VeganBoi's Crackin' Blog

So I forgot about this blog...

2010-03-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I actually completely forgot about this blog - I do want to start blogging again, which is what lead me to coming back here... however, I think I want a different take on it this time. More like random thoughts rather than regular updates, because I think i've proven pretty well that I'm unable to maintain a blog with regular updates!

I'm thinking of starting afresh - probably away from blogger, since I've really gone off it. I might move to wordpress... Hmmm.

I'll be back.

I've been a VERY naughty blogger! =/

2009-06-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well I've not posted on here for SO long - I actually completely forgot about it until just! HA. So I take it that i've lost what very little reading audience I actually had now! Oh well!

What do I have to tell you? Well, quite alot, but most of it I can't remember - I've been on holiday, or Alcudia, which is in Majorca, which is in Spain...... and it was surprisingly good, apart from the fact we went self catering and EVERYTHING there costs at least £2 more than you'd pay here, so we pretty much starved all week, apart from beans on toast.

In other news, I've turned my regular laptop into a Mac, oh yes. I wondered if it could be done, and it turns out that indeed it can! woohoo! It's awesome - it runs so much better than shitty Vista!

I also met all the Chris Moyles Show team the other night, which was pretty cool. I got us on the guest list for Rockaoke with the Chris Moyles show ... and.. yeah..

I've just realised that I'm really not in a typing mood and none of this is really reading that well, so, I'll leave it - and come back and do it again ... hopefully a little sooner than 2 months! Pah.

Ideas for vegan buffet food?

2009-04-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have any ideas for vegan buffet food? I'm thinking of starting a catering company but I'm actually really struggling to think of different kinds of vegan food that you could use on a buffet.

It will have to be cold because we don't have the facilities to do hot dishes.

Any ideas and suggestions would be gurrate =D

Pic form my new phone/experiment

2009-03-26T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well i have a new phone which lets me upload pics to this blog so i thought i'd give it a go. Woooo! This is a picture i took of a random figure thing in my living room.......Exciting, isn't it.

Tikka Masala-ish recipe if anyone wants a try?!

2009-03-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

As promised I said I would post the recipe for anyone who wanted to try it out.
Here it is..
Everything used is available from Tesco (Extra) apart from the 'chicken', although they sell their own 'Chicken Style' fillets which are made with Gardein and are REALLY good.

1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
4-5 teaspoons of Tikka Masla powder
2 teaspoons of regular curry power
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of garam masala
Half 400g tin of Chickpeas
Handful of Spinach
Tablespoon or so of Sunflower spread or Olive oil
2x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
Small bunch of spring (salad) onions.
3 teaspoons of Mayola
1/4 cup of Coconut milk
4 teaspoons chili power
4 tablespoons of Tomato Puree
1- 2 handfuls of Realeat 'Chicken' style pieces.

1. Chop onions, garlic, sping onions and fry them in the sunflower spread/oil for a few minutes. Add the Tika Masla curry power and the regular curry power and fry for another couple of minutes. (If it sticks and starts to burn (like it did with me!) add a bit more sunflower spread)
2. Pour the coconut milk over and stir in, fry for a while and then add the chopped tomatoes.
3. Add the rest of the spices, simmer for a few minutes, stir in about half a mug of water.
4. Add the 'chicken' style pieces.
5. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
6. Add Chick Peas Spinach and Tomato Puree, simmer for another 10 minutes.
7. Stir in Mayola and serve.

Give it a go.. and if you do, let me know how it comes out!
All the amounts are guesstimates because I just litereally go from what I think, so try and do the same... but it'll do as a guide!
Also, if you like Garlic, as I do you can add a good squeeze of garlic puree. YUM. =]

Best vegan curry ever!

2009-03-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Woop! I made a tikka masala type curry today and it was REALLY nice, I used Realeat 'chicken' and put in some chick peas too... and Spinach... and spring onions... that was just because they were reduced in Tesco, 3p for a bunch! BARGAIN!
I'll post the recipe tomorrow if anyone wants to try it for themselves, served it with the only naan breads I could find it Tesco which were actually vegan; which turned out to be the heatlhy low fat things and Hoummus, I just did the Hummus thing because I bought it and I'm not really sure what to 'do' with it......
BUT it was nice, dip naan into that and then in to curry and t'was really yummy! =]]

For dessert, I had Tofutti Mango and Passion Fruit ice cream topped with dried Cranberries and 'breakfast topping'... which is basically nuts and berries and shit. Again. Nice.

Wooop.... considering I just made it up and threw it together from random things I bought it went amazingly well. Haha.... and I have loads left over, so woot.

Jade Goody has died! =(

2009-03-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Well it's just been confirmed by Max Clifford that Jade has now died, I don't know when but I assume it would have been some time during the night, pretty odd that I randomly woke up at 4am this morning!

What a bad day to go aswell, on mother's day. =( Always a reminder to her mum and her sons.

But anyway, RIP Jade!

6 look-a-likes for everyone on the planet????

2009-03-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

After finding this Facebook group it got me wondering, are there really 6 look-a-likes for every person on earth?

