Vegan Tofu Stir-Fry!

It is day 9 of me attempting to be a full-time vegan and so far, I have kept to it. Not because it is easy (because it isn’t) just because I am stubborn and refuse to give up on a resolution.

Yesterday was a tough day for me. I was frustrated with having to constantly read labels. I was annoyed at the amount of bread I was eating as I am trying to lose an additional 2 stone and I was tired from work so to be honest, yesterday was a horrible day. In the end I went to bed at 8:30pm having skipped my dinner because I could not face making another vegan meal, nor could I face hummus on toast for what would have felt like the millionth time.

But today I have motivated myself to make a vegan meal that does not contain ‘something’ on toast. I have made a quick, simple tofu stir fry and it was delicious.

You will need:
*1/3 of a packet of marinated tofu (I use cauldron)
* 4 mushrooms (sliced)
* 3 broccoli florets
* 2 baby pak choi
* 1/3 red onion (sliced)
*1/3 red pepper (sliced)
*30g of udon noodles
* chili and garlic and soy sauce to add for more flavour
* A handful of coriander to sprinkle at the end (if you haven’t guessed by now this is my fave herb)

I put a pan on to boil with a touch of salt ready to put the noodles in when it starts to boil. In a separate pan I sprayed my 1kcal oil and fried all the veg and tofu with some garlic and chili. Don’t put the pak choi in this pan, I steamed it.

When the noodle pan is boiling place the udon noodles in and put a colinder on top and place the pak choi in to steam.

It is so simple. Once the noodles and pak choi are cooked just place in the pan with the rest of the vegetables and add soy sauce. Then I added coriander! It took me about 10 minutes and it tasted great and filled me up!

I usually eat egg noodles, but obviously now being a vegan that was not an option so I found udon noodles which I really enjoyed. I picked some up in Marks&Spencers!

If there are any fellow vegans reading this, then thank you but I could do with your help! When a product says ‘may contain milk’ do you think it’s ok to eat it? Also, do you eat honey?

There is so much I have to learn about this vegan lifestyle. I know people have said to me “do what you think is right”, but in all honestly sometimes I don’t know what I think is right or wrong.

I’m having trouble trying to balance being vegan and losing weight (silly carbs). And I’m getting a lot of stick because I am a vegan, which I can handle but I will never defend myself until I know lots about veganism.

If I wore a hat, I would take it off for all those who are vegan! You are amazing and I hope that in years to come, I will be a pro at this vegan thing! Wish me luck xxx

Follow me on twitter and help me out @georgina0508

Vegan Recipe: Open Chili Wrap with Tomato & Coriander Salad

This recipe is easy. I didn’t know what to call it because I just made it up. I love Mexican food and I love spice so this is why I made this dish. It’s just a wrap with the filling on top. I made it a open wrap because it you fold the wrap you will want more than one and for me that’s too many calories, so leaving it open allows more filling and saves you from wasting calories on another wrap.
You will need:
*1 wrap
*1/2 tin of black beans
*2 mushrooms (sliced)
*1/2 small onion (diced)
*1 teaspoon of lazy garlic (I’m lazy so this is allowed)
*1 teaspoon of chili powder (hot)
* 1 table spoon of a chili spice mix
* 1/3 of a tin of chopped tomatoes
* A few lettuce leaves
*1/2 tomato (diced)
*1/3 red onion (diced)
*1/3 Avocado (diced)
* Small handful of coriander (chopped)

I use the 1kcal olive oil spray because I am a calorie control freak. I just pre-heated the oven on gas mark 2 and put one spray of the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. While I chopped all the vegetables I placed the wrap in the pan for a few minutes to get a golden brown colour, then I placed it in the oven to keep warm.

Then in the same pan, spray the oil and add the garlic, black beans, mushrooms and onion and cook until well, until it’s cooked then add the chopped tinned tomatoes and spices. Cook that out for a few minutes and prep all your salad.

Take the wrap out of the oven. I placed a bit of vegan mayo on the wrap but that is optional. Then place the chili mix on the wrap and add your lettuce leaves on top. Then place your tomato, coriander and onion mix on top. The salad cools the dish down as I tend to make it super spicy.

I cook for one as everyone else in my house eats meat, so change the quantities for more people. I don’t really do measurements as that’s not my style of cooking. Sorry. Anyway, I have had this for two night in a row so it must be tasty. I have a really bad habit of finding something that I like and eating it every night until I get sick of it and never want to eat it ever again.

Tomorrow, I plan on making a sweet potato, mushroom and tofu curry. I’ll post the recipe up when I have made it, as at this very moment there is no recipe. I’ll just make it and then try and explain how I did it.
Happy cooking!

