Day 11- vegan animals

A busy day for me too.  At the safari park with the kids.  Ate left over pasta and pesto/alla Norma sauce plus oatcakes with nut butter for lunch and homemade granola instead of ice cream. Didn't really mind as so busy with the kids that I didn't have time to.

Thanks to my friend Sharon, she suggested the dinner that I actually made, Ella's guacamole and sweet potato chips.  

Doesn't look much but tasted good.  

Spoiler alert! Had some non vegan wine tonight courtesy of my husband.  Will be back on vegan wine tomorrow night, watch this space....

Day 11

Busy day today and didn't plan very well so had fairly slim pickings thoughout apart from Kirsty's yummy hummus which I had with rice cakes for lunch.

Feeling a lot better in the cold department so going to start getting back into my normal exercise timetable. That's one of the things that I'm particularly interested to monitor over the rest of the month - whether I notice any vegan impact on my energy levels and motivation/ability to exercise.  Had a fantastic hot yoga session this evening, then came home and had left over quinoa patties for tea.

After tea, started preparing dessert for a vegan Saturday night dinner extravaganza happening over at Kirsty's tomorrow.  I'm bringing vegan banoffee pie (yes really).  Here's the vegan 'caramel' I made earlier:

Our friends the old pitted dates make an appearance as usual, plus vanilla extract and coconut milk. I confess I had a sneaky taste, and it is a wee bit caramelly I suppose... But mostly date-y and coconutty though to be honest let's face it.  Will be interested to see how the finished dessert works out tomorrow: watch this space!

Day 10- double figures, woohoo!

I'm still riding the crest of the swapsie wave!  Enjoyed a very yummy Beetroot and walnut dip, courtesy of Kate, on rice cakes.  I'm afraid I wolfed down the dip before photographing it, so here is the picture from the book Honestly Healthy.

Slight sadness to my day when I couldn't enjoy birthday cake to celebrate Julie's birthday.  Toasted her with peppermint tea and granola bar.  Not quite the same but it got us all taking about healthy eating, which was interesting.  I think more and more people are exploring plant based foods, but maybe not in isolation??

For dinner, I had the spicy noodle combo that Kate blogged about earlier. I added my own variations including broccoli, kale and left over spicy sesame potatoes.  It was, by far, my favourite dinner, although I may have over cooked the noodles.  Should have checked in with Kate first.

Finally, my supper, gluten free porridge oats topped with Eat Natural Buckwheat Museli and almond milk.  Night night.

P.S. one more thing, a big thank you to my friend Linsey because she bought me some vegan chocolate, Celtic Chocolate, and a nut bar, called 9 bar.  The chocolate is a real hit and so nice to eat some convenience food for a change!

Day 10

For tea tonight tried Deliciously Ella's pea and courgette quinoa 'burgers'. Didn't make the gluten free buns to go with them as just too much hassle for a work night, so had them with salad and avocado instead.  Again added a bit of chilli and garlic to the mixture, and I divided it into more patties than suggested - but these guys are still monsters:

Bound with ground linseeds and psyllium husks to replace egg. Ella said to bake them for 20mins - but 40 mins on and these bad boys weren't going anywhere so I just left it at that.  Still a bit bland but I'm sure my innards were appreciating all that fibre and protein... .

Day 9- swapsies

So Wednesdays are becoming my favourite day of the week because Kate and I swap some dishes and treats.  We produce in bulk and share, just like a good vegan should!  I think I got the better deal, homemade peppermint chocolates, peanut butter chocolate balls (a real must try), raw brownies, basil pesto, and beetroot and walnut dip.  All made by the fair hand of Kate, so thanks doll.

For lunch I made us some the butternut squash soup from Honestly Healthy with coriander and parsley oil.  Basic ingredients for soup include butternut squash, red onion, garlic, chilli, bouillon powder mixed with water to make a stock, ginger and lemon juice.  The oil added a nice wee touch, coriander leaves, flat leaf parsley, olive oil and cumin. What's not to like?

Dinner was pesto and brown rice pasta.  I struggled to fight Nuala off, she was the lovin' the vegan thang!

Day 9

Food swap day! Hooray! Delicious soup and aubergine pasta sauce from Kirsty, as well as crackers, hummus and the awesome granola. Mm mm mmmm.

For my tea tonight:

Brown rice pasta salad with Kirsty's aubergine pasta sauce (adapted from a Jamie recipe) plus some garlic sautéed mushrooms, eaten on the beach at Gullane with Marc and Neil, in beautiful warm sunshine and prior to an excellent paddling session. Life is good.

Day 8

Feeling in a positive frame of vegan gluten free mind today.

Took the kids out to Calderglen park and enjoyed an outdoor picnic.  Did I succumb to the ham rolls and crisps? No sir, not me.  Made myself a lovely salad with homemade hummus and left over spicy potatoes and cauliflower curry (see day 6).  Added a couple of these wee crackers- poppy seed and black onion crisps (substitute flour for buckwheat).  They taste delish and you make enough dough to fill your vegan tummy for a few weeks!

For dinner I adopted a Jamie's recipe, Meatballs alla Norma.  Clearly the meatballs were out and I substituted sweet chilli sauce for actual chillies and maple syrup.  Put together with polenta mixed with a little cashewnut butter.  It may look a little mushy but it tasted good.  I could have left the sauce lumpy but I prefer processing the aubergines to break down the skin.  Love the fact that I squeezed a vegan recipe out of Jamie.  Don't forget that lug of oil...

Ps excited about tomorrow as it's swapsay Wednesday with Kate.  Wonder what tasty treats are in store for me.