Weekly Round-up #1

Welcome to my first weekly round-up post inspired by the lovely Kelly over at 'The Vegan Taff'. This is something that I would like to keep up if possible. After considering the fact that I have got far too much to blog about in individual posts I thought I would put it all together in one big post so you don't miss a thing. It also adds a more personal element to my blog which you don't often get when I'm just posting product reviews. It acts as a type of diary entry and I really like that concept so here I go.

Raw food diet update:
As you may of seen from one of my previous posts 'Making Changes'  I made the decision to try and maintain a half raw food diet by including fruits and vegetables into one of my meals I eat per day. This was easier in theory than it was in practise. I spent at least two hours (or more) preparing the produce to be put into salads to take to work with me for lunch. I got a little bored with chopping, grating and shredding and by the time I had finished I was rather frustrated at the fact that I had just spent all that time in the kitchen when I could have been doing other things.

My time is very valuable to me at the weekends as I work long hours during the week and I'm too tired to do anything of an evening other than watch the odd film or two and chuck something together that is quick and easy for my dinner. Don't get me wrong, I would still like to maintain a healthier diet but I may have to re-asses the way I go about it. However the salads went down a treat and I felt much better for doing it.

Book Purchase:

I bought my first vegan recipe book from Amazon called 'Keep it Vegan' by Aine Carlin and it includes over 100 simple recipes which are ideal for beginners and students and perfect for someone like me who has a short attention span and gets impatient with long-winded recipes.

The book contains an introduction to the author, the health benefits of a vegan diet and a list of store cupboard essentials. It is broken up into 6 chapters, 'Breakfast, Brunch and More,' 'Midday Meals & Simple Suppers,' 'Something Special,' 'Sides and Sauces' and 'Sweet Treats.' I haven't tried out any of the dishes yet but I have been recommended the strawberry vanilla cheesecake and the macaro-no cheese by John Pellegrini (@ei8htyei8ht on twitter).

Holland & Barrett haul:

I originally went in to buy some 'Plamil' egg free mayonnaise as my friend told me that it's the best vegan mayo around, so while I was there I had a nosey in their refrigerator section and gave in to temptation. I hadn't been to Holland and Barrett for a long time so I had forgotten what products they sell. As I am currently trying to replace all my 'Quorn' products with dairy free alternatives I was delighted to have discovered the VBites range so I threw a few things into my basket.

I am excited to try the 'Cheezly,' it looks so much more appealing than the 'Tesco' free-from fake cheese. I also thought I would give 'Free & Easy dairy free cheese flavoured sauce' a try with a pasta dish but I was a little bit disappointed with the bland taste. Stella (@VeganStella on twitter) suggested that next time I should try livening it up a bit with a dollop of English mustard and vegan bouillon powder.

Blog Post fail:

I was all set to write a review of one of 'Treaclemoon's' bath and shower gels, (well I was half way through it) when I realised that they are owned by another company. I noticed on their website they state that they are owned by 'Blue orange Brand Management' which also owns various other brands that aren't cruelty free. I personally try not to buy products from brands that have parent companies that don't have a cruelty free policy.

Even after I had emailed them with concerns over one of their ingredients they proceeded to ensure me that none of their products are tested on animals and do not contain any animal derived ingredients so I was very relieved until I researched their parent company. If you have any views regarding this issue I would love to hear from you. I seem to be constantly fooled by companies that I think are cruelty free but really aren't.

The search for alternative milk continues:

I thought I had found the perfect alternative milk for me in the form of 'Almond Breeze' but @pudding4brains on twitter brought to my attention a very important article written by 'Oh She Glows' about the ingredient Carrageenan in some alternative milk including the one that I use. Now I'm on the look-out for a new brand that both works on cereal and in tea. 

It took me a while to find 'Almond Breeze' after trying out a few different alternatives. I'm not keen on Alpro, plus I don't want to consume too much soya based products as I've heard that they are not good for you. I don't like anything coconut based and the ones that I have already tried are not very nice in tea. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know in the comments.