My Vegan Adventure

During 2013 I became a vegetarian; something I never imagined I would ever do. Then I began to look at a plant-based diet and veganism. I believe that being a vegan is not just about what you eat (or what you can’t eat as many people say) it’s a lifestyle and a set of beliefs and I felt that I needed to take the big step to becoming vegan. In 2013, I used to adopt a vegan diet for one week, every month to try and familiarize myself with what I could eat and what alternative there are to buy. 

Now, its 2014 (it’s silly how quick 2013 has gone). Everyone makes New Years resolutions and I am no different. Well, maybe I am as I always stick to my resolutions! My resolution is to become vegan. I know I may have slip-ups and sometimes when I am out I will never be 100% sure what I am eating is vegan, but 2014 is my year to go vegan and stick to it for life! I don’t know why now, but why not? 

I am on day 3 and I have eaten some yummy food! So, from now on this blog will have solely vegan recipes on! I am loving all my vegan twitter followers who keep the support and advice flowing (vegans are the nicest people ever). So, bring on the ignorant, annoying comments from people who don’t understand or don’t care to understand why i am doing this and bring on the tofu. I am doing this for myself and for animals but most of all my conscious as I want to know that I am not hurting any animal with the food I eat and its so good to finally say that! 

Vegetarian Recipe: Asparagus, Spinach and Feta Quiche

I have been missing from the blogosphere for longer than I had intended, due to me being crap! I have been working 7 days a week clocking in 70 hours working at the BBC as a trainee and at my bar job to keep earning my money, so my life and all things cooking had been put on hold. 

I did eat but I did not cook. My lovely mum and dad made most of my meals while I was busy (my dad is a head chef and my mum is the queen of baking). Now, I am back to normality (or as normal as my life gets) and I’m looking for a media job and focusing on earning money at the pub in the meantime, losing weight and trying to control my excitement for Christmas. I seem to be failing at all of these things at the moment, although I have started losing weight again. I am now at a loss of 9 stone 5lbs. 

Tonight I made a new recipe. It’s vegetarian; not vegan, so I do apologise! It’s an asparagus, spinach and feta cheese quiche! I was so proud with how it turned out and it tasted yum! I must confess, I bought pastry from a supermarket which I think is the best invention ever. I don’t bake. I cook. So the idea of making pastry is daunting and just dam right frightening. I think I am a lazy cook because life is way too short to make shortcrust pastry. So buy it! Here is how to make it! You have probably guessed by now I don’t do exact measurements… no-one has time for that!

You will need:

• Shortcrust pastry- shop bought, homemade. I just bought one roll for the tart tray I used.
• 5 Asparagus (Cut the end off and slice on an angle so you get two pieces from each asparagus spear)
• 1/2 a bag of baby spinach
• 6 Medium eggs
• 1 cup of milk (I used soy)
• 1/2 a block of feta cheese
• Cheddar cheese (I grated two handfuls)
• 8 Cherry tomato’s (Cut in half)
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

 

First of all, pre-heat your oven to gas-mark 6 and grease the tart tin with butter, so the pastry doesn’t stick. I then simply placed the pastry over the tart tin and pressed around the edges and trimmed the edge with a knife to make it look pretty. Then, while you prepare the filling just pop the pastry in the fridge. 

Gently fry the asparagus in a tiny amount of oil with salt and pepper until it softens slightly and place to one side. Then cook the spinach until it wilts and once it has cooled you will need to squeeze it with your hands until all the water has drained out, or the quiche will just be a big, soggy mess. 

In a jug, crack all of the eggs and add half of the cheddar cheese along with salt and pepper and the milk/soy. Simply whisk all of these ingredients together. 

Take your pastry out of the fridge and place the asparagus, spinach, tomato’s and cheeses in the tart tin. I did it in a slightly organised pretty way but it doesn’t matter. Then all that is left to do is pour the egg mixture in the tray and place in the oven for 45 minutes. 

Ta Dah! That is it. Just remember when it comes out of the oven you have to wait for it to cool, which seems like a life-time but in fact, it only takes about 15 minutes! Enjoy

 

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup, Vegan Recipe!

Last night I made butternut squash soup for the first time and it was the best soup ever (I’m biased of course). It was simple to make too!

You will need:
* 1 Butternut Squash (peeled and diced)
* 1 Onion (peeled and diced)
* 1 Red Pepper (Diced)
* 1 tsp of cumin
* 1 tsp of garlic (I use lazy garlic because I’m lazy)
*1 tsp of chili (I use lazy chili for the same reason stated above)
* 1 Vegetable Stock Cube
* Boiling Water
* Soya Yoghurt (optional to finish the soup off)

You just simply sweat the butternut squash, opinion and red pepper off in a pan with a little oil. After a few minutes add the garlic, cumin and chili. You can add curry powder if you wish, or if you aren’t one for spice you could add nutmeg or cinnamon I suppose.

