tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66134129006926015532024-03-24T00:10:37.063-07:00Flicking the VsA London vegan cooks, eats, and eats some moreJoeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.comBlogger645125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-4920381930908301142020-05-24T11:24:00.001-07:002020-05-24T11:24:55.152-07:00Simple lockdown pleasures (with all manner of vegan treats, of course)Lockdown is, so I'm told, the perfect time to do new things. I guess the people that say that don't have heavy duty jobs, or kids to look after, or are carers. But let's pretend we're all using this time to do new things. At least in the kitchen, I am a bit. When I'm meant to be doing work or studying, I'm secretly dreaming of the new dishes that I'm going to cook when it's lunchtime.<br />
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When I was down our local supermarket, trying desperately to keep 2m away from everyone else, I stumbled into the pasta aisle, and one of the only pastas that were left were conchiglioni -- otherwise known as absolutely huge pasta shells. Ever since then, I've been thinking about making conchiglioni filled with ricotta and spinach (the vegan version, of course).<br />
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So I made this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_SgfNKzXDTfgtgYpbKo9anu1nzJpZ8tyXGbALY7k9PgrEczc78x8eBpDlYEg7PPVuy-egPRhIuUOmf2Azs5lgfhZZRrms7UrUZXCrByoWZ7zERqcil1ysU2SniSbTDg9OYsVnjs3PYU/s1600/bakedpastashells.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1163" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_SgfNKzXDTfgtgYpbKo9anu1nzJpZ8tyXGbALY7k9PgrEczc78x8eBpDlYEg7PPVuy-egPRhIuUOmf2Azs5lgfhZZRrms7UrUZXCrByoWZ7zERqcil1ysU2SniSbTDg9OYsVnjs3PYU/s1600/bakedpastashells.JPG" /> </a></div>
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I used firm tofu with nooch, miso, garlic and lemon juice let down with a little soy milk to make the ricotta, and some kale instead of spinach. I stuffed the tofu ricotta and kale mix into the precooked pasta shells, and then laid them all out on a bed of red pasta sauce (I cheated and got it out of a jar!) and baked them in the oven until everything was just touched with a hint of crispiness around the edges. It was so good! If you, like a few days ago me, have never made oven baked big pasta shells, you need to go and do it some really soon. Assuming there's any conchiglioni left were you are, that is!<br /></div>
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Another food that's a bit hard to come by of late is wild garlic. I smelled some the other day walking through a local wood, but I couldn't see any for the life of me. What I did see though was a sign from the local council asking people not to pick wild garlic, becuase they'd been trampelling the local plant life. Luckily, the wild garlic I've been enjoying came with my vegbox, and not from the local woodland. </div>
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I knew the one bag I had in my hands that week would probably be the only one I'll be getting this year. I've made wild garlic pesto before, and wild garlic hummus, but what's the best way to treat this single perfect bag of green leaves? I thought a simple soup. Just wild garlic, stock, and potatoes, all blended and served with a bit of Oatly creme fraiche and garlic oil. Because, y'know, more garlic.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2ywgpYWtVPohpFSdc_lVOWEOERbHy9TX3txUdyPjVmFJ2Uv19ZlbAuzYJnEpFa0hiG29csn5dBF3b6HfjUaKtj-98SeDajwz0wT6uocyTY9DdhBzOEOnOjztN6SfxavNljTW32M5YWg/s1600/wildgarlicsoup.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="a bowl of vegan wild garlic soup" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2ywgpYWtVPohpFSdc_lVOWEOERbHy9TX3txUdyPjVmFJ2Uv19ZlbAuzYJnEpFa0hiG29csn5dBF3b6HfjUaKtj-98SeDajwz0wT6uocyTY9DdhBzOEOnOjztN6SfxavNljTW32M5YWg/d/wildgarlicsoup.JPG" /> </a></div>
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So silky, so tasty, so very, very green.</div>
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<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And for foods that can transport you, may I introduce you to to <a href="https://www.crosstowndoughnuts.com" target="_blank">Crosstown Doughnuts</a>. I love Crosstown for making vegan doughnuts accessible across London. I used to be able to grab them on the way home from work. There's nothing to shuck off a bad day as sittng down with a cup of tea and a doughnut. Now work means sitting at home and not leaving the house, there's not a huge chance to lay my little vegan hands on all those glorious doughnuts any more. Happily, Crosstown now delivers within the M25, which means I can get a box of doughnuts delivered to my front door. I can report they were every bit as glorious as they always were.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have a friend who every time I see her, I grab a few Crossotwn doughnuts, head down to hers, and we spend a good few hours gaming together. Only, I haven't seen that friend for months, and I miss her a great deal. So, how do you replicate meeting up with your friend when you can't leave the house? We both got a box of Crosstown's finest (mine was the <a href="https://www.crosstowndoughnuts.com/project/vegan-selection/" target="_blank">vegan 'working from home' box</a>, of course -- shout out to the rhubarb and ginger for winning the deliciousness competition on a very crowded field) and used Zoom so we could play computer games together as if we were still in her front room. It's not quite the same as being in the same place, but it'll do for now.<br /></div>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-44606875070768833382020-05-15T12:51:00.001-07:002020-05-15T12:51:05.050-07:00Pandemic proofing your food stores: How to stock a larder to last any lockdown<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CACa6TZtSjEmJkDTxfPGYxc5C7RFmnlea3VrS973-axmfYFh-e650kHvZuSy3RLfuMu9Ux4EQJ9MgTw2SRLOYuML7Bjgjx2RayHmrgvES-cxuXYIlY7wgvxNSeoRd4NwS2e8vybTs0U/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3265" data-original-width="4898" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CACa6TZtSjEmJkDTxfPGYxc5C7RFmnlea3VrS973-axmfYFh-e650kHvZuSy3RLfuMu9Ux4EQJ9MgTw2SRLOYuML7Bjgjx2RayHmrgvES-cxuXYIlY7wgvxNSeoRd4NwS2e8vybTs0U/w640-h426/pantry1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Photo by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@martin_lostak?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration-skip: ink; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Martin Lostak</a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/pantry?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration-skip: ink; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>When the coronavirus pandemic first started to make its way over here, I remember walking into our local supermarket and being taken aback by the empty shelves. There were massive gaps where all those things you need to make a good meal had just disappeared -- no baked beans, no bread, no tinned tomatoes (not to mention the disappearance of toilet roll!). Most of the fruit and vegetables had been cleared out too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happily, at the start of the year, I'd completely restocked my kitchen cupboards to healthy levels, expecting that the uncertainties around Brexit would disrupt food supply. That meant that for the worst of those first few weeks when coronavirus threw everything up in the air, I could dip into my supplies and dodge going to the supermarkets altogether. Given we don't really know how the rest of the pandemic will play out right now -- maybe there's a second wave on the way or perhaps a vaccine will solve our problems -- I thought I'd share my tips on keeping a well stocked kitchen that can keep you nourished throughout even the toughest of times. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Breakfasts</b></div><div>When I was a kid, my mum was always sniffy about UHT milk, but I'm a big fan. I always try to keep 8 or so cartons of UHT soy milk in my cupboards. It doesn't need to be kept in the fridge and it's got a long life, so you can stash healthy amounts safe in the knowledge you've got enough to last for weeks. Similarly, you need to make sure you've got a couple of packets or jars of tea and coffee, depending on your preference. If you like fruit tea or fancy tea of any kind, don't forget to put some of that aside as well. And then add a couple of cartons of fruit juice while you're there -- orange juice is a breakfast classic, but pineapple and tomato juice are not only good for breakfast, they're also handy for cocktails too. Just sayin'.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If you're a cereal eater, make sure you've got the biggest box you can find. I always keep a couple of packets of porridge in stores as well, because not only is it the breakfast of champions, you can also use it to make flapjacks and other sweet treats, as well as <a href="https://veganuary.com/recipes/traditional-irish-porridge-bread/" target="_blank">bread if you run out of flour</a>. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I'd also recommend having a bag of gram flour -- it can make great vegan versions of eggy dishes like scramble and fritatta. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Basics for making meals</b></div><div>I'm vegan, so of course I'm going to say you need loads of beans, pulses, and lentils in your store cupboard. I always have as many types of each to hand as I can find: black beans for <a href="http://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-vegan-recipe-for-brown-rice-gallo.html" target="_blank">gallo pinto</a>, pinto beans for refried beans, kidney beans for chilli (kidney beans in chilli sauce make a quick cheat chilli starter), black eyed beans for gumbo, haricot beans for soups, cannelini beans for pasta dishes, and flagolet for salads. Of course, there needs to be loads of chick peas for, well, everything. For lentils, red, green, brown and yellow are all great to have on hand for making Indian dishes. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Other things that I'd recommend stashing a couple of are packets of falafel mix, sausage mix, and TVP. Sure, they might make you think of old school veganism, but when there's no vegan sausages and mince on the shelves, knowing you can make some at home is a massive relief. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And... baked beans. Of course you need baked beans. You knew that already, right?!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Don't forget to have a stash of oil on hand for cooking everything -- I got one of those engine-oil sized tins when it was on special and it's lasted for a good few months.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Different sorts of carbs</b></div><div>Of course, you need rice. But a few different types of rice are a good idea if you've got space and inclination -- white rice for when you're pressed for time, and brown for a nice nutty flavour. (I've really been missing sushi since the lockdown, so I'd put a box of sushi rice aside too!) <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Cous cous is handy too for tagines and salads, and I'm a big fan of noodles, so I've stashed packets of wheat noodles for stir fries, rice noodles for buns and pad thais, and udon for ramen. Polenta's a good standby too, not only does it make a nice side for rich tomato ragus, but you can use it for polenta chips and even in desserts too. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And, of course, you need pasta. If you've got room, a few different types are good -- spaghetti for your bolognaise, fusili for pasta bakes, and maybe orzo or something similar for salads. Wraps or tortillas are versatile too, and it's good to keep a couple of packets on standby for burritos and sandwiches.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I also put a bag of semolina aside. Not really worked out what to do with it though -- not every one of my stockpile staples has worked out completely! <br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtXp_ySgQBZ_FxUVSPwD_F1k1EErZqadZGEmhAR3H3BEgmA6lGyb3YZgtWyeSv2sqL3_OzqCcZffVxoDqFet0PmOxfee8EALGjjz8_zqPcblqr3PsYrx6oXFXQjdDxJk0gVfXYwoZYk8/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="6240" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtXp_ySgQBZ_FxUVSPwD_F1k1EErZqadZGEmhAR3H3BEgmA6lGyb3YZgtWyeSv2sqL3_OzqCcZffVxoDqFet0PmOxfee8EALGjjz8_zqPcblqr3PsYrx6oXFXQjdDxJk0gVfXYwoZYk8/w640-h426/pantry2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Photo by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@simuradi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration-skip: ink; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Muradi</a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/pantry?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration-skip: ink; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out; white-space: nowrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><b>Long life fruit and veg<br /></b></div><div>Vegetables are one of the hardest things to store in the long term, but there are ways around that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously, if you're preparing a lockdown larder, you need loads of tinned tomatoes, I don't need to tell you that -- you know they're super handy for making sauces among other things. But don't forget to put aside some tomato paste too, for boosting the tomato power. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If there's one thing I've learnt during lockdown, it's that canned veggies are actually really, really good. Tinned potatoes are great for just chucking into curries or stews, because they don't need any cooking, tinned spinach is perfect for vegan saag paneer and peppers in jars are great for adding to stews and casseroles. There are loads of great fancy veg in tins and jars too if you're feeling flush -- hearts of palm, artichokes, and asparagus are all good for adding variety to store cupboard meals.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget to put some tofu aside too: as well as the always-lovely silken tofu you can get in UHT cartons (great for mousses as well as adding to stir fries), if you can get your hands on some freeze dried tofu, it's a handy thing to have around.</div><div><br /></div><div>As for fruit, I can totally understand why tinned fruit disappeared in the first weeks of the pandemic. I love tinned peaches, apricot, and fruit cocktail -- useful for puddings and cakes, and nice for just eating on its own too. Don't forget dried fruit though -- figs, prunes, and apricots are equally useful for cooking sweet dishes, or just for adding to your porridge.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Spices and flavourings</b></div><div>Now you've got your carbs and your meal bases, you need something to make them taste different when you're using them for meal after meal. Salt and pepper are a good start, and then add some of your favourites to your cupboard: for me, it's cumin, coriander, paprika, oregano, chilli, bay leaves and curry leaves. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Ginger and garlic are also the cornerstones of many a dish, so keeping a long life supply on hand is great. Buy a couple of jars of both, and add other 'lazy' type jars as you like -- chill's not a bad shout too. I'm a firm believer in the power of soy sauce, so I have a litre around for flavouring.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And, for when you can't be bothered to put your own spice mixes together, keep some readymade mixes to hand, either in packets or jars. I reckon you can't go too far wrong with some taco type packet mixes, as well as some harissa. Most things taste great with harissa.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And if there's one thing to make sure you definitely have a good supply of, it's stock cubes or bouillon powder. Not only are they great for making soups and stews, they're really handy for adding extra flavour to your cooking. (Side note: yeast extract does the same job, and it's good on toast too! Why not add some to your store cupboards? It lasts for decades too.)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Making your own bread and cakes</b></div><div>I love making my own bread, and I came very close to running out of bread flour recently. I was not happy. At the start of lockdown, I had five or six packets in my cupboard, about half white and half wholemeal, and if I was restocking again, I'd put a couple more aside too. If you're feeling fancy, why not stick a bag of rye in the cupboard as well, just to add a bit of variety. And, above all, don't forget the yeast! Luckily yeast keeps for ages, so put a couple of tins in your cupboard along with the flour.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>On the sweet side, self raising flour, plain flour and baking powder, cocoa powder, sultanas, vanilla essence or extract can all be configured and reconfigured to make cakes, biscuits, pancakes, and all things in between. Add them to your larder in generous amounts!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>A few readymade treats</b></div><div>Custard powder, or readymade UHT custard (thanks Oatly!), as well as UHT cream are complete necessities for drenching your homemake cakes in, so a few packets of both are definitely a good idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if there's one thing that I've learned over these last few weeks, it's that -- even with the best stocked larder -- sometimes you just can't be fussed to cook at all. Make sure you have supplies in to deal with that too. For me, it's Amy's chilli and soups, Mr Organic or Terra Vegane pasta in a box, vegan katsu sauce, Sainsburys tinned vegan spaghetti bolognaise, readymade pesto, and Oggs cakes have all kept me going when the idea of turning on the oven seemed a bit too much.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>And everything else</b></div><div>Coconut milk. Just get loads. You'll definitely use it. Same with nooch. You need that to get through the dark times. And if you want to, why not get some miso and liquid smoke for good measure.<br /></div>Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-33422018054074669502020-05-10T11:12:00.002-07:002020-05-10T11:12:36.743-07:00Vegan theme night: A three course menu to keep the lockdown blues away<div>How are you doing, friends? I hope you're keeping well and as unbored as you can be in the circumstances. I don't know about you, but the days here are slipping into sameness. Time has become liquid to me -- when I think about something I did this morning, it feels like I could have been doing it days ago. I forget what day it is often. I can't remember what it was like to not work from home, and how long it was since I last saw a friend or family member in person. You get the idea. So, in order to try and dodge that encroaching sameness, I've been finding ways to try and introduce more variety into my long, listless days. But there are only so many levers I have to pull -- basically, it's food and entertainment, and entertainment is pretty much Netflix, reading blogs (have a vegan blog? Drop the link below!), and listening to the radio.</div><div><br /></div><div>This weekend, I thought I'd try and make eating tea in front of the TV a little more interesting with a bit of a theme night (I know, I know, interesting is a relative term, but this is lockdown world, and not much is <i>that </i>interesting!) Me and Mr Flicking the Vs have been watching a lot (and I mean a lot a lot) of <a href="https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80192098" target="_blank">Money Heist</a> on Netflix. If you've not seen it, it's a Spanish drama (called La Casa de Papel in the original Spanish) about a gang trying to pull off an audacious heist, by robbing the Spanish National Mint of billions of euros. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/02/how-money-heist-became-netflix-biggest-global-hit" target="_blank">It's a massive hit worldwide, apparently</a>, but less well known in the UK. If you're in need of something daft, compelling, beautiful to look at and full of (gloriously unrealistic) plot twists, there are four seasons to treat yourself to. