Ta dah!!

Well, that's all folks!

A full month of vegan and gluten free.  When I think back to that first weekend of misery!! But we turned a corner, and dare I say it, actually enjoyed some aspects of VGF living.

The plus points include, feeling like I've got more energy.  In fact, I'm often still buzzing going to bed and that's without any caffeine.  We've enjoyed some really tasty dishes.  And as Kate said, you feel quite pure and a little smug at how 'good' you've been.  Denying yourself those sweet treats becomes a way of living, and you stop battling the "should I or should I not" argument in your head.

That said, there have been a few disasters, the pancakes and the bread were two pretty soul destroying events!  The amount of planning, shopping and preparation is difficult to cope with.  Sometimes you just want a ready meal from m and s, no hassle!  I've not really craved anything other than a bit of normality.  I also think that if I was VGF permanently then it would affect how Doug (husband) and I share and enjoy food.  

The way forward... Try and include some VGF days in to my week.  I'll definitely keep my caffeine levels down with the help of peppermint tea.  I'm also growing fond of almond milk so it can stay.   A few more nuts in my life won't hurt either and those tasty lunchtime soups and dips are a real must!  Best shared with my pal of course.  The granola and peanut balls are likely to feature highly.

So give it a go readers, have a day of feeling pure and try the VGF way of life.  One day won't hurt...

Thanks for reading.  On to our next challenge.

Foodbag Kirsty x

Day 31 - we did it!!

Wow.  We made it.

Lunch today more yummy swapsies and then the mythical vegan gluten-free Pizza Express pizza for my tea:

Feeling kind of mixed about the end of this month.  I've really enjoyed it in many respects - experimenting with food and sharing the highs and lows with Kirsty, and I will miss that. It's made me think a lot about what I actually put into my body, and has opened my eyes to so many different options.  I've been surprised by how full and satisfied VGF food can make me feel, but also how time consuming and sometimes how monotonous it feels to make pretty much all of your food from scratch.  Physically I feel healthier and I'm not really sure quite how to describe it - sort of cleaner or more vigorous or something like that. On the other hand the digestive side effects have been difficult to deal with and I won't be sorry to go back to normality in that respect!

I've been amazed at how little I've missed meat, and really haven't had the cravings for forbidden foods that I expected to have.  I would say the thing that I've missed the most has been milky tea, and I'm sure looking forward to having a cup of that this weekend.

I think quite a few of the recipes I tried out this month will make it into regular rotation, and I will definitely try to cut down the amount of meat and very processed food that I eat.  Also Kirsty and I hope to continue our vegan lunch-sharing... and now need to get on with planning our next challenge!!

Thank you for reading :D

Kate xx

Day 30- happy non vegan eve eve

Great day with Kate on the swapsies front.  We pinched some rice cakes from our secretary, Sylvia- very generous lady.   This VGF thang has got loads of people talking and thinking about the food they buy and eat, which is a good thing, leaves room for stealing to odd item here and there.  I will definitely use some (and hopefully add) to my VGF reportoire.  Be warned future VGFs, you must be prepared and happy to do loads of food shopping.  Kate said that the manager of her local lidl might come looking for her after this experiment is over!  Still, at least he won't need to search in the loo, because things should have returned to "normal" (Kate hopes).

Day 30

Our penultimate day of veganism... both amazed we have got this far relatively unscathed!

I say relatively... Over dinner at Wagamama's tonight (VGF of course) Kirsty and I were discussing the highs and lows of the last month. One of the biggest issues with the whole vegan-gluten-free thing has been...how to put this delicately in a blog where people are expecting photos of tasty food...the, um, bodily side effects.  Think human compost heap but much worse. At times rather dismaying and certainly impressive in a sort of horrific kind of way. 

Anyway! Back to the food :D. Today was the best day of the VGF week, i.e. Wednesday swapsies day!

Today we feasted at lunch on spreads, crackers, felafel, raw chocolate and peanut and cacao cookies:

And then for tea mmmm Wagamama's: yummy rice noodle dishes and tasty fresh juice:

Day 29

I had a delish dinner tonight.. Homemade falafel on a (very expensive) vegan and GF focaccia with homemade tomato sauce and left over salad dressing (both detailed in earlier posts).  The falafel recipe was from Honestly Healthy.  They really taste good.  Bit of a faff, but what's new??  Looking forward to non vegan eve eve with Kate tomorrow.

