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!

x

New Foods!

I have been enjoying some new larabar flavours that received in my lovely Valentine's Day package. I have tried the coconut cream pie so far and the cocoa mole flavour- both are really scrummy! The cocoa mole flavour was lovely and chocolate-y but had a little spicy kick to it- yummo! The coconut cream pie was really tasty too. It had a nice texture because of the coconut and tasted really nice and sweet.

I will definitely be stocking up on these flavours when I next go to Wholefoods! Sadly, I don't think I can get these flavours in any shops nearer me : (

On the savory front, I have been loving these:

I am a huge fan of regular baked beans (I eat them cold straight out of the can!!) but these are even better! They are soya beans instead of haricot (the usual beans in baked beans) so have a totally different texture and are in a rich tomato sauce. Now, I have eaten these both hot and cold and they are scrummy either way! I have actually just eaten them on their own as a snack (I know I am strange!) but I bet they would be great to cook with too.

Branston also do soya beans in a sweet chilli sauce, which I did think about trying but I wasn't sure if I'd like it. Maybe I will try them next time!

I also found these cutie and threw them into a stir-fry recently:

The finished product;

I really loved this gnocchi. They held their shape really nicely and absorbed all the flavours of the stir-fry really nicely. I will definitely be buying some more soon!


I have also picked up these, which I have yet to try:



These are Grassington's 'chicken style nuggets'. I have never eaten vegan chicken nuggets before so I was really excited when I saw these in the supermarket where I was shopping. I have like the other Grassington's products that I have tried so I am hoping that these will not disappoint!

I also bought these noodles, which will be making an appearance in a stir-fry very soon methinks:

They are fresh ramen noodles and come with a little bottle of 'Wakame dressing'. I assume that because it is called a 'dressing' rather than a 'sauce' that they are meant to be eaten cold but I am not sure I fancy cold noodles! I will let you know what I think of them anyway!

Valentine's Day Package!

I was soooooo excited yesterday to receive my Valentine's Day package as part of the blogger V-day exchange (arranged by Lee of For The Love Of Peanut Butter- http://philabundanceoflife.wordpress.com/). I was lucky enough to receive an absolutely amazing package from the lovely Katie of http://lilveggiepatch.wordpress.com/.

Here are the fabulous treats:

They are: 'Fudgy Wudgy Brownies' (from Veganomicon), Candy Bar Bites (gluten-free), Hazelnut Caramel Clusters (also gluten-free) as well as 4 larabars!!

Close-up of the home-made treats: I cannot express how impressed I am that Katie made these herself- all look and taste amazing!)

Close-up of the larabars:

The flavours I received were coconut cream pie, cocoa mole, pistachio and chocolate coconut chew. I had only tried the pistachio flavour before so I was really excited to have the chance to try the other flavours!

I ate the cocoa mole bar today and it was absolutely delicious (my new fave larabar flavour methinks!) I bet Wholefoods in London stocks these so I will have a look next time I go and stock up if they do sell them!

Katie also sent me a lovely letter along with the yummy goodies:

Along with the choccie treats, I have been getting my veggies in. Here is my dinner this evening, which featured a yummy mix of stir-fried veggies from Tesco (cut up and everything so very little prep needed!)

It also featured this sauce:

It is a sample-sized packet of a Peri-peri sauce, which is served in the UK restaurant chain Nando's (which I have blogged about before). They were giving away free samples and vouchers to buy their sauces in the supermarkets!

I actually was not particularly keen on the sauce in my stir-fry. I don't know whether that is because I needed more or whether it just goes best in dishes similar to those served in the restaurant (ie burgers etc). I have not bought a full bottle with my voucher yet but when I do i think I will have to experiment a little to see which dishes it works well with.

The finished dish (served with wholewheat pasta twists and soya chunks)

Anyway enough babbling for now, I am going to relax and watch a good film methinks!

x

Snow!!!! (and some food pics!)

It has been snowing loads here recently, which has meant that I have been treated to 2 days off work (Monday and Today- wohoo!)

I thought I would show some pictures of the views around my house:

This is what my drive looked like:

This is what my mum's car was like:

This is the view outside in my backgarden:

Of course I have some food piccies as well:

The usual stir-fries:

The dish above was made with edamame (soya beans). You can buy these frozen now in my local supermarket which is cool!

This dish also involved edamame and some wholewheat pasta shells (I love trying new pasta shapes!)

This dish feature lots of green veggies, soya mince, wholewheat penne and adzuki beans (one of my fave beans I think- great both raw and cooked)

For snacks recently I have been eating lots of my fave bars by Naturalbalancefoods- the nice people who sent me the freebie package!

I love these babies:

This is a trek bar, mixed berry flavour (sorry I don't have my own picture!) Trek bars are protein bars made with 'unsweetened fruit, rolled oats, nuts, soya, spices, and herbal extracts' so no junk in them. They are really yummy!

You can also buy these bars in cocoa and peanut and oat flavours but the mixed berry is my fave.

I have also been eating Nakd bars, made by the same company. I like the apple pie and 'cocoa loco' flavours of these best:

Like all Nakd bars, it is made using just raw fruit and nuts. They do taste just like a brownie but are not sickly at all! I have yet to try these warm but I reckon they would taste amazing warmed up in the microwave!