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>With just a couple of episodes left until to the end of series two (and finding out whether they'll actually pull off the heist), I decided we needed a Spanish theme night: one course per episode, with a Spanish music playlist to cook along to.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our first course was pretty simple, but delicious: padron peppers, fried and sprinkled with sea salt. Delicious! I love padron peppers -- they taste like the start of summer. There's also the added bonus of heat roulette -- you never know if you're going to get a mild one that tastes like a smooth green pepper, or a fiercely hot one that's from the same family tree as a chilli pepper.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpj1K8K3cq5W3Kh2toei9n9VT8rsyxjXQ0A9gGKNBlMUB1eHT9jMFcOurVxahk2xbMCV1dJA3TWUWdOgQaSpeSj9Fs792IabA8EZJE0RkpRBL8uYVRdS-odAHujlkNsKXgqxzT1voUyNg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpj1K8K3cq5W3Kh2toei9n9VT8rsyxjXQ0A9gGKNBlMUB1eHT9jMFcOurVxahk2xbMCV1dJA3TWUWdOgQaSpeSj9Fs792IabA8EZJE0RkpRBL8uYVRdS-odAHujlkNsKXgqxzT1voUyNg/d/padronpepper.JPG" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I wouldn't call our main meal paella, but it was definitely inspired by the classic Spanish rice dish. Traditionally, paella has meat or fish in, but mine's a vegan version, so there was a feast of plant based goodies instead -- tomato, asparagus, red and green peppers and vegan chorizo sausages (t<a href="https://lindamccartneyfoods.co.uk/our-food/frozen-range/vegetarian-chorizo-red-pepper-sausages/" target="_blank">he Linda McCartney ones</a>). According to the source of all knowledge that is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella" target="_blank">Wikipedia, paella's considered</a> as Spain's national dish -- unless you're from Spain, that is, in which case it's thought of more as a local dish from Valencia. I was <a href="http://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2016/11/eating-vegan-in-valencia-restaurants.html" target="_blank">lucky enough to visit Valencia</a> a while back and had some cracking vegan food, but no paella. I don't know if I've ever eaten a paella before (how terrible is that?!) so I was flying blind a bit on making it, but some stock, wine, and a spell in the oven pretty much makes most things good, and my Spanish-esque rice was exactly that. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't use a recipe to make the paella, but I just picked up ideas from a few already out there, including <a href="https://www.deliciouseveryday.com/vegan-paella/" target="_blank">this one</a> and <a href="https://cupfulofkale.com/vegan-chorizo-vegetable-paella/" target="_blank">this one</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrOb8Hsx_QaX-0W5rIlhjtM5x7Ax0mce4e1YthuSOQ8I-jWORnkJzh-i3bfVsZSLlE11WBfxcNqnA2ctF-cjnkiOJWXuEoE9fkRDKO9t45Xw4aZQM-Y5w0U8UIvyB4dF-vktk0X3HUdo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrOb8Hsx_QaX-0W5rIlhjtM5x7Ax0mce4e1YthuSOQ8I-jWORnkJzh-i3bfVsZSLlE11WBfxcNqnA2ctF-cjnkiOJWXuEoE9fkRDKO9t45Xw4aZQM-Y5w0U8UIvyB4dF-vktk0X3HUdo/d/spanishrice.JPG" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And for pudding: flan! It's a Spanish dessert that's similar to creme caramel: a soft, wobbly custard with a layer of dark caramel sauce. The one I made is from a packet mix, so I can't claim much credit to its deliciousness, but hey I did stir the contents of the packet into the some soy milk! Pretty sure that makes me a chef, no?<br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbUbOsaH114vUPRo55-AGba8xWJo71QvQgy4kb7Yxi2mnUcp5aA_QchWM8iRRNgzT8sGJIXSa5mvFUTsN77yLliW4vNNkPynYYiP_QybPWo-LvXgQMD-jL_zNzJIn9F-ztxbnD2bU7Bg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3227" data-original-width="4092" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbUbOsaH114vUPRo55-AGba8xWJo71QvQgy4kb7Yxi2mnUcp5aA_QchWM8iRRNgzT8sGJIXSa5mvFUTsN77yLliW4vNNkPynYYiP_QybPWo-LvXgQMD-jL_zNzJIn9F-ztxbnD2bU7Bg/d/flan.JPG" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>We also drunk Estrella Damm beer thoughout our Money Heist marathon. Once we spotted the product placement, we couldn't stop seeing the Estrella logo everywhere (an Estrella delivery truck even plays a key role in one scene!) and so we bought some in honour of it. Salud!<br /></div>Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-10363506028116266172020-05-04T12:24:00.003-07:002020-05-07T13:11:09.004-07:00Life under lockdown: Three ways to recreate what you're missing at homeEvery so often, I catch myself making a list of all the things that I'm going to do once the lockdown is over -- all the things that I used to do every week and haven't done for ages, or one of those one-off things I'd be planning to do at some point in the future, and now don't know when I'll ever be able to do. As lockdown drags on, I'm looking for ways to try and recreate all those things without leaving the house. <br />
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<b>Make your front room into your local pub</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by
<a href="https://unsplash.com/@mnm_all?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">mnm.all</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/">Unsplash</a></td></tr>
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Take our local pub. We go every week, unless we're not at home. We used to joke about how if we miss one week, the barman would probably ring the police, convinced we've been murdered. Now we haven't been in our usual seats for over a month, and I miss it. It's a nice pub, and getting to sit down with a pint and a packet of peanuts was a sign for us that the working week was finally over.
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So what do you do when you can't go to the pub? You bring the pub to you, of course!<br />
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We've designated a corner of our living room to serve as the pub. We pull up two chairs, pour a drink and set out a bowl of peanuts, and pretend like we're down our local. When you're under lockdown and spending a lot of time with the same person or people, you probably talk all the time about things - the washing up, what to watch on Netflix, how work's been. But having a pub in your front room means you set aside some time to have a proper chat. I totally recommend it.<br />
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If you're missing your local pub quiz, it's easy to recreate it at home. Last week, we joined up with a few of our relatives and friends to come together for a lockdown version. One of our relatives set the questions, and the others teamed up with whoever's in their house to answer them. I don't think I've laughed that much since lockdown started. If you don't fancy setting your own pub quiz, you can jump on one of the many virtual pub quizzes that are running online -- we like <a href="https://www.goosesquizzes.com/">Goose's Quizzes,</a> which is on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/goosesquizzes">every night on Twitch</a> at 7pm.<br />
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<b>Have an indoor picnic</b><br />
As soon as the weather picks up, my thoughts turn to picnics, and hours spent lounging under the sun, spread out on a picnic blanket eating and drinking with friends. That's the dream, the reality is more a quick walk around our local park and home, no hanging about and definitely no picnicing.<br />
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So, even though we can't spend a lot of time outside, but that doesn't mean we have to abandon the picnic idea altogether -- we just bring it indoors.<br />
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We spread out our blanket on the floor, and then cover it with all the foods you need for a good picnic -- falafel, sandwiches, fruit, crisps, dips, cake, and something fizzy (alcoholic or not, whatever you prefer). You can even put a musical festival on the TV in the background, squint a bit, and try and pretend you're at a music festival -- no trying to find your tent at 3am required.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrCGkTdfLJz_UjzIJ2V73gWJKLQDEXcNNPskYUK3j3S270EPuiMTRplRVDTGIEyCYBE1KmaNousZ-c05IngwxdQa3hr9vK0JoxjQaIGEsDVfRAIY8GaaV7NyI7dworoKPw66ZBD3d1UI/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="696" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrCGkTdfLJz_UjzIJ2V73gWJKLQDEXcNNPskYUK3j3S270EPuiMTRplRVDTGIEyCYBE1KmaNousZ-c05IngwxdQa3hr9vK0JoxjQaIGEsDVfRAIY8GaaV7NyI7dworoKPw66ZBD3d1UI/s320/picnic.jpg" width="930" /></a></div><div><br /></div>
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<b>Bring your favourite restaurant home</b><br />
Before the whole lockdown thing hit, I was thinking of all the restaurants I was going to visit when I finished my degree. A while back, I got to visit <a href="http://www.gauthiersoho.co.uk/">Gauthier</a> in London for my birthday (<a href="http://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2019/03/all-vegan-food-i-ate-for-my-birthday.html">it was a big birthday</a>!) and we were thinking of going to celebrate the end of my studying. Well, you know how this story ends -- we didn't get to go to Gauthier, or well, anywhere much.<br />
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So, we have make do with a restaurant that's nearer home -- or, well, is home. I guess if we can't go to a fancy restaurtant, maybe we can make one in our kitchen. There are a couple of Gauthier's recipes knocking around online -- you can find a handful of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/jan/12/vegan-french-beetroot-terrine-bourguignon-dauphinois-aubergines-shallots-recipes-alexis-gauthier">French home cooking dishes here</a> and a recipe for <a href="https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/faux-gras">faux gras</a> here.<br />
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I remember trying the faux gras at the restaurant, so thought I could try to recreate it. Here's how it went:<br />
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Of course my version wasn't a patch on the restaurant version (no cognac for a start!) but we made it the starter of our restaurant-a-like meal. If you want a bit of that restaurant feeling without going out, find a three-course vegan menu online, and then set a time and a dress code with your fellow diners (just beause you're not going out, doesn't mean you can't dress up!) Get yourself a bottle of wine, some cheap candles and find some restaurant-style music on Spotify, and you're away! Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-71959653219993323092020-04-27T12:34:00.000-07:002020-04-27T12:34:02.064-07:00Life under lockdown: I reckon we all need more comfort food right nowHey blog friends, how has lockdown been treating you? It may be anecdotal, but it seems like among me and a few of my friends, we've all hit a wall recently. I've been keeping indoors as much as possible, going out to pick up shopping once and a week and walking around my local parks for exercise. I've been keeping in contact with friends and family, and keeping studying and working. However you look at it, lockdown hasn't been a struggle for me. That said, I still feel like I've been struggling -- every day seems to blend into one, I've been missing the normal variety of the ebb and flow of life, the chance to see friends and family in person, and going outside a two mile radius from my house. <br />
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Prettty much the only lever I can pull to put a bit of variety into my days, and to cheer myself up. It's the sort of time that calls for comfort food.<br />
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Comfort food for me is, and always has been, cake! There's few things that make me feel there's a chink of sunshine in a grey skin as much as a cup of tea with a slice of cake. Like everyone on Twitter at the moment, it seems like, I decided I needed to make some banana bread. I made it on a beautifully sunny day, and lit it up like a painting: <br />
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Banana bread is one of those great simple recpes for using up those bananas that have gone black, and it's a really good starter recipe for anyone learning how to make vegan bakes, especially because it doesn't need any fancy ingredients and it takes all of ten minutes to make the cake batter. <br />
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But cake can only take you so far, sometimes you need to make a proper meal. For some reason I can't explain, I had a deep need to make Swedish meatballs. Not that there's anything wrong with Swedish meatballs, of course, but I couldn't tell you why I wanted them so much -- I'd never tried them before, either the meaty version from my pregan days or in plant-based form.<br />
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I scoured a few recipes for vegan Swedish meatballs and knocked up this plateful:<br />
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Swedish vegans and Swedish vegan meatball afficionados, how did I do? I don't know if I'd pick up any points for authenticity, but it tasted pretty decent. The mash is potato and parsnip, there's some kale for greenery, and I had to sub the traditional ligonberry jam for a bit of beetroot chutney. (I wasn't sure on what's the proper sauce for Swedish meatballs, so it's a mix of onions, mushrooms, cream and white wine. It was *chef's kiss* (side note: why is there no chef's kiss emoji?!)</div>
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The other thing that I'm kind of proud of cooking at the moment is polenta chips. POLENTA CHIPS! I've only ever eaten polenta chips when someone else made them for me (I have a vague memory of eating them at a vegan fest somewhere?) but given I'm not going anywhere near a restaurant or a cafe any time soon, I thought I should learn to make it at home. </div>
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I tried about three times before I manage to turn polenta into fries, because each time the batter was too wet to bake. If you're thinking of giving it a go yourself, here's my pro tip: make the polenta thick enough so that when you're beating it, it's coming away from the side of the saucepan. That way, when it cools, it'll separate nicely into thick chips that can be baked. </div>
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Another tip: if you've got any wild garlic knocking around, throw that in too. And last tip -- serve these with <i>everything. </i></div>
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<br />Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-50962469170757613802020-04-21T13:16:00.000-07:002020-04-21T13:16:01.962-07:00East Meets Vegan cookbook review: A feast of dishes from across Asia, all made veganFor some people, lockdown is the excuse to spring clean the house, or write a novel, or learn a new language. For me, it's the perfect time to dig out some cookbooks and make some new dishes. A couple of months ago, I bought a copy of <a href="https://theexperimentpublishing.com/catalogs/spring-2019/east-meets-vegan/">East Meets Vegan by Sasha Gill</a>. The book's subtitle is The Best of Asian Home Cooking, Plant-Based and Delicious, and who could resist that? The book takes classic dishes from countries including India, China, Malaysia and Japan and makes them entirely vegan. Despite being stuffed with appealing sounding recipes, the book sat on my shelf until lockdown and all the home cooking it requires gave me a reason to dig it out again.<br />
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The first recipe I made was this bowl of Peddler's Noodles. It's quite a store cupboard friendly recipe,. The base is just TVP and some noodles, along with a few flavourings to make a broth that everything sits in. It's nicely simple to make -- definitely the sort of thing you could rustle up in few minutes when you need a quick lunch and there's not much in the fridge. The one thing that let this down is TVP -- it's a handy ingredient for bulking out meals, but it doesn't do well as the star of the show without adding a lot of flavouring. If I was making this again, I'd use some readymade mince instead.<br />
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The next thing I made was I think my favourite of the bunch: butter chicken (chicken is played by the far superior tofu). Butter chicken is one of those dishes that I've heard people talk about and drool over, but it's never something I've eaten (because, you know, chicken), so I was glad to get a proper vegan version to try. Handily, I had all the ingredients at home, which meant I could make an amazingly tasty dish without having to queue at the supermarket. I was a bit suspicious looking at the list of ingredients that it looked a bit too simple to deliver a rich flavour. I was wrong, and I'll be making this recipe over and over again.<br />
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The next plate was two recipes in one, tandoori cauliflower wings and chana masala fries. Chana masala is one of my favourite things on earth -- if I see it on a menu, I'll order it without a second thought. And then you put it on top of fries? Who wouldn't like that? The chana masala was a little bit drier than I like, so maybe I'd add some extra tomatoes next time. I loved the pickled pink onions on top too -- a bit of colour and sharp flavour.<br />
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I've seen lots of Twitter pics of buffalo cauliflower wings, but I've never quite got around to trying them at home -- I guess I always thought they were a bit too complex for lazy me to make at home. Tandoori cauliflower wings use a similar idea -- make a batter, cook the cauliflower, then add a glaze and cook again. I don't think I got the ratio of batter to cauliflower florets right, because they were a bit on the soggy side, but I enjoyed the subtle spice taste and the joy of finally making my own wings at home.<br />
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As well as savoury recipes, there are a lot of sweet things too. One that caught my eye was barfi, an Indian fudge, made with gram flour. I couldn't resist cooking it, because gram flour is prettty much the only flour I can still find in the shops. Barfi is normally made with milk, but the vegan version used reduced coconut milk. I don't think I managed to toast off the gram flour enough, because the finished version had the characteristic beany flavour. Before it set, I tried the fudge batter, and it was fabulous -- I could have eaten it by the spoonful. I was so pleased with the finished version, but if I can find a way to make it again with the same flavour as the mixture, I'd do it in a heart beat.<br />
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Alongside the sort of dishes you've heard of and tried before, there's lots of dishes that I'd not heard of before and was looking forward to making for the first time -- including this one, Roti Jean. Roti Jean is a mix of seasoned mince and omelette in a baguette, with cucumber and sriracha for cooling and heating respectively. The omelette needed a bit more flavour, and the mince would have been so much better if it wasn't TVP, but I couldn't not enjoy the sort of sandwich that needs two hands to pick it up. It was a complete beast, and I mean that as a compliment.</div>
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Another classic next: tikka butter beans! The butter beans are cooked first in yoghurt and spices, then simmered in a tomatoey broth. Butter beans are an underrated bean, in my very humble opinion, so I'm always going to be a fan of a dish where the butter bean gets to shine. <br />
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I love hot and sour soup. There's nothing about the idea of tofu and mushrooms cooked with soy, chilli and lime that doesn't make me happy. I feel like this is the sort of food that if you've had a bad day at work, or you're a bit under the weather, one bowl of this will pick you right up. So much flavour in one tiny bowl, and all the citrus and coriander just woke me right up. </div>