Day 28

This is the final week of Veganism as I know it.  Will defo be using some recipes and principles (more on that in my reflection blog) but won't be as restrictive as this month has been.

Here's dinner...

Baked tattle with homemade tomato sauce and nooch.  Also getting quite in to my salads.  Good idea to roast some nuts, make some buckwheat ( thanks Kate for the boil in the bag stuff) and some sort of beans (I've been using black eyed beans).   Then throw in whatever.  I've been enjoying a sesame oil dressing with tahini, tamari, garlic purée, maple syrup and lemon juice.  Yum!

Day 29

Sometimes the simple things are the best...

Sweet potato roasted in coconut oil with chilli flakes...

And delicious mint raw chocolate.

Day 28

My last Monday of vegan preparation for the week ahead - carrot and cashew spread, walnut, beetroot and mint dip and some more mint raw chocolate.

...and then a wee late night snack:

Vegan gooseberry fool.  I love gooseberries so much so had to try to recreate this- I sweetened stewed gooseberries with maple syrup and mixed them with soy 'cream' and soy vanilla yoghurt. Delicious!

Day 24

Not much time to cook tonight after a busy day at the office and late home but I did make my own tomato sauce and added it to pasta.  Fresh tomatoes were sacrified to create the delicacy and I added coconut butter to give creaminess. Dead easy!

Day 27

Another GFVG triumph for breakfast:

Buckwheat waffles - and Marc liked them too! Bonus!  Had some with agave syrup instead of icing sugar with lemon, and some with maple syrup.

Then later on for tea in the middle of working out harmonies for 'Blue Moon' and 'Book of Love':

A couple of Yotam Ottolenghi recipes veganified - delicious Batata Harra (potatoes roasted with red pepper, garlic and coriander) and roasted butternut squash and tahini spread (used tofu to replace the Greek yoghurt). Yum!

Day 27- convenience central

Well I'm on a day off on the cooking front (well for me anyway).  

Thoroughly enjoyed some brown rice pasta with this very tasty pesto, which I bought yesterday.  

Here's me enjoying my pasta with salad with my fairy daughter.

Yes, even Fairies must wear bibs because how would the fairy godmothers wash those wings??

Another great find today in my old friend, Lidl, a lovely wee cereal topper (everyone knows how much I love my cereal).  

Day 26- the renegade master with some ill behaviours

JWell if it's good enough for Kate, it's good enough for me.  I too fell off the wagon yesterday and had a very nice, non vegan and GF, lunch at the Ox and Finch (highly recommend you visit this restaurant).  Here's me finishing one of the vegan (think the only vegan) dish we did order- spicy carrots and chickpeas, yum!

Whilst in the west end I treated myself to a little convenience food shopping in Roots and Fruits.  One purchase was these focaccia, which tasted fab toasted with almond butter.  They had a mild herby flavour but were very good for being vegan and GF, mind at £3.59 I would expect luxury.

Day 26

The final Saturday and just getting on with things today - left over Vietnamese spring rolls for lunch and then for dinner another vegan quiche. Just so good.  Think the few remaining days left might end up being like a 'greatest hits' repeating the best food from previous weeks.  

Still trying my hand at new vegan sweet treats though.  This weekend it's been the GFVG's take on a version of Oreo cookies with a peanut filling. Of course when I make them they are not terribly photogenic, but they don't taste half bad:

Hmmm yes really not very photogenic at all.

As usual lots of dates involved.  Not sure exactly how many packets of dates I've bought from my local Lidl over the last few weeks but it is a LOT!

Day 25- it's the final countdown

Fortunately hot weather and Veganism lend themselves well to salad tastic..

Roasted veg, buckwheat, black eyed beans, spinach, peas and a maple syrup and lime dressing.  I added a swapsie from Kate.  Can't remember the name of it but it defo had aubergine and garlic in it.  Nice one Kate! 

