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

NualaBuala

Thanks for the warning about smoothie makers twinkle. While searching for grinders, I came across a really positive review for the Magic Bullet which can be used for grinding flax seed AND making smoothies. I'm not sure if it's still available though.

What kind of grinder do you use? There seem to be a lot of coffee grinders with a little wooden drawer underneath, am wondering if they are any good.

Treated myself to Plamil organic vegan friendly milk-style chocolate today. Haven't sampled it yet though. I hope it's nice cos I find dark choc a bit bitter and I'm a girl who needs her treats!

Murrell

I like the chocolate, I hope you do too. I also don't like the really dark chocolate, won't buy any if its over 60% cocoa.

I started with a pestle and mortar and the seeds used to fly all over the kitchen. I then switched to a electric coffee grinder as one came with my blender I bought years ago, but as they don't last long, I got fed up having to do this. I am lucky to not have to be so frugal now, so I buy organic ready ground flaxseeds. Did buy them when holland and barrett had the buy 2 get one half price offer though!!

I still haven't tried the sweetcorn fritters either!

Sandra
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twinkle_star_2

I have this for grinding my flax seeds. Works a treat. I usually do a big batch and keep the ground seeds in the freezer so they don't go rancid.

NualaBuala

Yep, the Plamil milk-style choc gets the thumbs up from me! :T

Thanks for the info on grinders - I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should go for a blender with a mill attachment so my smoothie and flaxseed requirements are taken care of. I don't have the money yet - so that will give me time to investigate options. In the meantime I seem to be doing a little better with the pestle and mortar although yes, they do fly everywhere!

I seem to be focussed on treats at the moment - I want to make banana and walnut muffins. I've made non-vegan banana and walnut loaf in the past and substituted some of the egg with banana. so I'm guessing there are vegan versions out there. I'm hoping not to have to buy any new ingredients like egg replacer so if anyone has a nice recipe I'd love it!

I've been reading this thread for days now and I'm still only on page 23! I will catch up eventually! Loads of great info here - I just hope it's not going in one ear and out the other!

Murrell

In case anyone is interested Holland and Barrett have the buy one, get one half price sale on again. It covers all the store apart from managers specials/reduced food. On until mid July.

I spotted today that Ritter sport chocolates do a 50% cocoa bar. Its probably been round for years and i've just spotted it. So few places sell them.

Sandra
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NualaBuala

Hi everyone,

Guilty confession alert! I fell off the wagon bigtime this week. I know I said I'd use up what I've got but I bought a load of dairy filled food today.- have been having cravings and generally feeling a bit crap. And I had meat in a takeaway the other day. I'm going to keep on doing my best anyway. I figure it's better to try than not to bother at all.

I seem to be doing better on the toiletries/cleaning stuff front. I think everything I use is vegan friendly. Mainly cos I don't use very much though! :rotfl: I have Green People's toothpaste - takes a bit of getting used to and it's quite dear, but I like their ethics.

I'm still slowly working my way through this thread - up to page 41 now! I'm loving the recipes - the latest to catch my eye is Justamum's Sponge Cake Recipe - will definitely be trying that at some stage.

Justamum wrote: »

Sponge Cake Recipe

2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar

Sift these together. In a jug mix

1/2 cup soya/rice/any other milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla essence

Pour the liquid ingredients on to the dry ingredients and mix well. Divide into either two cake tins so you can sandwich them together, or one deeper cake tin, or about 24 small cake cases (or about 12 bigger ones). Bake for about 20 minutes (sorry the timing is a bit vague - it depends on the size of cake you are making!)

This is the basic cake I make all the time. I've found it very adaptable.

You can substitute 1/2 cup of the flour for 1/2 cup of cocoa and add about 100g of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.
Use orange or lemon essence instead of the vanilla essence.
Make a coffee cake by substituting some of the milk for strong coffee, and add some chopped walnuts if you want.
The other day I made a banana cake by mashing a couple of bananas and adding that in when I added the liquid.
I've even adjusted quantities of the different liquids - using extra milk or even water in place of some of the oil as long as the total is the same. Having said that I sometimes add a bit more liquid if it's too stiff (it should be soft dropping consistency). I've not had any failures yet. You can use water in place of the orange juice, but add a tablespoon of cider vinegar (or distilled vinegar) to help the rising.

NualaBuala

Doh! I forgot the main thing I wanted to say. I found this article on vegan baking and it says:

To produce maple syrup, sap has to be collected and boiled down. During the boiling, a drop of lard, shortening or vegetable oil is sometimes added to prevent the sap from foaming up, and this ingredient is not listed on the label. When buying maple syrup, look for the kosher symbol, or call the company to see that they use vegetable-based defoamers.

I never knew that about maple syrup - it's probably common knowledge but I thought I'd share it just in case.

Murrell

NualaBuala wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Guilty confession alert! I fell off the wagon bigtime this week. I know I said I'd use up what I've got but I bought a load of dairy filled food today.- have been having cravings and generally feeling a bit crap. And I had meat in a takeaway the other day. I'm going to keep on doing my best anyway. I figure it's better to try than not to bother at all.

Oh not to worry, your hearts still in it by the sound of it. You sound like you have done well so far. Perhaps you need to look at what you bought and see if there is a vegan alternative for any future cravings. Cravings can be difficult especially if your not near the right sort of shops. Perhaps you could carry some treats with you, so long as you have the will power not to eat them!! Like you said it better to try than not bother at all, just don't beat yourself up about it. Well done with the cleaning items. I does take a long time to learn how and whats vegan, so good luck and don't forget to ask for help.
Thanks for posting info on maple syrup, I am sure this will be useful info for many. Don't tend to use it myself, have just used up a bottle I have had about 4 years!

Sandra
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NualaBuala

Aw thank you so much for the encouragment Sandra!:T If I could click that thanks button a hundred times, I'd do it! When I was piling discount quiches into my basket I felt a bit "oh sod it", as if I was giving up. But I know I really do want to keep trying.

I think I really need to figure out why I succumbed. There are lots of reasons (one of them is being badly prepared). And once I identify those, I can tackle them one by one. I think I have the same issues even when I wasn't tring to eat vegan - getting takeaways cos I hadn't something prepared. And I have a bit of a cheese addiction.

I think I need to plan, plan and plan. But my health is not great just now - I am so tired and easily overwhelmed so doing a week of menu planning seems hard just now. But tomorrow is another day and I hope I can tackle it then.

Justamum

NualaBuala wrote: »

I figure it's better to try than not to bother at all.

Absolutely. Everybody does it in their own way and it can be daunting. I think most vegans were vegetarian to start with so it wasn't such a huge leap from meat eater to vegan. Maybe you should do it a day at a time - one week you do Monday as vegan, next week Monday and Tuesday, etc.

NualaBuala wrote: »

the latest to catch my eye is Justamum's Sponge Cake Recipe - will definitely be trying that at some stage.

Definitely a fantastic recipe and very forgiving - I find the consistency is different every time I make it, so sometimes I have to add a bit more liquid so that it's a soft dropping consistency. I think the recipe was probably originally a war time one, or very similar to a wartime one (they might have just used a couple of tablespoons of vinegar as oranges would have been impossible to find)