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There's always got to be one dish that doesn't go down so well, hasn't there? Something to balance out all the rest of the good eats? This massaman curry was it for me. My love-hate relationship with jackfruit falls roughly along these lines: love it when someone else cooks it, hate it when I do. This recipe wasn't the exception to change my mind. Hope triumphed over experience and I bought a tin of jackfruit and set about making some curry. I didn't like the result. It was jackfruit, and I made it, and I wasn't a fan. If you like jackfruit, you'd probably enjoy this, but if you're a jackfruit dodger, this is maybe not for you.<br />
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That's as far as I've got in cooking through East Meets Vegan. If I'm going to be under lockdown for a few more weeks, at least I"m looking foward to cooking my way through even more new recipes.Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-78933119618044699462020-04-12T12:33:00.002-07:002020-04-12T12:33:32.698-07:00Life under lockdown: Keep cooking (vegan food) and carry onIs it even possible to write a blog without mentioning coronavirus at the moment? The answer's probably yes, if you're a better blogger than I am. But for me, what else is there to write about? I can't imagine there are many people who haven't seen their lives affected in some way, great or small.<br />
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Here, we're healthy. As lockdown drags on, I'm have time to work on finishing my degree, and I'm still picking up some freelance work. Apart from a lot of time spent indoors and seeing friends and family only online, I'm pretty much able to keep going without too much complaint. I have food, water, a roof over my head, and a decent internet connection. What more could I ask for?<br />
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As we creep up on our third week of lockdown, I'm grateful for a few things that have been getting me through the long hours in our flat. One of them is still having enough food around: we have vegetables delivered every week, and a store cupboard with just enough variety to keep food from getting too samey.<br />
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You can tell when it's the day the veg box arrives, because I get a bit over-excited and start trying to use all the veggies in one meal. This sort of thing happens:<br />
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I've also been using up veggies in baking more than usual, for some reason. I made a cake using parsnips for the first time, using <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/catherine-berwicks-parsnip-maple-syrup-cake">a non-vegan recipe</a> and turning them into something entirely animal-free. It wasn't a complete success -- the texture was more fudgy than cakey -- but the parsnips had entirely melted away in the cooking. The taste was nice -- sure, there was a faint hint of the vegetable in the background, but it wasn't offputting. I'd make it again, with a little less parnsip! To balance things, I made an old favourite: courgette and caraway muffins. They're dinky and just the perfect thing to make a batch of and freeze. They make a really nice accompaniment to soup.<br />
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I've always been pathologically allergic to food waste (I blame my parents! They spent the beginnings of the lives under rationing, and they never let anything edible end up in the bin) but I'm especially aware of it now. I'm still not entirely relaxed about the food supply after seeing all the bare shelves and panic buying earlier this year. The upside of seeing that scarcity, if there is one, is that I've been working especially hard at using things up, and trying to turn odds and ends into something lovely.<br />
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Twice recently I ended up with a small chunk of tofu leftover -- once silken, once the standard type. The standard tofu I ended up using to thicken a soup of black beans and chard. Sounds weird, but actually worked decently. The silken tofu I turned into a couple of portions of chocolate mousse. I dug out some honeycomb from the cupboard, and it was heaven in a glass. <br />
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I ventured to the supermarket a few days ago, and was relieved to see the empty shelves beginning to ebb away. The freezers where the vegan sausages, burgers and other goodies had been bare for weeks, but I managed to pick up a pack of both on my last visit. I love cooking, but sometimes it's good to know you can just put something readymade in the oven and know there's a good meal to be had.Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-85556240593348428212020-04-01T13:03:00.000-07:002020-04-01T13:03:19.911-07:00Life under lockdown: How I'm trying to make the best of social distancing and not going out<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@khlebnikovayulia?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Yulia Khlebnikova</a> on Unsplash<a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/pantry?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" td=""></a></td></tr>
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Social-distancing has surely got to be a shoe-in for the Oxford Dictionary's word (two words?) of the year. Everyone's talking about it - to each other on the phone or messaging, obviously, not in person. How strange and different the world seems since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and how quickly we've all got used to the changes being under lockdown has brought.<br />
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Last week was the last week of my degree. Since Christmas, I'd been locking myself away studying to pass my final exams. I ditched all of my social engagements in favour of hitting the books. I saw no one apart from my course-mates and pretty much sat on my own in my flat, desperately cramming facts into my weary brain. I had plans for after the exams: I'd go out, see my friends, visit museums, walk in the sun. You get the idea. Then coronavirus happened, and my plans radically changed. No more going out or meeting friends down the pub, just staying home, trying not to get sick or make anyone else sick.<br />
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For us, lockdown means no social life, just the odd trip to the supermarket and a walk around the neighbourhood for a change. So, what do you do when you have to spend all day, every day at home? I saw <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/SloopJontyB/status/1241134014725066754">this thread</a> from a former submariner on Twitter about how to deal with living in an enclosed space for longer than you'd like, and I've been trying to apply his advice to dealing with lockdown. <br />
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During my time in the Submarine Service, I - along with many others - endured many weeks and months cooped up in a steel tube under the waves. I just thought I’d share a few coping strategies for many of you now facing a Covid-19 “patrol”. <a href="https://t.co/m9ObHd6FU9">pic.twitter.com/m9ObHd6FU9</a></div>
— Jon Bailey (@SloopJontyB) <a href="https://twitter.com/SloopJontyB/status/1241134014725066754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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So, here's how I've been using his tips to cope with, and even enjoy, some enforced time at home.<br />
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<b>1. Routine:</b> Time seems to fray around the edges without some structure to it. Normally, that structure comes from school and work. When there's no school and there's no work, where does the structure come from? I guess you have to make it up. Weekends are fair game, but during the week, I'm still trying to get up, eat, and go to sleep at the same time as normal. As me and my other half are both working from home now, lunch is now the big meal of the day. Lunch is always the highlight of a day at work for me, and now my kitchen is just a few minutes away from my desk, I'm taking advantage of it to make some fancy-ass meals.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Eat:</b> I don't need much encouragement to spend my free time cooking, and now I'm not spending two hours a day travelling, I feel like I can take time to make desserts and bread, and all those things that I normally don't get time to get around to that make a meal a bit more exciting. To balance out all the fancy meals I'm cooking, dinner's are nice and simple - it's soup for most meals in the evening.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Connect: </b>If there's been one upside to the whole lockdown period, it's the way it feels like people have taken the chance to get on the phone to people they don't talk to enough. It's only been a week, and I've spoken to loads of people that I wouldn't have otherwise had the chance to -- good friends, old friends, new friends, fallen out of touch with friends, relatives, the whole works.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBdzQMzh2CqSqjj6zI3CVjF2MVuK7CIXIdIrGh0PhDdLaVNdZ4-MZwEmnmyevo-385k2-taoEFSwn72tQzG7cjw97Vh8CFaAnxgYE9g9FsIncs-jjyafRf8ChcKhj_XSWTHExHflVPD0/s1600/spice-shelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1179" data-original-width="1600" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBdzQMzh2CqSqjj6zI3CVjF2MVuK7CIXIdIrGh0PhDdLaVNdZ4-MZwEmnmyevo-385k2-taoEFSwn72tQzG7cjw97Vh8CFaAnxgYE9g9FsIncs-jjyafRf8ChcKhj_XSWTHExHflVPD0/s640/spice-shelf.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@hjmckean?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">heather mckean</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/pantry?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>4. Clean: </b>Does anyone enjoy cleaning? Normally, I'd say no. But after a week of indoors life, even cleaning starts to seem like a pleasant distraction. Given the uncertainty of the food supply at the moment, it seemed like a good idea to clean the kitchen from top to bottom, then make an inventory of what's in the cupboards and the freezers, and what meals we can make with the supplies we have. The queues outside the supermarkets and the empty shelves when you get inside make me even less inclined to venture to the shops than normal, and I'm not a fan of shopping on a good day. In a time of massive uncertainty, it feels reassuring to know we have meals for a while.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Exercise.</b> Yes, I've been doing this. It's still not fun, but I'm pretty sure it's doing me good.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Privacy:</b> The wise submariner said make time for yourself, to go off and do whatever you like without your housemates/family/whoever else you live with. For me, that's the excuse for a long bath and an even longer book.Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-74171919183395545222020-03-15T08:02:00.000-07:002020-03-15T08:02:16.381-07:00What can you cook with king oyster mushrooms?: A few vegan recipe experiments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7ULxpnRmvNdmbBqU3-XacdXLKr_R9yg_V74ffEJYxlA30xyAZpviol6zVTbVD3S-aKs8QP_ymXgqss_ehuyr3vDFlgimIN-sra2rGqEE-1QLubr-JIEIgVaKPeKktb4dNWmtcmcBEk4/s1600/mushrooms.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7ULxpnRmvNdmbBqU3-XacdXLKr_R9yg_V74ffEJYxlA30xyAZpviol6zVTbVD3S-aKs8QP_ymXgqss_ehuyr3vDFlgimIN-sra2rGqEE-1QLubr-JIEIgVaKPeKktb4dNWmtcmcBEk4/s1600/mushrooms.JPG" /></a></div>
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There are people out there that think that the vegan diet is restrictive. Pfffft. Can you imagine? Which is funny, given that no vegans I know feel that about their diet, and they're probably the people that know best, right? I'm always amazed by the sheer vairety of plants out there -- the internet reckons there are 60,000 or 70,000 edible plants on our wild and beautiful home plant and I'm always trying to find new ones.<br />
<br />
Until recently, I'd never had king oyster mushrooms. I have a love-hate relationship with mushrooms, and I've been trying to shift more into the fond of fungi camp. I also love a yellow sticker bargain, so when I saw a pack of reduced king oysters in the supermarket, it was a novel-mushroom-meets-cheapo dinner venn diagram overlap that I couldn't resist.<br />
<br />
And then... I got them home. And didn't really know what do cook with them. What do you make with mushrooms bigger than a fist?<br />
<br />
If you're ever wondering what to make for a good vegan dinner, or you're stuck with how to use something you've just bought (like, I don't know, king oyster mushrooms) then may I suggest hitting up <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/veganrecipehour?src=hashtag_click">#VeganRecipeHour</a> on Twitter? It's where vegans get together to have a chat about food and recipes. It's a friendly 60 minutes, and always a good source of plant-based deliciousness and inspiration (and it's 8-9pm UK time very Thursday!)<br />
<br />
The ever helpful VRH herself pointed me in the direction of a recipe for king oyster mushroom scallops. Happily, I've never had a real life scallop, so I've no idea what they should or shouldn't taste like, but I can tell you that the vegan versions are supreme.<br />
<br />
I used this recipe on <a href="https://veganyackattack.com/2018/06/18/king-oyster-scallops/">Vegan Yack Attack</a> (originally by <a href="https://wickedhealthyfood.com/2018/05/08/the-wicked-healthy-cookbook-us-release/">Wicked Healthy Cookbook</a>) as my model, I made a broth of konbu, ginger, garlic, miso and soy sauce, and then simmered slabs of king oysters until they sucked it all up. Then, I panfried them until they got this amazing crust on them. Behold:<br />
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If I was cooking for anyone else, I would have made some pasta or salad or something to go with it, but because it was just me eating, I ate the mushrooms with my hands, without anything else. They were superb.<br />
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And that's not the half of it. Do you know what else you can do with king oyster mushies? Turns out that with a fork and a bit of effort, you can make them into a sort of pulled pork alike (no cruelty required). With a few spices, an onion, and a bit of tomato paste, king oyster mushroom shreds can become a taco filling. Just fry the onion, add paprika, tomato, soy sauce and stock, then chuck into the mushrooms for more liquid-sucking-up. Back into the oven for some crisping up, and then straight into the tacos with some lettuce, salsa, and avocado.<br />
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I used a recipe from Lazy Cat Kitchen to make my tacos -- <a href="https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/vegan-pulled-mushroom-tacos/">it's here</a> if you want to try it.<br />
<br />
Two dishes later, and my supplies of king oyster mushrooms were exhaused, but I'm looking foward to finding some more and cooking up some more new dishes. Here are some I've love to try:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://sweetsimplevegan.com/2017/12/vegan-oyster-mushroom-calamari/">Vegan Oyster Mushroom Calamari</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fullofplants.com/king-oyster-scallop-bowls/">King Oyster Scallop Bowls</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.avantgardevegan.com/recipes/creamy-king-oyster-mushroom-pasta/">Creamy King Oyster Mushroom Pasta</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/blackened-king-oyster-mushroom-scallops-grits-with-greens/">Blackened King Oyster Mushroom Scallops and Grits with Greens</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/wicked-asian-ribs">Wicked Asian Ribs</a></li>
</ul>
Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-50565793518723718822020-03-05T13:12:00.004-08:002020-03-05T13:12:57.979-08:00Rudy's Dirty Vegan Diner review: Quality comfort food in Camden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In my last post, I wrote a bit about <a href="http://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2020/02/support-your-local-vegan-baker-how-rise.html">trying to support vegan-owned businesses as much as possible</a>. With that in mind, when I found myself in Camden with a few hours to kill, I pitched up at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rudysdvd/?hl=en">Rudy's Dirty Vegan Diner</a>.<br />
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Rudy's is in the <a href="https://www.camdenmarket.com/food-drink/rudys-dirty-vegan-diner">middle of Camden Market</a>, and like most traders in Camden market, not actually all that easy to find. It's somewhere past Cyberdog and the Amy Winehouse statue, if that helps. Look for a cheeseshop, and it's opposite that, with a large fibreglass cow outside. (I like to imagine the dirty looks that go on between a cheese shop and a vegan diner when they're just a few feet apart -- maybe that's what makes Rudy's a dirty vegan diner?!)<br />
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After those of a herbivorous persuasion have bypassed the cheese shop, they can settle down in Rudy's. It's got great high ceilings, some high tables for those with longer legs, and some with banquettes for those of us with shorter trotters. You order at the counter, and then get given one of those buzzer things that vibrates frantically to tell you to go and pick up your dinner. I think the last time I saw them in action were pub in Australia a good few years ago. (Aussie friends, is that still a thing?)<br />
<br />
The menu at Rudy's is on the short side (you can find it on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rudysDVD/menu/">Facebook here</a>). There's a few burgers, a couple of other main options -- a sarnie, a salad, a hot dog -- as well as a few sides, and that's it.<br />
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On the beverage side, there are some amazing sounding shakes -- all served out of Rudy's <a href="https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/londons-first-vegan-diner-opens-vegan-milkshake-bar-on-new-premises/">own dedicated milkshake bar</a>. I would have loved to have tried one, but the bar looked to be out of action, and my tiny student wallet coudn't cope with spending £5 on a milkshake (I blame too much <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qOvaBKugT8">watching Pulp Fiction</a> in my formative years).<br />
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I went a bit rogue, and decided to make a meal out of sides, like it was ten years ago and I was trying to get fed in an omni restaurant. I went for mac and cheese, because I always do, with colesalw on the side. How wrong could I go with two stone cold classics?<br />
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Mr Flicking the Vs, who always wins at dinner, won this time too by choosing the reuben with fries. As a confirmed seitan skeptic, I marvelled at how the loathesome taste and texture of the stuff had disappeared under the pastrami spicing, and how all the second fiddle ingredients -- sauerkraut and reuben sauce, I'm looking at you -- all came together in a satisfying whole.<br />
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The coleslaw was just as it should be, somewhere between crisp crunch and drowning in mayonnaise, and the chips were better than most diners' I could name.<br />
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The mac, though, the mac. The mac made me a sad Joey. For me, the mac should be taking a light bath in the cheese sauce, not a parsimonius shower. Rudy's looked more like it was having a bed bath -- the sauce was a bit lighthanded, and had all but disappeared as the mac cooled. I can tell you that because *whisper it* I just couldn't finish it. Not finishing a dish I've paid for and looked forward to feels is a bit like considerng cutting off my leg -- something I'd need a pretty compelling reason to even contemplate.<br />
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It was a bum note among lots of good dishes, and I plan to eat my way through the rest of the menu when I get a chance. Maybe I'll even have saved up £5 by then. Meet you by the milkshake bar?