Day 25

Smoking hot in Edinburgh today so enjoyed a chocolate-banana vegan ice lolly courtesy of a Delicously Ella recipe:

Fancied a light and fresh dinner so made these beauties courtesy of the GFVG:

Cucumber, carrot, apple, avocado, bamboo shoots, lettuce, steamed sweet potato, mint and coriander wrapped in rice paper with delicious spicy peanut sauce.  Perfect!

Day 24

Feeling a bit iffy today after the sudden shock to my system of meat, dairy and gluten I have to say.  Had a lot of soothing soy drinks and fruit, and then a lovely evening singing with friends :)

Day 23 temporarily off the wagon

Well my vegan-following friends... I have a confession to make! Tonight I had a temporary dismount from the gluten-free-vegan wagon.  It was for a good reason though! Several months ago, before this crazy month was even a vegan twinkle in Kirsty's or my eye, I booked a table for tonight at Kitchin, a Michelin-starred restaurant here in Edinburgh for my friend Em's birthday. When it transpired that this hard-to-come-by booking fell within the VGF month I got special dispensation to have the night off to make the most of the occasion.

Me tucking in to my very definitely neither vegan nor gluten-free crowdie cheescake served with Coupar Angus strawberries and strawberry sorbet. 

So, anyway, I was VGF until tea time.  Awesome swapsies at lunchtime - Kirsty's granola honestly one of the highlights of the week thoughout this experiment.

Day 23

Great swapsie day today.  Kate did me proud.  I can't even pronounce everything she made, I let her fill you in.  The poppy seed crackers were a real triumph!

Too busy watching the commonwealth games opening to make dinner, so here's one for Kate's mum's friend...

Homemade millionaire shortbread (by Kate, the new vegan guru).  Hope it doesn't make my nose grow anymore!!!

Day 22

Started off my day with homemade almond milk.  Soak blanched almonds overnight then drain and add to food processor with three times the amount in water.  Drain through a jelly sieve and hey presto!  It tastes very natural but I can't justify making it every morning because two little faces are just staring at me wondering when they are going to get fed.

Busy day in the sun.  Picnic outside with homemade hummus on rice cakes with cherry tomatoes, yum!

Dinner was a variation of a HH dish, rather than baked aubergine and cashew pesto, I made a baked potato.  I added too much garlic (sounds like a runny theme for Kate and i). But I did like the addition of some lemon juice, cumin and a sprinkling of the ol' nooch to the pesto.

Nearing the final week. Looking forward to reflecting over this experience.  Highs and lows my friends, highs and lows! 

Day 22

At work today - lunch of baba ganoush and rice cakes (note to self to put less garlic in food I will be eating at work - feeling very sorry for my patients this afternoon despite chewing gum!). 

Then for tea went out for dinner with work friends to an Italian in Livingston - they did gluten free pasta- here is their vegan-friendly gluten-free penne arrabbiata:

Tasted like brown rice pasta and the sauce was deliciously garlicky, spicy and herby. 

Day 21

This non dairy is hard to do in the heat.  No ice cream, where everyone around you is eating it is tough to bare!  Still, all in the name of research.

Tried my first ever tofu meal tonight.  A mixture of spicy potatoes (see previous blog, day 6), tofu and frozen spinach.  Unfortunately I mistimed cooking the frozen spinach and so the potatoes were cooked for longer than required but it still tasted nice.  Douglas enjoyed the potatoes (minus the tofu, I may add, and plus chicken, I may add some more).

Day 21

Mmmm.... Soya medium on gluten free toast...!

Day 20- the countdown to normality is on

I've been enjoying the M and S nutty Wholefood salad this weather and so I decided to have a go at it myself.

Basically it's carrot, sugar snap peas, broccoli, roasted nuts (cashew, peanuts, and almonds) plus black eyed beans and buckwheat.  I added my own homemade hummus and the dressing consisted of sesame oil, ginger, garlic, chilli, spring onions, tamari and tahini.  It was mighty fine and loads left over for tomorrow.