According to the 'experts' human beings can have around 1 billion phsyical variations and as we know, there's around 6 billion people on earth, so technically that would mean that there should be 6 people who look exactly or pretty closely alike? Do you think it works out?

It's a possibility. I've never seen anyone who looks like me, although it would be pretty fun to do so, but people have told me several times that they 'saw me' in a place where... I wasn't.
I've seen 2 people that are pretty identical to one of my friends (at least from certain angels, and if they lost/gained weight etc) and that's just in the city we live in alone, and one even in the same village (no, they're not brothers! ;-)).

Thinking along those lines, it could actually work out, but then what about celebs? Surely we'd have people popping up all over the place that look ALOT like celebs, not like these crappy look-a-likes that you can buy to come to your parties and all that shiz. I mean, the most famous one is probably David Beckham's look-a-like, and he's not really that similer?

Something else to consider is cosmetic sugery? What happens then? Can they only change it within the 'billion' variations, or are we able to 'create' our own new variations? The only person I've seen with a similar nose to Michael Jackson's nose is Jodie Marsh and I don't think either of those were quite how 'god' intended.

I'd like to think it's true, can you imagine how funny it would be sitting in a room with another 5 of you?

So if you look like this:

Let me know! We have some serious fun to be getting on with!

Cats are the best!

2009-03-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

I think that this is THE single best AND funniest thing I've ever seen, I want to buy this cat..... and that printer. I'd actually swap for every form of telecommunication I own!

A change or two...

2009-03-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Okay well I thought it was time that we had a bit of a spring clean, since it nearly 'is' spring after-all and I've now been vegan for a goood few months, it's getting pretty dull being limited to only writing about 'becoming vegan', clearly didn't think that through when I started the blog! ha.

So I guess i'm going to use it as a general personal blog as well as vegan things, well, to be frank it's probably going to consist of mostly vegan things anyway, but it just gives the extra room to talk about crap and no one care, which is all good! Well, it is for me anyway!

I've charged the design a little bit, I will, in time design one of my own that fits 'me', but I'm currently stuck with a Windows laptop, and Windows being Windows it's unable to run photoshop, so I'll have to wait until I get a few hours with a mac! YaY!

Gardein!

2009-03-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

Gardein. This stuff is AMAZING. It's like Quorn but vegan, and about 400x more tastey!
I found it a couple of weeks ago, well, I tried the Chicken 'style' things in tomato and herb sauce, and they were 'okay' the sauce wasn't exactly delicious as it tastes on the box but meh, I found some of Tesco's own 'Chicken Style Fillets' and it said 'made using Gardein so I got very excited and got some, and it's really, really good - it's tastey and kind of looks like chicken, and the texture is pretty close.... actually, no it's nicer than chicken, not only because it's cruetly free but it doesn't have that fatty slime stuff all over it.

They also do a beef apparently which I'll have to try some time, although I don't recall seing it anywhere.

Tweet Tweet Tweet!

2009-03-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

So, Twitter. I must admit that I'm pretty addicted, I couldn't honestly tell you why, I guess it's just good to see what's going on with people/companies/groups.

I have several other vegans which I'm following and it's quite interesting to what some of their updates, although it also makes me jelous that I don't live in the US and don't have HBO over here.

Luckily the american friends are always hot on the case to post links and such like.

Along side keeping up with vegan stuff, however, it's also a good way to keep in touch with, well, anything - there's so many different people on there, with so many different interests who post about technology, current affairs, the mindless world of celebrity, oh, and speaking of celebs, there's a good few of them on their themselves!

If you're on there - Twitter me up.

Can we blame America for the nations obesity crisis?

2009-03-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, this isn't strickly Vegan related, but it was something I was thinking about and thought I'd share. Not the most well written post, but yeah..

Can we blame America for the nations obesity crisis?
Have we been influenced by America so much that they're to blame? With the introduction of KFC, McDonalds, Burger King etc. Everything that we see on TV, where people are binging on fast food and pizza. Doesn't it all just make eating crap food seem 'the norm'?

I know we've always had Chip Shops in Britain, with Fish and Chips being our most popular national dish - if you can call it a dish - but in all fairness, it's really not that unhealthy when compared to the likes of a Big Mac or Whopper Meal.

What happened to the days when you woke up, had breakfast at home, did whatever you do in the day, lunch during that and then sit down for a family meal in the evening? I'm not dening that alot of the time the home-made pies and cakes weren't full of saturated fat and sugar, but a pie would generally be served along side a load of veg and cakes and other treats were classed and used as TREATS... not a daily 'cravings' buster.

How often do you hear 'oh I'd kill for a Maccy D's now!!!' or 'Oooh, I could murder a KFC!'? Well if they'd never have been introduced then people wouldn't be killing or murdering for them in the UK (in both senses, ironically) instead sitting down and eating set meals, people are just nipping for a take-away and binging on saturated fat.

Or if America isn't making us all fat, it's causing malnutrition from their glossy magazines pointing out Britney Spears' slight little tiny bump of fat on her stomach a week after having 14 thousand kids, or that is so wonderfully beautiful with her size minus 12 dress size and cheekbones that stick out further than her breasts....... it's just causing girls (and lads!) to skip breakfast, lunch..dinner and then they'll be starving, lacking sugar, and probably cave and have a Maccy D's anyway.

