Long time!UI

So, I haven't updated my blog for ages!

I have been experiencing some personal issues, which I have had a hard time dealing with and combined with the pressues of my studies, I have not felt able to update my blog. I hope to pick up blogging again in the future and I do enjoy reading all the other blogs out there when I get the time.

Best wishes to all
Emma
xxx

Birthday pics!

It was my 21st birthday on Saturday and I had a brilliant day!

There were some lovely decorations and pressies....

There was cake (it was yummy!)....

I also enjoyed a delicious meal with my family at a restaurant called The Real Greek (http://www.therealgreek.com/).

I had 2 cold meze dishes, one was Gigandes Plaki (butter beans in a herby tomato sauce). The other was a lentil dish called Santorinian Fava, which was pureed lentils with different herbs (lots of garlic!) and was rather like hummus in texture. I ate these dishes alongside some new potatoes, dressed with olive oil.

Everything was presented beautifully and tasted really good! I did take pictures on my mobile phone but I am having trouble uploading them at the moment. If I eventually manage to transfer them to the computer I promise I will post them!

Edit: photos now uploaded:

Gigantes Plaki on the bottom and the top

Home-made hummus in the middle (I didn't eat this as I was too full from my other dishes but it looked scrummy!)

Close up photo of Gigantes Plaki:

New potoates (I ate two bowls of these they were so yummy!)

Non-food things!

Just a couple of pics I wanted to share:


1. My sexy new vegan trainers:




When these arrived (I bought them online) I was so excited I was so eager I tried them on straight away and was walking around the house in them for ages! I didn't wear them outside the house for a few days though because I couldn't bear the thought of them getting dirty- ha!


2. A necklace made by my cousin:


I think this cupcake necklace is so cute! I am always amazed by her talent and creativity! I posted the link to her website a litle while back bu here it is again if you are interested in checking out her stuff :http://porgecreations.deviantart.com.

Pizza and white chocolate in their wonderful vegan-ness!

It was about 2 years ago that I made the decision to become a vegan. I was a vegetarian at the time and had been so for about 10 years. My choice was an ethical one and therefore the foods that I would possibly 'miss out' on as a vegan were not a primary consieration.

However, I did not expect that I would come enjoy pizza without cheese, which I now think I actually prefer to the pizzas with cheese I ate as a vegetarian. Anyway, rambling aside, here is a picture of a recent pizza I enjoyed at the restaurant Pizza Express.(http://www.pizzaexpress.com/).

The pizza was part of their 'Leggera' range, which means that the pizza is actualy made with a hole in the middle with a salad there instead. I was intrigued to find out what this pizza would be like so I ordered the 'Vitabella' pizza without cheese. The pizza was topped with lots of different grilled veggies.
All in all, it was pretty tasty but I think I prefer my pizzas without holes in- more dough= better!

Another food that I previously did not know existed in a vegan form is white chocolate! Although I do like rich dark chocolate, there is something special about the creamy taste of white chocolate that really hits the spot when you are in the mood for something sweet!

Yesterday, when I arrived home from work I was very excited to see a package for me, which contained these wonderful bars of deliciousness! (not a real word I know but these bars deserve new vocabulary!) They were sent from the lovely Vaala (http://goddessvaala.blogspot.com/) who I previously did a fun food swap with! Thanks very much Vaala!!

I cannot wait to munch them! Although, at the moment the weather is very hot so I will have to be careful that they don't melt (good excuse to eat them up quickly methinks!!!) ; )

A lovely award from an equally lovely blogger!

I was absolutely thrilled to receive this award from Fleur (http://fleursathome.blogspot.com/)! Thanks so much, it was a really nice surprise that really brightened my day!

Lazy!

I have been so lazy with regrds cooking recently! I have been really struggling with my weight gain and have been really determined to get in plenty of calories. Therefore, I have just been thinking about my meals in terms of calories and nutrition, which has meant my food has been fairly unexciting!