I'm panicking as I've made little in the way of sweet treats for the week ahead.  I do find the prep quite overwhelming at times, especially when I'm also planning and making for the kids.  I'm not sure how vegan, gluten free mothers do it all the time.

Day 19

Still chasing my tail after my London trip and trying to fit in kiddie time plus housework.  

Lunch was a family affair and I made tomoto soup, a real winner!  (I was a bit jealous of the kids dunking their savoury cheese muffins in it though).  I added coconut butter rather than creme fresh.

For dinner, we had loads of mushrooms to use up so I improvised and came up with this dish...

It's a twist on mushroom risotto.  The twist is that I used some left over curry pasts from HH and coconut butter added creaminess (I had run out of coconut milk).   Very tasty indeed.  Brown rice risotto rocks!

Day 20

Overnight I had a real hankering for 'vegan medium' on toast, so today I set out to have another go at making my own vegan-gluten-free bread.  After what can only be described as a focaccia debacle a few weeks ago with a Deliciously Ella recipe, this time I headed straight to the GFVG. I went for the wholegrain gluten free crunch crust bread - again interestingly like the quiche pastry made with cashew nuts, amongst other things.  No psyllium husks this time, and just baking powder as a raising agent and no yeast.

It took 2 hours to cook!

In true gluten-free style, this bad boy is DENSE.  Brick-like in fact.
Also in true gluten-free style minus something glue-y like psyllium husks, this is what happens when you try to slice it:

Hmm.  Although I have to say it is very, very tasty.  Because of the slicing issue I decided to put off the grilled-vegan-medium-on-toast until tomorrow, and instead have some hunks of my loaf with other items prepared today for the week ahead: baba ganoush (aubergine dip) and muhammara (red pepper and walnut dip)

Baba ganoush is always good, naturally VGF,  made extra tasty with a sneaky addition of the pomegranate molasses also used in the muhammara.  The muhammara is extremely tasty too, but to make it gluten free (it usually contains breadcrumbs) I used GF 'rice crumb' which it turns out gives an exceedingly odd, rubbery and elastic texture to the whole thing.  If I have any sort of grout or bathroom sealant emergency in the next few days though it will be ok as this stuff would surely do the trick.

Day 19

Well, halfway through the penultimate weekend. So far it's going ok - partly because I've been busy buzzing around the place but mostly because my fabulous friend Em cooked me a vegan gluten-free feast for my dinner. She raided the free-from aisle in the local Tesco and whipped me up yummy brown rice pasta dish:

With asparagus, baby tomatoes, capers and raisins. That is vegan 'cheese'on the top there. Or as it seems to be called:

'Soya medium'?! Medium what? Or is it going to tell me what I was in a past life?

Either way it was really not a bad replacement for cheese when melted over pasta. Might even try it on a slice of gluten free bread for some not-cheese-on-gluten-free-toast to see how it shapes up. 

Then for pudding Em had sourced a VGF tart (Tesco really coming up with the goods!)

Which was light and lemony with a crumbly base.  Thank you Em :)

Day 18

Food supplies seriously low so resorted to a bought lunch from m and s, Nutty Super Wholefood Salad (minus the soy dressing).  Very good.

Dinner was pasta with hidden veg and a sprinkling of nooch!!!

Desert was this little beauty...

Granola base, banana cream (frozen bananas, pecans, maple) plus melted vegan chocolate with coconut butter.  Delish with my new friend, peppermint tea!

Day 18

Finally finished the quiche today *sniff*. Consoled myself by inventing a vegan gluten-free Millionaire's shortbread:

Base of almonds and dates, middle 'caramel' from the GFVG's banoffee recipe, and the top is raw chocolate. Think I went a bit heavy on the middle layer but overall not bad.  

Day 17

All vegans need some Pret in their life.  I've lunched out on this amazing vegan Superfood salad twice this week in London. Hmmmmm.  It makes me feel sad for those who don't live near Pret..

Day 16- miserable in London

I Well turns out I should have done my homework before travelling.  I am in no doubt that there are some truly fabulous vegan eateries in London, I,however, did not find them and ended up paying £11 for this...

Talk about being ripped off!  Still I did enjoy seeing my pal Alison.