I know the likes of Closer, Heat and all the other trashy UK mags do the same thing, but again it's all influenced from America, what we 'want' or 'like' is infulenced by America.

Why can't we go back to what we were - when you can enjoy food that's heatlhy and when sexy is when you're looking healthy, not when you're bones are sticking out all over the place.

Okay, maybe it's not just America, but I think it's a large hand. We've got to be willing to acccept the change, and we have, but I think we'd be better off without their companies, ethics, trends and morals.

N.B This isn't American people, it's American corporations and their need to take over the world.

I GOT MY TATTOO!

2009-03-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know I said I was waiting a year before having it done - but erm, I couldn't wait. haha.
Well my friend went for a tattoo, so I said I'd go with him to see what it's like etc.... anyway, one the way it really started me thinking, and I decided that if he asked me to get mine too I would... and he did, so I'm now formally branded Vegan!

My wrist looks really thin/my hand looks massive.. but yeah, that's my tat. WOOO! Still a little tender ha, I'll upload another one in a couple of days when it's fixed. =)

I think it's the only thing that I feel strongly enough about to actually have tattooed on me, I never intend on being un-vegan, and the tattoo generally 'means' something to me, rather than just walking into the tattoo place and picking something you think looks cool and then 'making up' a reason why it means something to you, like other people I know.

I've actually had really mixed reactions, my mum really likes it, my cousin hates it and doesn't understand why I've had that (although she has Sister in Chinese on her lower back, classy!) a mate found it 'comical', another one said it was AWESOME, another said it looked hot. haha.

But I'm really pleased with it, so that's all the counts really - never thought I'd get a tat, but I have and I like it, so woohoo!

A title which sums up this blog; erm. Dinner parties, more Kelly Clarkson, lack of Vegan months, Texican.

2009-02-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, why have I only been Vegan for 6 months? It seems like way longer than that to be honest. It seems like ALOT longer than that, and to think I was eating cow puss and chicken period a mere 6 months ago actually makes me feel sick.

It also saddens me that I have to wait a further 6 months before I can get tattooed 'Vegan'. Oh well.

Anyway, I went to an Indian vegan night at my cousin, Kate's the other night. It was pretty good, I made .. er... Mark Masala, it was supposed to be Tikka Masla, but I forgot how to make it to be honest, so I just made it up - to be fair, I hadn't made it since I used to eat death things - but, it wasn't bad at all!

I also attempted to make Bombay Potatoes - although this turned into Bombay mash - I told you, I 'can't' follow recipes! Needless to say, it didn't go down too well. Kate mate a chickpea curry, with spinach and things - and although I'm not a big fan of chickpeas it was really nice. She also made Bhajis and attempted to do Samosas, but they said no.

It was a pretty good night though, apart from me being hungover - but meh.

The next vegan night is going to be Mexican (which this one was supposed to be, but Kate got a new fryer and wanted to make Bhajis,). I'm hosting this time, and I'm actually pathetically excited. I'm going to invite more people though, because at Kate's there was just four of us, and we wanted lots of food, and there was too much for just us.. ha.. so yes, more people, wider variety of food.

I actually want to go all out and have Mexican decorations and all, although I probably shouldn't, my bank might shout. =(. BUT, I do have the menu sorted, and I think i'm going to do it buffet style where you just help yourself to bits and bobs rather than a set menu.

We're be having: (clears throat, sounds excited and slightly proud): Chili SIN Carne, Tex-Mex beans, Gaucamole (home made ofc), plenty of different salsas, Wedges (not traditional, but hey), chili sin (yet kinnnd of con) Questo, Baked Potatoes (again, not Mexican, but will go well anyway), Pico De Gallo, Nachos, Borracho and Cinnamon Torilla Crisps for dessert. =P I'll probably end up adding other random things too...

AND, drink-wise - Sangria (vegan, ofc) Aguas Frescas (amazing drink which I trailed earlier), Magarita, Corona and a bit of Coke for the less adventurous sort.
Of course, the Corona comes with lime, and the Magarita glass comes salted. =P

So food is Tex-mex, or as I've taken to calling it, Texican or as a place Texico.... by mistake, and because I'm a bit of a spaz who gets confused, but let's ignore that, it works. Also gives me a great excuse to have a bit of Kelly Clarkson, the wonderful vegetarian, Texan singer as backing music. =P As well as, of course, the old Mexican HHAAA YAA CHA CHA YA YA HAAAAAA music, or whatever Mexican music is like? Yeah. Google.

Wanna come? DO! It'd be super - you have to pledge to wear funny hats and mustaches though... and bring maracas and cacti.... or just some salsa or something.

Anyway, I'm going to go and research Texan/Mexican/Texican music now.

Goodhike.

Kelly Clarkson is VEGETARIAN!

2009-02-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, first of all I need to explain how much I LOVE Kelly Clarkson, she's probably my all time favorite singer, to be fair, she's just plain awesome.

