I Almost Made Soup!

I am really, *really* enjoying the vegan challenge I've set myself for this year.  It's opened up a world to me that I kinda sorta knew existed but had pretty much ignored thus far.  Things like delicious egg-free mayo, fake bacon-y goodness, creamy pretend cheese and garlic ~swoons~ and don't even get me started on the sweets - ohmygosh.

I was on an early start (which means getting up at 4:45am - oi my life!) and didn't eat breakfast until gone 9am, at which point I was starving and could literally have dived head-first into a pile of sausage rolls.  But I didn't; I resisted and instead ate both the banana and the tangerine I'd brought to work with me.  Just a note - thanks Mum for making me do things the night before, you're a gem!

When I got home, I realised I hadn't finished the bacon I'd bought a couple weeks ago and tentatively checked it out to see if it was still go.  Ding ding ding, just as fresh as it was when I opened it!  So I grilled a few rashers and had me some lovely BLTs on brown rolls, yum!

I decided last week that I wanted to try my hand at soup making and had bought a few tasty veggies as preparation for the big day *grins* I chopped up celery, mushrooms and spring onions, followed by a generous helping of frozen casserole vegetables (I prefer fresh but hey, we had these to hand and they were pretty tasty!) which consisted of more celery *I love celery!*, turnip, swede, carrots and tiny little silverskin onions.  I used about a pint of vegetable stock and let the whole lot simmer for about twenty minutes.  I also added a generous squeeze of garlic purée and two tablespoons of tomato purée.

Once all my veggies were slightly soft, I pan-fried some soya chunks in a splash of oil and added those, followed by about two handfuls of wholewheat pasta.  Once the pasta was done cooking, it was ready to eat!  I chowed down on it with a slice of wholegrain bread to mop up the left-over sauce.

I know, it doesn't look much like soup.  In fact, it kind of *isn't* soup, but vegetables in a sauce!  In hindsight, I think I should've blitzed the veggies in a blender, *then* added the pasta and the soya.  It would definitely have been more soupy then!  What I can say to the positive though is that I really enjoyed it; it was hearty and filling, pretty darn tasty and I made enough to have two more portions to freeze for those vegan day 'what am I going to eat?!' moments!

The last couple of weeks I've not really been in the mood to eat sweet things on my vegan days, mostly since the sweet stuff we have in the house is completely non-vegan (chocolate and ice cream anyone?  Anyone?) BUT I thought I'd indulge my sweet tooth this time and checked out the local health food store to see what treats they had on offer.  I was *not* disappointed!

{Sorry it's kind of small, click to enlarge if you'd like to!}

First off, that coconut bar was to die for.  It was moist and scrumptious and not *too* sweet like some coconut treats can be.  It's pretty calorific but as a little slice of sweet goodness, it was definitely a yes.  I was really pleasantly surprised by the vegan chocolate too; it's made locally (which is always a big thumbs up!) and guess what - it tastes like "real" mint chocolate!  Seriously!  *So* impressed by how delicious it was!  There I was, thinking I'd have to get my sweet fix through fruit but hey, I can still indulge in some of the slightly-less-healthy but super good vegan treats!

I hope you guys have had a great week and are up to lots of exciting things over the weekend!  I've got three whole days off (unheard of, yes!) before the onslaught begins again {for the next three weeks, my manager is officially out-of-shop so the assistant manager and I are taking on the running of the shop between us.  It's not going to be pretty.} I hope I can get some of my blanket crocheted, catch up with some friends and make both a birthday *and* Valentine's card (^_^) Have a great one!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

A Few Things I've Already Learned About Veganism.

♥ It's really, really important to read food labels properly.  Surprising things have animal-related ingredients.

♥ People will look at your lunch and wrinkle their noses when they ask you what it is.  When you tell them, they will look at you even weirder.

♥ Honey comes from bees (I know this is obvious, but...) Don't forget this.  Especially seconds before you're about to spread it on your toast and banana.  It will crush you.

♥ It's important not to get excited over vegan cheese, especially if you love cheese.  I love cheese.  Oh, vegan cheese...You looked so delicious.

{Vegan cheese on toast...Looks the part but...yeesh...not so good!}

♥ Being someone who isn't always vegan, it's (already) easy to think all you can eat is beans and rice.  I found myself getting stuck for recipes on my *second day*.  The internet is awesome for interesting food, like vegan enchiladas.  Those really were delicious.

♥ Creativity is key.  Throw all the vegan things you like together and see what happens.  This can lead to really good things!