When I'm on, it is difficult as a travelling vegan. Trying to order a vegan, gluten free breakfast was nigh on impossible.  The restaurant guy could only deal with one issue at a time so first he focused the gluten free so kept offering me eggs, bacon, sausage!! When I reminded him about the Veganism, he kept mistook it for vegetarianism.  In the end, I ordered a banana and orange juice.  Fortunately i had brought my own cereal and bought some almond milk from a local offy.  

Note to self: do your research and get in the habit of BYOVB (bring your own vegan bites)

Day 17

Leftover quiche for lunch (just as yummy cold as it is hot!) then out to Wagamama's for tea (a couple of vegan-friendly options on the menu).  Then to the cinema:

Turns out although soy milk sucks in tea it's actually pretty darn good in coffee.  So this was a decaf soy sugar-free vanilla latte, courtesy of Starbucks.

Day 16

Went off piste again today for dinner - and once more the Gluten-Free-Vegan-Girl came up with the goods.

I give you.... Gluten-free vegan quiche!

You may ask what is the point of a quiche without regular pastry, eggs or milk/cream... but holy gluten-free macaroni batman this was a beut.  Neil and I were just about crying with joy with every bite it was so good. The pastry is made from rice flour and cashew nuts which gives it a wonderful rich flavour and crumbly texture, whilst the filling is an amazing concoction of tofu, almond milk, nutritional yeast, some more cashews, herbs and spices and sautéed leek and mushroom. Wowzer.

In an aside I have discovered a new item of vegan terminology- apparently in America Kirsty's favourite, nutritional yeast, is commonly referred to as 'nooch' :D.  Can't get enough of that nooch goodness!

Day 15- London baby

Well I can safely say the vegan gluten free traveller does not need to worry about spending money for snacks because there's nothing to buy. Only option (other than fruit and veg) in m and s was sweet potato crisps , which were very nice I must add.

So I had to rely on my own supplies.  Check this out...

Carrot and tomato crackers, you need never worry about anyone sitting next to you on a train again!

Thanks to my pal Ainsley who hosted her vegan pal and even provided some top vegan nosh - Linda McCartney sausages , baked beans and fried onions with mushrooms. Just what the dr ordered after a long day of travelling.

Day 15

Hectic day at work today (broad bean hummus and roasted sunflower tasty but soggy crackers for lunch on the go). 

One of the most difficult things about this experiment is it means it's pretty much impossible for Marc and me to eat the same meal. So, today I went off-menu and cooked up some simple tomato pasta sauce with brown rice fusilli to share with Marc (he added meatballs to his!).

For pudding:

Coconut lemon slices courtesy of GFVG.  I think my lemons were a bit too juicy so the topping (a mixture of lemon juice, coconut butter, almond milk, dates and vanilla) is a bit too runny - but still very tasty and refreshing.

Day 14

Spent most of this morning cooking up a vegan storm in preparation for the rest of the week.  I made roasted sunflower seed and carrot crackers (although much like the Ella version rather more soft than crispy), white bean and broccoli dip - both from www.choosingraw.com (hmmm... Not convinced about the old broccoli!), broad bean hummus, and an old favourite spicy aubergine relish from Mollie Katzen.  Also managed to fit in making gluten-free-vegan-girls' lemon slices (still in the freezer so pics of that tomorrow).

From top to bottom: broad bean hummus, white bean and broccoli dip, spicy aubergine relish, with Nairn's gluten free oat cakes.

Day 14- nearing half way

No exciting pics tonight I'm afraid.  I'm off to London tomorrow so it was left over curry for tea with buckwheat and naan.  

I did make the tomato and carrot crackers from Deliciously Ella but they were a bit more soft than cracker!!! 

I'll let Kate regail you with more Monday cooking tales.

Wish me vegan luck in London baby!

Ps granola works as well with date syrup, which is much cheaper than maple

Day 13

Another delicious dinner tonight:

Baked aubergine with cashew nut pesto and tomato tabbouleh, from Honestly Heatlhy.  I was somewhat trepidatious as this was my first attempt at tabbouleh since a rather nasty bout of tabbouleh-related food poisoning in Ghana last August... but I'm pleased to say this meal was a thorough success. The cashew nut pesto is made with coriander rather than basil or rocket, and was deliciously light, crunchy and fragrant, and went really well with the rich and soft aubergine.  Simple but effective. (And of course I added in nutritional yeast, Kirsty - you know it makes sense!!).

