Kris's cruelty free Kitchen

Kris's Cruelty Free... Bathroom and Make-up bag!

2009-12-27T16:58:00.003Z

For a change of subject, I love trying out new toiletries and cosmetics, so I've decided to post a list of my favourites. So, in no particular order...

Barry M 3-in-1 mascara- I don't wear a lot of makeup for everyday, but having very light blonde eyelashes, I feel rather naked without my mascara! (I've tried dyeing them, but I like the volume mascara gives too). Just one coat gives a nice amount of volume that isn't too heavy for everyday wear, and it also lengthens and curls, so no need for curlers. Fellow spectacle wearers will also love that it dries nicely and won't smudge all over your glasses. Available from their own website, as well as www.veganstore.co.uk and Boots and Superdrug on the high street.

Lush hair products for blondes- I absolutely love their The Blonde solid shampoo and Marilyn hair moisturiser pre-shampoo treatment. Like a lot of people's, my blonde hair has darkened as I've got older, and I've lightened it with highlights loads of times over the years. I was considering getting some more to brighten my mousy hair up a bit, but using these products gives me a a brighter, lighter colour after a while so I'm now a lot happier with my hair colour, and it's cheaper and less damaging than having it bleached at a hairdressers. They both smell pleasantly of camomile and remind me of baby shampoo.

I also really like their Veganese conditioner. I have very fine hair and I find a lot of conditioners can be too heavy, but this stuff is really light and leaves my hair soft and shiny but doesn't weigh it down. Has a nice fresh citrussy smell of lemons.

I love Montagne Jeunesse Moisture Miracle intensive conditioner and serum sachets. It leaves my hair in great condition and smells gorgeous and chocolate-y. Great stuff, I only wish they made it in big huge tubs as well as wee one use sachets!

Co-op own brand sensitive toothpaste- this stuff really works for my sensitive teeth, they had been incredibly sore for a while but after using this they hardly bother me. It's also cheap and tastes minty fresh.

I also love co-op's own brand anti-perspirant deodorants and body sprays, which come in a variety of light, freshscents, all of which I've liked so far. The anti-perspirants last ages and don't leave white marks, and are pretty cheap too.

I use Simple facial wipes or eye make up remover liquid(*I looked for a link and they seem to have discontinued this product :( , although they do have a new lotion version which I think I'll try next time), as I have very dry sensitive skin around my eyes and these are effective and don't irritate my skin. I also like their Kind to eyes soothing eye balm.

Jay uses Simple's Anti-Dandruff shampoo which is very effective at getting rid of dandruff. It's also unscented, which is a bonus as many anti-dandruff shampoos have a strong, often unpleasant medicated smell.

We both use Original Source shower gels which smell delicious. (And I use the men's ones as well as the women's!) Their minty ones are especially great for summer as they're cooling and tingly! They used to make a tingly mint deodorant spray, now discontinued, which I wish they'd bring back.

This weird and wonderful product, Montagne Jeunesse's Chantelle blueberry refreshing foot talc, which is a lotion that magically transforms into a talc when massaged into the feet, tingles and cools gently, feels great and is ideal for doing foot massages with. Jay and I both love it.

For Fox sake back the ban!

2009-12-26T17:56:00.003Z

http://www.backtheban.com/home

If you don't want want to see the hunting ban repealed, then please sign the petition at the link above, and write to your local MP and candidates about this issue(the site has a feature which allows you to do this online).

Xmas potluck pics! With added cute!

2009-12-22T21:36:00.004Z

I've got some photos from the Scottish Vegans' Xmas potluck, hosted by Penny of Scottish Vegan Homemaker and family, including this cute one of Susie the cat, above, peeking at as shyly from the stairs...
The cats might have been shy, but I got cuddles from doggies Daisy and Bobby, pictured above, snuggling in front of the heater....Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 13 month old Bree, daughter of the Two Vegans at Leaves and Twigs, was singlehandedly proving that veganism IS healthy for kids of all ages! :)

Here's the spread of just some of our feast... I brought the vanilla sandwich cookies in the tartan tin. There's also lemon curd tartlettes, chocolate, pecan and pear cake, 2 pumpkin pies, banana cake with chocolate chips, nut roast stars, cranberries and oatcakes in the picture, and we also had soup, roasted veg, snow day pie, spicy carrot dip with breadsticks, stromboli, Catalan chickpeas, and cacao and peanut ice-cream (not pictured, sorry, was too busy eating!)

