RECIPE: Green Salad

Todays recipe is for a simple tasty salad, that is nutritious and filling.



For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/roastedmushroomswithacripsytomatotopping.html

Take Away Food

Have you ever ordered a take away and realised that they had made a mistake and put meat in the meal? That happened my sister recently who is a vegetarian and it cetainly put her off ordering take aways.

I find that eating at a lot of restaurants is hard work for me, as sometimes I'm not sure they know what vegan is and if they do I'm still not convinced that the foods are truely vegan even though they say they are.

How do you feel? Do you just hope for the best or perhaps turn a blind eye to things that might be suspect?

RECIPE: Roasted Mushrooms with a Cripsy Tomato Topping

Todays recipe is for lovely cripsy mushrooms. These are lovely served with chips as pictured or with a healthy salad.

Click here for the full recipe: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/roastedmushroomswithacripsytomatotopping.html

World Vegan Day

It is world vegan day on the 1st November. I am trying to think of ways to celebrate this. I was wondering whether to have a vegan coffee morning maybe in aid of vegan charity such as Dr Hadwen. I was also wondering whether to run a competition on the website to make people aware of the day.
My daughter also wants to do somethign in school and because it is just after her birthday and in her school the children give out sweets to the class on their birthdays I have been trying to think of something she can do along the same lines.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.

RECIPE: Mash Island

Todays recipe was made up by my daughter. She wanted to make her mashed potato meal look more interesting. I helped her do the cooking and she helped me arrange it on the plate. Her version had carrot trees as well as the brocolli ones in the original recipe and the picture below is the one she took of her meal:





For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/mashisland.html

RECIPE: Ten Minute Pizza and Salad

Todays recipe makes a lovely filling lunch or a light dinner. It is tasty and really quick to make as the title suggests.



For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/tenminutepizzaandsalad.html

RECIPE: Lemon Curd

Today's recipe is for lemon curd. It is lovely in tarts or as a dressing with fruit.







For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/lemoncurd.html

Tonights new recipe was kindly supplied by my sister. If you wish to support her new business venture you can take a look at it here: http://www.waterproofmemoboards.com/

RECIPE: Easy Spinach Soup

Just the right kind of recipe for a windy, rainy day like today. It will warm you right through.





Click here for the recipe: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/easyspinachsoup.html

RECIPE: Mushroom Flan

This mushroom flan was popular at a lunch I had with some family members. It does take a while to make, and was certainly eaten faster than the time it took to cook it.



For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/mushroomflan.html

RECIPES: Apple Wrap

Todays recipe was kindly provided by my sister who is a vegetarian and loves experimenting with new recipes. It is a delicious looking apple wrap.



Click here for the full recipe: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/applewrap.html

RECIPE: Almond Pastry Biscuits

These simple biscuits were some I made with the kids. They were ideal for them as they are easy to mix together and are fun to cut out and decorate but are really healthy having no sugar or sweeteners in. They are quick to cook too so they didn't get bored waiting to eat one!!

For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/almondpastrybiscuits.html

RECIPE: Spinach and Mushroom Pittas

This is great lunch recipe as it is filling and tasty but doesn't take a long time to prepare.





Click here for the full recipe: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/spinachandmushroompittas.html

NEWS: Men Fined over Illegal Dog Fight

I didn't realise that this sort of thing still happened. I can't understand why people would get enjoyment over watching animals hurt each other. At least they have been punished for it. Click here for the full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7004574.stm

NEWS: Supermarkets 'fixed dairy prices'

It appears that certain food chains and supermarkets have fixed prices of milk and other dairy products at an artificially high level so they can make bigger profits.

Click here for the full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7004054.stm

No new recipe today

Sorry about the lack of recipe today. I have been at college tonight and so haven't had enough time to get something ready to upload. I'm hoping to be more organised next week.

RECIPE: Couscous Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe is what we had for dinner tonight. I had some large mushrooms that I was going to stuff with a rice mix, but didn't have much time so decided to make couscous as it was quicker. It was really tasty and the crisp salad meant it was a really healthy meal as there was no oil, mayo or any other fattening foods in sight.


For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/couscousstuffedmushrooms.html

RECIPE: Warm Coslaw

I decided to make some coslaw tonight, but as today was quite chilly I warmed it up in the frying pan before we ate it and it turned out really nice. The cooked onion mixed with the carrot gave it a lovely sweet taste. For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/warmcoslaw.html

NEWS: Consumers 'confused about diet'

It seems from this article that people are still confused as to what makes up a healthy diet. Some of them not even know what foods are included as fruit and vegetables. Hardly suprising really when they are told that baked beans counts towards their recommended 5 when I wasn't aware that beans were a vegetable. They also say that a healthy diet contains 8% saturated fat and sugar when I thought no sugar was necessary for a healthy diet. Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6997205.stm

RECIPE: Cottage Pie

This recipe is a great way of using up left over mash. You can put a whole range of different vegetables in the base and is lovely served with brocolli or green cabbage.