Didn't get a chance to do any preparation for the week ahead today so that will be done tomorrow - have found lots of inspiration for new lunchtime dips on the internet today though so will be trying out some more new things.

Day 13- easy like Sunday morning

We have a tradition in our house, Sunday morning is pancake day.  Crepes cooked in hot butter with fruit and plenty of maple syrup.  No ordinary pancakes today though my good friends!  Today was vegan gluten free pancake day.  So why bother I hear you cry?  Well after our first disaster, I was beginning to wonder myself..  

We used the recipe from Deliciously Ella that involves cooking pancake mix of oats, water, mango, banana, nut butter, blueberries and coconut oil on a hot pan.  It wasn't working for us.  The batter was wet and mushy and flipping them was a risky procedure that neither Kate or myself were willing to do.  Below the result.. 

They tasted nice but far from pancake heaven in terms of texture.  Plus it must have taken us an hour to get to this point!  I decided that the next few batches should be cooked in a hot oven and this definitely improved things in terms of speed of cooking and the finished product.  Not sure i'd repeat the ordeal, although would consider another recipe from GFVG. 

Here are the 'oven baked' batch!!!

For dinner I tried Ella's sundries tomato, aubergine and pine nut pasta.  It was ok.  I've decided that I don't like the skin of aubergines unless it is very finely sliced so I'll be going on this vein from now on.

Day 12 - vegan extravaganza!

Today's post is a joint effort - tonight we're at Kirsty's house having a delicious vegan feast! Almost fully converted :D

Kate's solo entry

So this morning got off to a good start with a delicious breakfast of avocado and scrambled tofu (thank you Neil!)

Then another hot yoga session before heading over to Kirsty's for tea. Again felt quite invigorated during and after the yoga - more so than usual?

Kirsty's solo entry

Well, I am in total shock.  Had the most delicious lunch at pizza express today.  Feel almost teary writing about it.  I ordered the pianta gluten free pizza.  It had spinach, chestnut mushrooms, pine kernels and artichoke on a spicy arrabbiata base.  It was mighty fine and I'm actually starting to believe that Veganism could be a way of life (for some people).  Here's my best favourite...

Joint Effort

So, let's begin with dinner.  This afternoon I started by making the dough for my naan breads.  Actually this is a lie, I started by visiting a Chinese supermarket in Glasgow.  I got to know one of the ladies so well that Cammy was waving bye bye to her when we left. Picked up a few goodies for my Thai Yellow Curry with brown rice from Honestly Healthy.  I took the naan recipe from Gluten-Free-Vegan-Girl.  Basically a mixture of rice and buckwheat flours plus dates and creamed coconut added to yeast.  Heavier and denser than normal naan, however Kate recommended adding Nigella seeds at the final hour and this added flavour.  Good mopping up ingredient.  The curry was a real hit!  Made my own thai curry paste then added this is to loads of veg- aubergine, yellow peppers, asparagus, mange tout then piled in some coconut milk.  Finished off with sesame seeds and a splash of tamari.  We washed it down with vegan white wine from South Africa and a cheeky vegan beer.  Loving life!

Kirsty's curry was awesome:

And then for pudding we had our vegan banoffee pie - check out this beast!!

Not the most delicate of confections perhaps but considering it's totally gluten, refined sugar and dairy free it is a pretty impressive approximation of the old classic. We think 8/10.  The 'cream' is whipped frozen coconut cream with vanilla extract. Still does slightly taste of coconut in an incongruous way but overall - pretty damn good.  It actually felt like a 'proper' pudding. And lots of leftovers too! Thank you gluten-free-vegan-girl!

In general this weekend were both feeling a lot more upbeat and positive about the whole vegan thing. Not sure if it's because we've had a bit more time to adapt? Also it's been great meeting up today and sharing a delicious vegan dinner :D.