Vegetable & Lentil Stew with Mash & Greens

'Tis the season for delicious stews and comfort food isn't it? I enjoy a good stew at any time of year if I'm honest, but there's nothing nicer than having a tasty moreish winter stew in the cold nights to warm you through.
This vegetable  stew is absolutely delicious, add in the green infused mash and you have comfort food at it's absolute finest.
And yes vegetables, lentils and chickpeas, super healthy but are also absolutely delicious, I promise you won't be disappointed with this super tasty dish. You're tummy will be full and very happy.
Another couple of excellent points with this meal:

• You will find most of the items are store cupboard or things you may already have to hand.
• The cost per mouth fed is super low. A big pot like this would feed 5 comfortably i'd say.
• Its a one pot stew.. no need for lots of washing up. Another pan for your potato mash, and you're done!
• It is Gluten/Wheat free, Dairy Free, Low fat, Vegan and full of great vegetables packed with vitamins and goodness. It would also be free on Slimming World ( I know this from doing S/W in the past.. your milk may have to come out of your daily allowance, or of course omit it)

Ingredients:

For the Root Veg Stew

2 medium Carrots
1 Medium to large Parsnip
Half a swede if you have it
1 Leek
1 White onion
3 Large Garlic Cloves
150grams of Frozen Peas
1 Tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tin of Green Lentils, drained and rinsed
1.2 Litre of Vegetable stock
12 Sprigs of Thyme (little leaves removed)
2 Bay Leaves
3 generous tablespoons of Tamari (Or regular Soy Sauce if you're not Gluten free)
Glug of Olive Oil

For The Mash

1Kg of white potatoes
150ml Soya milk
Table spoon of Dairy free margarine
100 grams (or two good handfuls) of Spinach
2 Spring Onions
2 Teaspoons of Cumin
Salt & Pepper

Method:

• Heat a glug of oil in your pan on a medium heat
• Whilst the oil warms chop your onion and crush your garlic
• Add your onion first and let this cook through for 5 minutes before adding your garlic, stiring and making sure they don't burn or stick.
• Chop your root veg: Carrots, Parsnip and swede in to small pieces and add to your pan, stirring it together, cook through for 5 minutes
• Chop your leek all the way to the top and add to the pan
• Add your bay leaves and thyme leaves. As well as the leaves you can leave a spring in the pan to infuse, but remember to take this out at the end to avoid a twiggy mouthful.
• Add your chickpeas and lentils
• Add your hot 1.1 ltre of stock and bring to the boil
• Add you frozen peas
• Then add your Tamari (or Soy sauce if you're not Gluten free)
• Leave to simmer for 30 minutes

Whilst this is now bubbling away you can get cracking on your mash

• Peel and chop your potatoes, place them in cold water with a pinch of salt and bring to the boil
• Turn down to a vigorous simmer and let them cook till soft
• Chop your Spring onions in to rounds, including  the green
• Once  the potatoes are done, drain and return to the pan. Add in your Milk ( I use soya, but feel free to use whatever milk you prefer) and margarine, mix thoroughly and mash till your potatoes are smooth
• Mix in your spring onions and spinach and cumin. The spinach will start to wilt with the heat of the mash.
• Season as you require

Once the vegetables in your stew are soft you're ready to assemble a lovely bed of mash topped with your delicious stew!

My husband loves a side of crunchy bread with this to soak the juices up. I'm happy with an extra serving of mash ;)

Dig in and Enjoy!

Foodie: Carrot & Red lentil with a side of Roasted Asparagus Dippers

If there is one lunch i make more than any other its probably this: Carrot and red lentil soup.

It's easy, its filling, you can batch make it for the week or freeze it and above all, it's really tasty.

I've experimented with this over the past year and in all honesty it comes out slightly different each time, mostly because i do the measurements by eye, but i think it also makes a difference as to how sweet your carrots are. Different batches, slight difference, but all round yummy just the same.