For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/cottagepie.html

RECIPE: Tasty Tofu

This recipe is what I had for breakfast this morning. I fancied mushrooms but had no bread so decided to cook them with tofu instead. Seasoned up this made a great meal and filled me full of energy after my fruitless hunting at the car boot sale.

For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/tastytofu.html

RECIPES: Chocolate Covered Cake

These are cute little cakes with a chocolate topping. My kids love them. They are great served with some chocolate cream, or some whipping cream. For the recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/chocolatecoveredcake.html

Possible Thyroid Problem

I went to the doctors last week because I have a goitre. I have had a phone call today saying all my tests are normal so I have to go back in to find out what is next. I suspect it will be an ultrasound. I was expecting the problem was due to a lack of iodine but I asked them to test for it, but maybe they didn't. I have been looking into soya milk and the web claims that this can lead to thyroid problems too, but the evidence isn't amazingly conclusive. I'm wondering whether to swap to rice milk, almond milk or oat milk, but they are all extrememly expensive and I'm unsure if they have similar problems. I am worried about the long term affects of a large soya based diet will have on my kids. Any suggestions?

RECIPE: Mushroom Pasty

These pasties make a lovely lunch. If you want them lighter you can make them with a white pastry instead of the wholemeal one that I did. You can also add all kinds of other ingredients to the mushroom sauce inside including brocolli and sweetcorn. Click here for the full recipe: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/mushroompasty.html

My Parents Visit

My parents have left today after visiting for a few days. I fet them totally vegan food as usual and they seemed to have a great time. However my sister thinks it was worng of me and I should have cooked the fod they were used to at home instead of forcing them to eat vegan as it is a sign of a bad hostess. What do people think?

RECIPE: Chocolate Cream Cake

This chocolate cream cake was really delicious, and the chocolate cream topping was nice enough to eat on its own. I think it would be lovely as a dessert as it is or with some shortbread biscuits and pieces of real chocolate. mmmmmm.
Find the recipe here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/chocolatecreamcake.html

Restaurant Review - Cinnamon, Bridgnorth

This vegetarian restaurant was where I had my lunch today. If you can ignore the peeling paint and worn out carpet it is a lovely cosy little place with lots of comfy sofas to enjoy your coffee. The service is great and meals good value for money.

Today they had 3 vegan choices, spinach and nutmeg soup, 3 bean and sweet potato stew and couscous with salad. They also have soya milk so you can have a range of lovely coffees. They also have cakes, and I assume some are vegan although I didn't try them.

They are currently in the process of expanding their eating area which will make it even more desirable. It is well worth a visit.

It is lovely to find a place that caters so well for vegans and is the second vegetarian restaurant in Shropshire that I have found, which is really encouraging as there isn't even an independent health food shop in Telford where I live.

Click here for their website: http://www.cinnamoncoffee.co.uk

RECIPE: Cheesy Leek and Mushrooms with New Potatoes and Salad

Todays recipe I made for dinner this evening and was liked by non-vegans and my kids so I thought I should put it up on the site!





Most of the dish was made up of boiled new potatoes in their skins and some salad. But what they were served with was leek and mushrooms in a cheese sauce. It was lovely, especially with heaps of black pepper on. Click here for the recipe: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/cheesyleekandmushrooms.html

The Body Shop Vegan Policy

Following up my earlier article I thought I would email The Body Shop to find out their policy on vegan products. This was the answer I recieved:

The Body Shop chooses not to produce a list of these products, as we do not claim to be a Vegan company.

While we have a policy of avoiding the use of raw materials derived from animals where the animal is slaughtered to directly provide the material for use in cosmetic products, manufacturers of synthetic chemicals for use in the cosmetics industry obtain input materials from both animal and plant sources (fatty acids, for example, can be obtained from both palm oil and animal fats) and we have no visibility or control over these raw materials several layers down in the supply chain. That said, we do specify that grades of materials such as surfactants are from plant sources where raw material suppliers offer both plant and animals sources as options.

Hence, we cannot guarantee that a product only contains raw materials that are synthesized from ingredients derived from plants and not animals.

I wonder why they find it so hard to have vegan products when they used to know which products were vegan....laziness perhaps?

NEWS: Anita Roddick Dies

Anita Roddick was the founder of the Body Shop which was the first shop to dare to be full of products which weren't tested on animals. Now many companies have followed her example due to the popularity of her business. Unfortunatley The Body Shop is now owned by L'Oreal and has lost a lot of its original fans, because none of their products are vegan any more.