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<br />
<b>Rudy's Dirty Vegan Diner </b><br />
Camden Stables Market<br />
Unit 729-731<br />
London NW1 8AH<br />
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-68757528786911049742020-02-23T23:54:00.002-08:002020-02-24T05:33:08.112-08:00Support your local vegan baker: How the rise of veganism could hurt vegan businesses (and what to do about it)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you're a London or UK vegan, you might have heard the sad news about the closure of <a href="https://www.mscupcake.co.uk/">Ms Cupcake</a>.<br />
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Ms Cupcake opened the UK's first vegan bakery back in 2011, selling indulgent vegan treats and plant-based essentials from a cheerful Brixton storefront. When it opened, a few years after I'd gone fron veggie to vegan, it was still pretty rare to find all-vegan shop. It was the sort of place that you could take your non vegan friends to prove that being vegan didn't mean missing out.<br />
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Whenever we went out in Brixton, I'd pick up a cupcake for later. If I went to visit my family on the other side of the country, they wouldn't let me in if I hadn't brought them a box of cupcakes to share. A non-vegan friend would always ask me to bring down an Ambassador or two, the Ferrero Rocher-style cupcake that Ms Cupcake created and everyone else ripped off.<br />
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And now, after all those years knocking out cupcakes, brownies, and my first eve taste of a <a href="https://veganmiam.com/reviews/vegan-nanaimo-bars">nanaimo bar</a>, it's shutting up shop. <br />
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It's not just Ms Cupcake that found itself struggling either - it turns out there are other vegan businesses going to the wall for the same reasons. In Devon, <a href="https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/shock-devon-loses-swathe-vegan-3818390">four vegan businesses closed in one week</a>.<br />
<br />
What's behind all these closures? The number of vegans and non-vegans choosing plant-based options has mushroomed. Does that mean there's still not enough demand even so? It turns out that the vegan boom might actually be hurting vegan businesses. <br />
<br />
"Now you can find vegan cake on pretty much every high
street and supermarket across London. This is a good thing! However,
with our continued rent raises, soaring expenses and the fact that
mainstream retailers are able to mass produce vegan products at a lower
cost - we have decided it is now time to close our doors," Ms Cupcake
said <a href="http://twitter.com/MsCupcakeUK/status/1230486077858816001">in a post on Twitter</a>.<br />
<br />
Turns out it wasn't a lack of vegan or vegan-curious that caused the demise of Ms Cupcake -- it was just that because there are now so many other vegan options easily available, we're just getting our vegan treats in other places. We don't have to make the effort to track down vegan food in all-vegan shops, because we can just pick it up in the supermarkets. And sadly, that means that those all-vegan places are having to shut up shop.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cJAlaK3FKElmXIbvnNOWULwaL770V5h8HoQq3TSiIXwyFJjNajCWcmCubUkc55bBBdFaIa9GhqS7yrnb-IFbb3FSAwpwyPfqOQDZJI5Il4W8WLYZgO9uZwE_mraxNG_h4T1qqdeWwjU/s1600/morrisonscake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cJAlaK3FKElmXIbvnNOWULwaL770V5h8HoQq3TSiIXwyFJjNajCWcmCubUkc55bBBdFaIa9GhqS7yrnb-IFbb3FSAwpwyPfqOQDZJI5Il4W8WLYZgO9uZwE_mraxNG_h4T1qqdeWwjU/s640/morrisonscake.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegan cakes are now even cropping up in your local supermarket - here's one I found in Morrison's</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We're all poorer for having lost those herbivourous retailers. We can't avoid spending money at places that sell non-vegan goods alongside vegan ones, much as we might want to, but we should definitely try and choose to support all-vegan options where they exist. If there's a choice between buying something from a vegan company or a non-vegan company, I'm going to make sure I'm choosing the vegan version. I used to buy Plamil's garlic mayo as my mayonnaise of choice; when my local Sainsbury's started stocking a Leon version, I bought that instead, as it didn't mean taking a whole extra journey to the health food shop in the next neighbourhood.<br />
<br />
Then I started thinking about this very pertinent Twitter thread (I've condensed it a little, you can find the <a href="https://twitter.com/bazhsw8183/status/1216358155799748608">whole thing here</a>)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<b>A thread about the high street and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/veganism?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#veganism</a>.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>A long time ago in my town there was a market stall. It was the only place in town to sell things we <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegans?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegans</a> now take for granted.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Things like nutritional yeast, plant milk, vegan cheese, pate and tofu.... It was the one place where you could get soya yoghurt or things like miso paste and other health / non western foods. It was the only place that stocked gluten free food also.</b></div>
</blockquote>
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<b>It was expensive and you had to hope they had what you wanted in stock. It's hard to imagine this. A time when a carton of soy milk was a treat or the only tofu was silken!<br /><br />One day Holland & Barrett opened, a national chain covering the same market.<br /><br />It was a little cheaper but had an expensive but for this vegan large frozen range and also vegan fast food items, like chilled sausage rolls and pasties. I often popped into there for lunch and it was a godsend to have something handy to eat when in town!<br /><br />A year or so ago Holland & Barrett - on the back of the growth in veganism significantly expanded their range. It became almost like a little supermarket for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegans?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegans</a> selling the previously non-profitable things that kept the little stall going.<br /><br />A year or two ago the little stall that was a lifeline for vegans became unnecessary and closed down after decades of trading. </b></div>
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<b>Holland & Barrett of course are in every high street now... I still popped into H&B regularly and the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegan</a> fast food was still brilliant when required.<br /><br />A year ago Gregg's started selling the vegan sausage roll across the road. I don't buy them, preferring instead to stay with the business that killed the little stall but for over 20 years has been a source of vegan fast food when no one else cared.<br /><br />In the last few weeks, no doubt due to competition H&B have stopped selling <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegan</a> sausage rolls and pasties.<br /><br />A much smaller company than Gregg's probably supplied those products. Those jobs no doubt will now be at risk or gone.<br /><br />I think the range of new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegan</a> products is brilliant. It's great to know I can eat at virtually every restaurant and no longer need to phone ahead but I think the growth has had some casualties. Pioneers of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegan</a> products are getting the squeeze.<br /><br />Some <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegans?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegans</a> even praise world leaders of animal abuse like KFC, Burger King and McDonald's as though we are on a 'shared journey' with them, rather than strive to put them out of business...</b></div>
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<b>I am not harkening back to the 'golden age of Sosmix' (if you were there you'd know!) AND of course these trends are indicative of a growth in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/veganism?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#veganism</a> which of course is what we all want!<br /><br />I do think though we should be mindful of where we spend if we can....</b></div>
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<b>It's true that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vegan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vegan</a> or vegan friendly businesses are suffering at the hands of companies that murder millions of animals.<br /><br />I think it's important to remember who our allies are and who are not.<br /><br />We are not a growing market. We are a growing movement</b></div>
<b>— Barry (@bazhsw8183) <a href="https://twitter.com/bazhsw8183/status/1216343171598295040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></b></blockquote>
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Not everyone has a choice about where they eat, and how. But I'm lucky, I live in London, there are vegan options everywhere, and lots of vegan companies to support. So, from now on, I've decided to support all vegan businesses whenever I can -- because if I don't, they may not be around in the future.<br />
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Sadly, I don't live near Ms Cupcake any more, but my commute home can take me close to another all-vegan baker, <a href="https://www.cakecultldn.com/">Cake Cult</a>. Yesterday, I picked up a brownie and a Viennese whirl, and put a little bit of cash in the pockets of a small vegan business. I guess it shows supporting vegan companies really is no sacrifice at all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd6CsH8WFoXwk2LTpnr2J0LkIBAxmyevXJSG5UKGmsFcyTtHGp5-s2FvH7WXMQ5aE7aS1wpPrt53y12btTucMr9j0FZc21N8P9yX1ckxQO5XP2uhmuZaWpQutLRnLN0IJ2qH8Y5AcMAQ/s1600/cakecultbrownie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd6CsH8WFoXwk2LTpnr2J0LkIBAxmyevXJSG5UKGmsFcyTtHGp5-s2FvH7WXMQ5aE7aS1wpPrt53y12btTucMr9j0FZc21N8P9yX1ckxQO5XP2uhmuZaWpQutLRnLN0IJ2qH8Y5AcMAQ/s640/cakecultbrownie.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A chocolate orange vegan brownie from Cake Cult</td></tr>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-82969727823222101842020-02-09T05:56:00.002-08:002020-02-22T09:03:04.909-08:00Vegan cherry marzipan loaf recipe: A simple, satisfying sweet treat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love a bargain. There's something that goes off in my my lizard brain when I see a reduced sticker, and I'm powerless to resist. After Christmas, I'm a sucker for snapping up all the steeply discounted Christmas puddings, mince pies, and al lthe other festive leftovers. One of the puddings I bought this year doesn't go off until after next Chrsitmas, and the other tasted just as good in January as it would have in September.<br />
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One of my post-Chrimbo bargains was a box of vegan marzipan for 9p. Who could turn that down?<br />
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What to do with my almond bounty though? My perference would ultimately be to eat the whole lot straight away, because marzipan is just good on its own. But was there anything else I could do with it?!</div>
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The answer is of course make an almond and cherry loaf! It's a simple, and simple to make, cake that doesn't take a whole lot of time or work to put together. The only really hard part is waiting for the cake to cook!<br />
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It also freezes well, so you can always save some for later (if you can resist eating the whole lot in one go!) </div>
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So, without further ado, here's the recipe:</div>
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<b>Vegan cherry marzipan loaf recipe</b></div>
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<b>Ingredients</b></div>
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125g vegan butter</div>
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85g vegan sugar</div>
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200g self raising flour plus one extra tablespoon</div>
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125g marzipan, grated</div>
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200g glace cherries, halved</div>
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160g (roughly a quarter cup) vegan yoghurt</div>
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<b>Directions</b></div>
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<li>Grease a loaf tin, and preheat your oven to 180C</li>
<li>Cream the sugar and butter together until you have a mixture that looks like a bit like breadcrumbs</li>
<li>Then add the flour and marzipan to the sugar-butter mixture, and stir everything together.</li>
<li>Mix in the yoghurt until you have something that looks like cake batter!</li>
<li>Rinse the glace cherries to get rid of the sugar syrup on the outside, drain, then toss them in the remaining tablespoon of flour</li>
<li>Bake for one hour, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.</li>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-8398590016866233992020-01-28T23:54:00.000-08:002020-01-28T23:54:03.582-08:00Dirty vs clean: A vegan pizza faceoff at 400 RabbitsRemember the bad old days, when hunting down good vegan pizza used to mean heading to Brighton to get fed at Purezza? Now, even Pizza Hut has vegan options and plant based pizza isjust a phone call away. <br />
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I'm more on the Purezza said of the equation than the Pizza Hut side - I like a big sourdough basd with those bubbles that have burnt a bit in the oven. Sadly for me, Purezza -- the first all-vegan pizzeria in England -- is on the other side of the Thames from me. North London has at least three vegan pizzerias, and South London? Zero. None. Not even one. It's a sad state of affairs for pizza minded vegans on the right side of the river.<br />
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While there's no plant based pizza slingers south of the river, there's definitely some good herbivore pizza to be had nonetheless.<br />
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Here's my hot tip for when you're Daaahhhn Saaaaarf and you need some vegan pizza sharpish: <a href="https://www.400rabbits.co.uk/">400 Rabbits</a>. There are three branches in South London and there's always a couple of vegan pizzas on the menu.<br />
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Their standard vegan offering is a radish and courgette pizza with pistou and tasted seeds, and very good it is too, but I've eaten it so many times to count. Happily, 400 Rabbits often have a vegan special. For Veganuary, there are two -- count them, two! -- new vegan specials, the dirty one and the clean one. Yes, that is what they're called. I know, I know, let's just look past that for now and crack on with eating pizzas.<br />
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According to 400 Rabbits, whichever of the two pizzas sells the most during January will get a permanent place on the menu. In the interests of fairness, me and Mr Flicking the Vs ordered one of each, in order not to throw the natural balance of the universe off.<br />
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This is the clean pizza, with portobello mushrooms, roasted cauliflower with green sauce, cauliflower leaves, lemon coconut yoghurt and aleppo chilli.<br />
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I've got a lot of time for chilli, mushrooms and cauliflower in however it chooses to dress up, and any sauce that just goes by a colour (because brown sauce and red sauce are both great, obviously). But the roast cauli puree as a base instead of tomato, I'm not convinced about. The cauliflower got lost and I felt like I was eating a bare pizza, or yoghurt mushrooms on a really big piece of toast (which actually sounds pretty good, come to think of it). I like a pizza that goes a bit free jazz when it comes toppings, but I still prefer a good tomato or squash base.<br />
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On to the Dirty Pizza. There's vegan aausage, three vegan cheeses, crispy shallots, jalapeños, tomato and vegan Sriracha. As a confirmed fussy vegan cheese eater (made of nuts = vegan cheese heaven; made of coconut oil = would rather eat toenail clippings) this was not a pizza for me, which is a shame, as everything else on the Dirty Pizza sounds amazing. Mr Flicking the Vs, a big fan of all forms of vegan cheese, finished the whole thing. <br />
