Tomato and Basil Soup

I am back with my Recipes That Cost Less Than £1 series with a classic. Good ol' tomato soup. If you think there's nothing special about soup, you'd be wrong. This recipe is simple, easy to prepare (although it does require a blender so keep that in mind) and it's cheap as chips (except much much cheaper than chips). I hope you enjoy!

(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 400g Sainsburys basics chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 400ml Vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 handful of chopped basil

1. Add the olive oil and the onions to a large pan and cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until they are browned.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and stock. Once boiling, simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if you wish.
3. Add the basil and leave to cool.
4. Once cooled, add the soup into a blender and blend until smooth.
5. Reheat on the stove, this time be careful not to boil and serve when hot.

The Maths:

• 400g Sainsburys basics chopped tomatoes cost £0.35
• 1 onion (roughly 20p depending on where you buy them from) halved is £0.10
• Marigold Swiss vegetable Bouillon is £2.00 for 150g. We're using 1 tsp, so that is 5g. This is £0.06
• 100ml of olive oil cost £0.32. Tbsp converted into ml is 17ml per tbsp = £0.06
• Sainsburys fresh basil costs £0.80 in a packet. We would use about 1/4 of this which is £0.20. If you want to save even more money, consider growing your own basil or purchasing a basil plant.

All together this adds up to 79p

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.

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.

My Vegan Shoe Collection

Where to buy all the shoes featured in this video:

Flats

•  Black & Pink Jason Wu Melissas (I can't find these exact pairs anywhere, but you can find similar styles here and here)
• Jason Wu Pink sandals. Same as above, I can't find the exact pair but there's lots of similar styles still available.
• Black Melissas with Spikes (Not exactly the same pair, but extremely similar: here)
• Purple Melissa Brogues were by Alexander Herchcovitch but I don't think they're available anymore.
• White Kerol D Moon Shoes (here)
• Zodiac Kerol D Shoes (here)
• Kerol D Holographic Sandals (here)
• Good Guys Don't Wear Leather Shoes (here)
• Running Shoes (here)

Heels

• Stella McCartneys (I can't find the exact shoe but yoox sells cheap Stella shoes from a few seasons ago here)
• Red Melissas (No longer available but here are some similar shoes)
• Mink Shoes (Neither pair are still available but you can look for new Mink Collections here)
• Red Velvet Kerol D Shoes (here)
• Pink Aubrey Kitching Kerol D Shoes (here)
• Betsey Johnson Leather (NOT VEGAN) (available here)
• Iron Fist Skull Booties (I don't think these are available anymore but you can find other Iron Fist Shoes here)
• Cri De Coeur Heels (here)
• Cri De Coeur Blue Boots (exact pair no longer available but this is a very similar black pair)
• Beyond Skin Romy&Michelle-esque (here)
• Jeffrey Campbell (exact pair is no longer available but here is the rest of the collection)
• Jean Paul Gaultier (I can't find the pair in gold but here is a green pair)
• Vivienne Westwood Black skull heels (here)
• Vivienne Westwood Melissas (I can't find a white pair but here is a discounted black pair)

'Cheezy' Tagliatelle with Spinach

This recipe is creamy and full of flavour. It's perfect if you're missing cheese or fancy making something inexpensive and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 50g tagliatelle
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sun dried tomato paste
• 25g fresh spinach
• 100g soy/almond milk
• the juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

1. In a frying pan, stir together the margarine and flour until it creates a yellow paste. Stir in a quarter of the soy/almond milk, slowly. Add in the lemon juice and season with pepper.
2. Meanwhile, cook the tagliatelle according to packet instructions
3. Stir in the sun dried tomato paste to the 'cheese' mixture and continue to add the rest of the milk slowly. Stir constantly.
4. When the tagliatelle is cooked, drain and set aside.
5. Add the spinach to the cheese mixture and cook for 1 minute.
6. Mix together the tagliatelle to the cheese mixture and remove from the heat/ Mix until well combined then serve.

