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.