Apologies again for the lack of recent posts, I'm still alive and well, though I've been busy and knackered (being behind a till this time of year will do that to you! ;) ) doing overtime at work so I haven't had the time for doing experimental cooking and blogging about it, although my hours will be cut after xmas so hopefully I'll post more often in 2010!

Restaurant Review- Chapter One, Forres

2009-11-10T20:44:00.003Z

Jay, his parents and I have just come from a lovely meal in Chapter One, an omni restaurant in Forres, in the north of Scotland, as we're up visiting them. His mum booked a table in advance asking if they could cater for two vegans in the party, and was told that was fine.

The Vegan Banquet, made specially for us, went above and beyond our expectations. We're so used to getting measly portions and still being hungry afterwards in omni restaurants so we were delighted to receive huge, enormous potions, which included a spicy mushroom and nut paella, mushrooms in a tomato-based sauce, stuffed tomatoes with a caramelised onion filling, asparagus-filled filo pastry and vegetable skewers. We gave his parents a little off our plates to try and they both found it delicious as well. :)

I'm going to award Chapter One an impressive 10/10 for their efforts, and I highly recommend booking in advance and paying them a visit if you're ever up this way.

Animal Lovers' Fayre!

2009-10-31T22:02:00.002Z

There's a Fayre tomorrow Sunday 1st November from 12 noon-5 pm in the basement of Stereo, 20-28 Renfield Lane, Glasgow to celebrate World Vegan Day organised by The Glasgow Vegan Meetup Group. There will be animal welfare stalls (info tables/displays with free leaflets, etc), a vegan art & craft stall, charity jumble sale, free films & snacks & 4 competitions with prizes. And upstairs at Stereo as it's World Vegan Day there will be 1/2 price food all day! A great day out and celebration of being vegan! :)

I've made this batch of choc chip cookies for the Scottish Vegans' bakery stall, and Penny of Scottish Vegan Homemaker is also bringing a variety of goodies- so be there if you want to sample some of our baking!

Potluck pics, Po-Jay-Toes, "Cheese"cake!

2009-09-26T20:49:00.003+01:00

I was at another Yahoo! Scottish Vegans' Potluck today at Norma's, and here is a spread of just some of the tasty vegan food I was sampling...
I brought some Jammy Almond cupcakes, pictured above, my own adaption of Veganomicon's Jelly Donut cupcakes which I wrote about in my last post, and some chocolatey chilli, a spicier version than I usually make for Jay.
It was my 29th birthday a few days ago, and I got a birthday raspberry "cheese"-cake by Mama Cucina from Holland and Barrett, pictured above. It was expensive at £3-99, but delicious!
Sorry for the terrible photo here, I was halfway through eating dinner when i remembered to take it! I've been working late and coming home to tasty dinners cooked by my boyfriend Jay, like these baby potatoes, sliced into smaller pieces for extra crispiness and roasted in olive oil, black pepper, sea salt and thyme and roasted at 220C for 35 mins. I've named them Po-Jay-Toes after him and made him promise to make them frequently! They're served here with a grassingtons "peppered beef-style steaks" roast frozen parsnips, and there were some runner beans on the plate too before I took the picture.

Happy Accidents! Baked Tatties!

