Are there chicks in chick peas??

Of course not!  However I am talking chick peas because I think this is one of the foods that I went completely wrong with when I decided to become a vegan about six weeks ago.

I’m really quite proud of myself because becoming a vegetarian 26y years ago was fairly easy but giving up cheese.  Giving up goats cheese,  halloumi, mozzarella and a stilton with cranberry has taken mighty will power. For that I’m proud.

Back to chick peas. Where I feel I went wrong initially was stocking up on barley and quinoa and tofu and granola and of course chick peas.  I had no idea what to do with them and for weeks I’d be struggling to find something to eat. About week 4 I had a little light bulb moment when I realised some things I ate were already vegan like err a banana! Or a jacket potato and oh yes my veggi curry and rice.  Within another couple of weeks I realised a mint  pea and spring onion risotto was deliciously  vegan and my stuffed portobello mushrooms with garlic and lemon cous cous are vegan.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realised that being a vegan didn’t mean that my meals only consisted of red lentils and a broad bean.  Don’t get me wrong I’m obviously using the said pulses but I think the most off putting thing for people to become vegan is simply not knowing what to cook.   Basically any food you eat now you can probably turn into a vegan dish. I’ve treated myself to some vegan parmesan cheese which I really think adds flavour to most dishes.

So… my point is some days it’s ok to have a baked potato with hummus and rocket and others you can go forth with the chick peas. Vegan life doesn’t have to be complicated unless we make it! I’ve actually never enjoyed my food so much. Chick pea or no chick pea!

Happy Saturday 😉

 

 

 

 

Spinach & Sauces

I struggled a bit this weekend with the whole Vegan world – four weeks in.  I actually dreamt about goat cheese and marmalade one night!   I just am finding some of the food I’m eating a little ‘samey’ and also a bit bland.  However I know what this is about.  My taste buds have been used to colouring, additivies, fattened up dairy products and salty cheeses.  I’m not going to lie and say it’s easy making the transition from vegetarian to vegan, I don’t think it is at all.  However I am loving it. I’m loving trying new recipes too and they certainly are not dull.

Today I’ve attempted to make Aine Carlins spinach lasagne, though as usual I have to tweak it a bit because I never have all the ingredients (does anyone?). I put some mushrooms in and I topped it with a bit of vegan cheese (I’ve found Violife the best so far).  The rosemary suggested gives it an absolutely delicious tang but I was annoyed as I messed up the bechamel sauce and ended up not having enough.  I’ll know next time!!  I’ve also made her peanut butter bites.  They’re chilling in my fridge now, they literally took about 5 minutes and I stole a taste before I rolled them all into balls, I think they will be making a regular appearance in my vegan cooking!

I’m finding that I’m using much less substitutions already and that my stomach is thanking me for it although it still hurts on occasion! I’ve googled this and apparently it’s quite normal.  It just makes me realise how unhealthy I was before for my body to struggle so much with natural food!!

How’s your vegan week going?  I’m always looking for any tips, particularly in the North Wales/Chester area – I really want to go out to a Vegan restaurant soon but still haven’t found anywhere!  Also tofu and I got off to a bad start so if you can help me with that I’d be interested!

🙂

 

 

 

 

Opal Fruits??

I think I may have had a glass or two of Pinot while doing the online Tesco shop this week.  When it arrived I was quite excited at my vegan bits – cashews, pine nuts, peanut butter (yep lots of nuts), tasty new granola, arboria rice,  vegan parmesan, flat mushrooms, courgettes, broccoli, cauliflower, tofu, almond milk…. the list goes on!! Anyway as I unpacked my bags I pull out a bright yellow square bag – of Opal Fruits!! You can tell I was born in the 70s huh – Starburst as they’re known now.  I do remember reading that they were ‘accidentally vegan’ so they ended up in my cyber trolley.

You might guess by now that my vegan blog isn’t about fine dining or unusual dishes. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook and I’m excited about cooking vegan, it’s invigorated a new passion actually for cooking but I’m also knackered a lot of the time and sometimes I just like to have a peanut butter sandwich!

Tonight’s dinner was a quick tomato sauce – I fried some garlic, onion and added some roughly chopped tomatoes and also a tin of tomatoes with some stock, green olives, black olives and some mushrooms.  I simmered it for 40 minutes (while I put the washing out, did some ironing, made sandwiches for the next day, fed the dog – you know the drill!)… and added some basil at the end.   I served it up with some wholewheat pasta and a sprinkling of vegetarian parmesan and a bunch of rocket.  It was really good.  Although I still miss cheese.  In fact I really really miss cheese.  I loved all cheese, cheddar, blue, brie, goats, halloumi – it’s the hardest part for me so far in making the change from Veggi to Vegan.  I’m almost four weeks in though so high fives!!