Once the mixture softens add boiling water until it covers the vegetables and crumble the stock cube in. Let it simmer for around 20 minutes and if the water drops below the vegetables just add a bit more in.

After 20 minutes (or when the veg is all soft) just add it to a blender bit by bit and whizz it up! I added a spoonful of soya yoghurt to the soup at the end to cool it down because I put two teaspoons of chili in the soup which I later regretted as it was super spicy. I love this recipe and will be making it again! Please give it a go!

Morning Granola! Vegan Recipe

I cannot claim this is a recipe, but this is what I have for breakfast nearly everyday and I love it. It is granola, topped with soya yoghurt, nut and seed mix with pomegranate seeds topped with a cherry, because I’m a bit geeky when it comes to making my food look good!

Some say granola is not that healthy, but as long as you have the recommended portion it will be fine. I’m obsessed with pomegranate seeds as you will slowly learn as I will put them on anything if I can get away with it.

My dad is currently recovering from an operation on his shoulder. He is a meat eater and has never eaten vegan…until now!

I decided that he would recover better if placed on a healthy diet which included various vegan meals like this, which surprisingly enough he is actually eating and I may even push it and say he is enjoying his new food plan. He even let me put baby spinach on his sandwich the other day! I just think a vegetarian/vegan diet is the best one out there and my dad (who is a chef) has even suggested that he may spend his time recovering writing a vegetarian/vegan cookery book for me! He is a gem!

Note to everyone: please do not waste your time buying a pomegranate and trying so tediously to get the seeds out. I buy packets of pomegranate seeds…anything for an easy life, right? Plus, I have terrible memories of my Nan sending me home as a child with a pomegranate in one hand and a sewing pin in the other to pick the seeds out. Painful memories of constantly pricking my tongue and finger all for a tiny seed!

Pink Hair Don’t Care!

                         Pink Hair Don’t Care!

I have had red hair for nearly 6 months and although I loved it, I felt like a change.  On my way to Spain I saw a super stylish lady walking through the airport with pink hair and a gorgeous long dungaree, that I instantly knew I would not be able to afford because it looked super expensive. Her hair was bright pink and from that moment I got it in my head that I would dye my hair pink when I got back home. 

When I get things in my head, I always follow them through. So, here I am with pink hair. I got a lot of questions from friends, family or people who just wanted to have a dig asking me if I was sure pink was the right colour. ‘It will ruin your hair’, ‘Why pink?’ and my favorite remark ‘Your hair is going to fall out!’ were just a few comments but it made me want to dye my hair even more. Truthfully, I love it and get so many comments on it, which is unreal. Love it or hate it, I don’t mind! 

So, my new motto is ‘Pink hair, don’t care’. It has taken me a while to be experiential with my style as I only started wearing what I wanted to wear when I lost weight. This has nothing to do with veggie cooking but my advice to anyone: “do what the hell you want to do and only care about what those closest to you have to say!”. Advice I find hard to take at times in retrospect but I’m getting better at taking my own advice. 

Next, I plan to dye my hair purple! Yes? 

 

Roasted Peppers with Bulgar Wheat, Veggies and Halloumi (Veggie Recipe)

Firstly, I must apologise for my lack of posts in the last two months but I am back and have new recipes to upload!

I have had a wonderful summer which is probably why my blog has been neglected. I spent some time in Spain for my 21st birthday followed by a super fabulous 21st house party when I returned home. August is the busiest month for birthdays in my family which proves costly, but it is always so much fun for my family to come together and celebrate!

I have also been working a lot and applying to bigger and better jobs as I am desperate to put my skills and degree to some use and move on from my part-time job I have had since college.

Anyway, today’s recipe is stuffed peppers. A generic vegetarian recipe but if it is done well it is so tasty. I usually stuff peppers with rice or cous cous but I have discovered bulgar wheat and I love it. I can’t decide whether I love it because it is tasty, or because you just soak it in boiling water for 20 minutes and then it’s ready to use! Probably the latter, however it does taste rather good.

You will need:
* 1 Pepper (cut in half and de-seeded)
*40g of Bulgar wheat
* 1/2 an Onion (diced)
*1 tsp of Garlic (I use lazy garlic because life is too short to peal and chop garlic in my opinion)
* 4 Button mushrooms (chopped)
* 5 Green beans (chopped)
* 4 Cherry Tomato’s
* 30g of Curly Kale
* 1 Vegetable stock cube
* A few slices of halloumi (you could use mozzarella or goats cheese or no cheese at all)
* 1 tsp of green pesto

First, I roasted the peppers on a low heat in the oven with some garlic and placed the bulgar wheat in a bowl covered in boiling water and a vegetable stock cube.