2009-08-30T19:42:00.005+01:00

A while ago I started making Jelly Donut Cupcakes from Vegaomicon... then realised as I'd started putting the ingredients together that I was out of vanilla extract! I ran to my local branch of Spar just across the road to remedy this, but they were also out of vanilla!
I wondered how I could adjust the recipe and decided to try flavouring my cupcakes using almond extract instead of the vanilla, and just omitted using the nutmeg- and it worked beautifully, giving my cupcakes a lovely combination of jam and almond sponge flavours reminescent of a bakewell tart.
Now, whenever I make these cupcakes, I follow my own almond variation, which I actually prefer to the original. I'm quite glad now that I ran out of vanilla that day!
Next time I make these, I think I'll try sprinkling some chopped almonds on top too...
There's a Lurpak butter ad showing on TV just now where they insist baked potatoes are best baked in the oven, and not in the microwave. To some extent I agree with this as I don't like microwaved tatties either, but I start mine in the microwave for 5-10 mins depending how many tatties I have to bake, then finish them off in the oven for about 30-40 minutes to speed up the process, yet still get that lovely crispy, baked jacket effect.
I refuse to put Lurpak on my tatties however, as it's definitely not vegan!
We had these with a coleslaw homemade with Mayola vegan mayo(sorry, we were too busy eating and I forgot to take another photo!), but there are also vegan alternatives to butter such as Pure or Vitalite that can be used.

I've made 3 posts in this week alone since I've been on holiday, but as I'm back to boring work tomorrow and out the house for about 11 hours a day, sadly they'll be less frequent again as all work and no play makes for a slow blog! :(

Visit to Wagamama's, and making cupcakes at my mama's house!

2009-08-29T20:33:00.004+01:00

This photo of me (sorry if anyone finds the image disturbing!) was taken at Wagamama's restaurant in Glasgow, where I was trying to eat some very tasty vegan Saien Soba with chopsticks and a wooden ladle-thingybob.

Although they are an Omni restaurant, Wagamama's cater for vegans as well as other dietary requirements, and even though many items aren't vegan on the menu, you can ask the staff and they will suggest how they can adjust things for you- Jay and I both had Saien Soba soup(which the menu describes as "whole wheat noodles in a vegetable soup topped with fried tofu, beansprouts, courgettes, asparagus, red onion, leeks, mushrooms, mangetout and garlic. garnished with spring onion") without the soba noodles as they contain egg, and had Udon noodles in it instead.

Our meal was delicious and we'd both definitely go back there. We were especially impressed with their deep fried tofu. Here's a shot of Jay getting to grips with some chopsticks...

This little bottle contains coffee flavoured balsamic vinegar, which may sound like an odd combination but it tastes great! I got it in Oil and Vinegar, where they sell many other kinds of weird and wonderful flavours of these such as chocolate or strawberry flavour balsamic vinegars as well. I tried a few of the tasters but I liked the coffee one best.

This is an experimental Triple Chocolate Cupcake which I made a batch of at my family's house while I was visiting a few days ago and my wee brother asked me to give him a hand making cakes. Alas, there was no vegan marge, soya milk nor baking soda, but there was plenty vegan chocolate so we managed to come up with this recipe, which worked rather well!

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 12 )

200g flour
100g sugar
2tsp baking powder

4 tbsp cocoa

4 tbsp veg oil
200ml water
2tsp vanilla essence

50g vegan chocolate, broken into small chunks(alternatively use chocolate chips)

100g vegan chocolate(melted to ice- optional)

-preheat oven to 180C, arrange cupcake cases
-sift dry ingredients together
-stir in wet ingredients then add chocolate chips
-spoon into cupcake cases, bake for 25-30 mins, then leave to cool

-ice if desired by melting more chocolate and drizzling over the top of your cooled cupcakes. Leave to cool until the chocolate cools and hardens, then enjoy!

More from my new toy!

2009-08-26T13:45:00.002+01:00

Tasty homemade hummus, based on the recipe in Dino Sarma's Alternative Vegan, with some whole chickpeas on top for garnish. (I got the garnish idea from a ready-made moroccan style spicy hummus that I buy from Sainsbury's, but my chickpeas were a little bland so I don't recommend doing that unless your hummus is spicier- we enjoyed the hummus it underneath though!) Jay says it is on a par with shop-bought hummus- high praise indeed! :)

Tasty vanilla cupcakes (Golden Vanilla cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World) iced with my own experimental recipe of...

Extra creamy icing
2 tbsp vitalite,
2 tsp alpro soya cream,
1/2 a cup of vanilla essence
2 cups of icing sugar.

