My other blog has arts and crafts...

I have a new website and blog in addition to this vegan food one, where I'll be posting arts and crafts, at www.kscottcrafts.co.uk

I also found this handy guide while googling for info about which arts and crafts supplies are suitable for vegans, and thought some of you might also find it useful- http://allthosethingsandtheotherstoo.blogspot.com/2010/02/vegan-craft-supplies-in-progress.html

Potluck preview- Christmas Cookie Tree!

It may be January, but since the Scottish Vegans' Xmas potluck was postponed due to snow, I've also made a xmas cookie tree to take to it!

The cookie cutters were a gift from my friend Sylvia (thanks again!) and I used the Mum's Sugar Cookies recipe from The Garden Of Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard since it said I could use cutters for it. I've used basic icing mixing icing sugar and water to glue it together, then drizzled some over the top for a snowy look, then sprinkled more icing sugar snow on top...

I'm hoping it survives the journey in one piece now! :)

My father-in-law's Broccoli and potato soup recipe

No photos atm sorry, because I couldn't find the camera when I was serving, but I will edit and add one next time I make this- and there WILL be a next time!

1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
450g broccoli florets and part of stalk, finely chopped
300g potatoes peeled and diced to 1cm cubes(about 1 medium potato)
2 pints vegetable stock
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1tsp garlic powder OR 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
ground black pepper and sea salt to taste


-sweat onion over a gentle heat till transparent
-add broccoli, potatoes, stock and seasonings
-simmer over gentle heat until potato is soft (about 15 minutes)
-liquidize the soup
-reheat if needed then serve

goes beautifully with croutons or crusty bread!

Meme stolen from Skint Vegan

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?
Fried eggs with runny yolks- there's no substitute fake equivalent vegan thingy, but it just doesn't bother me

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

Not sure, I was a fairly adventurous child. My mum might remember if she's reading this?

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?
Salty porridge with soya milk because I'm Scottish- but I'm a sassenach and only take a little porridge with my sugar!! :P

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?
ginger tea or black coffee

What dish are you “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?
My coconut chocolate fudge

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

Ordinary sliced bread is raw toast and may only be eaten if toasted.

Potatoes in potato salad salad must be cold.

Glasses must also be cold.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

crisps or chocolate

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Fudge. The Fabulous Fudge Factories is nice, but my own homemade is better. And vegetable soup- there's nothing like homemade soup!

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?
Coffee

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?
Yes, and biscuits. I am a very naughty vegan indeed!

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Pesto- Stereo in Glasgow make a lovely pesto pizza! I also like a traditional cheese and tomato pizza made with mozzarella cheezly.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

Mushrooms and strawberries

What is the best salad dressing?

Ginger and lime- Marks and Spencers make a lovely one with their edamame salad pots!

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?
Melting cheezly with black pepper and sea salt

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?
vegetable and lentil

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?

I don't know! I do love coconut heaven cupcakes though...

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Choc chip cookies from Vegan With A Vengeance, they're lovely and chewy...or the sparkled ginger cookies from that book...mmm!!

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?
Nut cutlets with roast potatoes (both frozen), cranberry sauce and garlic roasted brussels atm- it's quick and easy but festive!

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?
Aubergine, my hubby hates them!

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?
45 minutes

Back in... red!

After another long absence I'm back, and here's a pic of me with new-ish red hair courtesy of Superdrug's own brand BUAV-approved suitable for vegans hair dye which I'll review first...

It's called Colour Effects, it's a shampoo in and out temporary hair dye and it comes in a wee silver bottle (which very handily tells you on it that it's suitable for vegans!) and it's only 99p. My shade is rich red, and I've left it on for a full 20 mins for a vibrant colour, but you can leave it on as little as 5 minutes for a more subtle result. It's commitment free as it washes out within about a week, but you can just keep it topped up to stop it fading if you want to keep it in longer. I'm impressed by the vibrancy of the colour, the ease of use and the price, so it gets a 5/5 :)

After my last post I was back in hospital again with the same problem, but my health seems to be a lot better than it's been, not had another incident since then though, and I'm now back at work. They're still not 100% sure what's wrong with me, although they think it's either a congenital birth defect with the abnormal veins in my stomach, or endometriosis on my stomach, which I'm currently being treated for. All I can do now is cross my fingers that it won't happen again!

Sorry for such a long absence, and I'll hopefully be back with some food photos soon... x

Update- think I'm better now!

Hi guys, I've not been on for a while because I've been back in hospital since
Tuesday 7th and was just let back out yesterday afternoon.

I had 3 more gastric bleeds during the time I was in, and had to get several
blood transfusions and more endoscopies (which I hate having as the sedation
doesn't work very well and I panic) to try and find the cause, and on the last
one they finally found an abnormal vein which they put me under general
anaesthetic and stapled the vein, and they are hoping that that is it sorted-
they said there's a 75% chance I'll be okay now, but I'm to go back for follow
up appointments, and also to see a gynaecologist as they think it may be related
to endometriosis.

I'm feeling a lot better than I was but still have inflammation and a borderline
low blood count so I'm a bit tired and need to take iron and proton pump
inhibitors for a while yet. Hopefully I'll be fully better and be updating properly soon though!

London... a great place for vegans!

My new hubby and I went for a city break to London for our honeymoon and thoroughly enjoyed it! We visited Oxford St and Camden Market for shopping, went to the theatre to see Avenue Q, visited the Science Museum, British Library, and British museum... there's always loads to do there and we'd love to go back and see some more!

It is, like I said, a fabulous place for vegans, it must be so easy for people living there to convert... there are loads of veggie and vegan restaurants there, as well as most omni places catering for vegans- we found hummus sandwiches in the science museum's cafe, loads of falafels everywhere, we went to Pizza Express(there must be one on every street!)on the first night who made us a cheese-free pizza, and there are loads of huge branches of Holland and Barret, Julian Graves, and Wholefoods with a far bigger selection of vegan snacks than I've ever seen anywhere in Glasgow... the first photo is a selection of munchies we took back to our hotel room from Soho Wholefoods!

We also went to Tai Veg in Old Compton Street, Soho, twice for a £6.50 all you can eat, all vegan buffet. Very tasty indeed, with a huge variety of thai and chinese foods to choose from... they had noodles, curries and stir fries, special fried rice, soy and seitan fake meats with various dipping sauces, crispy seaweed, peanut rolls, sesame toast, fake prawn crackers, and a vast selection of fruit and veg, nuts and seeds... yum!

We also went to InSpiral cafe in Camden twice... just look at their patisserie menu! They had a fabulous selection of desserts, particularly their tiramisu cake, which I had with maple pecan ice cream from their huge selection of vegan ice creams. They also served hot savouries- I had a vegan lasagne with steamed greens, potato wedges and sweet potato on the side, which I shared with hubby and had some of his tempeh and cashew cheese panini(because we have started doing that married thing of ordering different things and having half of each other's... :)). I felt like a kid in a sweet shop in this place! :)

We wanted to visit 222 Veggie Vegan which had a load of good reviews, but sadly due to the Notting Hill carnival, a lot of the trains going there were cancelled so we couldn't get there easily. Next time- and there will be a next time!