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At the end of January, one pizza will stay and one will go. If I could choose one, which would it be? I'm not a believer in food being clean or dirty, just good or bad, tasty or not tasty. I liked bits of both, but not everything. In an ideal world, I'd like something between the two. Insttead of Dirty or Clean, maybe a Bit Grubby, or In Need of a Wash, but Could Wear It Again at a Push?<br />
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<b>400 Rabbits</b><br />
<a href="http://400rabbits.co.uk/">400rabbits.co.uk</a><br />
30-32 Westow St<br />
Upper Norwood<br />
London<br />
SE19 3AHJoeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-57210004636691862282020-01-23T12:48:00.000-08:002020-01-23T12:48:05.280-08:00Marks and Spencer's new vegan additions: Plant Kitchen's tofish and chips reviewedIf there's one meal that's guaranteed to make me come over a little peculiar, it's tofish and chips. When we were kids, if we were lucky, on a Saturday my parents would take us to the local chippy for a bag of fish and chips. I could take or leave the fish itself, I loved the chips and the crispy batter and the quite unncessary amounts of salt and vinegar, all soaking into pages of the local newspaper. I don't know if the chippy we used to go is still there, but I still think of tofish and chips as just as much as a celebration of the weekend in food form. <br />
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When was the last time I had fish and chips, I couldn't tell you -- decades ago maybe? -- but I could definitely tell you when I last had tofish and chips (<a href="http://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2018/06/everything-i-ate-at-its-vegan-ting.html">can it really be 18 months ago?!</a>) such is my love of it.<br />
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There's been a rash of new vegan product launches for Veganuary, but the one that caught my eye was the new addition to Marks & Spencer's Plant Kitchen's range -- tofish, chips and tartare sauce, all most gloriously vegan. Most of the Plant Kitchen stuff I've tried has been phenomenal (<a href="http://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2019/01/plant-kitchen-is-marks-and-spencers-new.html">the mac and cheese is one of my favourites</a>), so I was bascially powerless not to rush out and buy one. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1lwmOFZ5Rpi3mElgrMKLx96lqhdfYvyUG_YZaGTcdFNbctj7msDYWeY3TihaTVdcCT3PB_LLhkrsvy_YA7XLzPTutPZ8t74pwO_W6idyUH4Np5OarOvOb9EzpG2ufu-uao6otp1_x5A/s1600/tofish1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1lwmOFZ5Rpi3mElgrMKLx96lqhdfYvyUG_YZaGTcdFNbctj7msDYWeY3TihaTVdcCT3PB_LLhkrsvy_YA7XLzPTutPZ8t74pwO_W6idyUH4Np5OarOvOb9EzpG2ufu-uao6otp1_x5A/s640/tofish1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You know when you buy ready made stuff and once you cook it at home, it looks a little sad and wilted, like a version of the picture on the packet but after a heavy night out? I'm happy to report this is not that. It comes out every bit as crisp and beautiful as you'd hope. Check it out -- just look at that batter:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFOxmzc9v2YUe5Dj9df6ntO0vBDs9KSOxX3zPzCAtS2dSAretty7tIyx3E-XCv-h6gWTF4lrc3CLu1lOpwIa_bWqxNJLwpdbJMbRgrRlzCxTjDBJpVoPQ3n23P2hIZ2j5qJdNpFB9hu8/s1600/tofish4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFOxmzc9v2YUe5Dj9df6ntO0vBDs9KSOxX3zPzCAtS2dSAretty7tIyx3E-XCv-h6gWTF4lrc3CLu1lOpwIa_bWqxNJLwpdbJMbRgrRlzCxTjDBJpVoPQ3n23P2hIZ2j5qJdNpFB9hu8/s640/tofish4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It looks good, no? It was just what you'd hope for in tofish and chips. There are three good sized chunks of tofu in the sort of batter that shatters under your fork, and vegan tartare sauce. Vegan tartare sauce -- what a time to be alive! I used to love that stuff as a kid, but I only found that a vegan version existed last year. M&S' version is great, but tasted a bit like there's tarragon in there when it should be parsley, but it's not a load bearing problem -- it was still great, and there's a big enough portion to quietly drown all your chips, and your tofish and still have a bit left over.<br />
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Here's the bit that got me though: there's no fishy flavour in Plant Kitchen's tofish and chips. Most of the best tofish and chips I've had have used nori to give the tofu the taste of the sea, but there's no seaweed to be found. It's a bit of a surprise when you bite into the tofish and there's no fish -- it's just plain tofu. That doesn't mean it's not nice, but it's just not as tofishy as it should be!<br />
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Without any fishy flavour, it's not the tofish of my dreams, but it's still a good plate. I wish I could pop down to an all-vegan chippy in my neighbourhood and carry off a package of newspaper-wrapped tofish and chips, but until then, it's good to know I can always get a Plant Kitchen version to help squash my cravings. <br />
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<br />Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-10919878325254576312020-01-18T11:54:00.001-08:002020-01-18T11:54:12.522-08:00Four easy vegan meals: Eating my way through January from pasta to scramblesVeganuary means that there's going to be a lot of people experimenting with vegan food that may not have tried plant-based food before. When I went vegan all those years ago, I didn't really know what vegan food consisted of, or where to begin. I didn't realise that I already knew loads of vegan meals, or meals that were easy to veganise; I just assumed I wouldn't know how to cook without animal ingredients. I thought I'd have to relearn how to cook from scratch.<br />
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You can guess how this turned out. What seemed to be a daunting process was actually fine: I found I could straight swap some non-vegan products for vegan ones, and other ingredients I could learn to replace -- the eggs I used to use in baking were changed for silken tofu, flaxseed or non-dairy yoghurt.</div>
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So, in honour of all those new vegans out there this month, here are some of the simple meals I've been making this month, just to give you an idea of what I've been eating, and how making vegan food really doesn't have to be tricky (unless you want it to be!)</div>
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This was one of my favourite meals, because it was made of leftovers and vegetables. There's some swede, carrot, parsnips, baked in a few spoons of Oatly oat fraiche and a tin of fava beans in tahini sauce. It was baked in oven for a while, until it was crisp on top. If I was feeling fancy, I would have had a sharp green salad and some warm bread to go with it, but I wasn't fancy. I just scarfed it all on my own, with great joy.</div>
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This is another dinner that's dedicated to winter's root vegetables. The rest of the carrots, parsnips, and swede in the fridge were roasted and turned into a bit of soup with some white beans. It's not going to win me any cooking prizes but when it's cold and you don't have the energy to cook a proper meal, soup is always your friend.<br />
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I found a longely roll in the freezer as an accompaniment, and gave the soup a little lift from smoked garlic oil (a Christmas present!) and some sriracha. Because everything is better with sriracha, especially a little bowl of soup on a cold evening. </div>
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Nothing says quite like winter eating more than root veggies, with perhaps the exception of brussels sprouts. I know there's probably more sprout haters out in the world than sprout lovers, but anyone who is made without the ability to love brussel sprouts is missing out. They're one of my favourite vegetables - honestly! I usually pan fry them quickly with a bit of pepper and soy suce, or roast them slowly with a bit of oil and salt. Either way, they're at their best when they catch a bit, turning charcoaled at the edges.<br />
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Here's the honourable sprout with a bowl of pasta. I can't remember the name of the company who made it, but it was one of the first times I've seen vegan tortelloni and so I had to try it. These were filled with butternet squash and delicious (I reckon the sprouts made it so, of course!)<br />
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As a side note, there seems to be a boom in vegan ravioli - I've seen it in Tesco, Sainsburys, and Waitrose. I look forward to eating my way through all of them.<br />
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And onto one of my more colourful meals - there's no filter on this bad boy, that's just how my lovely lunch looked. I think there's a J<a href="https://www.savoryjapan.com/learn/culture/power.of.five.html">apanese principle that says you should have five colours</a> in every meal, and I think I've managed it here: purple cabbage, red ajvar, yellow tumericy tofu, orange carrot and green kale. It was as tasty as it was bright.<br />
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For anyone trying Veganuary, I'd like to recommend finding your favourite tofu scramble. There's as many scramble recipes out there as there are happy vegans. My favourite is in <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/veggiestan/sally-butcher/9781862058842">Sally Baker's Veggiestan</a>, but in order to find your own, you need to make them loads. Yoo'll not be disappointed. They're simple, they're endlessly variable, and they're delicious.</div>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-9898029285037881892020-01-10T01:09:00.000-08:002020-01-10T01:09:00.874-08:00Three vegan meals: Burgers, burgers, and a cracking keemaHello there! What with a new year just arrived, I thought I'd clear out some of the old pics on my phone from 2019 that didn't quite make it into a blog post of their very own.<br />
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Without further ado, I present you with the Truffler burger, a huge towering beast from <a href="https://www.byron.co/">Byron Burger</a>:<br />
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Wandering around in the cold and the rain in central London with some of my course-mates one day, looking for somewhere to eat, we saw a branch of Byron. I was the only vegan, but my lovely friends insisted that we wouldn't go in anywhere we couldn't get a good feed. I'd never been to a Byron before, but a quick run through of the menu revealed three vegan options, all of which looked pretty good. </div>
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I chose the above Truffler: Plant-based patty, truffle 'cheese' fondue, mushrooms, truffle 'mayonnaise', American mustard, pickled red onions, crispy onions, lettuce, according to the menu. As a side note: do those apostrophes may you grind your teeth? They do me. Why does everything without a bit of animal in it need scare quotes? But back to the burger: it was a great, tasty, sloppy beast, the sort of thing that makes its way down your arms and your shirt, and because it's so tasty, you don't mind a bit. It was one of the nicest vegan burgers I've had in ages. (And they do a student discount, which is always a good thing, if you ask me. Get it through the <a href="https://www.myunidays.com/">Unidays</a> app.)</div>
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Next up, another outing with my course-mates to another place that I'd never tried before: <a href="https://www.dishoom.com/">Dishoom</a>'s soy keema no eedu.</div>
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The keema is a breakfast dish, according to Dishoom, is a breakfast dish. Dishoom has seven -- count them, seven! -- vegan breakfast dishes, but I couldn't resist the lure of a bowl of spicy mince, fried potatoes, and a couple of bread rolls to mop it all up with.</div>
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Normally, my breakfast is a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea, so going out for breakfast is luxury of the highest type. The keema was deliciously simple, no messing about, just spice and carbs and a very happy me. If I could get someone to cook it for me, I'd happily swap my usual oats for a bowl of warming mince.</div>
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One of my fellow diners got a Vegan Bombay, a Dishoom take on the full English, with scrambled tofu, sausages, black pudding, tomatoes, mushrooms, masala beans and more of those inviting bread rolls. In other words, I know what I'll be having next time. </div>
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Not all of my eating last month was in London, I also got to head up to Manchester to check out <a href="http://www.wholesomejunkies.com/">Wholesome Junkies</a>.</div>
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Wholesome Junkies is a kiosk in the back-end of the Arndale Centre. It's not somewhere you'd stumble by accident, or really by choice, but handily one of my relatives was able to point me in the right direction. </div>
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£10 will get you a burger, a hearty amount of tater tots (and sauce to dip them in!) and a drink as well. I managed to go there twice in one weekend -- once with one relative, and then with a second, who was aggrieved she didn't get to go too! </div>
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The first burger I had was a meaty beefless patty, with all the usual goodies: cheese, chutney, lettuce and tomato. The sort of cheeseburger you always hope for when you see it on a menu, and it doesn't always deliver. Wholesome Junkies' version definitely did. The second time I helped myself to a KFC burger, a great heaping slab of cauliflower with a spicy batter, with cheese and onion rings to keep it company.</div>
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I nearly didn't finish it, it was so big. Nearly. Of course I ate the whole lot -- I never leave a vegan burger behind.Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-42280979134916655652020-01-05T01:26:00.000-08:002020-01-05T01:26:12.402-08:00Vegan afternoon tea in London: La Suite West totally nails it<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Afternoon tea is, I reckon, a perfect a meal as there can be. Afternoon tea is a feast of tiny savoury and sweet treats, washed down with enough tea to float a battleship. If you've got enough time, money and appetite to eat a whole afternoon tea, then you're in a good place. I think the last time I managed to have an afternoon tea, <a href="https://flickingthevs.blogspot.com/2014/01/vegan-afternoon-tea-in-london-and-its.html">it was 2014 when I went to La Suite West</a>, an all-vegan hotel in west London. It was a glorious meal, so five years later (!), I decided to pay a return visit.<br />
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Before I get to singing the praises of the afternoon tea, I'll mention how good the service was. Right, onto the eats!</div>
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Like any good afternoon tea, La Suite West's has three tiers of sandwiches, scones and cakes. Unlike most afternoon teas, though, La Suite West's is all vegan, beautifully prepared and thoroughly inventive. Case in point: check out the sandwiches.<br />
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There are four different sandwich fillings: the classics cream cheese and eggless mayo, as well as rocket-and-ajvar, an East European vegetable spread that's heavy on the peppers, and coronation jackfruit. Vegan food has gone big on jackfruit, but I've always felt a bit squeamish about it (it looks too much like ligaments for my liking) but it turns out that if you wrap it in a lightly-curried mayonnaise, it is amazing. </div>
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By this point, having demolished the sarnies, me and Mr Flicking the Vs were quite hopeful of being able to finish our three tiers of wonder. By the time we got to the scones, we were beginning to change our minds. </div>
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The scones came either plain or with fruit, and with coconut cream and raspberry jam. Debating whether the jam or cream goes on first is the sort of nonsense politicians discuss to try and appear like they have a personality of sorts, but I can confirm that putting truckloads of either or both on your scones is a wise idea. From what I can tell, the scones are wholemeal - or at least, they have a lot more flavour than standard scones.</div>
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Nestled alongside the scones was a petite pastry. Cafe Forty One, the hotel's restaurant relaunched a while back as London's only vegan patisserie, and levelled up its dessert offerings. The pastry -- a pear cinnamon bun with gorgeous chewy, flaky pastry -- just showed how on point the sweets at La Suite are. I wouldn't have minded a bit more of the fruit, but I'm just being picky here.<br />
