you prefer a thinner smoothie.
2. Pour into a bowl. Add a dollop of soy-based yoghurt to the middle of the bowl and create a marble effect using a chopstick or the back of a spoon.
3. Garnish with the rest of your apple and the blackberries.