What I Ate Today

I decided to make a youtube video to show people what I like to eat in a day. I'm obsessed with watching these kinds of videos and hopefully this will be the first of many.

'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

Vegan Donuts Recipe

So, it's pretty obvious by my lack of posts that I disappeared from the face of the Earth for the last month. Yep, that's exactly what happened. Anyway, I'm back and I've brought donuts with me, so all of my 1 followers (hi mum) can calm down.

This recipe is an edited version from Mrs Cupcake's The Naughties Vegan Cakes in Town, a recipe book filled with sweets and treats that are completely indulgent and delicious. I've made quite a lot from this cookbook and I'm very pleased with all of the recipes.

My version calls for the juice from a jar of morello cherries rather than vanilla extract. Sometimes you've got to improvise when you don't have all the ingredients. This particular mistake created something beautiful so I had to share it with you.

*Side note. Don't start making these when you're about to go to bed. They take a long time.

So, let's get onto the donuts...

(Makes 8 Donuts & Donut Holes)

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp vegan butter
• 170ml almond milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp morello cherry juice
• 340g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 1/2 tsp dried active yeast
• 100g rapeseed oil (for frying)

For the glaze:

• 120g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp almond milk
• 1 tbsp morello cherry juice

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat. Add the milk, salt, sugar and morello cherry juice but do not boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mix until combined. Add in the butter mixture and kneed for 10 minutes.
3. Leave in a bowl covered with cling film for 1 hour.
4. Roll the dough out until it is 2cm thick. With a large glass, cut into shapes. With a smaller shot glass, cut out a hole in the middle of the circles. Leave to rise for another hour.
5. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the glaze.
6. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium-low heat. Drop in the donuts and donut holes and cook for about 30 seconds on each side or until they are golden.
7. While still warm, coat with the glaze and serve.

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.

Hurraw! Lip Balms

I've been obsessing over Hurraw! Lip balms for over a year now so it feels right that I should rave about them here. Incase you've been living under a rock, Hurraw! is a company that makes raw, natural, vegan lip balms and lately they've been adding new fun flavours and lip balms with different purposes such as the moon balms and sun balms. Ugh, it's just too much for me. I need them all.

So my first question was, what exactly is a moon balm? I'd been using the blue chamomile vanilla moon balm obsessively for a few weeks before looking into it. Basically, you wear it at night. It's longer lasting so you don't have to reapply it very often and it tastes and smells divine.

During the day I like to alternate between the green tea lip balms and any of the nutty ones like the coconut or the almond. I find the fruity ones to be too sickly. I loved the black cherry tinted lip balm at first but then the taste became too sickly and I soon grew to hate it.

The sun balm is another one that basically speaks for itself. It's basically sun tan lotion for your lips. Do I need to say more on the topic?

There's so many flavours so you're always covered. Root beer, mint, liquorice, earl grey, whatever you like, whatever you feel like, Hurraw! have probably made it into a lip balm or are likely going to in the near future. There's so many flavours where I just think, 'really?' and so many others where I think 'YES. Need it' so there's really something for everyone.

I love love love Hurraw! lipbalms, they're a great vegan alternative to chapstick or Vaseline and they taste so good! Everyone needs to own at least one. Or ten.

Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

These were a result of accidentally adding orange essence to cookie dough mixture. Didn't I already tell everyone that I'm terrible at baking? Well, that's irrelevant here because these turned out SO GOOD! I made a gazillion of them and all my meat-eating friends and family said they tasted as delicious as real cookies, if not better.

The only weird ingredient here is egg replacement powder. If you think about it, it's a lot less gross than chicken periods, but if you're not comfortable with egg replacement, I would recommend making flax eggs out of flax seeds and water. Google it. But trust me, egg replacement powder makes these cookies really decadent and delicious.

(Makes 20 Cookies)

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g vegan chocolate chips (if you can get orange flavoured, even better!)
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 75g vegan butter (I use Vitalite)
• 2 1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 75g caster sugar
• 90g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp orange essence
• 3 tsp egg replacement powder
• 3 tbsp lukewarm water

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dairy free butter, rapeseed oil, caster sugar, brown sugar and orange essence. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the egg replacement powder and lukewarm water until light and frothy. Combine with the flour mixture, then add the butter mixture. Stir together until well combined.
6. Form the dough into 20 small balls and place on the baking sheets. Allow a couple of inches in between each cookie to give them room if they want to spread out. Bake for 12-13 minutes. They should be golden and still soft. Flatten them out on a counter and leave them to cool and harden.

March Favourites

Beauty

Deodorant is one product that is really difficult to find a vegan version of. I've tried all sorts of products but my favourite has to be 'Blossom' by Herban Cowboy. It smells floral, is easy to use and has good protection. You can buy it online on Amazon or just have a look on google if you're in the UK and looking for a good vegan deodorant.

My second beauty product of March is Lush's 'Kerbside Violet' perfume. I've been a little bit obsessed with the scent 'Vanillary' for a few months but I became bored with it when every single person started smelling like it. I know it's cliche to say, but I'm a big hipster when it comes to products and as soon as something becomes popular, I get bored. Kerbside Violet is another scent by Lush that is vegan, obviously, and smells divine. It smells exactly like Parma Violets, and it's not too over bearing like other Lush scents. It's slightly less popular than the Vanillary scent, therefore it's better.

Books

This month I've been busy so I've not had much time to read but I have read some of 'Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows' by Melanie Joy. It's a great book if you're interested in the theory behind Carnism and philosophy.