Here is an idea of what I have been eating:

I have eaten this meal once before and remember quite liking it but I was not so keen this time. The sauce was quite sweet (although maybe that is normal for teriyaki) and there was not much in the way of veggies. I actually added in some more veggies! It was nice being able to have brown rice though because I rarely eat it due to the long cooking time!

As per usual, stir-fries have been on the menu. The meal above was made with gnocchi, which does make a nice change from pasta and adds a nice soft texture, which is a nice contrast to the crunchy veggies.

Chips!! Now this shows how lazy I really am because I KNOW I could make them myself by chopping up a few potatoes but these are sooo tasty! They are pretty healthy (skins on and the only extra addition to the potatoes is vegetable oil). I have been eating this fairly regularly over the last few weeks, in attempts to gain weight I have been making sure that I eat the whole bag in one go (1kg!!)

On the non-food front, I have been getting really into weight training recently. I now go and lift weights most days of the week and love the feeling of becoming stronger! I can now squat with a barebell that is the same as my own bodyweight!

Colourful meals and yummy snacks!

I have nearly eaten everything in the wonderful package that I received!!! Everything has been really scrummy though. My top 3 faves were:


1. Cookies and Cream Luna Bar (I really wish you could get Luna bars here in the UK they are so delicious) I love the chewy texture of the bars and the white chocolate topping on them is yummy! This bar had a great contrast with the main part of the bar being nice rich dark chocolate and the topping being nice and creamy white choc- a great combo!

2. Apricot Clif Bar. Also really yummy, this had a nice sweet taste and was similar to a flapjack in texture but a nice and light in the stomach. I think these bars may be available from some online stores that ship to the UK so I will investigate!

3. The highly anticipated vegan white chocolate bar. This was absolutely delicious! It was lovely and creamy but not sickly or rich at all so did not last long (I ate the whole bar over the course of one day!) I enjoyed the bar so much that I emailed the company to ask whether the bar was available here in the UK. I was disappointed to hear that it is not but they did tell me that white chocolate buttons may be in Tesco stores from later on this year so I will keep my eyes peeled!

Another regular snack I enjoy eating is baked beans! I have recently discovered these mini pots of baked beans that can be put in the microwave (great for lazy people like me!) I have enjoyed these little pots of goodness both hot and cold and I love them both ways!





The meals I have been enjoying lately have mainly been nice and colourful:

Sweet potato curry:

Corn and rice pasta with a mix of stir-fried veggies:

The meal used this pasta:

I have been wanting to try this for ages and it was really yummy! The shapes kept their texture really well even after cooking and I really liked the soft texture of the pasta. It was nice and soft but not mushy, unlike this pasta:

I made a rather boring- looking but yummy meal with this pasta: black-eyed beans in a spicy tomato sauce. The texture was a pretty mushy but actually nice and comforting to eat. Here is a pic:

I am really excited because on Saturday (16th) I am planning to attend an event in Birmingham called 'Veggie Pride', which has never been held in the UK before!. Check out the details here:

http://www.veganmidlands.org.uk/veggiepride/index.html (I will not be dressing up as a vegetable- although I cannot wait to see what other people will be wearing!!)

Packages= happy Emma : )

I was absolutely thrilled to receive an amazing package from Vaaala (http://goddessvaala.blogspot.com/) in the post today. She kindly sent me loads of amazing goodies:

The goodies consist of: 3 Clif bars, a Clif Nectar bar, 2 Luna bars, 3 Jocalat bars and VEGAN WHITE CHOCOLATE (especially exciting!!!!)

I cannot wait to try all these amazing treats, they all look so scrummy! Thank you so much Vaaala!

Packages!

I love getting packages!

I recently did a package exchange with the lovely Agnes (http://agnesworldofveganpleasures.blogspot.com/) who sent me these amazing raw goodies:

Above are raw food energy bars, raw snacks (in flax, hazelnut and date flavours), dried banana, dried pineapple (my fave- and a real treat because I can never find it unsweetened!) and a coconut and orange juice. Everything is currently being enjoyed by me and my family!