HOWEVER.

I was listening to an interview with her on Trent FM, when she announced that she's vegetarian. Yeah, she 'could' be Vegan, but hey, it's a bloody good start and it's just sent her even higher in my estimations of her.

The dick head interviewer even gave her some grief about it, but she stuck to her guns. Go Kelly <3

If you want to check it out - it's on youtube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7mNfiYvJ5k

Okay, I can't follow recipes!

2009-01-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

....even my own!

Yeah, as I'm cooking for this Vegan night, I thought I'd 'perfect' my recipe, so I started by writing down what I normally do (of course, missing out most ingredients because I'm stupid, and having to add them in as i remember) and then basically following it, then as I taste and change add it to it, thus having the perfect recipe on paper. But it's not that easy is it? Oh no!

I followed it to a T, and I seem to have red wine mince in a choking sauce. However, I've added a couple of cups of water and it's starting to reduce down a little bit. But I've come to the conclusion that I really can't follow (or write) recipes. I just hope no-one asks me for the recipe for something I cook.

However, I think I know where I went wrong, so i'll tweak it a little bit and then post it on here so feel free to have a go of following my instructions and see how yours comes out. *shifty eyes*.

In other news, I went shopping with my new vegan recruit yesterday, in Chester of all places. She got Bacon, several cheeses, a pasty thing and rice milk. I got rice milk too, and it was actually 'really' nice - I hadn't tried it since like, the first week I became vegan, and thought it tasted of Play-Doh so haven't bothered since, but they had it in little cartons with straws, like the milk you get in school, and they were only 65p so I got one. I couldn't believe how nice it is, so I think I shall be buying it more often!

I also got a cheese sauce mix, which is... 'okay'. I havn't made it properly yet, as I kind of ignored the instructions the first time, and it came out like... plastic. I'll try again when I make Lasagna. I hear Sheese (or whatever it's called) cream cheese is good for making cheese sauce though. Will have to try that also.

That is all.
Goodbike.

New vegan recruit!

2009-01-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Woo! I have recruited a new vegan! How excellent am I. I didn't really intend to, I just referred to puss, death and chicken period as.... puss, death and chikcen piroid and I think it kind of put her off a little bit. Hmmm. But wooo, she's trying it. I need to offer me help and support and wonderful wisdom of my ..... however many months of veganism I now have. haha. Well yeah, I've written an essential shoping list for her..... and I'm also going to write a few meal plans because prior to this she ate every couple of days and that'd probably be some greasy animal nastiness from some Kebab house or something..... although she doesn't like beans.. or tomatoes, so it's quite a challenge, considering most of my diet is based around beans.....and tomatoes. haha.

But happiness for recruiting a new vegan! =D

Oh, and .....

2009-01-17T13:03:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I forgot to mention - Turkish Delight is vegan... ROCK ON! Well, the stuff I have is, I was pretty impressed - it even says that it is! Yay.

Chao.

Naughty Vegan Blogger!

2009-01-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm back!! No, the Christmas dinner 'didn't' kill me, I've just been abit lazy, and when not being lazy - just trying to keep up with my new years resolutions! Infact, I could add actually keep this blog up to date as another resolution!!

I actually don't really have anything to report, believe it or not - apart from the fact I've kind of 'forgot' i'm vegan - I just don't eat death, puss or chicken period.... I'm not constantly aware that I 'can't' eat this, or that and just 'do' it, so weyhey.

I 'was' un-vegan the other night though, I had a tablet which was in a capsuel thing and the SECCOND I took it I was like "OH CRAP!!" Oh well, I'll just pretend it didn't happen, and make sure I actually pay attention to what tablets I'm taking in the future!!!

I have my first Vegan Food Night coming up in Feb, which should be pretty cool. With my vegan cousin Kate. Woo. She's making some of her favorite things, and I'm making the mains - my chilli con(out) carne! It's the best Chilli you'll ever eat, even approved by death-eaters! I may post the recipe at some point. =D

Speaking of cooking, yes, Christmas dinner was AWESOME! The 'turkey' was good, slightly dry and generic texture like most of Redwoods food, but along side mash, veg and gravy there really wasn't much of a difference from real Turkey, if anything it was alot nicer. Pigs in blankets were also really good and the gravy was one of the best I've ever had, well, for instant gravy anyway. Just didn't make enough for my liking, I love LOADS of gravy - I suppose for the normal human being it was more than enough!

I've also decided that I'm not really a big fan of the bean/lentil based curries and such like - I think I over-dosed slightly when I first became vegan and now i'm pretty bored of it all. I am, however LOVING the Realeat mince, it's amazing - and my favorite dishes are mince based onces so pretty perfect - Chilli con(out) Carne, Spag Bol, Lasagne etc ..... actually, I havn't made vegan lasagne yet, I think I should try it out sometime pretty soon, I imagine it wouldn't be the easiest of things to cook, but I'm always up for a challenge. Woohoo.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Goodbike.

in the tune of Jingle Bells Christmas food, Christmas food!