-combine the above ingredients, then ice cupcakes.
This tasty drink was a tropical smoothie, with frozen mango, papaya, pineapple and banana, with orange juice. The frozen fruit was bought ready to blend in a bag from Morrisons(see photo below, right) which I'd never heard of before but spotted while looking for frozen blueberries and was only £1-69 for a 500g bag- cheaper than fresh! And it's less prep work, plus being frozen as well as lasting longer it made the smoothie lovely and cool without needing any ice or refridgeration. I'd definitely buy this again. 5/5

My New Toy! (Cheers Norma! :))

2009-08-16T10:45:00.004+01:00

When my friend Norma got one of the legendary(amongst vegan bloggers!) Vitamix food processors, she very kindly gave me her Breville food processor- and while it may not sing, dance and heat up soup, it does make a nice smoothie!(see above pic) This is the first thing I've done on it, and there are more posts of processed food coming soon!

This here smoothie has plums, nectarines and orange juice(see below). For more interesting smoothie combos check out Penny's Smoothie Of The Day at the bottom of every post on her Scottish Vegan Homemaker blog.

Compassionate Living Fayre Food!

2009-07-24T20:39:00.002+01:00

Compassionate Living Fayre Summer '09
Sat 25th July 09. 10.30am – 5.30pm
St Augustine's Church Hall, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

I've been busy baking for the Scottish Vegans' Stall for this fayre(details above) tomorrow- the picture above is a very large stockpot full of cake batter as my usual big pyrex mixing bowl still wasn't quite big enough to fit multiple portions in at once!
Here are the finished cupcakes all ready to go- it's the Jelly Donut cupcakes from Veganomicon, and I've also made some Chewy Raisin Oatmeal Cookies from the same book (same ones as I made last week for the potluck, but following the recipe properly this time so without the cranberries!).

Reggae Reggae Review and Potluck Food!

2009-07-18T19:38:00.003+01:00

Although I haven't blogged since the last potluck a month ago, I am still alive- just been busy doing loads of overtime at work! Anyway, I'm taking this curry and these cookies, pictured above, to the Yahoo! Scottish Vegans potluck at Penny's tomorrow.

The curry is based on this vegan society leaflet recipe, but instead of using ordinary chickpeas, I've used brown Kala Chana chickpeas(they're Pride tinned, and I got them in Morrisons' ethnic foods aisle) and IMHO they're nicer than regular ones!

The cookies are Veganomnicon's Chewy Raisin Oatmeal cookies, and I've mixed up dried cranberries with the raisins, and added double the spices for extra spiciness!
This here is tofu and onions in Reggae Reggae cooking sauce, served with rice and peas. I've loved all the varieties of Reggae Reggae Sauce I've tried so when I saw their new cooking sauces, on offer in Morrisons' at 2 for £3, I bought them to try! It's a bit pricey, even when offer, but I loved this one too- very, very spicy but is absolutely delicious, and very similar to their ketchup sauce in taste. 9/10

Review for the Caribbean Curry variety coming up soon!

Potluck pics...

2009-06-20T23:02:00.003+01:00

The potluck was a sucess with lots of good company and tasty vegan food! On the spread on the table are Jane's peanut butter cookies, Penny's lentil and sunflower bake, Norma's Upside-down pear cake, Sooz's brownies and sausage rolls, as well my things I posted in yesterday's entry.

Not shown in the pic (as they were still heating up while I took it- d'oh!) but also worth a mention (and a thank you for bringing as they were yummy!!), were Norma's chilli and tortillas, and Sylvia's corn chowder and baguettes.
Sylvia with Johnny Norma and Sylvia
Sooz, Penny, Jane and John

Luckily there aren't any scary pics of me!! :)
Thanks again for coming guys!

This isn't a pic from the potluck, it's Ryvita with new Pure "cream cheese" spread and strawberry jam- very tasty indeed! I love the new Pure spread myself and would score it 4/5, although I've read mixed reviews for it. It is rather sweet and I'm not sure whether it'd work quite so well as a savoury, but if you're using it in a sweet dish like I did then it's delicious.