Agnes also sent two adorable cards with the treats- they can be seen on either side of the picture above!

I was also really excited to receive a package from the lovely people at Clif! I have tried Clif builder bars in the past and have been anxious to try some of their other stuff ever since. However, the products are not sold in the UK so the only option is ordering them online, which I have been a little hesistant to do, having never tried them before! Generously, the company offered to send me a box of Luna goodies to try (info about them here: http://lunabar.com/).

My thoughts on what I have tried so far:

1. Luna Cookie- A nice texture but I wasn't quite sold on the minty flavour with the chocolate. am strange about other flavours with chocolate but I would definitely try this again because I think it would definitely grow on me!

2. Chai Tea- An unusual flavour and hard to describe! It was covered in white chocolate, which was nice and sweet but the bar itself had quite a strong cinnamon taste. I wasn't quite sure about it but after one bite I definitely started enjoying it! I think it was hard to tell whether I liked it at first because the flavour combination was unfamiliar to me.

3. Chocolate Peppermint stick- Another bar I was not so sure about because of the chocolate and mint combination but I definitely enjoyed the strong chocolate taste. It was quite rich but really hit the spot!

4. Chocolate raspberry- definitely my favourite flavour that I have tried so far. Chocolate with fruit is a flavour combination that I really like. The texture of the raspberries, which were nice and chewy, really made the bar satisfying to eat!

I have yet to try the Berry Almond flavour and the Luna Sunrise bar but I will definitely be munching them soon!

Current faves...

Recently I have really been enjoying butternut squash!

I sometimes have it plain (seasoned with a little salt) as a side dish:

Or sometimes it gets incorporated into my all time fave meal:

I am also really into refried beans at the moment, I particularly like this brand:

These are 'Mexican style' refried beans and consist of whole and mashed pinto beans, onions, peppers and jalapenos- nice and spicy!

I also like the 'La Preferida' brand of refried beans (available from wholefoods). They do lots of different flavours of these but I like the plain ones best.

I actually quite like eating refried beans on their own as a snack (occasionally even cold- I know I have strange tastes!!)

Another favourite snack of mine is hot cereal mixed with protein powder. I have always used a plain flavour of soya protein powder, but I recently decided to try a chocolate flavour:

I highly recommend this flavour. It is so yummy, there is no way I can go back to the plain flavour!

I love it mixed up with some 'wheat biscuits' and microwaved until nice and mushy (kind of like porridge in texture- sounds and looks gross but tastes really good!). I use this cereal to make my choccie cereal combo:

Before I go, is anyone out there interested in doing a snack bar package exchange? I really love swapping goodies with other bloggers! If anyone is up for it, please let me know by leaving me a comment or sending me an email!

I hope everyone is having a nice Easter weekend!

Freebies!

I was lucky enough to receive another package of freebies from the lovely people at Natural Balance Foods! (check them out here: http://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/)

This company is so generous!

Here are the goodies they sent me:

In the box is: 3 nakd bars (cocoa loco, berry cheeky and apple pie flavours), 3 mini nakd bars (same flavours as well as banana bread flavour), 3 trek bars (peanut and oat, mixed berry and cocoa brownie flavours), 4 packets of flavoured raisins (orange, cherry, pineapple and lemon flavours) and most exciting of all the brand new trek flapjacks (oat crunch and cherry crunch flavours)

The company even sent a sweet handwritten note along with the package:

The postcard reads: 'Eddie's cow disguise hadn't fooled the vegetarian for one minute...'

This package really made my day and I cannot wait to get munching!

Meals with buckwheat

So I tried the buckwheat and the sweet potato and buckwheat noodles and wasn't that bothered about them! They seemed to stick together when cooking even though I used lots of water and did not cook them for very long at all! The noodles did taste good though.