2008-12-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is almost here, Christmas eve tomorrow - if only I was as excited about it as I used to get when I was little - it just doesn't 'feel' like Christmas any more, and I don't think it's because I'm getting old, I've heard alot of other people say it too. Hmmm. I blame Cococola (for changing the adverts) and Woolworths, I'm not sure why the latter, I just do.

But yes, Christmas, normally means death and/or puss (milk based products) buttt, I treated myself to Redwood's 'Celebration Roast' which consists of a Turkey style roast thing and 4 pigs in blankets style things. I hope it's nice, it 'did' rob me just over a fiver (which I suppose isn't that bad, but still) I hope the Turkey stuff is better than rest of Redwood's products (most are exactly the same thing just with different flavourings... hmm).

Twigletts, I have Twiglettes... I've actually never had them before - but as I LOVE Marmite I thought I'd try them - not a fan, why do they 'hurt'?! Obviously the Celebrations and Roses are off the menu, but to be honest I wasn't exactly a fan before, I just kind of eated them for the sake of it, because it's Christmas - like Sherry?!

Nuts, nuts, lots of nuts - Yay... I've also roasted some Soybeans to snack on and my mum has very kindly bought me a fruit basket woohoo! So this could be the first Christmas I've ever had where I havn't put on 4 thousand stone!.... saying that, with the amount of alcohol I intend on consuming I probablly will. Meh.

OH, and I have VEGAN MAYO... I know that's not exactly exciting, but I could never actually justify spending £1.30 or whatever it on a little jar of mayo, which makes you fat anyway, but because it's Christmas and all that..

And I've decided that I'm making Christmas dinner for the family this year, because I don't trust people not to serve me pussy potatoes, so i'm making it and everyone is getting vegan mash. Yay.

Sadly, however, my step-dad got a crate of Foster's (not Vegan), though he also got bottles of Beck's (Vegan) but they're bottles, and go down too fast...... and apparently I'm an alcoholic.

Oh, and I received an email the other day, which I need to remember to reply to - asking if I'm interested in entering for Europe's Sexiest Vegetarian - haha, I don't think I'll bother enterting to be completely honest, I think I'll spare the embarrassment, but if anyone is interested in enterting head over to http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/Europes-sexiest-vegetarian-2009.asp?c=pukesv09 for more details..... does the American winner on that page have a very bazzar belly button, or is it just me?!

Anyway - I'll leave it at that, as I've had a few pre-christmas bevvies already and will probably end up typing crap (well, you know, ever crappier...)... so Merry Christmas to all reading - have a good en!

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
And a Happppy New Yeaaar!

Peta2 promo stuff is here!

2008-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Woo woo! Okay, I got some Peta2 promo stuff today, finally - I ordered them weeks ago and finally got (some of) it today, I think there should be another batch aswell.

"Meat's Not Green" flyers which are pretty good... and also loads of stickers - "I'm Not A Nugget", "Meat's no treat for those you eat", "Fish are friends, not food!" and "Love Me Don't Eat Me"I've already had fun attacking the bacon in the fridge and also stuck the fish one on my mum's fish tank.. muuahaha.

I'll be having fun shifting them around town over the next few days too, woop... hmm, I was actually doing the exact same thing as a job for a nightclub this time last year, ha... flyering that is... not giving out PETA stuff at a nightclub.. that would be a little bit strage (but a good idea.. hmmm!)..

And look at this, I just saw it on the Fish and Chimps blog - it's so cute.. but sad =(

Tofu and Vegan 'cheese'

2008-12-04T04:57:00.000-08:00

I think I've finally sussed out how to make tofu not taste of rubber - freeze it!
I made some Marmite and soy sauce marinated tofu steaks with brown rice the other day and they were actually really nice. I froze it, and then defrosted it after reading that it gives a more 'meaty' texture - and it does! It was so much nicer, and didn't make my stomach feel like it was going to explode, which it normally does..... a result! weyhey!

Going back to a previous post about vegan 'cheese' I finally tried Redwood's melting Mozzarella which isn't bad at all. First I made pizza with it, which 'worked'... they weren't fantastic, and didn't feel have the same feel as cheese, but it was a pretty good substitute.... but then I grated some over noodles (the 8p instant kind) and that was pretty awesome. Gave that lovely gooey texture... but without the disgusting orange fatty slime that you get from 'proper' cheese.... so another result! weyhey!

Happy December by the way! I'm not looking forward to Christmas all that much because half of my family are going to Spain but still - I thought I'd get slightly festive and I've been making 'wintery' biscuits... Oats and vegan butter with ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and lots of sugar. Yum. I'm going to attempt to make some 100% from scratch vegan mince pies closer to the time, too.... another ploy to convince the rest of my meat-eating family that veganism is wonderful. =)))

In other news, I'm thinking of getting a tattoo saying 'vegan' of course, not yet - I've only been vegan for a mere 4 months so it could still all fall apart at any given time (although after dreaming I ate sausages last night and throwing up for about 2 hours after, It's not looking as thought it will)... but I will be waiting until I've been vegan for just over a year.