♥ Seeds are brilliant for making things a little more interesting or flavourful.  I love seeds (^_^)

Vegan day number 2 was a challenge, since I'd just done a 12-hour shift the day before, an early start that morning and wanted nothing more than to cosy up with a cup of hot chocolate and some dairy cheese on toast when I got home.  But I dug in my heels and remembered this was *meant* to be a challenge; I didn't want something I could complete so easily!  I find I don't tend to eat sweet things on vegan days, since I'm mostly a chocolate fan and we only had dairy chocs in the house.  I tucked into a salad for breakfast (I know, seems weird at half six in the morning but it was really good!  I forget about salad in winter but it's so yummy.) and had a go at vegan cheese on toast for lunch (more of a fail, but an interesting one) followed by enchiladas made with vegan mince and an easy chili-in-a-jar chucked together in some tortilla wraps.  I'm already excited for my next day, I'm thinking about either making a veggie rich soup from scratch or a warm three-bean salad with veggie chicken or tofu.  What d'you think?


Here are a couple of pictures of my first vegan lunch, which I really didn't prepare for and threw together with what I had available on short notice!

{My cobbled together ingredients!}

{My delicious rice, bacon and sesame seed lunch!}

Sometimes, it pays off to go unplanned and be spontaneous!

Hope you're all having a great week!  Thanks so much for stopping by (^_^)

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

My Blanket - The Beginning!

So I started crocheting my blanket!  Woo!  I was going to attempt one huge, continuous granny square but the thought of it was kind of daunting.  Instead, I'm crocheting lots of little granny squares with the intention of sewing them all together at the end!  At the moment, I'm guesstimating I'll be making a blanket that's 15 by 15 squares (which equals 225 of the little blighters - meep!) so I hope it'll be nice and big and super snuggly!  Here is a little look at how things are going so far!

I love how the wool is flecked with all different colours, it makes each of the squares interesting and completely unique!  I've got a ton of this wool (over 1kg in total!) so I know I'll have more than enough to finish my blanket!  I've made 25 squares so far and I'm really pleased; it's exciting to see how far I've come in my crocheting, how I'm able to make all of my squares pretty much uniform and consistent so I know my blanket won't be (*too*) wonky (^_^)

I hope you all have a great weekend planned!  Mine is mostly working *BOO*, lots of crocheting *YAY* and taking it easy before killer overtime next week at work *BOO AGAIN* Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

Book 2 Of 10 - The Elfstones Of Shannara

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Good golly.  I am missioning through these books!  And the reason for that is because they are *so* well written and completely engrossing!  I'm already a good way through the third and am fighting myself to read it slower so I can savour every word.

This book is my favourite of the trilogy; fifty years have passed since the first novel and again, a darkness threatens to engulf the world.  It is up to two young people to embark on a perilous quest in order to save it.  It's rammed full of adventure, intrigue and action with incredibly detailed battle scenes and a tenderness between characters not often seen in this sort of novel.  This novel is also my favourite because it really makes me feel; I'm not overly keen on the way the story ends (in fact, it really annoys me because I've grown so attached to two particular characters!) but I *like* that it makes me consider why I'm feeling the way I do and exactly why the author chose to end the book that way.

I'm thrilled to be through my second book already and am keen to keep reading, especially since this third novel is just as gripping as the first two!  I spent the rest of today hanging out with my family and starting the adventure that is crocheting a blanket (^_^) I've got tons of a very pretty aran wool which is a slightly off-white colour flecked with pinks, greens, blues and yellows.  It's going to make a super snuggly blanket!

I hope you're all having a great week!  Thank you for stopping by!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

Book 1 Of 10 - The Sword Of Shannara

Zomg.

 To my fellow, geeky, science-fantasy adoring peoples, I present to you 'The Sword Of Shannara' by Terry Brooks.

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This book is the first in a trilogy and it is *absolutely incredible*.  I read it over the past week and oh...Just oh!  When I was about 16, I borrowed the trilogy from my then-boyfriend and read all three books over a fortnight.  My lovely brother bought them for me for Christmas and it was just as good as I remembered!

For those of you who like a story full of magic, epic battles and a band of comrades who quest to save the world, this novel is a must-read.  It was inspired by LOTR and you can feel it in the way it is written.  You come to love the characters; you fight with them, you cry with them, you exult in joy as they do.  It's truly an engrossing, superbly written novel, full of intrigue, mystery and an ending that will keep you guessing.

I'm thrilled that I've managed to finish one book already!  I'm well stuck into the second novel, 'The Elfstones Of Shannara', so watch this space for another review soon!

Hope you're having a grand weekend and have lots of wonderful things planned for the week ahead!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