My reasoning for the asparagus dippers was simple. Being wheat intolerant means no bread for dipping, which sucked. 

Yes there are many wheat free breads now on the market but I don't eat bread a great deal anyway so there's often not any in the house. 

But sometimes having a little dipper of some persuasion is satisfying. 

Cue the lovely roasted asparagus. 

So i've bigged it up enough, time for you to see just how easy this is.

what you will need:

For the soup

1kg of fresh carrots

250grams of dried red split lentils

1 white onion

1 litre of just vegetable stock or hot water, depending on your preference.

A small sprig of chives

Salt & Pepper

A handful of asparagus with the woody ends removed

Olive Oil

For the Soup

* Peel and chop your carrots in to rounds, place in a large saucepan 

* Peel and chop your onion in to small pieces and place in your saucepan

*Pour in your dried red lentils

*Add in your stock/hot water

*Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer for about half an hour or until your carrots are soft.

** Note**

Don't season at this point. Adding salt to dried lentils before they are cooked hardens them making for a not so pleasant soupy experience.

*Once cooked, remove from the heat. With a hand blender (I just use this cheap and cheerful one from Tesco and it works great) blend until everything has combined and is smooth. 

*Season with rock salt and freshly black pepper and blend again.

*Chop your chives and either stir through or add to garnish.

For the Asparagus Dippers

I usually start this in the last 10 minutes of my soup cooking.

*Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

* Pour a glug of olive oil evenly across a baking tray and season with salt pepper  some garlic powder is also nice if you have it) and return to the oven for 5 minutes

* Once your oil is heated up bring your tray out and add your asparagus on to the hot tray. This will allow them to crisp up some what and making excellent dippers.. Season the asparagus and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Dish up & Serve!

It's that easy! I've broken it in to a few steps, but really it's just chop everything, throw it in a big pan add your stock and leave to cook! 

This makes the perfect autumn lunch. It's super heathy and vegan.

Plus all my kids love it, which as any parent knows, getting veggies in to your children is always deserving of an air fist pump!

Do try it, and let me know what you think!

Happy Cooking!

5 Reasons I Became Vegan

Now this post isn't going to be for everyone, and i totally and utterly accept that. But i wanted to write it for me and for you, as i felt like i was kinda keeping a secret and skirting around the subject rather than just talking about it. So bear with me, normal programming shall resume.. But i would honestly love for you to read this and just have a little ponder to yourself (Who knows you may consider something like meat free monday), and thank you in advance for your continued support in making this a happy environment!

I've wanted to approach this topic for some time, so here goes.
I'm Rachel and I am Vegan *waves*
Now this statement normally generates the same responses.. "Why?" "What on earth do you eat?" "How can you give up ice-cream/cheeseburgers/pizza?" "But its not healthy surely?" "Nah, not me.. Top of the food chain we are"

Yep i've heard it all.

Sometimes people are interested and sometimes people get shitty with me. Its true, I've had all ends of the spectrum.

I hope that this blog is a happy supportive place, where people feel free to encourage one another, comment and love, instead of judgement, disrespect or ridicule.
I am not here to force veganism to you all, hoping to change the masses. But i wanted to share my positive happy experience as much as i would share something else happy, like my capsule wardrobe, or a family outing.
Becoming vegan is a huge part of my life and something I am really happy and impassioned by.
So share i shall :D

1. Morality

Eating animals is just plain wrong. Firstly.. why eat a defenceless animal when as humans we simply were not made to eat meat (check out your teeth, we are made for veggies, fruit and nuts), plus the alternatives to meat in this day and age really are fantastic and excellent for you (hello no cholesterol!). We've come to see pieces of meat as a detachment from the animal, desensitising it to make it easier for consumption.

Vegans save over 100 animals per year by not eating meat. If more people did that think of all the lovely animals that would be saved. Its been said before, but it's something that started me off on this road: "You wouldn't eat your pet dog, why eat a pig?" Pigs are in-fact more intelligent than dogs, yet we deem it perfectly viable to eat them.