I've always said I'd never get a tattoo because I'd regret it in years to come... and I never really saw the point to be completely honest. I now kind of think it'll make a final commitment and say YEAH I'M ACTUALLY VEGAN and then I couldn't really be seen in KFC in 4 years when I've given in to a craving sporting 'VEGAN' on my wrist.

I just read on article, however, on the amount of tattoo inks that are actually vegan. Especially black, which is apparently made by burning down animal bones to charcoal...or something. There are some companies which produce vegan ink..but finding somewhere that does may be a little tricky. Especially as the people in those kinds of places look as though they would eat you if you blinked wrong.

Anyway, some designs that I'm thinking about.
There's just the plain block capital letters:

A little nicer than those though, and the other way around I think.

This could be cool also, but smaller, and on my wrist:

And I 'love' the font of this.... just it it were horizontal, and smaller. =)

Oooh, I really like this one which i just found - Just the Vegan Soc logo without the flower. I liiike.

Hmmm, I think I'll leave it at that, and ponder what design i'd like - I may have changed my mind in a year though.... probably, knowing me.

Have fun.

Nescafé Espresso.

2008-11-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

Just a quick blog, because I'm actually annoyed.

I just made myself a cup of Nescafé 'Collections' Espresso, which you'd assume vegan, right? As I poured the water in, I noticed a creamy layer forming - so I read the jar where it says it has a 'crema' layer. Hmmm, so i checked the ingredients - wait, there isn't any ingredients! Just that their beans are grown in africa in a mystical forest where pixies live giving it a rich taste of magic enfused pixie bean... or something like that. So I thought I'd check the website, surely they'll say what's in the crap that you're drinking there? Apparently not. It just says that it has a 'crema' layer - which is a 'vital component of the classic espresso' apparently. Now, am I being REALLY thick here? I wasn't aware that coffee beans made cream? If it's a 'component' doesn't that imply that it's something else? If it is, how do they get away with not stating the ingredients on the label?

I can only assume it doesn't contain milk, as I thought it was law to state it - but I think i'll leave it anyway. Fail.

An ode to Original Source

2008-11-21T04:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, not an ode - I'm not that clever, but at least a little bit of love!

This stuff is amazing, and it's cruelty free. I fell in love with it before I became Vegan, when I got the Lime 'flavoured' one - I say flavoured, because it practically IS. I found myself having 100% more showers just so I can use it, that's sad.

It is wonderful though, there's so many random flavours, I'm currently on Ginger and Orange - and it doesn't sound that good - but it is. I also have some Almond and somthing or other shampoo, which says on the bottle 'Probably more nutritious than what you ate for lunch' - it's probably right.

HOWEVER, I did have a really good soup for lunch today, Fennel and Garlic. Recipe here. I just added 4 cloves of garlic instead of one to make it Fennel and Garlic because I seem to love garlic. I also changed the spices, but I forgot what to, handy. It's kind of like a 'soup' that a Bulgarian friend of mine made me last year - still garlic and fennel, but raw and with fennel seeds, it was pretty good summer soup - just grated garlic, fennel seeds, salt and pepper, plain yoghurt and water. I think I may make that again next summer, vegan yoghurt though, obviously.

Which reminds me of the excellent Shopska salad too - Tomatoes, Cucumber, Onion diced, salted, vinegared, oiled - topped with feta(ish) cheese and sliced boiled egg. Shame about the topping, I wonder how I can vegan that up? I think I saw a feta style cheese, but what could I use for the egg? Maybe something with Tofu?? Scrambled Tofu? Any suggestions please leave as a comment!

Finally - a massive PLUG for peta2. This is great, I suppose it's like the 'youth wing' to PETA with an uber cool Street Team where you earn points, to get stuff. I'm going for the very cool 'Vegan' huddie. 25,000 points though, and I'm currently on 3,200..and something - so yeah, If you're not already registered, REGISTER and in the referer box, my email address is nothsa@hotmail.co.uk ;-). There's a cool forum on there too (which you get points for using!) but it does need some work, not the most user-friendly, or easy to navigate/read/find information - hopefully they'll get this sorted out soon.

Oh, oh - that's NOT all, I'm thinking I want to go and intern with PETA in America, but obviously, not until I turn 21 - obvious reasons. But it would be cool, living (for a while) in America, working for Peta and living in a vegan house - be super amazing at my job, come back to the UK and convince Peta Europe that they want to employ me.

Oh yeah, and I said in another post to try out that Indian if you're in the Stoke On Trent area - don't. After our last order (sending the wrong food, forgetting rice, charging us for 'free' extras, and then being VERY, VERY rude when we rang to say so) I don't think we'll be ordering again. Meh.

Right - I'm actually going now - have fun!

U.H.T Milk!

2008-11-14T08:55:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I figured out that the Soymilk on the shelves is infact U.H.T, but, in my defence, it doesn't exactly shout it out loud. On the Alpro Soya ones it's just in pretty small letters on the top of the carton on the left hand side. I feel slightly stupid, but there's nothing new there. I think I'll stick to 'fresh' in future, it tastes less like fatty flour water?