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At this point, I was pretty much full, but being the brave soldier I am, I forged ahead. Only one tier ahead -- a spiced chocolate mousse, a cookie, and a truffle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQ64JiOIvQFlMiGwCiv87RzxBA1axvUs-VuFCstuqPdWdLuv6yYCT2NsDYrpw3YMQ0ixpLG476sq86koJjIQ51p8zAsYZqr0kU-i6grMOu4vOHvhB-UeN-C6vsc8GEguCF8fX99IHAI4/s1600/toptierafternoontea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="1600" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQ64JiOIvQFlMiGwCiv87RzxBA1axvUs-VuFCstuqPdWdLuv6yYCT2NsDYrpw3YMQ0ixpLG476sq86koJjIQ51p8zAsYZqr0kU-i6grMOu4vOHvhB-UeN-C6vsc8GEguCF8fX99IHAI4/s640/toptierafternoontea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The mousse was a thick slab with a fruit compote on top. The mousse was a bit closer to a rich ganache than a light mousse, but the sharp fruit gave it balance. The dinky cookie was one of my favourites: a strong hazelnut flavour and crumbly biscuit that made a classy little bake. I'd love to tell you about the truffle, but at this point, I'd got the dessert sweats and only managed to finish it by the skin of my teeth. It was delicious though. (For anyone else who's got the good sense to stop eating earlier, you can get any leftovers boxed up to go.)<br />
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The La Suite West afternoon tea is everything you could ask for in a meal: imaginative, vegan, delicious.</div>
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<b>La Suite West</b><br />
<a href="https://www.lasuitewest.com/">https://www.lasuitewest.com/</a><br />
41-51 Inverness Terrace<br />
Bayswater<br />
London W2 3JN</div>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-53295452208543905642020-01-01T12:50:00.001-08:002020-01-01T12:50:51.878-08:0020 20s for 2020: Here are the goals I'm setting myself for the new year<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVf4KI7WgZVOPmJ0KBBKbvJpK6PUJHu_ZO_pg6gfZu0Z_OwtIc6jkgaidOSj7E7uHJGUgL9OdhGgKQW9BjHrK5u1ZKNYrxE9B-s50vjy0JPpe6OMsGpH1g9JT5oKhPXBTh-_VrQEsa-hs/s1600/2020newyear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVf4KI7WgZVOPmJ0KBBKbvJpK6PUJHu_ZO_pg6gfZu0Z_OwtIc6jkgaidOSj7E7uHJGUgL9OdhGgKQW9BjHrK5u1ZKNYrxE9B-s50vjy0JPpe6OMsGpH1g9JT5oKhPXBTh-_VrQEsa-hs/s640/2020newyear.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; white-space: nowrap;">Photo by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@jamie452?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Jamie Street</a><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/new-year?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Unsplash</a></td></tr>
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Happy new year! And a happy new decade too!<br />
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How was your festive period? I hope you had a break, and it was as busy or as quiet as you wanted, and you're ready to face 2020 with a renewed spring in your step.<br />
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This year, instead of setting any resolutions, I'm going to set myself 20 20s for 2020. If that just made your eyes hurt, let me explain: I've got a list of twenty things, all involving the number 20, that I'd like to do this year. Rather than use the new year as an excuse to become a whole different person, I'd just like to make my life a little bit better. So, fanfare please, for my 20 20s for 2020:<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Read 20 books</b> My first degree was in English Literature, so it breaks my heart that I don't read for pleasure as much as I used to. This year, I'm aiming to fix that, by reading 20 books, either fiction or non-fiction. Any textbooks I have to read for my degree definitely don't count.</li>
<li><b>Watch 20 films. </b>As my degree is nearly done (<i>so nearly!) </i>I'm revising pretty much 24 hours a day (sometimes I do dream about revising in my sleep!) so finding two hours of free time to watch a movie is pretty much unheard of. </li>
<li><b>Accept 20 invitations.</b> Between having no time and no money, I feel like I'm basically turning into a hermit. This year, I want to make sure that when people ask me out, I can definitely say yes! </li>
<li><b>Go out 20 times with Mr Flicking the Vs </b>And the same for my other half. I want to do more things together rather than just going down our local pub for two pints and a packet of peanuts every week. That said, I do love our local. I'll just have to add in some extra excursions!</li>
<li><b>Spend at least 20 minutes doing nothing a week </b>When do you ever get a chance to stare out the window for a prolonged period, unencumbered by the sense there's something you should be doing? I'm going to experiment with just doing nothing for a little bit each week. </li>
<li><b>Save 20 x £20 (or £2020!)</b> This one's self explanatory. I'm going to try and make my bank account a bit gladder.</li>
<li><b>Make 20 new recipes </b>I've rediscovered my kitchen mojo of late, so I'll be getting back to cooking and dreaming up some new recipes for the new year.</li>
<li><b>Eat out at 20 new places </b>The only thing better than cooking a nice meal for myself is getting </li>
<li><b>Write 20 blog posts </b>I shouldn't need to set myself this task, given how much I love spending time on this blog, but life keeps getting in the way. No more of that! </li>
<li><b>Do 20 environmentally beneficial things </b>I haven't quite worked out what I need to </li>
<li><b>Change 20 items in my wardrobe </b>Some things need to go out, some things need to go in. Either way, I'm using the new year as an excuse to spring clean my wardrobe.</li>
<li><b>Exercise 20 days a month </b>Exercising isn't always fun, but I'm pretty convinced of the benefits for my mental and physical health, so I'm going to be ploughing ahead with working out again this year.</li>
<li><b>Do 20 things I've put putting off </b>I'm thinking mainly of things around the house that I keep ignoring in the hope they'll somehow magically disappear. This year's going to be the year I get them all done.</li>
<li><b>List 20 things on selling sites </b>I could always do with some extra cash in the bank, as well as a few less things in my flat. Why not combine the two by selling off some of my spare bits?</li>
<li><b>Volunteer 20 times</b> This should be easy - I volunteer a lot normally, but I'd like to keep up my hit rate for the new decade.</li>
<li><b>Spend 20 days in new places </b>This is basically a long winded way of saying 'spend 20 days on holiday'! I don't think I'm going to get to take 20 days off on the spin, but I'm counting weekends away as long as I get to be somewhere other than London.</li>
<li><b>20 practice questions a day until exams </b>The last exams of my degree are in March, so I'll be nose in the books til then.</li>
<li><b>Practise skills 20 times each </b>The final exams involve demonstrating a lot of different individual skills, so I'm going to keep going over them until they're embedded as muscle memory. 20 times should do it!</li>
<li><b>Finish the last 20 percent of my degree</b> It's a five year degree and this is my last year. Please keep your fingers crossed I pass!</li>
<li><b>Take 20 political actions </b>2019 felt like a year of going backwards politically. I'd like to do 20 things in 2020 that are I think are for the political good.</li>
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So that's my 20 20s for 2020! I shamelessly stole the idea from the MSE forum, so if you want to see some other ideas for setting your own <a href="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6077948">20 20s for 2020, go here</a>. Are you setting any goals for this year, or just taking as it comes? Let me know!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; white-space: nowrap;">Photo by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Kelly Sikkema</a><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/new-year?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: auto; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Unsplash</a></td></tr>
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<br />Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-39447483478183451292019-12-15T12:36:00.000-08:002019-12-15T12:36:05.103-08:00Tombo Cafe review: A Sanrio riot of colour and character<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwr5ER1GBcVOfcR3zw99CihW3bb6ipbJMpizlP8YaWn7hNANx3Li81q2UJEgN-lw3Gi_2HmR12BTnbQvJ9ZW22XaPPTfz8QQNZYTajTzgcQsJlaSq4rVCbaD7HjooBVxtVYDnlG3vJl8/s1600/hellokittypoke1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="1600" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwr5ER1GBcVOfcR3zw99CihW3bb6ipbJMpizlP8YaWn7hNANx3Li81q2UJEgN-lw3Gi_2HmR12BTnbQvJ9ZW22XaPPTfz8QQNZYTajTzgcQsJlaSq4rVCbaD7HjooBVxtVYDnlG3vJl8/s640/hellokittypoke1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm not really sure how to go about telling you about my recent lunch at <a href="https://www.tombocafe.com/">Tombo</a>. I could tell you about the food, or tell you about the service -- or I could tell you about the wild decor, the kawaii food styling, or the fact that Hello Kitty is the cafe's bouncer. </div>
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Tombo is part of a small chain of Japanese cafes (there are three in London), but they're definitely not like anywhere else I've been. The moment you walk in, there's a giant kimono-wearing Hello Kitty ready to greet you, and she's <i>very</i> happy to pose for selfies. Once you've had your picture with the feline icon, you can go and fight for a seat -- we turned up at 2pm on a Saturday and snagged the only two empty seats in the house. </div>
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As I mentioned, the decor is eye-popping fun. The cafe has a tie-up with Japanase kawaii magnate Sanrio, and there are lots of posters of Pom Pom Purin, Gudetama, and the rest. There's also one table with a whole tree sprouting from the top -- another picture-taking hotspot for Tombo's diners.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOL1Ufm0EdM3JUwlSFij0IM8OA23sGb9VDhoCHKzHPeZDCqvYczCl5G6Nysk1Jg2uzyRuqMoNGn_f58vfb8F4BggdB1ZGJxRtH0DK091gbJrxKLdchNKvVHBAPwyo-NMz6ys6WjoHyDg/s1600/tombotree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1315" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOL1Ufm0EdM3JUwlSFij0IM8OA23sGb9VDhoCHKzHPeZDCqvYczCl5G6Nysk1Jg2uzyRuqMoNGn_f58vfb8F4BggdB1ZGJxRtH0DK091gbJrxKLdchNKvVHBAPwyo-NMz6ys6WjoHyDg/s640/tombotree.jpg" width="523" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just your average tabletop tree</td></tr>
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The set up is somewhere between fast food and cafe: you're seated by a server, you go to the counter to order, and food comes to your table. </div>
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A lot of the food and drink at Tombo shares the same kawaii look: matcha tea is served with a Hello Kitty graphic on top and Pom Pom Purin's curry comes with the rice shaped into a resemblance of the canine character. </div>
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Tombo isn't vegan, but there are a good number of vegan options from among its poke, donburi and noodle focused <a href="https://www.tombocafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/VW_TOMBO_SANRIO-MENU-DESIGN_STAGE-10_NONPRINTREADY.pdf">menu</a>. I was powerless to resist the lure of the Hello Kitty Garden Poke, while Mr Flicking the Vs went for less of a cutefest with the Pumpkin Katsu Curry.</div>
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Here's the Hello Kitty dish in action:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5kRLknK7acWiAmeq2KpKvFhr5FxS_GLwRZeB42EKp6Xkajfj-JZsg_qC0kAqzZ_lSMxFF8HCJop6gHbWq8GaQwNCfNQ8haKODdD_5o-8LORsIjUVXOsUTWo0KQKpbtgNBp_6UMEAC64/s1600/hellokitypoke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5kRLknK7acWiAmeq2KpKvFhr5FxS_GLwRZeB42EKp6Xkajfj-JZsg_qC0kAqzZ_lSMxFF8HCJop6gHbWq8GaQwNCfNQ8haKODdD_5o-8LORsIjUVXOsUTWo0KQKpbtgNBp_6UMEAC64/s640/hellokitypoke.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's pretty as a picture of a summer landscape, and just as light and fresh. Given how beautiful the plate was, carping about the flavour seems a bit mean. The veggies had been cut into dinky hearts, stars, and Hello Kitty silhouettes, but are otherwise untroubled: there wasn't any dressing I could spot. The tofu was the sort of tofu people think of when they tell you they don't really like tofu: cold, damp, unseasoned. Those little red fellas were flavour bombs though: somewhere between a pepper, a tomato and a chilli. If I knew what they were, I'd go and hunt them down and buy a truckload.</div>
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Mr Flicking the Vs' katsu was less of a feast for the eyes than my poke, but what it lost in visuals it more than made up for in taste:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHCeL1VPJBwK-axybONDPeAyNxMhyphenhyphenN35wzpt5rCDIobnBOSPdPlGbj5X9Pcn7Ce7yt4IVXqfPJqWRp_TaYZD0JhpPXqWderNmNmBF-InQrRj_n7HmswRUcA4a_Qitth3fIAryIwtDc0c/s1600/katsu2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHCeL1VPJBwK-axybONDPeAyNxMhyphenhyphenN35wzpt5rCDIobnBOSPdPlGbj5X9Pcn7Ce7yt4IVXqfPJqWRp_TaYZD0JhpPXqWderNmNmBF-InQrRj_n7HmswRUcA4a_Qitth3fIAryIwtDc0c/s640/katsu2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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A couple of slabs of perfectly crisp breadcrumbed pumpkin, a mound of rice, and some slaw for freshness. It was simplicity itself compared to the intricate designs of the Sanrio inspired food, but this is the dish I'll be going back to order. Some things just don't need any decoration, they're just all kinds of pretty on the inside.<br />
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But after all those paragraphs about the lunch at Tombo, you'll probably have guessed that the food wasn't really the main event. I wasn't blown away by my food, but the atmosphere and the decor meant that I still left with a smile on my face - it's impossible to feel sad in a riot of Sanrio. Everyone here looks like they're enjoying themselves: young kids meeting their Hello Kitty hero, harajuku girls enjoying a bit of Japan in London -- even the people dragged along by their other halves or children looked like they were still happy to be there.<br />
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My poke may not have set my tastebuds alight, but I left with a smile on my face. </div>
Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-49200901043213502812019-12-12T01:43:00.000-08:002019-12-12T01:43:04.847-08:00Six cashback apps that earn you money on your shopping -- reviewed and rated<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@nicolasthomas?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Nicolas Thomas</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/cell-phone-office?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></div>
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Who doesn't like free money for not very much effort? Cashback apps offer just that -- a few coins back on your supermarket shopping, just by using your smartphone. Here, I've rounded up a few cashback apps that I use to cut the cost of my food shopping. None of them are going to make you rich, but getting money back on the shopping you already do sounds a bit of a no-brainer to me.<br />
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Below you can find my summary of six different cashback apps, divided into two categories: apps that offer cashback on supermarket shopping, and apps that pay a few coins for taking pictures of your shopping receipts. Most of them take a few seconds to use, and pay the money you earn straight into your bank account. I've included the pros, cons and the vegan friendliness for each app where appropriate.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: Shopmium, GreenJinn, Clicksnap</td></tr>
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<b><a href="https://www.greenjinn.com/">GreenJinn</a> (free, available on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greenjinn.greenjinncoupons&hl=en_GB">Android</a> and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/greenjinn-cashback-app-uk/id1113992461">iOS</a>)</b><br />
GreenJinn has lists of offers on food and other grocery items like cleaning products. You choose the offers that you want, and when you want to redeem it, you need to scan the barcode of the product and then take a snap of the receipt.<br />
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<b>Pros: </b>The app is simple to use and there's a fresh list of offers every Monday. And talking of fresh - Green Jinn is one of the few apps that always has offers on fresh fruit and veg, and also includes non-supermarket retailers, like Superdrug, Boots and Holland and Barrett.<br />
<b>Cons: </b>The minimum payout is £1.50, but you can typically make that up from two or three offers. The money won't be paid to you automatically - you have to request it.<br />