Potluck preview...

2009-06-19T22:33:00.004+01:00

Long time no post, but I'm still alive, just been super-busy lately! I'm hosting a potluck for the Yahoo! Scottish Vegans group tomorrow and here's some of the food I've made for it...

Pictured above are my own recipe lemon and poppyseed muffins...
A tomato-tahini pasta bake with breadcrumbs-( it's this recipe, then put in a casserole dish, cover with breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of nutitional yeat, and bake for 30-40 mins at 220 C)
Bird's eye chilli pasta salad, following a serving suggestion on the packet... definitely not for the faint-hearted as these chillis are HOT!
And last but not least, some chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing! As seems to be compulsory when I make things for potlucks, this is the one that went a bit wrong as the frosting was a lot runnier than I'd intended it to be, and it was in an icing syringe by then so it was too late to fix! Luckily it still tasted fine though!

Nibbling on cookies with cacao nibs!

2009-04-26T15:23:00.003+01:00

I bought a bag of Suma cacao nibs- chocolate in it's purest form!- from a local health food store and decided to make cacao nib cookies with it. I made two kinds, a chewy chocolate cacao nib cookie, above, and oatmeal chocolate cookies, pictured below.

Here are the recipes for both...

Chewy chocolate cacao nib cookies....

115g margarine

125g sugar

1 tsp molasses

2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 tsp almond essence

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

100g cacao nibs

-preheat oven to 190 C

-in a small bowl, mix margarine, sugar, molasses and vanilla and almond essences

-in a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa baking soda and salt

-add small bowl of mixture and cacao nibs to large bowl and mix well

-scoop spoon sized portions into your hand, roll the dough into a ball and flatten then place on cookie sheet

- bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are slightly browned, and let cool before removing

Oatmeal chocolate cacao nib cookies

1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup cacao nibs

-preheat oven to 190 C

-in a small bowl, mix oil, sugar, maple syrup, soy milk and vanilla essence

-in a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt

-add small bowl of mixture, oats and cacao nibs to large bowl and mix well

-scoop spoon sized portions into your hand, roll the dough into a ball and flatten then place on cookie sheet

- bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly browned, and let cool before removing

When Things Go Wrong In The Kitchen...

2009-04-17T21:55:00.005+01:00

I've not had a "when things go wrong in the kitchen" post for a while, so here it is, as luck would have it, the night before the potluck! Why is it that something you've made a few times goes smoothly when it doesn't matter and has hiccups the one time it does?

These rather flattened looking chocolate balls are supposed to look like the ones in the last picture of this post. The recipe is a work in progress and I seem to have used just a wee bit too much soya milk here so they haven't held a shape very well(as you can see!)! They do, however, taste delicious, so it's just the presentation that's an issue, but still, it's annoying nonetheless when I wanted them to be perfect!

I'm bringing them along anyway, but luckily I also have a perfect 3 bean chilli and backup plan peanut butter oatmeal cookies to bring as well!

Q- When can a vegan bite off a bunny's ears, eat them, and still call themselves a vegan?

2009-04-13T09:54:00.003+01:00

A- When the bunny is made out of dark chocolate of course!

How cute is this little display of easter bunnies my mum gave me for easter? I thought I'd better take a photo of her handiwork before I ate 'em! The wee daffodils are actually Marie Curie nurses' charity pins as well. She also gave Jay, who's diabetic, assorted nuts instead of an egg in a Top Gear mug (but they've been eaten already....). Thanks Mum! :)

Suck on my chocolate peanut butter fudgy balls! (Stick 'em in your mouth and suck em...)

2009-04-03T20:01:00.003+01:00

Sesame Street's Cookie Monster would love these bad boys- Big Crunchy Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies from Vegan With a Vengeance. I've made the smaller version before but decided to try out the full-size version. They were pretty huge already but spread even further in the oven- I snapped them still in my baking tray, beside the book, so you can get a good look at the size!
This here is a broccoli and onion frittata-style tofu dish, which is basically my quiche recipe without the pastry, served here with oven chips.
And last but not least, chocolate balls... Chocolate Fudgy Peanut Butter Balls. DJ of The Skint Vegan brought some delicious fudge with pistachios based on this recipe to a potluck and posted the link to the recipe, so I tried it out myself, and was very pleased with the result!