Making Changes

I've become increasingly conscious about what food I consume lately after watching various documentary films such as 'Vegecated,' 'Cowspiracy,' and 'Hungry for Change' to name but a few. Over this weekend I have made some drastic changes in the types of food I've been buying and so I carried out a mass shop at Tesco. This is another big step in my transition from vegetarian to vegan. Until now I have been predominantly vegetarian but I'm hoping that I can continue to maintain a mainly vegan diet while I continue to research products and recipes. At the moment if a label doesn't state that a product is vegan then I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. Obviously this is something I will learn with time but at the moment it doesn't stop me feeling a little frustrated.

I'm hoping to incorporate raw food in with a regular vegan diet with a little bit of junk food as a treat. My shop mainly consisted of fresh fruits and vegetables, some organic, some not. I have heard that it's best to buy organic produce as they haven't been grown using harmful pesticides... but have you seen the prices? I would love to buy all organic but when you are working on a budget, it's just not possible. The photo below features just a small portion of what I actually bought so I thought I would include my shopping list. It's pretty impressive if I don't say so myself.

1 bag Curly Kale

2 Avocados

3 lemons (organic)

1 bag spinach (organic)

1 bag of mixed leaves

1 bag carrots

1 cucumber (organic)

3 pack of mixed peppers

1 red cabbage

celery

broccoli

1 pack of baby corn

1 pack of asparagus

1 bag frozen sweetcorn

1 bag of mixed seeds

1 bag cashew nuts

1 bag of walnuts

garlic

1 bag of chick peas

1 bag of couscous

1 bag of lentils

1 bag of dairy free pasta

1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil

1 watermelon

1 Galia melon

1 honey dew melon

1 pineapple

1 mango

2 large oranges

2 large pears

1 pack of dates

1 loaf of Hovis wholemeal bread

1 pack of wholemeal noodles

Blue Dragon chow mein sauce

Blue Dragon Kung Po sauce

Blue Dragon Cantonese sauce

I understand that there is going to be a bit of trial and error but what better way to start. I plan to create some great salads to take to work with me as I want to be able to eat one raw meal a day. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the vegan sauces for jazzed up vegetable and noodle dishes. Last night I tried Kale for the fist time by making a curly Kale and avocado salad with mixed seeds, it wasn't too bad but I found it a little tough raw, I still managed to polish off the plate though.

I have also replaced my non vegan breakfast cereal with more exciting vegan options such as Muesli by 'Dorset Cereals,' 'Quaker Oats, Oat So Simple' and 'Shredded Wheat Bitesize.' I really want to make this new diet work so I'm going to try my best to stick to it. The next thing on my list is to buy some recipe books and other informative vegan books so if anyone out there has any recommendations please let me know.

Review: Rice Dream

As part of my diet I would like to consume less dairy products for ethical reasons. I began this by exploring milk substitutes. I have never been that keen on 'Alpro', maybe because of the consistency or texture although I have recently taken a liking to 'Alpro' vanilla but I couldn't quite see myself pouring it on my breakfast cereal as it's quite sweet.

When I was in 'Waitrose' the other day I decided to try a different brand and picked up 'Rice Dream'. It contains less sugar than 'Alpro' (only containing natural occurring sugars). Other benefits are that it contains calcium with vitamins D2 and B12, it's low in fat and has all natural ingredients with no stabilisers or emulsifiers. It is gluten free and can be used in baking (recipes on their website).

The first thing I did when I got it home was a taste test. I shook it first (always shake) and poured it into a glass. My first initial thought was 'yuck' but I put aside the watery appearance and the little white bits and drank it. I could definitely distinguish the rice taste (probably because it's made with rice haha). I could tell that I preferred it to Alpro but I wasn't entirely sure I had come to the end of my quest to find a milk substitute that I love.

It was great on my cereal but in my tea I wasn't convinced. It turned it dark brown but it was drinkable (but I don't want to settle with drinkable). So before I consider returning to 'Rice Dream' (winner of superior taste award 2012) I will continue to try other brands. Wish me luck!