<b>Vegan friendly:</b> You can filter which offers you see, so you can remove things like milk and meat from showing up on your feed. As well as fruit and veg, I've saved money on falafel, sausages, jam, and non-dairy milk and butter.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.shopmium.com/uk">Shopmium</a> (free, available on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shopmium&hl=en_GB">Android</a> and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/shopmium-save-money-every-day/id453007855">iOS</a>)</b><br />
Like a number of other cashback apps, Shopmium shows offers on grocery items from a number of large supermarket chains. To claim cashback from an offer, users will need to snap the product's barcode from their phone as well as upload a picture of their receipt to prove they bought the item. Cashback is paid into the user's bank account a few days later. New offers are added several times a week. The offers tend to be larger than other apps, but equally they're on more expensive items so you'll need to spend more upfront to get the discount.<br />
Bonus: if you use my referral code 4e6u8, you'll get something free (it changes from week to week, so I'm not sure what the current offer will be when you download the app!)<br />
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<b>Pros:</b> There's no minimum payout, the app is well designed, cashback is easy to get.<br />
<b>Cons:</b> More vegan offers wouldn't go amiss, but apart from that, it's one of the more user friendly options.<br />
<b>Vegan friendly:</b> Most offers aren't vegan friendly, but vegan items regularly crop up. In the past, I've saved money on beer, peanut butter, soup, yoghurt, and vegan sausages.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.quidco.com/clicksnap/">ClickSnap</a> (free, available on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quidco.clicksnap&hl=en_GB">Android</a> and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/clicksnap/id644301306">iOS</a>)</b><br />
Another mobile app that gets you money back on your supermarket shopping when you buy any of the listed products. It's connected to Quidco, so the payment will end up in your Quidco account automatically once your claim is accepted.<br />
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<b>Pros:</b> Cash is paid automatically rather than having to request it. There's a decent selection of offers, and they tend to stick around for a reasonable time, so you've got a while to pick up what you need.<br />
<b>Cons:</b> See below!<br />
<b>Vegan-friendly:</b> There are vegan offers, but obviously not anything that's grabbed me -- I haven't managed to get any cashback on this one yet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pLZDOJMNMUaXw3Hjp9nb_aNFALvcryXz0gAx7BmI6fYiUS2rc4xcCU1IALeMYHJaTpqdc05hp1QtoK4eUwHcroumm6WBTNzUTy98osNC8eGPM_J4La3x5P2Rkq-JnYXoAw_SiSVddIE/s1600/cashbackapps2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pLZDOJMNMUaXw3Hjp9nb_aNFALvcryXz0gAx7BmI6fYiUS2rc4xcCU1IALeMYHJaTpqdc05hp1QtoK4eUwHcroumm6WBTNzUTy98osNC8eGPM_J4La3x5P2Rkq-JnYXoAw_SiSVddIE/s640/cashbackapps2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: CheckoutSmart, Shoppix, ReceiptHog</td></tr>
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<b><a href="https://www.checkoutsmart.com/">CheckoutSmart </a>(free on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.checkoutsmart.checkoutsmart&hl=en_GB">Android</a> and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/checkoutsmart-grocery-cashback/id781550042">iOS</a>)</b><br />
CheckoutSmart is like a less good version of Clicksnap. It has a lot of the same offers and works the same way. The cashing-out process is a bit less good, though: you have to have a minimum of £5 to claim your money, and you'll be charged 5 percent of the withdrawal amount if you take out under £20.<br />
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<b>Pros:</b> A good long list of offers, regularly refreshed.<br />
<b>Cons:</b> The minimum withdrawal limit is a pain. Most offers have a chunky cashback attached, but you can still take a while to get to the withdrawal amount.<br />
<b>Vegan friendly: </b>Yes, I managed to hit the £5 limit just on a single offer on almond milk!<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.receipthog.com/">Receipt Hog</a> (free on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.infoscout.receipthog&hl=en_GB">Android</a> and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/receipt-hog-get-paid-to-shop/id525373618">iOS</a>)</b><br />
Every time you go shopping, snap a picture of your receipt through the app and you get points. The bigger the spend, the more points you get. Eventually points don't make prizes, they make cash - you can take withdraw it as PayPal, Amazon or Mastercard credit.<br />
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<b>Pros:</b> A slick app that accepts most types of receipts, and you can earn bonus points through the Hog Slots game in the app.<br />
<b>Cons:</b> If you're not a big spender (like me) it can take a while to build up enough points to withdraw any cash.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.shoppixapp.com/">Shoppix</a> (free on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kantarworldpanel.shoppix&hl=en_GB">Android</a> and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/shoppix/id1184563264">iOS</a>)</b><br />
Shoppix works on the same principles as Receipt Hog: you snap a picture of your shopping receipts, you build up tokens. When you've got enough tokens, you can swap them for Amazon, iTunes, or Love2Shop vouchers. You can also get extra tokens for uploading the receipt on the same day, and for completing surveys. Uploading a certain number of receipts and completing surveys also earn you scratchcards - more often than not, they cough up extra tokens too.<br />
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<b>Pros:</b> It's easier to build up a cash bonus, as you get the same amount of tokens for a receipt, whether it's for £1 or £100. Surveys and scratchcards all add to your total too.<br />
<b>Cons: </b>None that I can think of. It's definitely an app worth trying!Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-8198367738540036982019-12-07T01:38:00.000-08:002019-12-07T01:38:04.911-08:00I ate all of Pret's new Vegan Classics and here's what I learnedThis post may convince you otherwise, but I really don't eat ready made sandwiches very often. Being a skint student, buying a sarnie from a shop just isn't on the agenda when there's a couple of slices of bread and some vegan filling in the fridge. And then... then, there are the days when you've run out of time and you've not got enough energy to haul yourself to work, let alone into the kitchen. Those days are the days you find yourself in Pret, sniffing around the new Vegan Classics.<br />
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Back in October, Pret announced it was launching <a href="https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/pret-debuts-vegan-versions-of-classic-sandwiches-including-chuna-mayo-and-a-vlt/">four new sandwiches, the Vegan Classics</a> -- vegan versions of Pret's most popular omnivorous sandwiches. Instead of egg mayo, there was eggless mayo; vegan chuna replaced tuna; BLT became a mushroom-based VLT, and the hoisin duck was swapped for a hoisin mushroom version. </div>
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When I was a veggie, a good many years ago, an egg mayo sandwich from Pret was a luxury and a Friday treat. The idea of a vegan version seemed just too appealing -- one day when making lunch seemed all too much, I found myself at the door of the <a href="https://www.pret.co.uk/en-gb/veggie-pret">Veggie Pret</a> in Shoreditch, willing to swap £2.99 for a eggless mayo baguette (and another quid or so for some almond butter bites, because lunch needs a little sweet something every now and then.) </div>
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Given it's been more than a decade since I last had an egg sarnie from Pret, how did the eggless version stand up to scrutiny? Well, it was the sort of sandwich that makes me want to stop people and say 'have you tried this? Give it a go, and then you won't need to bother with that egg malarky'. It was probably about 10 percent different from the original I remembered, and just as creamy and squidgy. I love my own homemade eggless mayo sarnies, but I'm not going to lie, I can see myself heading back to Pret for one of these fellas. (Side note: a whole baguette was pretty filling, so go in hungry!)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-pLIyDffNPw6zK7JOLU0XYASlLE_u3YkKeo-SM3aMsEyYGUEvLKHrexKcub2K0TMwAQibivbK-a66SaVrBB7fuY10otl-FXtNtH0aqFqhIersG2W7NIS7s7BPQYnYWyE0jZ3oNVNIu4/s1600/eggless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="1600" height="439" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-pLIyDffNPw6zK7JOLU0XYASlLE_u3YkKeo-SM3aMsEyYGUEvLKHrexKcub2K0TMwAQibivbK-a66SaVrBB7fuY10otl-FXtNtH0aqFqhIersG2W7NIS7s7BPQYnYWyE0jZ3oNVNIu4/s640/eggless.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Having thoroughly enjoyed the eggless baguette, I headed back to Pret the next time my lunch-making willpower failed. This time, I had the chuna mayo in my sights. </div>
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Chuna mayo, as the name hints, has replaced the fish with chick peas. You wouldn't necessarily know from the taste what the tuna replacement was, and you certainly wouldn't know from the taste: there was a distinctly fishy flavour and aroma to the whole thing. I guess the sea-smell came from seaweed, but again, I think only the hardiest of carnivores would begrudge swapping their omni baguette for the Vegan Classic instead. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg4UM5JI5WKuEMhEU1dz34A2XESNkf_ppINEYfPdLUCVYkVOg2L_tOPwpxWlzHgIPWmmRQLFjWEgS3pCDNtwXYImWUT_Bf4kfmD_0BVhRt78eDNxvVnAW26F5s1yTSVif6eiaavsx58U/s1600/chuna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1600" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg4UM5JI5WKuEMhEU1dz34A2XESNkf_ppINEYfPdLUCVYkVOg2L_tOPwpxWlzHgIPWmmRQLFjWEgS3pCDNtwXYImWUT_Bf4kfmD_0BVhRt78eDNxvVnAW26F5s1yTSVif6eiaavsx58U/s640/chuna.jpg" width="640" /></a>Having tried half of the Vegan Classics, I thought it would pretty rude not to try the other two. The only thing that was bugging me -- they were both mushroom based. Who wants fried, cold mushrooms in their sanger? I'm not sure I did. At least, not until tried them. </div>
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Unlike the other two Classics, the swap from omni to vegan was a bit more obvious -- I think any diehard bacon eater would know someone had pulled a switcheroo on their sandwich filling. Does it make it any less tasty? Of course not! The mushrooms had been dehydrated somehow, giving them more chew and crunch, and flavoured with the paprika and smoke in a nod to bacon flavours. It was surprisingly good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxP1uTgPf-dJWtriBBdK49pLt0IA6g6hfijfENPF2qM5im-7xTiDCfVgha9pztvyXxQV2cKTc_VvX6OC6NPCqXsOCo8d3ixiatK57g-lDebE7RhAtSHnFPhchQbyMdf4wTYZMy9OulBQ/s1600/VLT.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="1600" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxP1uTgPf-dJWtriBBdK49pLt0IA6g6hfijfENPF2qM5im-7xTiDCfVgha9pztvyXxQV2cKTc_VvX6OC6NPCqXsOCo8d3ixiatK57g-lDebE7RhAtSHnFPhchQbyMdf4wTYZMy9OulBQ/s640/VLT.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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But the biggest surprise of the four? The hoisin mushroom wrap. I've happily never tried duck, as far as I know, so I don't have anything to compare the Vegan Classic too, either in taste or texture. But who cares? The hoisin mushroom wrap was so much tastier than a wrap with cold mushrooms in it has any right to be. It was sweet and spicy, and not the slimy hot mess I had feared. Another Vegan Classic, another very happy vegan!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7V_9T3yx8xOGlHxkJgHMrviXCqA0jk_U4ZIGfzFQi6w_EI8vMZf5g6-ZDOqEVgAnKMONRHSOIOtEsnRoupu7WqZ0kIl6ViMfldrs89r_2ZhQXsUiv4F0TwgeXbnMF4krffR2NROdRuas/s1600/hoisin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="1600" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7V_9T3yx8xOGlHxkJgHMrviXCqA0jk_U4ZIGfzFQi6w_EI8vMZf5g6-ZDOqEVgAnKMONRHSOIOtEsnRoupu7WqZ0kIl6ViMfldrs89r_2ZhQXsUiv4F0TwgeXbnMF4krffR2NROdRuas/s640/hoisin.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-90222224797943952642019-12-03T00:11:00.000-08:002019-12-03T00:11:00.819-08:00Eating vegan in Bordeaux: A taster of plant-based food in a beautiful French city<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuduU1iF2lidl747QlwhqWMxPjNpaiVAFzx88qWCLzZi4ywcSHvf7dsIs_nNmNPDFE4rM1yVlq1bs6WszYzdKOhSt2NKgkpS2-6XDiNObsZyGCOYqfKY3-dL0aSBeQjLR8H8_raZcHGJY/s1600/bordeaux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuduU1iF2lidl747QlwhqWMxPjNpaiVAFzx88qWCLzZi4ywcSHvf7dsIs_nNmNPDFE4rM1yVlq1bs6WszYzdKOhSt2NKgkpS2-6XDiNObsZyGCOYqfKY3-dL0aSBeQjLR8H8_raZcHGJY/s640/bordeaux.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@gflandre?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Guillaume Flandre</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/bordeaux?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></div>
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Earlier this year, I got a chance to go to Bordeaux, a city in France's southwest and a two hour journey from Paris. </div>
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It wasn't a place I'd been before or had any expectations of, but it quietly stole my heart. It helped that the weather was glorious when we visited, the sort of sunshiny hours that you can while away just strolling through the old town, stopping for a drink at a pavement cafe, strolling along the waterfront and generally not doing very much, but still feeling like you've had a good day. </div>
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We spent a few days in Bordeaux, and we didn't eat out much. Bordeaux has a decent variety of vegan and veggie places, but we did see signs of more and more non-vegan places adding plant-based dishes to their menu. Most days, we'd pick up bits and pieces from the local supermarket. Most of our meals were things like bread, hummus, salads, fruit, crisps or nuts, and a beer or two, but the larger supermarkets we visited had vegan and veggie sections in if you were looking for something a bit more substantial. </div>
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We did manage to eat out a couple of times in the city. Having just got off the train and in need of a good feed, we rocked up at the improbably named <a href="https://www.facebook.com/munchiesbordeaux/">Munchies</a>.</div>
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Tucked away down a side street, you might walk past Munchies. That would be a mistake -- if you see it, you should definitely go in. </div>
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Munchies is a happy mix of bowl food and comfort food, and we got a mix of both. </div>
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Mr Flicking the Vs had the cheese toastie. Being a cheese dodger, I didn't venture near it, but Mr Flicking the Vs was complementary. He's not a fan of raw veg (I know, we all have our faults) so most of the salad came my way, and I was good with that. I know not everyone is convinced of the righteousness of raw mushrooms, but those people are wrong -- white mushrooms are at their best when they've not been bothered with any form of heat. Wouldn't have minded a bit of dressing, but not a deal breaker for me. </div>
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My dinner was a special of the day, a poke bowl. I'm not the world's greatest expert on poke, but I don't think this was technically poke. It was a big bowl of sushi rice, served with salad, meaty soy pieces and a lot of kewpie-style mayonnaise. It was actually really tasty, though. </div>
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The service was great, and they had local vegan craft beer, so I was happy. Oh, and another reason to give Munchies the thumbs-up: they have a set menu for students, a hotdog with cookie and crisps for €8. Vegan students in Bordeaux, you know where to go.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bowl food meets comfort food at Munchies</td></tr>
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Another honourable mention goes to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lamaisonduglacier/">La Maison du Glacier</a>, an organic ice cream place. There's an insane amount of flavours on offer, and a good amount of vegan ones too. </div>
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If you like sorbet, there's a lot of sorbets to be had, but having been offered sorbet as a dessert by lazy restaurants, I wanted to go full on ice cream. Happily, La Maison du Glacier has some traditional ice cream flavours but without any of the dairy nonsense. Behold, the ideal marriage of vegan ice cream with more vegan ice cream (that's vanilla and chocolate, but I guess you guessed that!)</div>