2. Major Health benefits. 

We've all heard that we need to eat meat for the protein, and without it we would all shrivel up and diieeee. Well that's as outmoded as bootcut jeans.
Beans, greens, chicpeas, quinoa and soya are all fantastic sources of protein. Kale is also phenomenal it is one of the most densely packed plants with vitamins and minerals on the planet.

Plant-based diets have been proven to lengthen life spans, cut out major diseases and improve general health. I'm no good at relaying scientific facts (my mind is way to airy fairy for that), but I know that anything that helps lengthen and improve a lifespan can only be good.
I also never became vegan to loose weight, but it was an advantageous side point. My weight has yoyo'ed most of my adult life, but since becoming vegan I lost weight and have now plateaued to my bodies natural comfortable weight. And i can honestly say i have never felt better!

Power to the Plants!

3. Environmental factors

By having showers instead of baths, by that hosepipe ban, by turning off the water whilst you brush your teeth all sound like major brownie points in the environmental stakes, but the fact is by doing those things it is just a drop in the ocean (pah, excuse the pun) It takes TONS of water and crops to raise cattle (and then kill them), this is the biggest reason behind climate change and yet the meat industry grows larger and larger, producing more and more and taking over even more land to produce more meat. By going meat free you are helping save your home.. planet earth.

4. Mental Happiness

There's something wonderfully rewarding about going without eating animals. With it I found a strange calmness transcend in my mind that i hadn't expected. It seems on a sub conscious level maybe i felt guilt, without even voicing it to myself.  I then realised how happy I was, infact it would seem according to sources (i.e The husband) that i am the happiest I've been in years. Happy and healthy is not to be ignored. It could also be scientific as the animal fatty acids can create mood disturbing brain activity, such a stress and anxiety. A life with out stress and anxiety sounds dreamy doesn't it? Well I for one am up for doing anything that will help be journey down that road.

5. Believing the world can be a better place

Veganism opens your eyes to the world. I started to research all kinds of topics such as environmental impacts, animal welfare, ethical and fair trade. It made me realise that there IS a better way. Consumer driven western society has room for improvement. We all do (heck I've only recently gotten on board with proper recycling, so I have A LOT of room for improvement), and like i mentioned above, surely if we can help our fellow inhabitants, whether that be man or animal, and just *try* to do our bit, well the world would be a damn site better off, and I sure as hell know I would love my children to grow up in a loving caring environment, which extends out from our front door in to the world around them.

(And a Bonus)

6. .. Vegan food is absolutely delicious

When I took out all the things I could no longer eat , i sat down and started to cook again. I previously loved cooking, but lost my way to the ease of convenience food. I cook all our meals from scratch with all plant based ingredients, and I have never tasted such amazing food in all my life. Vegan food is full of flavour, once you remove meat an animal by-products you have to start thinking about how to make this dish utterly scrumptious. Herbs are now my best friend, and finding the perfect pairing between vegetable and seasoning is thrilling (FYI Mash potatoes, olive oil and cumin equals HEAVENLY... just sayin')
Getting inventive with my food has made me have a much better relationship with food also.
Lots of meat-eater friends say to me (mostly men i might add..) "I could never quit meat, I don't like vegetables" My answer simply is " You just haven't tried the right ones yet"
Since quitting meat altogether i have not missed it once. When the taste is so phenomenal without it, why would you miss it?

When i first turned plant based and then Vegan it was about the animals, and what food i consumed. But as time went on its stemmed out in to all parts of my life.
This past weekend I went through (my quite frankly ridiculously) huge makeup collection. 98% of the products came from brands that still test on animals.
I packed them all up and gave them to friends and family (those are meat eaters and are happy as they are.. again no judgement here).
I looked closer at the ingredients in my shampoos and started researching vegan and cruelty free alternatives.
My household products are now switched over too.
It literally stems out in to all parts of my life.

But strangely, I have never felt more grounded or more happy. Its liberating.