I experimented with the quantities(using 1/2 a cup of peanut butter instead of 1/4 cup of margarine, upping the soya milk to 8 tbsp and using only 1 1/3 cups of icing sugar), to try and make a moister fudge, and came up with something just a little bit too moist to be a true fudge, so rolled it up into balls and dusted it in cocoa powder to make these yummy balls.

I reckon it would also be very tasty rolled in chopped almonds, using almond butter...

And last but not least, I don't think i can make a post that mentions Fudge without posting a photo of a very cute kitteh who answers to that name...

Bakes, cookies... and toys...?!

2009-03-22T11:44:00.003Z

First up I have a product review for these Goodlife Mediterranean Bakes, pictured above with some brocolli (that's not all we had for dinner, we had lentil soup for a starter that day!). Sadly we weren't that impressed by these and found them rather bland. They were edible but I wouldn't bother buying them again. A disappointing 2/5.

Apologies for the f-ed up formatting on this post, as blogger is being weird and not letting me fix it.More poppyseeds this week, this time in these Lemon and Poppyseed Shortbread cookies from Garden Of Vegan. I thought the nutmeg in the recipe was a strange combination, and I don't think it done much for the flavour, which was nice enough but I think it would have been better without so I'm going to leave it out next time, and there will be a next time as I'll definitely make these again because the texture was gorgeous.Next up we have a toy deer... with a gun?! I was sorting though my old childhood toys last week and came across this sweet little toy deer... then noticed he had a little toy gun (I think it's off my brothers' toy soldier originally) tucked down his trousers! It amuses me that I was so anti-hunting and wanted the deer to take revenge at that age! Thought I'd take a photo of him holding his gun and share it here for everyone's amusement...

It reminded me a little of this Cows With Guns Song! ...So I then gave the gun to a toy cow... and a bottle to her friend to stamp on...

Poppy seed muffins and... Xmas dinner...?

2009-03-14T11:45:00.003Z

This is a very tasty lemon poppyseed muffin from Vegan with a Vengeance. I had wanted to try out this recipe for ages but for some strange reason had found it extremely difficult to track down any poppy seeds to buy anywhere, so when I was in Marks and Spencer with my mum a few days ago and finally spotted a bag of poppy seeds for sale, I knew what I was going to do with them!
Redwoods' celebration roasts aren't just for xmas! I never did post a photo of the one we had for our xmas dinner in my xmas post, but here's a belated one now, seeing as how I picked up a bargain-tastic reduced to clear roast for just £2.19 (they're normally a pricey £5.19) in Holland and Barret yesterday.

I served the roast, which contains vegan "turkey" slices, and "sausages" wrapped in "bacon" alongside sage and onion stuffing balls (from a Morrisons' value range box of stuffing mix that you just add water to), baby new potatoes and brussels' sprouts. Tasty even in the middle of March!

I've got a lovely bunch of coconut-ty food!

2009-02-20T22:28:00.003Z

To bring to the Yahoo! Scottish Vegans' group potluck tomorrow! There's some of my coconut sandwich biscuits...
Vegan With A Vengeance's Coconut Heaven Cupcakes... Since I'll be getting there by a shoogly bus they'd probably end up a mess if I iced them beforehand, so I nicked the ingenious idea of bringing them un-iced with the icing in an icing syringe from Annie who done this at the last potluck.
I also made a huge, double-sized, pot of korma so that Jay and I could have a portion each for our dinner, and I could bring along the rest, since everyone else would be getting korma and Jay wanted some too!

I served it here with coconut rice(Sorry to disappoint everyone reading this for a preview, the rice was just for us because I don't think it's safe to reheat rice? I didn't want to risk poisoning anyone!) based on the recipe in Alternative Vegan.

Being vegan needn't be expensive!

