Going vegan......old style?!

Joyful25

Hey hey, glad to see the forum has been busy? Just about to catch up.

But just a quicky -- Superdrug has BOGOF on shampoos and conditioners, I use the colour protect ones which are vegan so it might be worth stocking up? Frogga - it might be worth checking out SDrug's facewashes for your teen, I don't use facewash but I use it's Vit E moisturiser and think it's really good quality.

Am interested to see what Xmas posts there'll be -- first Xmas dinner without the meat, and I'm cooking for myself and hubby.

Joyful25

Justamum wrote: »

I'm sure that most mincemeat you get in jars is vegan as they use veggie suet. I must admit I've made my own mincemeat in the past and it does taste completely different to bought. I've got a jar of Robertson's in the cupboard from a couple of years ago which I must use up (don't think I'll be making many mince pies this year as DH and I don't want to put on any weight, and the children don't really like dried fruit )

The sausage roll filling sounds yummy - I must explore that blog too!

Thanks Justamum, a colleague keeps asking me about vegan mincepies as she wants to make a batch without leaving me out (she's started to look at packets and all sorts, bless her). I can pass it on.

Of course it's twinkles first Xmas too. Can't believe it's nearly a year since we both entered the world of veganism - def a hip hip hooray to her for starting this all off, it's been astounding how helpful this has been this year :T:T:beer:

Joyful25

Kittikins wrote: »

Does anyone live near Brighton? Have you tried Heather MM's cafe? I'm curious about it, but having looked at the website am a bit put off by the amount of fake meat/fish products she uses, for me not eating meat doesn't make me want to have pretend bacon/ham etc as I was never a big fan of them when I was a child. Just curious for any recommendations as we might venture down there on Sunday if its a nice day, take the bikes and go for a meander by the sea

My Vegan Friend went there about a month ago; she said it was lovely, not too pretentious. She said it made such a change to have food on offer which isn't as accessible (for want of a better phrase, stodge and comfort food!!) and she thought it was quite reasonably priced.

On the subject of Brighton, me and MVF are celebrating two things in Jan, and wil be going to Heather's I should think - it'll be year since I had some major surgery :eek:, and a year since I turned vegan :j so we decided it'll be a great place to toast to an interesting 12 months!

Kittikins

We ended up not making it as far as the vegan cafe the other week as DD was overtired, starving hungry and popped into a bar/restau along the seafront in Hove.........whereupon I had a veggie burger and got food poisoning That'll learn me not to have some snacks in my handbag and keep going an extra minute or two along the road *sigh*

Justamum

When we were on holiday in South Africa I picked up a few magazines, and this recipe was in one of them

VEGETARIAN BURGER

1 butternut, peeled and chopped
400g cooked weight chickpeas (or one tin, drained)
400g cooked weight lentils (or one tin, drained). It didn't say which sort, but I used brown ones. I suppose any would do
100g rolled oats
1 carrot, finely grated
3 tbs chopped fresh coriander (I didn't have any, so used parsley, but coriander would add a lovely flavour)
1 tbs fresh thyme
salt and pepper
1 tsp marmite
1 tbs molasses
(the original recipe also had an egg, but I just left it out and it's moist enough without adding anything to substitute)

Put the butternut in a plastic bag and microwave on high for 10 minutes. Allow to cool, then mash. (I don't have a microwave, so I steamed mine).

Add the chickpeas, lentils, oats, carrot, herbs, marmite, molasses and salt and pepper. Use your hands to gently combine the mixture, crushing the chickpeas and lentils. (I mashed it all together with a fork before making burgers)

Shape handfuls of the mixture into patties and arrange on wax paper. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Heat some oil in a pan and carefullly fry the patties for 5 minutes on each side, or brush with oil and bake at 180C for 25 minutes until golden brown and crispy on the outside (I baked mine in the oven - I often find that frying homemade burgers isn't that successful)

These were very tasty, and it made about 12 decent sized ones.

Justamum

Yesterday I made these http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Carrot-Ginger-Muffins-137015 and they were delicious. I might try making it into a carrot cake next time - I'm always on the lookout for a decent one, and this might be the recipe for me!