She died yesterday evening at the age of 64 from a brain haemorrhage caused by the Hepititus C virus which she caught from a blood transfusion after the birth of her youngest daughter. For the full story click here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988343.stm

For the Body Shop website click here: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk

RECIPE: Salad Wraps

These are great for lunches. You can use a large variety of salad vegetables in the wraps and if you want them to be healthier you can mash up the avocado to spread in, instead of using mayo and remove the cheese.





Click here for the full recipe http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/saladwrap.html

Restaurant Review - Debenhams

I stopped for lunch in Debenhams today and took a look at the vegan options that they had.

The provision for kids was quite good compared to other restaurants of this type. They had baby for suitable for 4 months plus and 12 months plus which were vegan (unfortunately the 7 months plus option had cheese in). They had kids lunchboxes which were to include 5 items. The vegan options included raisins, plain crisps, plain roll and organix biscuits and each box included a free piece of fruit. Unfortunately the drinks to go with them were milkshakes, but in the past I know they have done fruit juice.

The main meals had a vegan choice between jacket potato,chips or rice with carrot, peas or baked beans. They also had bread rolls but no indication on the margarine if it was vegan or not.

The drinks for adults were expensive but included water, fruit juices and fruit teas.

Dessert wise there didn't appear to be anything vegan at all apart from the fruit in the kids section.

For the price the meal was the quality I would have expected and certainly it is a place I would choose to go to if I had children with me as I know they have some healthy choices.

NEWS: Potato 'fuel of human evolution'

Scientists have now discovered that the reason for man's brain size increase isn't because of meat but could be due to the starches in root vegetables.
For the full story click here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6983330.stm

RECIPE: Battered Tofu Burgers

This recipe is a tasty way to eat tofu. It is great as a starter. You can add curry seasoning to the batter and use it as a starter for an Indian meal. You can also have it for lunch with a salad or as a side dish to a main course.
They have a great texture as the soft middle and the crunchy batter makes a lovely combination.
http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/batteredtofuburgers.html

NEWS: Eat well cash for mothers-to-be

From April 2009 pregnant women are to be given £200 at 29 weeks of pregnancy towards the cost of more healthy food. They can in fact spend this money on anything, and your diet is critical before the baby is even conceived so picking that week to give it seems totally random.

I agree with encouraging mums to eat more healthily when they are pregnant, but why not give them fruit and vegetable vouchers like they give to families on low incomes (ok I know these are really supposed to be used for milk, but luckily they have changed them now so you can buy fruit and veg too). At least then it would be guaranteed that they spend the money on what they are supposed to.

For the full story click here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6984122.stm

What are your opinions of this?

RECIPE: Macaroni with Vegetables in Cheese Sauce

This recipe is a great way to use up left over vegetables. Most vegetables taste great with cheese style sauce and serving them with macaroni makes it into a whole meal instead of just a snack.






Click here for the recipe http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/macaroniandvegetablesinacheesesauce.html

NEWS: Vegan Ice Cream wins award

Booja Booja have won the Foods for Life award for the company they feel has made the most impact and delight in the world of healthy eating. Their Hunky Punky Chocolate ice cream called Stuff in a Tub is sweetened naturally so is suitable for diabetics and is completely vegan. Sounds like heaven, and as its suitable for me I just need to find out where I can buy some!

For the full story click here http://nutrition-news.blogspot.com/2007/09/health-diet-nutrition-award-to-worlds.html

RECIPE: Cream Sponge

Todays new recipe is for cream sponge. It uses vegan whipping cream and jam sandwiches in sponge cake. It is a recipe that could be used for birthday cakes as well.

http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/creamsponge.html

RECIPE: Avocado Toasties

I had a really ripe avocado to use up at lunchtime and my daughter wanted ketchup with hers so I came up with this recipe that she really enjoyed. You just spread the mashed up avocado on one of the pieces of toast add a bit of ketcup and make into a sandwich. Simple and tasty!

http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/avocadotoasties.html

Swollen Neck - Thyroid or Iodine deficiency?

I have a swollen neck and have been told it could be due to thyroid problems as they run in the family. I have also found out it could be caused by an iodine deficiency which is quite commen in vegans. Has anyone else experienced this?

NEWS: Additives linked to bad behaviour

This might sound like old news but a recent study has been done that proves there is a link between the tested colourings and hyperactive symptoms in children. The study only tested 300 children so I think the validity of it may be questioned. Here is the full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6979976.stm

What do you think of artificial additives? Should they be banned from foods aimed at children?