Here on the blog you will see things will change, I will start writing about Vegan beauty finds, i will no longer be purchasing leather and suede etc, but I really hope it won't effect you reading. This will never be a place where i bash you over the head with my vegan rule book.
This is me just offering up alternatives (variety is a good thing after all) and things that vegans and non vegans can all enjoy!

But I am set on living my life the most authentic happy way i can, and that excites me.


Thanks so much for reading and coming here, I can't wait to share some positivity with you all!

Big Love

Rxxx

Food Talk: Plant Based Life, Veganism & Intolerances

I wanted to talk today about food and the switch I have made over the past 9 months and how i feel the best I have in years. When something feels so right, to the point of seeing amazing results I think its only nice to pass on that knowledge and hope that maybe it can help someone else.

Ok.. Where to start with my story..
I have suffered IBS and flare ups most of my adult life. I could go for some time being absolutely fine, then like a switch had flicked I would be really poorly for a cycle of 3 days where my body would just go in to melt-down. This would include, the mother of all stomach-cramps, severe bloating, feeling lethargic, then light-headed and on occasions passing out, then my body would evacuate everything in it, meaning multiple, multiple trips to the bathroom. After that I would be left feeling pretty weak, have mouth ulcers and a really tender tummy.
It was awful.
I had tried IBS over the counter meds but they ended up blocking things up so to speak, but making me feel equally crappy.

I had a pretty unhealthy lifestyle through my twenties. A life of running a stressful business meant long hours, lots of takeaways and convenience foods. I had constant sugar dips which would have me reaching for another can of Coke every time.
Looking back, I can't believe I was so unhealthy. But you live you learn.

I made a switch to a pecastarian(no meat just fish) diet about 9 months ago, I didn't like consuming animals, but yet wasn't quite ready to make the switch completely.
I was plodding on, still eating wheat and dairy, still having some pretty bad flare up's and wondering what the hell I needed to do to just feel normal again.

My husband had been a Vegetarian for years, feeling something still wasn't quite sitting right with us we started to do some research. We sat down and watched some documentaries on the farming of animals and the effect on both the animals and the environment.
We started with Cowspiracy on Netflix then this by Erin Janus  literally made me cry (and I'm not being dramatic here , or emoji inserting for the hell of it, I'm completely serious, I cried and had to pause it to compose myself.. that is my polite warning.. its graphic but true) And Bite Size Vegan were excellent and in many cases disturbingly painful sources of reality.

From then we quit meat and dairy and haven't looked back.
When people talk about vegans it has a real negative stigma attached to it, with Vegans being deamed as extremists and OTT. I think passion is often confused for extremity.

I'm not true vegan, I still use honey and do consume a small amount of free range eggs (which I am currently researching and looking to also quit).  I also still wear wool and currently leather. But I want to be better. The point of change is always a hard one, but surely its worth it?

I am Plant Based
Eating a Plant based lifestyle has left me feeling pretty darn good. My skin is cleare than its been in years, and i feel healthier from the inside.
Here's a great piece I found on why plant based eating is simply fantastic

So, already starting to feel a lot better physically and mentally I then decided to go have an Intolerance test to find out what the route cause of all my troubles over the years has been.


I've made a rambly little vlog about it here, no editing, just rambling and even a big pile of stuff in the background.. #RealLife ;)

I booked in for an Intolerance Test with Nutritionalist Vicky Perkins at Beanfreaks in Cardiff. Really helpful, lovely and assisting.
The test was pain-free and took about an hour with chatting along the way.

It was conclusive that I have a High intolerance to Wheat, aspartame, Coke, Coffee (wahh!) and Wine.
After the results we chatted and it revealed that my body has a hard time with fatty foods. It doesn't break them down well and can send me in to a bad cycle.

