As a result of my busy schedule, my food has been pretty boring for the last week. However, last night I went out with a friend to one of my favourite vegetarian restaurants: Mr Man Chinese restaurant (http://www.vegmrman.com/). I have written about a meal I enjoyed there previously with my parents (http://studentveganuk.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-love-mr-man.html) .

I didn't take any photos this time because the restaurant was quite busy and I felt a little self conscious but we ordered Mixed Hors D’oeuvres to start, which looked like this:

It consisted of spring rolls, sesame toast (no prawns!), mock chicken pieces (with satay sauce for dipping) and mushrooms in a mandarin sauce. It was really yummy!

For my main course I fancied something nice and light so ordered Singapore noodles, which were so scrummy! They were rice noodles cooked with chillies and mixed crunchy veggies with tiny fried tofu pieces in. It was such a huge plateful but it was so tasty I ate the whole thing!

I hope to be back with some more exciting eats soon!

Lazy!

I have to admit I am a lazy cook!

I hate spending ages in the kitchen cooking something (the eating is always the best part of the cooking process : ) ) Therefore, I usually opt for meals which are easy to prepare, such as pasta and stir-fry dishes (as anyone who reads this regularly will know!) I do always try to ensure that my meals are healthy though and I try to use as many fresh ingredients as possible. However, this last week I have been working 2 jobs so my meals have not always been so healthy! Here is an example:

Pictured above is a Madras curry using a can of curry sauce, soya mince and served with chips on the side (they only take 3 mins in the microwave wohoo!) Although this meal was not so healthy (lack of veggies and no wholegrains!) it was very tasty and filled me up nicely!

Not all my meals are so low in veggies though. Here is a picture of a spaghetti and tempeh dish, in a tomato and veggie sauce:

And a couple of creamy pasta dishes with veggies:

This was made using wholemeal spaghetti, cabbage, leeks and a sauce made from soya milk, nutritional yeast and some soy protein powder.

This dish was made using wholemeal noodles, sweetcorn and spinach. I used some unflavoured soya mince in this sauce because I was fancying a slightly chewy texture.

I also thought that I would post a snack a tried yesterday. I usually love all things chocolatey (that should definitely be made into a real word) so I opted for this choccie bar when browsing in a local health food shop:

Since my experience of a no added sugar carob bar, I have not been so keen to try other products without sugar. However, this shop does not stock many chocolate bars and all of the ones they had in store were made without sugar. I decided to try this bar made with hemp seeds, which I thought would add some nice crunch. However, I was a little disappointed. I loved the rich taste due to the high cocoa solid percentage of the bar but I was not so keen on the hemp part! I think hemp is perhaps a little to healthy to have in a chocolate bar! ; )

New foods!

Although I tend to eat similar meals day in and day out I do love trying new foods! Here is a selection of foods I have recently eaten:

First up is a new product- alpro cheese! It is similar in texture to cream cheese but has quite a tangy taste so reminds me of what I remember cottage cheese as tasting like:

I have enjoyed it both with salads and in pasta dishes like the one below:

I have also been enjoying stir-fries made with this spicy sauce. It is really tangy and gives any dish a fab kick:

Although I do love tofu and tempeh, I do enjoy a bit of mock meat every now and then! I really like these 'chicken style' pieces. I have no idea whether they taste like chicken (it has been so long since I have eaten meat) but they have a nice chewy texture and absorb flavours really nicely.

Here is a stir-fry using the chicken pieces, with wholewheat pasta and loads of veggies! :

I have also eaten some meals that have not included noodles or pasta : 0 ! (this is a pretty new thing for me haha!)

First up is nachos made with soy and flax corn chips, soya mince, tomatoes and lots of fresh chillies:

Next is tonight's dinner- polenta pizza!

It was made using ready-made polenta (as the base), tinned tomatoes and nutritional yeast (for the sauce) and soya sausages for the topping.

This was really yummy and perfect comfort food for the horrible weather here today (wet and miserable : ( )

Sorry for the rubbish picture- the sausages started falling off the pizza because the polenta base was not very even!

Lastly is a sweet treat I found in a local health food shop- a vegan cookie! It also happened to be wheat free (I can't remember the flour it was made from- I think I was more anxious about gobbling it up!) It was nice and sweet (but not sickly) and had a nice chewy texture. I think it would also be great warm so I might buy one to heat up at home next time (this one did not last long enough- I think I will have to buy multiple next time!)

Random eatings

I don't usually post my lunches (they are usually pretty boring and eaten at work where I feel a little self-conscious about taking pictures) but I thought I would show you my favourite sarnie that I grab when I am out and about. It has a cool title:

Sorry that the picture is not brilliant but you might be able to read the ingredients-carrot, hummous, rocket and alalfa sprouts on wholemeal bread. It is really scrummy and that little sticker that says meal deal means you can get a drink and a snack with the sarnie for a bargainous price! : )

Stir-fries are, of course, still on my dinner menu, alongside my regular pasta meals. I have been very impressed with my friend Katie's posts about innovative and delicious looking stir-fries she has made for herself. Read about them here: http://howtogainweightonavegandiet.blogspot.com/2008/09/stir-fry-salad.html and here: http://howtogainweightonavegandiet.blogspot.com/2008/09/stir-fry-sandwich.html

I have been trying new things for my stir-fries too (though nothing so creative as Katie!):

Unfortunately I was a little disappointed with this soy sauce. I found it VERY salty (perhaps I used too much?) but it was very overpowering and did not make for a tasty stir-fry! I think next time I purchase a soy sauce I will buy a low-sodium one to avoid this problem because I do like to add plenty of sauce to a stir-fry so that it is not dry.