2009-02-15T17:17:00.003Z

...And a perfect example of a tasty, healthy, balanced and inexpensive vegan meal is this Venn Pongal, pictured above with a side of Basic Brocolli, both from Dino Sarma's book Alternative Vegan. (He recommended this recipe amongst others himself on his recent blog and podcast on "I'm Broke food"! Worth a listen if you're skint... or even if you're not.)

I think a lot of people have this misconception that a vegan diet is expensive to follow, and this just isn't true. Sure, some ready made vegan products, like the Grassingtons foods which I recently reviewed, can be quite pricey, but I tend to see these things as a treat to splash out on occasionally rather than everyday foods. Obviously if you ate stuff like that every day it would soon add up.

Vegan basic essentials such as legumes and grains are about the cheapest things you can buy! The cheapest way to buy them is dried in a bag- I mean, you can pick up a kilo bag of lentils in most which will make several meals foraround a pound, often less! Even if you buy the more expensive tinned legumes, which are handier if you're in a hurry, you can pick up super-duper bargains like a 15p tin of red kidney beans from most supermarkets' basic ranges, or deals like 3 tins of beans for £1.

I was shopping with my mum last week and she spotted expensive ready made chilli con carne, and I commented that I could make a whole pot of my vegan version myself for round about £1!

Don't let this financial climate put you off going vegan if it's something you've been thinking about- ditching the animal products might even save you a few quid!

How to be a Vegan Junk Food Junkie.

2009-02-05T22:13:00.002Z

The Seitan Cutlets from Veganomicon make great burgers. I've served them up in traditional white, sesame seeded burger buns, and had them with lashings of Reggae Reggae Sauce. Yum.Up next in the vegan junk food post, I made a mushroom and pea curry using Yeung's concentrated Chinese Curry Mix, which tastes just like the stuff you get in Chinese Take-aways. (Please note- while some chinese take aways' curry sauce can be vegan, many others aren't and may contain meat stock or milk so do be sure to ask first. Or alternatively, just do what I've done here and mix some up at home!).
This was really easy- I just threw 250g sliced mushrooms, 3 chopped medium onions and a drained and rinsed tin of peas into the curry sauce mix and simmered for a few minutes, then served it over (nice, healthy!) brown rice. If I was going to be really naughty I could have fried my rice as well... hmm, I think I'll try that next time...

Last but not least, here's a close up shot of some amaranth with lashings of maple syrup. I'd never heard of amaranth before going vegan, but it's a super-nutritious grain which is high in protein and minerals, and makes a rather nice cereal. It's quite nice, and like a much smaller version of quinoa.

Vegan Haggis Fritters!

2009-01-26T19:24:00.003Z

Here's some traditional Scottish artery clogging yumminess (Trust me, they tasted a lot better than they look in the photo!). Jay and I love the haggis fritters in Stereo, so I fancied trying to make some myself. I made the haggis fritters using a ready-made Simon Howie vegetarian haggis, cooked it in the microwave and left it to cool, then shaped handfuls into fritters, dipped them in Lelly's famous recipe batter, and shallow fried at a medium-high heat for 10 minutes.

Served with roast potatoes, and Tesco's own brand (radioactive-looking) mushy peas.

Potluck preview... plus some Scottish Shortbread!

2009-01-23T20:43:00.004Z

I've been in the kitchen baking some goodies for tomorrow's Yahoo! Scottish Vegans group potluck. There are mini crusty sesame rolls (I used the French Baguette recipe from Garden Of Vegan, divided it into roll sized pieces, and rolled them in sesame seeds), Blueberry Jam Donut cupcakes(the Jelly Donut cupcake recipe from Veganomicon, using Hartley's Blueberry jam) and some shortbread, using a recipe I experimented with....

Scottish Shortbread

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 tsp vanilla essence
tiny drop of almond essence
pinch of salt

-combine ingredients into a dough
-press dough into a greased9x9 sandwich tin
-using a knife, mark into bars so it's easy to break later, and using a chopstick or skewer, press a pattern of dots into shortbread(see photo).
-bake at 200C for 10-12 mins, then leave to cool before serving