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The staff are very clued up on what's vegan and what's not, and they confirmed the cone was free of animal products, which made me very happy indeed. </div>
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The downside: it's not cheap. This mighty cone was around €5, which made my wallet shed a tear. Do I have any regrets? Nah, it was €5 well spent. On a gorgeous sunny day, strolling around Bordeaux, eating an ice cream as big as my head was ideal.</div>
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<b>Munchies</b></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/munchiesbordeaux/">facebook.com/munchiesbordeaux/</a></div>
21 Rue des Augustins<br />
33000 Bordeaux<br />
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<b>La Maison du Glacier</b><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/lamaisonduglacier/%C2%A0">facebook.com/lamaisonduglacier/ </a><br />
1 Place Saint-Pierre, 33000 BordeauxJoeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-55745492999128186812019-11-30T13:12:00.000-08:002019-11-30T13:12:01.301-08:00A very vegan welcome: Can you get a good plant-based meal at the Wellcome Collection?Being as I'm currently studying medicine, I have a bit of a soft spot for the <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/">Wellcome Collection</a>, the London museum dedicated to all things health.<br />
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There's a lot to like about the Wellcome Collection: the main collection is fascinating and a manageable size, there's always an interesting exhibition on, and it's free. If you've ever fancied a quick tour around the human body and a look at health from a fresh perspective, then an hour spent at the Wellcome Collection won't be badly spent.<br />
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A couple of friends were coming to meet me in London, and put in a shout for visiting the <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/XSg-7xEAACcAGVXc">Play Well</a> exhibition. After working our way around the exhibits -- big shout out to whoever swapped the voices of Barbie and GI Joe as a protest against gendered toys -- we were sated for knowledge, but pretty hungry for food.<br />
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The downstairs cafe at the Wellcome is always hectic and the vegetarian and vegan options (if there are any) aren't clearly marked. We wandered up to the second floor restaurant, without much hope for good vegan food awaiting us.<br />
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I was a bit wrong-footed to find a open quiet space with a decent amount of vegan options, and for London food, not wallet-damagingly expensive.<br />
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Aside from a couple of standard vegan nibbles, <a href="https://wellcomecollection.cdn.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/bb50a4dd-b8ab-49e4-870b-ba148b34118b_Wellcome_K_Menu_folded_296x250mm_Oct_19_v2.pdf#_ga=2.107282310.50171835.1574801115-724959972.1574801115">the menu</a> had a vegan sandwich, a couple of salads, and another two hot mains: a stew and a gratin. The gratin sounded a bit more interesting: tofu, cauliflower, and chickpeas with a side salad.<br />
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I'm not sure what I was expecting, but here's what I got:<br />
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At first glance, I thought I ordered a wrong 'un: should cauliflower, tofu, and chick pea really be sitting together under a white sauce with a bit of vegan cheese on top? If I'd had the same ingredients in a curry, it would be a more natural team, with the gentle flavours of the veggies able to play bass to the spices' lead guitar. But with just tumeric and a bit of Violife for flavour? I wasn't convinced, I'll be honest.</div>
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It seemed a bit like the sort of dish someone who's never eaten vegan before would come up with if someone challenged them to make a plant-based meal out of the ingredients they had in their cupboard. </div>
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And then there was the side salad: a big bowl of watercress with a sharp dressing. </div>
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It's fair to say I had more than my fair share of reservations before I started eating, but once I got into it, I was happily surprised. The cauliflower and chickpeas had been roasted to give them more texture, the tofu added a bit of texture and moisture rather than flavour, and the watercress side salad added a bit of peppery heat to the otherwise gentle dish. And, if it all got a bit mono-texture, the almonds were there for a bit of contrast and crunch.</div>
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I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and it's something I'll be recreating at home some time.</div>
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And, if that wasn't enough to give the Wellcome Kitchen a vegan thumbs-up, there was a vegan dessert that wasn't sorbet - result!</div>
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Instead, there was a chocolate mousse with spiced pear, and I was powerless not to order it. Here's what happened:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mousse, meet pear</td></tr>
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Again, not what I was expecting. I thought there'd be a poached pear with some mousse on the side, rather than a bucket of mousse with some distinctly biological looking pear slices on the top.<br />
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What it missed in looks, it more than made up for in flavour -- a delicious warming Christmassy tinge to the fruit, with a not-too-sweet milky-chocolate mousse. It was just the ticket, and a really generous portion.<br />
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In honour of the Play Well exhibition, the Wellcome Kitchen also had some games available for diners -- you can see our dominos game behind the mousse! Turns out my parents were wrong -- playing with your food is actually a great idea.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pear, meet mousse</td></tr>
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Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-14890192339581981312019-11-26T01:26:00.000-08:002019-11-26T01:26:06.717-08:00Caribbean Swedish vegan treats to get you through winterIf you listen to companies that advertise on TV, Christmas starts the day after Boxing Day. If you listen to traditionalists, maybe it starts with advent on the 1 December. And if you listen to kids, it starts as soon as humanly possible.<br />
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Christmas for me starts when the <a href="https://lontoo.merimieskirkko.fi/the-finnish-church-in-london/">Finnish</a> and <a href="https://www.sjomannskirken.no/london/">Norwegian</a> churches in London open their doors for their annual Christmas fair, and the <a href="http://scandimarket.co.uk/events/scandinavian-christmas-market-2019/">Scandi Market sets up shop</a> just outside. It's always at the end of November, and it's the earliest I can even begin thinking about Christmas.<br />
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If you're looking for a lovely way to fire the starter's gun on the festive season, then getting down to Albion Street for the Scandi Market is the way to do it. There's sparkly lights, traditional decorations, stalls selling mulled wine and seasonal bits and pieces. I've been going there for almost as many years as I've been in London, and it's been gratifying to see how many more vegan options there are now than I when I started visiting.<br />
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I think for the first time, the Scandi Market had a wholly vegan stall:<a href="https://www.viking-goods.com/"> the CaribSwede Vegan Bakery</a>.<br />
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On its website, the CaribSwede Vegan Bakery says it offers Swedish bakes with Caribbean flavours, and that's what we got a taste of when we visited the stall.<br />
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This beautiful piece of pastry work was a mango mazarin, a tropical take on a traditional Swedish almond cake. I've never got a chance to try a mazarin before, but as a reference, it reminded me of a frangipane tart - a dense, chewy mound of almond in a pastry shell. </div>
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I tend to avoid mango desserts normally, as I find them a bit on the sweet side -- and plus mangoes are perfect just as they are. The CaribSwede mazarin was a beast of a dessert, and could easily have fed me twice over. It was perfectly sweet too, so while I could have stopped eating after half of the pie and saved me a chunk for the next day, I kept right on eating. </div>
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Can you blame me? Look at the colour of that gorgeous filling:</div>
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For anyone after a straight Swedish bake, there were berry mazarins too, but having tried the mango version, I know which one I'll be going for if I get a chance again.<br />
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There were also Swedish classics on sale, including cardamom and cinnamon buns:<br />
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Look at this beauty though. It's just a perfect festive knot of pastry to warm the soul, with the sort of glorious seasonal spice that just makes you feel cosy just to smell it. </div>
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There were loads more vegan goodies on sale at the CaribSwede stall, including bread and a variety of patties with appealing sounding fillings. Next time I see CaribSwede, you can bet I'm going to taking a load home with me. If their savoury goodies are on a par with the sweets we tried, they're going to be gooooood. </div>
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With winter drawing on and daylight drifting away, the world needs more pastry to keep us cosy. CaribSwede has the festive tastes that make you remember all the good things of winter, and the sunny flavours to tell you summer isn't so far away. It's just the right mix for the start of Christmas. </div>
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<br />Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613412900692601553.post-3389133168959499952019-11-22T00:01:00.000-08:002019-11-23T02:01:47.565-08:00Five frugal things for the weekend: Art on the cheap, bank switch bonus and coffee for nada<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@f7photo?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Michael Longmire</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/money?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></div>
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Hey friends! As you know, veganism is only for the wealthy and privileged. Of course, as a vegan, I am no exception. Oh wait, no, I'm a final year student living on student loans and whatever else I can scrape up with freelancing (hot tip: did you know in your final year you get dramatically reduced funding? In case you were afraid students would be able to afford such luxuries such as avocado toast, rent, and electricity, fear not. Student Finance ensures that any final year student will definitely not have enough money to cover even the basics of life in the capital.) So, for today's post, I'm joining lots of other bloggers with a celebration of Five Frugal Things I've been doing recently.<br />
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<b>1. Art on a budget</b><br />
There's a saying by Confuscius that if you have two coins, you should spend one on bread and one on flowers; the bread keeps you alive and the flowers give you a reason for living. My budget maybe tight, but I'm a sucker for a good exhibition. Time Out had a voucher for two tickets to the Barbican's exhibition <a href="https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2019/event/into-the-night-cabarets-clubs-in-modern-art">Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art</a> for roughly half price (they're <a href="https://checkout.timeout.com/london/two-for-one-tickets-to-into-the-night-cabarets-and-clubs-in-modern-art-58636/">still available here</a> if you fancy going yourself!)<br />
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It's a really interesting exhibition looking at some of the greatest nightclubs of recent times, from the Weimar Republic to the 1970s Iran. There are some of the fixtures and fittings from the clubs themselves, including their wall art, tables and even their menus. Obviously, I was checking them out for vegan options! Good news for any vegans time travelling back to the Chat Noir in 19th century Paris: if you're down with the old herbivore trick of making a meal from sides, you'd be able to eat vegan even then!<br />
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One of the coolest things is their recreations of some of the clubs that you can walk around. This is Vienna's Cabaret Fledermaus -- isn't it beautiful?<br />
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<b>2. £125 for a bank switch</b><br />
Lloyds was recently offering a £125 bonus for anyone switching to a Club Lloyds account (the bonus is not available any more, sadly, otherwise I'd point you to it!) I've never switched bank accounts before because I'm lazy and I thought it would be a hassle, but with £125 as a carrot, I could be persuaded. Turns out it actually wasn't that hard -- it got turned around in a week, including the £125.<br />
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And, if £125 wasn't enough, there's six free cinema tickets. I love the cinema, but with tickets normally in the region of £12-20 in London it's not something I can afford to do often. Now, I can afford to do it at least three times this year (you didn't think I wasn't going to share with Mr Flicking the Vs did you?!)<br />
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If you're looking to switch accounts, <a href="https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/">MSE has a list of what's available</a>.<br />
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<b>3. Free coffee for a piece of my mind</b><br />
I'm on <a href="https://leon.co/">Leon</a>'s email mailing list, and earlier this week they sent out an email offering a free coffee in exchange for sharing your opinions on their food and other things about the chain. As you can imagine, I said they need to have more vegan options (to be fair, Leon have some great vegan options, but everywhere needs to have more, right?!) and get rid of plastic in their packaging.<br />
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In return, I picked up an oat milk latte:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUEqeF8ofPAV8Qr9Ra4Sga5d6HQ7jpAHtyPALRR20ZLkH3yorHEjwmU_oatBuf3cgwPGq0o6g_qQ2xI8eOVX4s_AMb7cqvrcYQW7hkXnfvXy5QkhBs1duf0fTioaJ90Vpc0frL_0suiE/s1600/latte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUEqeF8ofPAV8Qr9Ra4Sga5d6HQ7jpAHtyPALRR20ZLkH3yorHEjwmU_oatBuf3cgwPGq0o6g_qQ2xI8eOVX4s_AMb7cqvrcYQW7hkXnfvXy5QkhBs1duf0fTioaJ90Vpc0frL_0suiE/s1600/latte.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>4. Vegan desserts at almost half price</b><br />
I remember seeing on Twitter a list of things that, if you could find them in your house, indicated you'd reached adulthood. One of them I remember being the ramekins you got <a href="https://www.gupuds.com/">Gü puds</a> in. Until recently, there were no vegan Güs, so we were destined to remain eternal children, with no chance to lay our vegan paws on those coveted grown up ramekins.<br />
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Happily, Gü recently launched <a href="https://www.gupuds.com/#products">three different vegan puddings</a>: chocolate and vanilla cheesecake, rhubarb and strawberry cheesecake, and Spanish lemon cheesecake. What's better than vegan cheesecake? Cheap vegan cheesecake! Last time I popped into Co-op, they were £2 for two, compared to their normal price of £3.50. I bought two different lots, strawberry and chocolate. I'll report back on my findings!<br />
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<b>5. Cashed out of some cashback apps</b><br />
I managed to squeeze a few quid out of Quidco as well as Checkout Smart and ClickSnap. Sadly, I'm not going to get rich on cashback apps, but when you're a vegan as rich and privileged as me, every penny counts!<br />
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I'll be writing a round up of which cashback apps are worth your time shortly, so don't forget to check back for that. Unless you're a vegan, in which case, you probably don't need the cash, you rich herbivore, you.Joeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066424084187434409noreply@blogger.com0