All this made complete sense.
It confirmed everything and more, that had been on my mind. Thankfully I had already made tracks in to conquering my food demons and had been eating Plant based for the past couple of months, which had already shown fantastic results for me.
The confirmation has just spurred me on even more to live a healthy clean-eating lifestyle.
I refuse to call it a diet as diet implies weight loss and that's not why I've ventured down this road ,although I have lost a stone and now my weight is sitting in exactly the same place week in week out, its like its found its happy ground, I started this to feel better, to feel like my insides weren't hating me any more.
But along the way I also found an ethical grounding too. No longer consuming animals has become a huge part of my life.

I'm going to follow this post up with a 'What I Eat In A Day' post next week, as its the main thing people often ask.. When I explain that I'm Plant-Based Wheat intolerant I get utter looks of confusion and expressions of "Well.. what do you eat then?" To which I always reply.. "Fantastic food!"

I know this sounds cheesy but I have honestly never felt better. I feel the happiest and healthiest I ever have, and that's a huge statement to make.

Have you ever thought about what you put in to your body and how it effects you?

The Best Damn Dips, Ever!

As promised my delightful blogging buddies, some more foodie inspiration (hopefully inspiring, or maybe just  y'know..food enabling)
Today I am bringing a staple of mine that gets made at least once a week, to be consumed for the next few days by us all(this even had the teenagers stamp of yummy approval). I usually make a batch and then it will see me through as a lunch staple or an evening side, dependant on what we're having.
So yes.
The best Damn Guacamole and Hummus ever!

Now the Guacamole has taken me weeks to perfect, with many different attempts, each eaten and the tweaked till I got to this point of guac-perfection.
What you will need:

2x super ripe guacamole, if kept in the fridge, bring them out at room temperature for a wee bit before you start making.. it just helps with the mushing.
2x Cloves of garlic
1x Lime
A handful of baby plum tomatoes
1x chilli deseeded
A good bunch of chives
Salt & pepper

This is so, so simple  but so effective.
Cut your avocados open, de-seed and scoop out the flesh in to a bowl, mash with a fork to your desired consistency. I like mine to be a bit smooth with a few lumps.
De-seed you chilli and finely chop, add to the avocado
Crush your garlic in a garlic cursher, add to the mix.
Roughly chop the tomatoes and add.
Chop all your chives and add.
Mix it all together.
Add in the juice of 1 lime.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Mix again.

Now it's up to you here if you want a smooth guacamole like you would buy in the shop then you can pop the mixture in to a blender and give it a blitz until its to your desired smoothness.
I love mine rustic, so when you dip in a corn-chip you get an explosion of flavours.
Its that easy.
The thing I was finding with Guacamole was the traditional onion inclusion was cutting through the taste more than any other flavour, leaving you with more of an onion flavour that an avocado.
The chives bring the wonderful light hint of onion but aren't over powering.
I highly recommend!

Next up
Hummus

You will need:
2x tins of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1x lemon, juiced
about 250ml of olive oil (or 10x tablespoons)
2tsp Tahini
4x Garlic cloves crushed
2tsp Ground Cumin
Salt and black pepper


Pop all your ingredients in to a food processor, add about 80mls of water to help get things going and whizz away.
Again, blend until you're happy with the consistency. It's that easy

 The thing I wanted to mention is that these both taste SO much better than the pre-packed versions. The freshness, the explosion of flavours, it's all there and they are just the simplest to make.
I keep these in tupperware in the fridge for about 3-5 days (but they're normally eaten within 2!)


I love to serve both these dips with crudités, my favourites being
Baby beetroots
Asparagus
Sweet Potato Wedges
Pepper sticks
Carrot sticks
Cucumber sticks.

When you first put it on a plate, it doesn't look like much, but it is so filling, fuelling, healthy and above all, totally delicious.

Try it and see what you think.

Until Next time.. 

Happy cooking

Foodie Tuesday: Lifestyle changes & Banana Breakfast Bars

I mentioned recently that i have been undergoing some lifestyle changes and transcending in to a happier healthier me. 

A big part of that is what i put in to my body. 

