New Year's Resolutions - 2015

Well it's that time of year again. I've waited till a week into the new year to post this as the biggest change I'm making this year was going to require some organisation! 

I've got a list of things in my new diary that I would like to do at some point this year, but these are my two main thought process changing ones! 

1) Become a better person. 

Not the best phrasing but I feel it encompasses what I want to accomplish. 

This means thinking more about others. No more rubbish excuses about forgetting birthdays etc of the people who matter to me or just not posting stuff on time. Thank you cards and real gratitude. More thoughtfulness and mindfulness in general.

The biggest thing that I'm throwing in under this is cutting down on my swearing. Obviously you can still swear and be a good person, it's just become a bad habit for me that I would like to cut. So far it has gone reasonably well. The words are so ingrained in my language it's taking quite a lot to replace them! 

New favourites:

Poppycock! 

Oh bother! 

Blast! 

All said in an incredibly posh fake accent. Just for fun :-) 

2) Go Vegan. 

This is a biggie. I've been vegetarian now for eight months and veganism has been encroaching on me from all sides for the majority of that. 

I've been dabbling with aspects of it (dairy free margarine, dairy free milks and vegan baking!) for quite a while now and feel like I've been copping out of really doing it. 

I was staying with my mum and godmother at the very beginning of the year and straight to work where I stay in a caravan for the last few days so it just wasn't practical to begin right away as I don't really feel like a lifestyle of my own choosing should make others lives difficult. (....and let's be honest here, I wanted to finish my mum's Christmas cake! Any vegan suggestions for next Christmas?!) 

So yesterday I took the step. I had cereal with oat milk for breakfast. I had veggie curry and rice for lunch and I had Tesco's nut cutlets with mash and veg for dinner. (Yup, I eat a lot!) Plus banana custard for dessert made with soy milk. Dad was unimpressed. I thought it tasted the same. 

I've prepped by buying vegan store cupboard essentials. I've accepted the thought that eating out is going to be difficult now. I've researched about vegan cosmetics etc. 

What I'm not doing is throwing things out that I already use. Cosmetics, shampoos, nail polishes etc that I already own I'm not throwing away. I'm having to balance being vegan with having a very limited income. Anything new I buy will be BUAV approved. A lot of the stuff I use already is.

Superdrug you reasonably priced bit of brilliance I'm looking at you. Can't recommend them enough. Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer's are also BUAV approved which is great. 

3) Be HAPPY. 

All the usual new year stuff. Love myself, make good decisions, practice gratitude. 

I believe gratitude is a big part of this. I'm trying to keep a diary this year. It's online and one day maybe I'll share it. But at the end of every entry I write down three things I'm grateful for. Hopefully this will help! 

So that's me this year. Hopefully a better person all round by the time 2016 hits our lives. 

What're your resolutions? Have you broken them already? :-) 

Jo :-) 

Lemon Drizzle Cake - Vegan Recipe

I suppose it's slightly more tropical lemon drizzle cake than its non-vegan cousin, as I've used banana as an egg substitute, it's still very tasty though! 

Pre-heat your oven to 180*C

Ingredients:

- 175g ripe banana 

- 1tsp baking powder

- 100g muscavado sugar

- 75g caster sugar

- 100g margarine

- 2tbsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled!)

- 200g Self Raising flour

Drizzle:

- 3tbsp lemon juice 

- 3tbsp caster sugar 

Icing:

- 5 heaped tsp icing sugar

- 2tsp water

Method:

Mash up your banana with the baking powder

Add both the sugars plus the margarine and mash them in as well!

Add the lemon juice and mix up well. Might be time for a blitz with an electric whisk if you a) have one and b) can be bothered! I'm a lazy baker unfortunately...

Add flour until the mixture is a good consistency. About 200g is right but it will depend on the ripeness of your banana! It wants to be fairly thick and glossy, but not too runny. 

Pour into a 2lb baking tin (I used a liner too....less washing up. If you don't, grease the tin with plenty of extra margarine!!)