My mum kindly bought me these chillies to try:

I was really keen to use them so put them in my stir-fry last night. I drained them first because I am not a huge fan of vinegar (I tend to find the taste a little too overpowering). However, I think I should have rinsed them first because they still tasted very strongly of vinegar, which I didn't like very much! They did add a great kick to my stir fry though and made it a lovely red colour:

Not that you can tell easily from the picture but the dish also contained these:

I usually prefer to use wholewheat noodles in a stir-fry but bought these as a change and really liked them. They were really thin and I think I overcooked them because they stuck together a little. However, they were lovely and light and absorbed the
flavours of the stir-fry nicely.

Below are some cupcakes that I took into work recently. They were baked by my mum (luckily she never minds my baking requests because she enjoys baking and these are so easy to make) but decorated by myself. I used a chocolate buttercream-style frosting and put some edible stars on top. These went down very well at work and one woman even asked for the recipe! I thought this was a brilliant opportunity to drop into the conversation that these were VEGAN cupcakes. I think it is usually best to reveal this after people have eaten them otherwise they sometimes can be reluctant to try them and will be missing out!

Mmmm pasta!

Recently, the weather has really taken a turn for the worse. It has been cold and wet nearly every day since the beginning of September. It is so depressing!

Since the beginning of September, I have also started a new job. My university course includes a 1 year work placement of my choice and I have chosen to work in a secondary school as a Teaching Assistant. I really love my job because it involves working with special needs pupils, which I find so rewarding but it can be exhausting! All this has meant that I haven't been very inventive with my evening meals so pasta has been on the menu frequently, as per usual!

Anyway here are a few piccies:

1. Pasta 'carbonara' with a creamy cheezy sauce and vegan bacon pieces:

2. Pasta in a creamy tomato sauce with some red and green peppers

3. Pasta in a bolognaise sauce with tomato pieces

The last two meals pictured above used a new purchase of mine- animal shaped wholewheat pasta! It is very tricky trying to determine exactly which shapes are supposed to represent which animals but it is definitely fun trying to guess!

Holiday!

I have just returned from a lovely holiday to Lake Garda, Italy, with my family! We booked a last minute deal (my family nearly always do this) and we quickly packed up our stuff and made for Italy!

During the holiday, we stayed in a small town close to the Lake but also visited Venice and Verona. I was actually a little disappointed by Venice as I was expecting to be blown away by its beauty but I felt that it was very tourist-y. It certainly did not help that it was really busy but you had to be really careful in all the restaurants and cafes, especially around the centre, that you did not get ripped-off. However, I absolutely loved Verona. It is such a beautiful place. The buildngs are beatifully preserved and the modern city is a lovely contrast to the old buildings and landmarks. I would definitely love to return there some day.

The weather there was very hot and the Lake was really beautiful. Food-wise, it was not so great as a vegan because the holiday was half-board and the hotel food was not particularly vegan friendly. This was because all of the pasta was made with egg and the main course each night was meat/ fish and potatoes. Still, they had a salad bar which always had some beans, so I managed to get something every night. For my lunches, I also found that pasta was not an option because of the egg, or the waiting staff did not understand that I was asking about egg in the pasta, rather than the sauce (lesson- learn the phrase for I am allergic to... rather than just the words for egg, milk etc). However, I did get to enjoy some seriously yummy vegetable pizzas without cheese!

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my holiday:

Venice:

Verona:

View of Lake Garda:

Pizza!:

My family:



And me:

I like birthdays!

So, it was my birthday last Friday (I turned the ripe old age of 20 so have officially left my teenage years behnd me!) Anyway, my lovely friend decided to treat me to a meal out at a restauarant of my choosing! I just knew that I wanted to try this place: http://www.222veggievegan.com/menu.html 222veggievegan! As the name implies, the whole menu is completely vegan! I was so excited and kept looking at the menu before I went because I knew that I was going to have such a hard time selecting what I wanted to order!

We shared some garlic bread to start but we were both pretty hungry so dived in before I remembered to take a photo!

For my main course, I chose the Pasta with wild mushrooms (Wild mushrooms, wholemeal pasta and leek well sautéed, turned in lime, fresh herbs, and finished off with cashew cream. An excellent combination). It was so yummy, really creamy, yet not heavy at all. Sadly, I managed to lose the photo I took of my meal : (

My friend chose the 222burger (Organic tofu and veggie mince burger on a wholemeal roll, served with fresh leaf salad, oven-baked chips, and home-made ketchup.) My friend is a vegetarian yet doesn't eat much tofu so I wasn't sure that she would like the burger but she loved it! I did manage to take a photo of her meal:

Also on my birthday, my mum baked a batch of vegan chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate butercream-style frosting. They were really yummy and devoured quickly by me and my family!

A few days after my birthday, it was my dad's birthday so my mum whipped up yet another batch of vegan cupcakes. This time, she made lemon ones, by modifying the chocolate recipe. She was a little unsure about how they would turn out but all was okay! My mum will definitely be requested to make these again sometime soon!

And lastly, here is a picture of my dad about to blow out his candles!