Moving on, as I said in my last post, I've really started to warm to PETA but I've since found out that apparently everyone on the vegan forum seems to hate them - although they don't actually bother to hold an argument as to why - just tell me to search the forums and there "are plently of arguments of why not to support them". In all honesty, if I felt that strongly about something, I'd write about it and explain it to that person, instead of telling them to go and search for why they shouldn't support something which they do. Hmmmm!

Oh, Oh - and the BEST snack in the world: Wholemeal bread toast + tomato pureé, yum!

That is all!

Indian Takeaway

2008-11-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've been a bad blogger and it's actually been exactly a month since I've updated - but that's not out of character for me at all. I did, however, find an Indian Takeaway whose Vegetarian dishes are all vegan as they don't use any animal fats since the owners mother apparently had a stroke and he has now learned to cook of of his dishes 'healthily'. I probably wouldn't trust anywhere else, but these guys seem pretty decent.

They even have a live webcam stream from their kitchen - which is pretty awesome and if you order online, it gives you a count-down to how long your order and you'll soon be able to track your delivery! He's also developing the worlds hottest curry, and a fully automated Indian restaurant - if you're in the Stoke area you should definitely give them a go!

On another note, I've been trying some of these wierd and wonderful vegan products, the meat and dairy 'style' ones, none of which I've been all that impressed with Redwoods's 'bacon' was pretty pointless really, didn't taste/look/feel anything like bacon and didn't add anything to the meal. The Turkey 'style' slices wernt too bad though, they were pretty good on a sandwitch.

The 'Sheese' mature chedder was one of the worst things I've tasted in my life. It was just awful and smelled of feet.

I've heard nothing but good about Redwoods ‘Super Melting Cheezly’ though, so I'll have to give that a try!

Another thing I've noticed, Soya milk - there's SO much difference in the taste in this it's unbelievable. I've been trying loads of different brands, and mixing between the stuff you get in the fridges and the stuff you get on the normal shelves (what IS the difference between those?!) because all I've noticed the is the ones on the selves are alot cheeper and very disgusting! Best value I've found so far is Morrison's own brand (from the frdige) - I think it was around 88p /ltr and it was really nice!

One thing which has caught my attention in recent weeks is PETA, I'm growing pretty fond of these guys and the work that they do - especially after reading their blog. There's some pretty good reading on there. I think I may become a member when I get some spare cash, actually!

In the world of weight loss it's now starting to go pretty well, I've cut out 80-90% of the (bad) carbs I was having before - potatoes, white bread, white pasta, white rice etc and replaced them with wholegrain/meal/wheat/whatever and I think it's working pretty well! Woohoo!

I also rejoice in the fact that Bryan Adams has been vegan for 20 years. It almost makes me want to like his music! Try Youtubing him though, it's really strange!

Curry wasn't good...

2008-10-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

REALLY.. wasn't good!

Yeah, I made the curry - not good at all. The flavours and what not were pretty good, but it contained potato, and after cooking it for about 10-15 mins longer than the recipe said, they were still RAW, like, seriously raw. I ferked them all out, and popped them in the microwave for about 10 mins - then they just came out dry, and still raw. But still, I put them back into the curry, and attepted to eat it, then regreatting putting them back in.

I did, HOWEVER, make GREAT rice. I've always found it pretty impossible to make good brown rice, no idea why, it's either always raw, soggy or it goes into a mush... but i've mastered it. WOOOHOO!

I've also this second descovered a love for 'sweetend with apple juice' soymilk. I got some before and thought it was pretty disgusting, and then accidentally picked some up again from Asda tonight but I've just had a glass and it wasn't half bad!

I must say though, how impressed I am with me for sticking it for this long... and the funny thing is is that I actually havn't had ANY cravings at all - apart from when there was McDonalds Chicken Nougats wafting under my nose, but a quick reminder of what it actually is and it soon went away.

I used to ADORE cheese, but the other night my friend made "pizza toast" (basically cheese on toast but with tomato puree) and the smell of the cheese actually made me feel so sick, I was very impressed.

The only downside is I'm not losing as much weight as I'd like, although I suppose it's down to the amount of carbs I'm having, which is alot. I'm going to attempt to cut down a bit, but considering my new favorite snack is Marmite on toast it's very tricky! Hmmm!

Liverpool

2008-10-04T14:38:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I went to Liverpool for a couple of days earlier this week, which was pretty difficult - I was staying with a friend who's a student there so food was very limited. So I ended up eating 2 apples and two bananas over 48 hours. haha.
Although combined with walking around Liverpool about 14,000 times, it did help with losing some fat! haha, and I also saved money on feasting on KFC/Burger King/McDonalds like I would have done before - wooohoo!

I'm going to make a curry tomorrow, which I got the recipe for with some random spices which I got the other day - no idea what it's going to be like, but it's vegan so I'm going to give it a shot. Need to actually eat some food to get over Liverpool....... and need to learn to take more supplies with me.

Ooh, and I discovered a love for Marmite. Which I probably wouldn't have if I wasn't vegan, I'd tried to before.. but didn't really rate it much, although it was strange because I didn't LOVE it or HATE it, just thought it was alright, but that's typical me I guess, but now I'm actually loving i.

Anyway, I think that's all I have to say and someone is moaning at me because they want to ring me, so I better go.