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then turn down to 150*C and and cook for another ten until the top is springy and a skewer comes out clean. 

While it's still warm, poke all over the top with a skewer or cocktail stick. Mix up your drizzle until the sugar is fairly well dissolved. Pour it all over the warm cake! 

While you're waiting for the cake to cool, (A good couple of hours) mix up your icing. When it's cold, drizzle your icing over artisticly, write a message or draw a silly picture! 

Then enjoy! 

Jo :-) 

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes - Vegan Recipe

I made these the other day for my Dad's birthday. They're very rich and moist and very chocolatey! The recipe makes 10 small cupcakes. Or fairy cakes. But not big ol' muffins! 

Ingredients:

1 fairly ripe banana

1 tsp baking powder

A heaped table spoon of dark cocoa powder 

50g muscavado sugar (could be subbed for other sugar but this is very rich!)

50g vegan margarine 

75g self raising flour 

Method:

Mix the first three ingredients together. Mashing the banana until it's as smooth as possible. 

Add the sugar and the margarine and beat together. 

Add the flour a bit at a time until it comes together in a smooth, glossy, fairly thick consistency. 

Restrain yourself from eating it out of the bowl....

Divide into cake cases!

Bake for 15 minutes in a 180 degree C oven until a skewer comes out clean. 

I hope you enjoy them! 

I want to try out more egg substitutes in my baking as cooked banana isn't always my thing!! Dad loved them though:-) 

Jo :-)

Oat and Ginger Cookies - Vegan Recipe

My Dad recently got diagnosed with gallstones and until he has it removed in a couple of months he's on a very low fat diet. (And I think he misses his treats!) So I came up with this recipe. 

It also ticks the vegan and vegetarian boxes which is awesome :-)

Oat and Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

100g self raising flour

100g oats

100g muscavado sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground mixed spice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger*

140g plain applesauce (mine was homemade, basically just apple puree! I even left the skin on! I'm lazy)

*dad loves (loves) ginger so I've put more than this in mine! Feel free to add any combination of spices you want!! 

Method:

Heat oven to 180'C

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Try and get most of the lumps out of the sugar. No worries if you don't! 

Mix in the applesauce! 

Try not to eat it. 

Put on baking paper lined baking trays in little cookie shaped rounds. Flatten them a little. (They rise a tad but don't really spread out)

Bake for 13 minutes. 

Don't burn your tongue and enjoy!! :-)

They're pretty fabulous warm and chewy :-) 

These ones are actually part baked. They're going in the freezer so Dad's treats will last longer than just one evening! 

They should take about eight minutes in the oven from frozen I reckon. It's a bit of guess work now! 

Off to bake more cookies!! :-) 

Fresh Quinoa Salad - Vegan Recipe

Hi guys! Something new from me today! 

A lot has changed since my last post. I've moved to Norfolk, I'm no longer engaged, and I've gone all vegetarian! And that means no real fur coats either! 

Anyway, on a search for good veggie recipes, it struck me that I take lots of ideas from all over the place and cut corners left, right and centre! Some things turn out simply and well, and I thought I'd start sharing some of those recipes here! This is the first! 

Fresh Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

Quinoa (however much you think you need for each person)

Veggie stock (homemade will be vegan, check shop bought!)

Mango (1/2 per person)

Cucumber (2 inch chunk per person)

Avocado (1/2 per person)

Juice of a 1 Lime (per person)

Small bunch of Coriander

A little olive oil

Any other seasoning you'd like!

Method:

Put your quinoa on to cook (with or without stock depending on your preference)

Dice all the fruit and cucumber

Juice the lime and add finely chopped coriander, the oil and any other seasoning and whisk it all together 

When the quinoa is cooked, mix it all together!

Serve either as a warm main meal salad or side dish. Or leave to cool and have as a cold salad served on baby spinach leaves. 

Adding red onion could be good. Maybe a little garlic.... 

Such a lovely summery dish! Enjoy!! 

Jo :-)