Food. I love food. But what i have been eating for the most of my adult life has not done me any favours.

Its not about weight or size, its about how you feel. And my insides were constantly pissed at me for what i was feeding it. 

I have lived off Diet coke (or Pepsi Max) and sweeteners (aspartame in particular) for years, riding the constant fake-sugar rush roller-coaster of ups and downs.

If I'm honest I didn't pay it much thought. It was only when I had yet another recurring flare up of IBS that i knew wasn't stress related (which can often be a contributing factor for me) that i had to take a serious, long hard look at what i was potentially poisoning my body with:

Pre-packed foods rammed with preservatives, false sugars and my arch nemesis... gluten. 

I've quit wheat many times, but often fallen off the wagon for the odd cake here of crusty slice of bread there. Because I've never formally been diagnosed with intolerances I would always fall back in to eating wheat, or bizarrely 'treat myself' to a cake now and again. Which is bizarre that my mindset was wheat filled cake= treat, as within an hour or so i would have tummy cramps and major bloating. 

So after quitting it for good about 2 months ago and making some drastic lifestyle changes, I have honestly never felt better. 

It's worth mentioning here that i follow a plant-based diet also through choice. I am a Vegetarian (Pescatarian turned Vegetarian) and it's my choice to not eat meat. Its a very personal subject and I know people have very strong opposing opinions on the matter; whenever I tell people I am a veggie people often like to offer their opinions on the matter, and that's cool. We all have our own thoughts and feelings and i will happily chat with anyone about this. But ultimately it's a choice I made and I've never been happier. Ethically and physically, I feel pretty damn good.

Anyway, back to today's post.

After I realised that when you quit Gluten and you're a vegetarian there's not a whole lot of options out there for you ( especially in restaurants.. why oh why do the veggie options have to be battered, breadcrumbed or pastry?!) I got to looking for recipe books. I wanted meals that i could cook from scratch and that were of course yummy. 

Late to the show as per usual, i discovered the Deliciously Ella recipe books. Fab fab fab.

Really great source of healthy plant based meals and snacks.

If you have any other vegan/veggie/gf recipe suggestions, I would looove to hear as  I am really on the look out for anything new to cook.

Within the first week I'd cooked up batches of delicious goodies and had the whole family enjoying healthy, scrumptious food.

So today I thought I'd share my slightly tweaked version of the Banana Breakfast Bars

Banana &Cranberry Breakfast Bars Adapted from Deliciouly Ella

Ingredients
2 Ripe Bananas
200g of Rolled Oats
A handful of dried cranberries
100ml Almond Milk
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbls cashew butter or almond butter
1 tbls ground cinnamon
1 tbls honey
1 tsp vanilla powder
coconut oil for greasing

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
• Slice & then mash your bananas with a fork until all mush. 
• Place the smooth banana mush, oats, cranberries, orange juice,milk, butter, cinnamon, honey and vanilla in a bowl and stir together until everything is mixed together nicely.
• Grease a brownie tin with coconut oil. I use the coconut oil spray which works great for this.
• Scoop your ingredients in and smooth out to an even layer in your tin.
• Bake for 12-15minutes. I quite like a crunchy outter-layer so i leave mine in for the latter.
• Leave to cool and chop in to bars.
• Enjoy your breakfast bars.

The first time i made these just following the recipe directly (which is just bananas, no cranberries or orange) and they were yummy but verrry bananery...
The second time i decided they needed a little something to break up the bites from being just banana. I added the cranberries and a bit of the orange juice which cut through the strong banana flavour well. Plus each mouthful had a chewy cranberry to counteract the full mushyness of the banana.
Orange zest would also be great to add in if you're feeling it.


I hope you like this new segment I'm hoping to bring to the blog more regularly. I'm constantly in the kitchen so i really would love to share more with you.
And if you have any plant based/Gluten free recipes that you recommend, i need to know!! Seriously i need more recipes and I love working from recommendation, let me know in the comments.

Happy Cooking...