My main aim is to try and find some North Wales veggi places that I can actually go out and eat so if you know of anywhere please let me know!! Otherwise I may just have to start up my own place?!

Thanks for reading.  May the moo be with you!

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oreos and such

On my journey from Vegetarianism to  Veganism a few weeks ago one of the first things I discovered was that Oreos are vegan.  I never eat chocolate or biscuits really but for the first two weeks I became a vegan I packed four (yes FOUR) oreos into a zipped up clear bag and popped them in my bag for work.  I’d show those work lot that being a Vegan wasn’t boring.  I could eat Oreos!!!  I also added pink wafers to my ‘favourites’ at my Tesco shop along with ‘bacon rasher crisps’ because these too I had discovered were Vegan.

As you may guess my Vegan diet wasn’t exactly going to plan.

I wasn’t feeling great at all – I was basically eating confectionary and soya products .  No wonder my stomach hurt!!

Week three and it’s all getting a bit better.  I’ve become a little more sensible and stopped only buying things that say ‘free from’.  Because what I realised of course is there’s a lot of free from stuff – like potatoes, carrots, courgettes, onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, rocket etc etc etc!

So I made a lovely vegan curry last night, even if I do say so myself and guess what – onion bhajis are VEGAN!!!   I like to cut corners when I cook – well maybe not like but I have to because I’m out at work over 50hrs a week, I write at night, I have a dog and a son that need feeding and talking to so I cut corners! I also cook on the cheap a bit because, well again, I have to!  Also I’m the only vegan in the house and my son tends to eat completely different meals to me so I have to buy things that last!  I buy a lot of frozen veg now, there’s always different opinions about whether it’s as good as fresh but for me it’s cheaper and it also lasts so I use it!

I made this vegan curry last night and it was so yummy! I first made it with tofu but maybe it’s me not getting the hang of it but I really wasn’t keen on the texture and again it just felt kind of ‘made up food’ so I stuck to what I know! The curry was made with (frozen) chopped onion, mushrooms, (frozen) chopped leeks, (frozen) chopped courgettes, some curry paste, vegetable stock (Tesco have a value stock cube for 27p!), coconut milk and some basil thrown in at the end, I served it with the said onion bhajis (I bought them from co-op!) and some brown rice.  It was totally delicious!

I’m  quite excited tonight as I treated myself to the vegan cook-book by Aine Carlin ‘Keep it Vegan’. I’ve downloaded about 50 recipes from the internet but I’ve mixed them all up and a flapjack recipe goes on to a mushroom lasagne so thought I’d play safe and get one that is actually bound!

Wish me luck! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sick of soya

So I’ve been a vegetarian for 26 years.

About three weeks ago I watched a hideous video about what happened to chicks.  They were squished, dropped on the floor, taken from their mums, disregarded, treated well …. like meat…. now realise where the saying comes from.

I’d bought my usual greek yoghurt that week and took it to work with me.  I eyed it up as I took it out of the works fridge.  I began to slip back the foil top and gazed at the white creamy mixture.  I dipped the spoon in.  I couldn’t do it.  I knew my days of being a vegetarian were finished.  I could no longer pretend that I had nothing to do with the innocent chicks because they were everywhere.  In my pizza, my biscuits, my crisps and definitely in my poached egg on toast.

So it wasn’t exactly planned, this Vegan life.  That’s me though, once I’ve made my mind up it’s done.  No going back.

I immediately made a fundamental mistake – I swapped every dairy product for a replacement.  Soya egg, soya sausages, soya spread, soya yoghurt, soya custard, soya mayonnaise, soya parmesan, soya soya.  My stomach hurt and I was absolutely starving.

The most difficult thinng about going Vegan was the positivity I received from everyone.  Not.  Even my son who is normally extremely positive said to me ‘you’re not going to go all weird are you?’

So I like to write anyway and I’ve decided to blog about what it’s like to live in North Wales and be a Vegan.  I’m hoping to find some Vegan delights to talk about (so far everything seems in Cardiff – surprise surprise!!).

I’m tucking into my vegan curry now and my vegan onion bahjis!!  That was a nice surprise!  If you want to join me on my vegan journey then follow up! If you have any hints about veganism in North Wales then please tell me.

 

Cheers

Dwys 🙂