Once the bulgar wheat has absorb all the water (it usually takes around 20 minutes) start to fry all the vegetables in a pan and once nearly cooked, add the bulgar wheat and the pesto.

After around 20 minutes take the peppers out of the oven and place half the halloumi at the bottom of the pepper and add the bulgar wheat mix followed by the rest of the halloumi on top. Then place back in the oven for 15 minutes. I also placed 4 cherry tomato’s on the baking tray to serve on the side.

When the peppers are nearly done, I placed a tiny amount of oil in a frying pan and cooked the curly kale. When the oil starts to run out just add some water. I have this idea in my head that any vegetable that is green is super fabulous for you. I don’t know if this is true but I like to eat kale or spinach with my dinner every day!

To serve, I just placed the kale on a plate with the peppers on top and the cherry tomato’s around the edge. If you are vegan then just take the cheese away! Taking the cheese away is something I am not willing to do right now. Truthfully, cheese is the only thing stopping me from being vegan. I have replaced most of my everyday food items with vegan alternatives. I plan to do a post of all the vegan alternatives I use!

There we go! Stuffed peppers… Enjoy!

Vegan Tofu Recipe! Satay sauce with Tofu and Noodles

It has taken me a while to like tofu. The texture used to freak me out a little bit, but in order to become vegan I felt like I needed to like it as it is a great source of protein.

Basically, tofu taste of whatever you put on it. It is a carrier for flavor. I went to a Japanese restaurant for my graduation the other week and ordered tofu with a spicy, satay sauce and I loved it. I decided to try and re-create the dish and it tasted pretty good. I made my own recipe, I had no idea how to make a satay sauce so I guessed, but it tasted just like my restaurant dish. I made some noodles with chili and vegetables to go with it.

You will need:
* 2 slices of tofu (not too thickly cut)
*40 g peanut butter (smooth is better but I used crunchy)
*1 tbsp of vegan curry paste
*1 chili (chopped small)
*1 glove of garlic (chopped)
*1/2 tin of light coconut milk
*1 tbsp soy sauce
*1 tsp of chili powder
*30 g of noodles (vegan, no egg noodles)
*30 g of stir fry vegetables of your choice (I used M&S pea shoot stir fry)
*1 tbsp of chili sauce

The noodles and stir fry vegetables is pretty self explanatory. I boiled a pan of water and cooked the noodles, added my stir fry vegetables and chili and cooked for a few minutes.

To cook the tofu, I put a small amount of oil in a pan and gently fried the tofu with salt, pepper and soy sauce until it went golden brown and then placed it into the oven (at gas mark 4) to keep warm.

In the same pan I added the peanut butter, curry paste,chili,garlic,soy sauce, chili powder and coconut milk to make the satay sauce. I also added a bit of water to this mix. Just cook the mix out for a few minutes.

When plating my meal up I put my noodles on, then my tofu and before placing my sauce over my tofu, I placed some spinach on top and then the sauce over. The heat from the sauce will cook the spinach, so there is no need to cook it before.

At the Japanese restaurant, I also had vegan sushi. I really want to make that too and I have found the right ingredients online and I’m hoping to make a big batch for my birthday party in order to try and change all my families mind on vegan/vegetarianism.

I have allowed 3 meat dishes for my birthday, for others as I do not want people annoyed at all the vegetarian food BUT, all the other food will be vegetarian/vegan. I’m excited to see how the food goes down with everyone. I would just like everyone to try something new and be surprised at how good it taste! I will post all the food (minus the meat….vom) from my birthday on here after my party!

Quick Vegan Food: Vegan Breakfast… For Dinner

Tonight I have been on the bar in work and my little feet are sore. So, when I came home I didn’t want to start cooking a complex, vegan meal. Mainly because I would have cooked it and been too tired to eat it.

My worry of turning vegan was quick cooking. It is easy to grab cheese on toast or an omelette as a vegetarian but as a vegan these are no longer options for a quick, healthy meal. But, I am learning that there are quick meals I can cook that are vegan!

I have simply toasted my favorite linseed and soya bread and grilled a portabello mushroom and cherry tomatoes. I then wilted some spinach and warmed some baked beans up. I put beans on one piece of toast and on the other I put the mushroom with spinach and tomato.

It was delicious! And I used vegan sunflower spread as opposed to butter. It took me 10 minutes (it would have taken 5 if I had not set the smoke alarm off by setting a pan on fire). I am desperate to learn some other quick, healthy vegan meals that taste good! I will research into it and find some soon.

Tomorrow I have a yummy tofu recipe to upload!