How I did the maths:

• 500g tagliatelle costs 85p in Sainsburys. We're using 10% of this, so this is 8.5p. Rounded up to 9p.
• flour + margarine + pepper = roughly 5p
• sun dried tomato paste costs £1.50 for 90g. We're using roughly 5g. This is 1/20 so this costs roughly 8p.
• 100g fresh spinach costs £1 in sainsburys. We're using 1 quarter. = 25p
• Almond milk costs £1.70 for 1l. We are using 1/10 so this is 17p.
• 1 lemon costs 35p.

All together this recipe costs 99p

Which Non-dairy Milk is Best?

If you're new to the vegan lifestyle, you might be confused as to why we have loads of different milks and what they're all for and which one is best for you? Here's a handy guide to help you understand the top six* non-dairy milks.

Keep in mind this list was created by someone who has never liked cows milk. Grossness. You won't find any comparisons here.

*If I made a list about ALL the milks, we'd be here forever. Trust me, there's so many options for vegans, guys. Too many options.

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!

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.

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.

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)

Vegan Sushi Recipe

One of my favourite things to make is sushi. It's perfect for when you've got a hodge-podge of ingredients and you don't know what to do with them. I'm going to teach you how to make plain sushi with just rice and nori, and then give you ideas on what to add to them.

(Makes 2 sushi rolls)

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of nori
• 100g of sushi rice
• soy sauce, as much or as little as you desire.

1. Cook the sushi rice according to packet instructions. I found the best way is to wash the rice by adding it to a sieve and rinsing it 3 - 4 times, then adding it to a pan with 200g of boiling water, cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat (make sure there is no remaining water in the pan) and leave to cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
2. place the rice on the lower half of the nori. It must go all the way to edge.
3. If you want to add any extra ingredients, now is the time. Add them to the lower half of the rice.
4. Wet the tip of the plain nori side with a tsp of water.
5. Roll up the sushi, from the rice side first.
6. With a sharp knife, cut the sushi into pieces. If your knife is not sharp enough, the nori will tear so make sure it is a very good knife.
7. Drizzle with soy sauce.

Fillings Ideas

• Papaya is fleshy, slimy and pink so it's the perfect substitute for fish. Add some papaya, mint and carrot slices to your sushi if you're a fan of the fishy sushi.
• Avocado is perfect for lovers of creamy sushi. Add some chives and tomatoes for a delicious treat.
• Many sushi places use egg in vegetarian sushi. Vegans can replace the egg with cooked, scrambled tofu.

DON'T SUPPORT LIME CRIME!

I decided to create this blog to show off incredible vegan products whether they be food brands, makeup, clothing companies, etc. I wasn't planning on writing negative reviews simply because I don't see the point. If I love a product, then it's worth my time. If it's not, then it's not worth writing about. But with Lime Crime, I've decided to make an exception to my rule. If you don't like negativity, maybe it's best not to read this. I have decided that Lime Crime is a company too corrupt to not write about and I can't risk anyone believing that this company is really as cruelty free as they say they are.

Yes, they've done some shady things in the past. All of these things will be listed below under the cut. But more recently, they have put the bank accounts of their supporters in danger and it is NOT OKAY. Basically, if you don't want your credit card details sold by a sociopathic CEO, don't buy any Lime Crime products.

Prior Park + February OOTD = Red Riding Hood

I don't think I've ever seen such miserable weather in Bath, but nethertheless, my mum was visiting, so we went to Prior Park and ate lots of vegan food. Despite the weather, it was a really cute morning/afternoon.

Read more for what I ate and my outfit of the day!

Black Forest Vegan Cupcakes

I am not a baker. But some people have mentioned to me that the dessert section of my blog is a little bit dessert-ed. HA! I make puns as often as I bake so you guys better appreciate my efforts.

These are gorgeous little black forest cupcakes that are completely vegan and egg free. I hope you enjoy them!