RECIPE: Spaghetti with Mushroom Sauce

This is a quick easy sauce to make to accompany spaghetti. For the full recipe click here: http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/spagettiwithmushroomsauce.html

Sniffer bees

A new company wants to use honeybees to sniff out drugs or chemicals as they are more effective than dogs as they are almost programmed to give a response so don't get bored like the dogs do. They justify it by saying they return them to the hive after two days. The full story is here:

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6972526.stm

'Human-animal' embryo research been accepted

This research has now been accepted. What do you think?

There was an interesting interview on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6980000/newsid_6980300?redirect=6980392.stm&news=1&nbram=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&asb=1)where the interviewer asked a opposition to the proceedure:

'Isn't more or less anything justifyable if its going to advance human science and aliviate suffering in the long term'

What an interesting question......how would you reply to that?

'Human-animal' embryo - your views

A decision is about to be made on whether human-animal embryos can be created and used for research.

I find myself wondering whether it is a better alternative to animal testing, as at least the cells are not fully formed and therefore don't have the same senses as a fully grown one.

People seem to be objecting as it is a partly grown human that is being tested on and not because it is an embryo. What are your thoughs?

I think it is a better alternative to animal testing but the only way to really test is to do it on willing people who know what they are letting themselves into.

The full article is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6978384.stm let me know what you think.

RECIPE: Butterfly Cakes

Todays new recipe on Recipes for Vegans is for Butterfly Cakes. They are a great cake to make with kids as they are simple and tasty!!

Kill it Cook it Eat it

This TV show is coming outwith a new series at the start of September. As I no longer have a TV I won't be able to review it like I did with the previous series. I was wondering if there was anyone willing to review it for me and have their review posted on this blog.

They are also asking for people to be in the audience, but there is no way I could do that.

If you want to take part you can email meat@fireflyproductions.tv

NEWS: TV tough guy Bear is vegan

Being a vegan is obviously big news for sun readers. They claim that TV daredevil is a fake because he doesn't eat meat:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007400824,00.html

NEWS: Hedgehogs now a threatened species

Despite being one of the earliest mammals to come into existance and surviving many major changes they aren't going to tough enough to survive our onslaught without a little help. This article explains the problem and what we can do to help: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6975945.stm

NEWS: Free Fruit Improves Pupils' Diet

Free fruit has been given to young pupils for three years .

A government scheme offering free fruit and vegetables to school children has increased healthy eating, suggests research.
The survey from the National Foundation for Educational Research says it has helped more pupils eat five portions of fruit and vegetable daily.

The survey from the National Foundation for Educational Research says it has helped thousands more pupils eat five portions of fruit and vegetable daily.
Under the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS), introduced by the government in 2004, all four to six-year-old children in state infant, primary and special schools are entitled to a free piece of fruit or vegetable each day.
An evaluation of the scheme, carried out across 37 schools in north-east England by the National Foundation of Educational Research, concluded the number of children eating their five-a-day has increased substantially.
They compared food diaries and questionnaires of more than 1,600 children taking part in the scheme in the north-east in March 2004 with nearly 2,000 different children in November 2006.
They found 32% of children eating five portions of fruit and vegetables in 2004, compared with 44% of children in the 2006 study.
The researchers observed: "It should be noted that the largest increase was in vegetable consumption, not fruit, which may indicate that changes in school meals had a greater impact."

For full story click here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6972699.stm

News Articles on this Blog

I have been looking for vegan related news articles on the web to put on here as I thought it might interest people reading this blog. However I wasn't sure if people would prefer I put it on a separate blog or not. Let me know what you think.

Todays New Recipe

This morning I have been baking lots of different cakes with the children (one wanted fairy cakes, one wanted a 'normal' cake and I wanted to make a jam and cream sponge) so I have put the basic cake recipe we used up on the site and will add the recipes for all the different cakes we make with it through the week.

NEWS: Clothes made from Dog Hair

A German women has started making clothes out of dog hair and selling them over the internet. Remind anyone of 101 Dalmations? Full story here http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2484109.html?menu=news.quirkies

NEWS: McDonalds prove a problem to Hedgehogs

In Germany Hedgehogs have been found dead inside ice cream containers after licking out the contents and not being able to get out. For the full story click here: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2487251.html?menu=news.quirkies

Site is now updated

The site has at last been updated. There is a new recipe index where you can find all the recipes that have been made with particular ingredients. You can also search using google if you wasn to find other things on the site and this is updated on a weekly basis.

Searches on the Site

I have now completed the ingredient search on the recipe site. I am just making some changes to the design tonight and hopefully will put the site live. I will post here when I have done so.

Rice may contain arsenic

Due to arsenic infected water in rice growing countries there is a possibility that rice has arsenic in it. The UK food standards agency are currently investigating to see if there is, and whether the amounts are enough to be harmful. Pretty scary stuff I think. For the full story click here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6968574.stm