Joyful25

Hey guys,

Have come on here from some Christmas cheer :rudolf:and inspiration but it's all gone a bit quiet.....

So I'll start things off......

OH would like curry on Christmas Day, how very alternative. I'm thinking of buying a 'meat' joint for Boxing Day and anyone who drops in for nibbles.

We're having a party tomorrow night and I did want to make a couple of buffet bits from scratch, and as the snow has kept me in this evening I might get ahead a bit.

I hope to hear from some of you soon, but wish you all lots of fun this coming fortnight and thanks so much for the best forum going :blushing:

twinkle_star_2

Hello Joyful and everyone else!

Nice to see the thread alive again. I've finally decided on my Christmas 'meat' replacement. I'm having chestnut and mushroom loaf - tested it last week and it is amazing. Will post recipe tomorrow.

Also, mucho exciting news. My housemate has converted to veganism. She is also gluten free so we're having lots of fun trying out new recipes for wheat-free goodies. Wheat-free vegan choc-chip muffins anyone?:T

Anyway, vegan Christmas soon! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay:D

Doom_and_Gloom

As I have mentioned else where my partner and I are going to be celebrating Yule so our celebrating will be Monday :beer:. We have our movie planned ("John Tucker must die" as it's on the TV anyway :money:), the fact that we are going to burn a log (hopefully if it can burn in the snow that is literally covering the garden and doesn't look like it's going to shift :eek:), make 'traditional' food decorations to eat, some chocolate soya milk (such a treat) and even have our booze bought with his discount at 15% :cool:. However I still have not decided on the food . I'm thinking roast vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, onion etc but I'm not sure what else. I can really eat when I want to and plan on doing just that on Monday .

twinkle_star how long does your chestnut and mushroom loaf take to cook and what is involved in this? I don't want to be cooking for too long as that will drain alot of my energy if I did so so I am hoping this is a rather quick things to make .

With this post I bet you wouldn't be able to guess that I've been vegan for years :rotfl:. Everyday food I'm fine but when I want to get a bit more into it it gets a bit more difficult to think .

twinkle_star_2

Hi Doom and Gloom,

The chestnut loaf takes a little while but mostly because it is wrapped very neatly in pastry which you need to rest and then cut to fit a loaf tin. However, I did a test version and I found that it is actually nicer the next day. You can have it cold or reheated and the flavours have really developed, especially the mushroom. I'll be making mine on Christmas Eve so you could do yours today and have it tomorrow.

Chestnut and mushroom loaf

olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
75g mushrooms
100ml red wine
225g unsweetened pureed chestnuts (or whole vacuum packed ones mushed in a blender)
50g wholemeal breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp sage (or more if you like it)
75-100g fresh cranberries, plus extra to decorate (depends how much you like cranberries)
water
450g shortcrust pastry
soya milk for glazing

Make up your pastry - half fat to flour, pinch of salt and water to bind. Leave to rest in the fridge whilst you prepare the filling.

Heat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions over a moderate heat until translucent.

Add garlic and mushrooms and fry for another 3 minutes.

Pour on the wine, stir well and simmer until it has mostly evaporated.

Remove from the heat, stir in the chestnut puree and breadcrumbs and season with salt, pepper and sage. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile remove pastry from fridge. Oil a 1 pint loaf tin.

Dust surface with flour and roll pastry into a rectangle. Fold each side in to meet at the middle, rotate pastry 45 degrees and roll into a rectangle again. Repeat this about 5 times - this results in a lovely light flaky pastry.

Roll pastry to about 3mm thickness. Use the loaf tin as a guide and cut pastry shapes to line the base and sides of the tin. Press them into place and seal the edges.

Cut a piece of pastry to fit the top of the tin and set it aside. Keep the extra bits of pastry for decoration.

Spoon half the chestnut mixture intot the tin and smooth the surface. Cover with a layer of cranberries (i like lots some prefer a thin layer). Cover with the rest of the chestnut mixture.

Cover the filling with the pastry lid and pinch the edges to join. Cut out holly leaves or something festive from the pastry leftovers.

Brush the top with soya milk to glaze and stick on the decorative bits.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Decorate with cranberries.