The Vegan Food Blog

2008-09-18T09:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, to go along side this blog - I've made 'The Vegan Food Blog', where I'll be logging my favorite recipes and adding anything from my cooking experiments as well as this I'll be adding thoughts and ideas on vegan food, restaurants, shops etc etc. If anyone is interested in helping out with this then please get in touch!

The Dreams

2008-09-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well for the third night in a row now, I've dreamed about eating dairy. It's actually quite amusing.
It's been Muller Rice, Milk on cereal and custard, I've been half way through eating them and then realised "AAAH! I'm eating cow juice!" sort-of-thing.

Although I do have a theory as to why - I recently got to the point where I'm not checking the back of everything, because I'm kinda getting to know what I can and can't eat and I'm just getting the soya milk out of the fridge on auto-pilot and not having to consciously remember not to use diary milk - and sometimes, I'll be half way through some musli and have to think weather I used soya or dairy because I don't actually 'remember'.

I guess that's a good sign though - I'm not always thinking about what I can and can't eat, I'm starting to just 'know' and get on with it.

Also - my hands are starting to go pretty dry, which is strange. One of my friends said that someone she knows is vegan, and he said that it made his hands go dry - to which I thought was pretty weird and couldn't really be down to not eating animal products, but my hands have also gone quite dry. Strange.

Other than that my health is pretty spot on, considering I've been going to bed at stupid o'clock most nights and drinking obscene amount of alcohol! I havn't really had a hang-over since being vegan, and have had alot less of the 'meh' morning feel.

Not really losing any more weight though, probably due to this and the fact that I descovered certain buiscuits are vegan.... and some Walker's crips. *Makes a mental note to cut those out*

Speaking of unhealthy food, I made onion bhajis the other night, they were pretty good, although I only had one onion to spare and they needed much more spices and seasoning than the recipe says. I did attempt to make a second batch a few days after, with more onion and spices... only to find out that we don't have a chip pan any more - so the mixture is in the fridge until we get a deep fat fryer.... hopefully we'll get one before it starts to grow fur.

I'm getting annoyed with places that don't sell vegan lager too - Beck's Veir, at one point, was taking over the world and now it seems that nowhere sells it anymore. Wetherspoons have loads of lagers, none of which are vegan. grrr, but in their defence shorts are pretty reasonably priced, so whiskey and coke it is.

Downside to Beck's Veir is, it seems that the lines need to be cleaned more than most lagers otherwise it tates like crap - after the lines have been cleaned it's nice, sharp and crisp... but after a few days it tastes really thick and...generally not very good.

I've yet to actually eat out, everyone went to Taybarns the other day, it was hard enough eating there as a vegetarian, so I'm not even going to bother as a vegan, unless I plan to eat salad - but then it kind of takes away the value for money aspect.

Enter the Vegan

2008-09-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

It's now around 2 weeks into my becoming vegan, and so far so good!

My cousin has been vegan for years now, and I always thought it was a little bit odd and a little bit 'too far' (compared to Vegetarians/Vegetarianism) - though now I've come to realise that was only down to ignorance. I first tried veganism probably about a year a go, and it lasted about 2 days, before I gave up and had cheese on toast, followed by a curry for tea!

Though after that, I did change my opinion of vegans, and even more so vegetarians - I realised that being Veggie was a complete waste of time, like deciding you're not going to drink alcohol, but still having spirits. Didn't really understand why someone would be vegetarian, but not vegan? But I still didn't have the will power to actually 'do' it.

This time around, I have to say I took it alot more seriously. Initially, dispite my dislike for it, I became a vegetarian, with the hope that I would lose a couple of lbs - and just happened to come across some stuff on Facebook about the cruelty with KFC, leading to PETA's website. I know PETA are about as respected as the cows they campaign about, but I thought I'd give them a fair chance to say what they're out to say.... and well, obviously it worked, or at least it stuck the idea of trying veganism again - and I signed the 'Veg Pledge', saying that I would 'explore' veganism for 30 days.

After that I did a fair lot of research, both on the effects of what is involved in the reering of animals for food, the salughter, preperation etc and also the pros and cons of cutting it from the diet, especially on the nutrition side. Endless websites, forums and groups later, I decided I was ready to make the change. I was no longer willing to put (any more, apart from cigarettes and alcohol) shit into my body they're engough, and at least they provide some enjoyment.

My first few days went pretty well actually, although I suppose I 'cheated' a little bit - as my cousin is an expert vegan so she gave me loads of hints on what to look out for, brands to get, where to get certain things from and a bunch of recipes to get me started with.

Alot of people say "but... what will you eat?!?" to which I've now started to say "well, nothing, that's the real downside to being vegan - there's no food which doesn't have animal products in it"... the amount of food out there is unbelievable, if you're just willing to go and have a look

Okay, granted, it's not for everyone - but right now i'm pretty much enjoying it, and havn't really craved any meat/dairy so far, the thought of it actually makes me feel slightly sick to the honest.

I generally feel alot better already, I've lost some weight, have more engergy and just feel better/healthier in myself.

Woohoo!