Here are my dinner pics using the noodles:

1: Using the 100% buckwheat noodles in a stir-fry meal with cabbage, carrots, beanshoots and soya chunks:

2: Using the sweet potato and buckwheat noodles with mixed green veggies, carrots and beanshoots:




I also tried buckwheat pasta:

As you can see, pretty mushy in texture but I actually preferred the pasta to the noodles.

Somehow the soft texture made it nice and comforting to eat. Also in this meal are peppers and peas. I would definitely buy this pasta again (shame it is so expensive!)

Also- just wanted to mention that Katie (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/) is doing a fabulous giveaway at the moment, with all her fave goodies up for grabs for 2 lucky winners! The closing date is April 10th so if you want to enter, you don't have long!

The link to the contest is here:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/life-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates/

Vegan goodies!

I have been lucky enough to get my hands on some yummy treats lately!

First up is a lovely package from the lovely Agnes of (http://agnesworldofveganpleasures.blogspot.com/).

Isn't the box so cute?

Here are the goodies:

raw chocolate truffles, raw chocolate (I had never tried raw chocolate before and can say that it is yummy!!)

2 mini loaves of sprouted spelt raisin bread and some nice face packs

I have not eaten the bread yet but look forward to doing so soon! Agnes has given me lots of great ways that I can try having it, which I am eager to try out!

I also made a trip to Wholefoods the other day and got this load of stuff:

Above is canned pumpkin (2 tins because it it sooooo difficult to buy here in the UK so I always buy lots when I get the chance!), 2 tins of refried beans (1 had jalapenos in and was extra scrummy) and I also bought 2 types of noodles to try in my stir-fries: 100% buckwheat ones and ones with buckwheat and sweet potato in.

I haven't tried the noodles yet but I cannot wait to see what the taste and texture will be like!

I am not working this weekend so I am looking forward to doing relaxing and trying some new foods!

Stir-fries and exciting links

So, stir-fries have been a regular on my menu, as usual. I have been working lots of evenings recently and I just can never think of anything that is quicker to cook that is still tasty and healthy. I think I should try having other grains with my stir-fries though, I tend to always have noodles but I will try to mix it up in the future and have cous-cous, bulgar wheat, quinoa etc.

Piccies:

Stir-fry with polenta, loads of different veggies and soya mince:

Bit of an odd one, a stir-fry with baked beans (I know weird- but tasty!!), noodles and veggies:

Animal-shaped pasta stir-fry with kidney beans:
This is my 'I will get my 5 a day quota of fruit and veggies even if it kills me' dish (I think I had prob not had mucho fruit and veg during the day so was getting major cravings- ha!):

This is made with wholewheat pasta shells, green beans and mushrooms:

In other news, Katie of (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/) is generously doing a Jocalat bar giveaway! I have never tried these bars but they are made by the larabar company and involve chocolate so they have got to be good! Here is the link if you want to enter: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/so-what-about-this-chocolate-giveaway/

I also made one of Katie's yummy recipes! I think that all her recipes look relaly scrummy but I don't have access to a good blender, which unfortunately prevents me making many of them : (
However, I was especially excited by her butternut squash fries recipe (check it out here: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/the-butternut-tales-part-two-the-future-mrs-butternut-squash/).

I ate the fries for dinner last night, alongside those Grassington's 'chicken style' nuggets I bought recently. The meal was really scrummy and different from my usual pasta and noodle dishes that I eat so frequently!
Here are some piccies:

Bowl of nuggets:

I really enjoyed these. They had a nice chewy texture and were nice and moist. They tasted relaly yummy too and I will definitely be buying myself some more soon (especially as I ate the whole bag in one go ; ) )

Fries just after baking:
Fries just before being eaten : ) :

Also, I wanted to provide a link to my cousin's online jewelry gallery/shop. She is amazingly creative and handmakes her own fun 'food-themed' jewelery 'for anyone with a sweet tooth'. Here it is to check out: http://www.porgecreations.deviantart.com/

Back soon!

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