(Serves 12)

Ingredients:

• 230 ml of almond milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 150g of granulated sugar
• 80ml of rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 130g of plain flour
• 45g of cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp of baking powder
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 40g of frozen cherries
• 1 tbsp of morello cherries juice
• 12 morello cherries for garnish

For the butter icing:

• 140g of vegan butter
• 200g of icing sugar
• 80g of cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp of morello cherries juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180c / gas mark 4 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cups.
2. In a bowl whisk together the milk and vinegar and leave to one side to curdle.
3. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and morello cherry juice to the milk and vinegar and beat together until they foam.
4. In a separate bowl sieve flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Add in the frozen cherries and mix together.
5. Add the wet ingredients in 2 - 3 batches and stir till they are combined and you have no lumps.
6. Pour the ingredients into the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. When cooked, stick a toothpick in the centre and if it comes out clean, they are cooked, if not, cook for a further 5 minutes or till the toothpick comes out clean.
7. Transfer to a cooling rack and wait till they are completely cool.
8. In a bowl, mix together the butter icing ingredients and whisk till it is smooth.
9. Lather on the butter icing to the cupcakes and garnish with a morello cherry.

UK Vegan Toothpaste Brands

Before I went vegan, I tried to make a conscious effort to buy products that weren't tested on animals. Or at least I did for the obvious stuff, makeup, shampoo, skin care, etc. But there's so many things you just don't think about. One of those things is toothpaste. You buy brands like 'Colgate' and 'Aquafresh' because they're easy, cheap and always around in supermarkets. BUT, these brands test on animals unnecessary.

It's not vivisection like the naive mind would imagine. It's not cute animals getting a dental treatment. It's brutal and entirely unnecessary. If you want to get more informed on vivisection, I'd recommend watching this video. (Click the link)

Luckily, there are options! Below I've listed three of my favourite inexpensive toothpaste brands that happen to be both cruelty free and vegan!

Green People

Green People make loads of Earth-friendly vegan products and I feel like I need to rave about them to you UK vegans for multiple reasons, not just for their toothpaste. But let's stick to the topic here.

They make different flavours, minty cool, citrus and aloe vera, peppermint and aloe vera and fennel and propolis (stay clear of this one unless you know for a fact you love fennel). They also have a range of children's toothpastes, all of which are organic, fair trade, vegan and cruelty free. What more could you ask for? Oh, they're also amazing for sensitive teeth too, and this is coming from someone who has really bad sensitive teeth.

All of the Green People products are available from their website. Click the link here.

Sarakan

Sarakan is another toothpaste brand that is vegan and cruelty free. As well as toothpaste, they also have mouthwash that is free from all the nasties you'd imagine popular toothpaste brands stay clear of.

You can buy Sarakan toothpaste and mouthwash from Holland and Barrett or online at their website. Click the link here.

Lush Toothy Tabs 

So they're not exactly toothpaste but I wanted to introduce you to something a little different. These are Lush's Toothy Tabs. They are easy to store, vegan and cruelty free (of course) and the packaging is cardboard therefore recyclable. They come in loads of scents and flavours (it's Lush, expect weird ones) so there's something for everyone.

In my experience of using these, I came across a few positives and negatives. Let's hear the bad news first; they taste a little bit like eating a bath bomb for the first few times using it and it feels unnatural, but you do eventually get used to this. Another thing is if you get the packaging wet, the tabs tend to merge together and you are left with 30 out of the 40 toothy tabs promised and the rest makes a soggy mush at the bottom of the packet.

However, I did like these. I felt like they not only cleaned my teeth, but my entire mouth. No mouthwash was required. I also like how little the packaging it, they are perfect for travelling. It feels weird going back to normal toothpaste after you've tried these.

You can buy them at your nearest Lush shop, or online here.

Fusilli with Vittoria Tomatoes, Kale and Balsamic Vinegar

The recipe is simple, easy and delicious! It's not incredibly time consuming and it only has a few ingredients. Let's get started.

Ingredients

• 100g of vittoria tomatoes, halved
• 100g of wholewheat dried fusilli
• 2-3 handfuls of kale. You can add more or less depending on your preference.
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp of aged balsamic vinegar (try to find a good quality balsamic. You'll really be able to taste the difference)
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180c or gas mark 5
2. On a baking tray, lay out the tomatoes face up, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Add some salt to draw out the moisture and cook in the oven for 30 minutes
3. Meanwhile, cook the fusilli in pre-boiled water for roughly 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Drain and set aside
4. In a frying pan, add the remaining oil and sauté the garlic for 1 minute
5. Add the kale to the frying pan and the balsamic vinegar. Sauté for 5 minutes
6. Drain the oil from the tomatoes and add the tomatoes and fusilli to the frying pan with the kale and garlic. Mix together then serve.