Happy Sunday peeps! Still going strong with my Limpia detox (20th day!) and as I said in my last post, you can do this and still enjoy food. To show how this is possible, I am sharing a delicious sweet recipe that is nicely easy and quick to make and you’ll just love it!
Because I am on a more restrictive eating regimen, I cannot eat any flours or sugar making it a bit more difficult to have a nice dessert. But this is really not a problem, because there are many sweets that you can make. These Puffed Quinoa & Nut Bars are one of such recipes and absolutely a must. They are matching all the rules of the detox and it’s really delicious.
The ingredients are:
Dates,
Peanut Butter;
Vanilla Extract;
Cinnamon;
Salt;
Puffed quinoa;
Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds;
Chopped Almonds.
Put the first 5 ingredients on a food processor then add the remaining ingredients and pulse until everything is well incorporated but you are still able to see some puffed quinoa, almonds and seeds.
Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment or wax paper and press the mixture evenly into the pan with your hands. Place in the fridge for 2 hours to set.
Cut into bars and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Everybody is doing it, so I’ll do it too: “What I Eat In A Day”, but not on a regular day. As I am doing La Limpia again (but reduced, therefore instead of 50 days it’s 25), I would like to share what I have been eating these days which is something a bit different from other vegan “WIAIADs”.
As I hinted in this post, La Limpia is a way of detoxifying your body (from head to toe to reproductive system) by taking specific herbs first thing in the morning, then basically is just avoiding processed foods and any type of flour. Needless to say, it is advised to avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs during this time. Last time I went for the whole 50 days: this time I decided to do it reduced because I wasn’t feeling great for few months at the end of last year and felt I needed to do some kind of detox.
The main rules are:
For 50 (or 25) days, you will have an herb first thing in the morning with empty stomach and the herb changes every 10 (or 5 for the reduced Limpia) days starting with Garlic (a whole clove of garlic to be swallowed with some water, like a pill), then Plantain, Dandelion, Horsetail and Mugworth;
No processed foods, from pasta&bread to sugar and all the flours (no chickpea omelette :((( nor crispy tofu made with cornstarch). Not even home-made stuff;
No deep-fried food.
So, as a vegan, what would one eat?! Is this the situation where one will be able to only eat salad? I can tell you that absolutely no! There is plenty of delicious food to enjoy even with these restrictions. And I am not even telling you that you’ll need hours of meal prep or just enormous quantity of time to prepare these dishes (however, a bit of meal prep is useful), because you can make food that will take just few minutes as well as more elaborate foods.
Generally speaking, as you can eat ALL the veggies and fruit (fresh and dry) and nuts and legumes and all the wholegrains, you already see that there is plenty of choice for foods.
Honestly, I like a bit of meal prep, but don’t get confused as my meal prep is actually very lazy: is the kind of putting beans to soak on a working morning while the kettle is boiling so that I don’t have to think about it until when I come back from work, when I’ll just change the water and put the beans to cook. And you can make an extra batch of rice/millet/quinoa while you get ready in the morning as if you put them in enough water you don’t really have to pay much attention for the next 15/20minutes. However, you can always get the tinned legumes if you are pressed for time.
While the rules don’t contemplate processed foods, you can still make your own patties and burgers as well as your own mayo. Tofu and tempeh are also in the midts.
In terms of sweets, things are just slightly trickier but don’t despair because we are resourceful vegans and we can definitely do this.
A Day Eating For This Regimen
Let’s get to the point: what am I eating during this time?
I am on my 16th day of Limpia, currently having Dandelion in the morning, and I’ve been almost always had porridge made with water. I have it with a spoon of peanut butter and either a chopped apple or banana.
Should I feel peckish mid-morning I’d have fruit, but the porridge it’s really quite enough to get to lunch.
For lunch, it’s usually millet or rice with veggies and/or legumes.
True, La Limpia is a restrictive diet and even more on a vegan diet. But, it is very rewarding because you’ll feel better: it is a small sacrifice to pay and it’s only for like 25 or 50 days. As I am writing, I am actually feeling quite energised: can’t still really get up at the time I would like to, but as soon as I do the day goes on quite smoothly without much need to rest. Is it La Limpia? I honestly don’t know, but I believe it is helping and I have fewer toxins in my body.
So, my suggestion is that it won’t do harm and you could even get something positive out of it.
I’ll try to update you at the end of this, but please let me know if you’ll try to or you want to try it so that I can give you some advice.
I think we have discussed quite a lot of what “vegan” means in many of my previous posts and if you’ve followed me for a bit you’ll probably guess what I am going to say next.
Just No. There isn’t much to discuss here, for 4 simple reasons.
KFC ain’t vegan;
Their “vegan fried chicken” ain’t vegan;
Vegans that are supporting this are probably confused by the word “vegan” in the “vegan KFC menu”: it ain’t vegan;
This is greenwashing.
KFC is not vegan
It stands right there, in the name: Kentucky Fried CHICKEN. Its main business is fried chicken. It was born with the intention of selling chicken. Chicken it’s the main ingredient. This means that they have massive, huge, humongous chicken farms where chickens are being grown for then being slaughtered, cut off in pieces and then cooked. This intrinsically involves the whole process of macerating/gassing male chickens and having female chickens laying eggs until they can’t do that anymore and at that time will be slaughtered. Hence, this company is not vegan and even the plant-based products are vegan.
This is just another one of these problematic diatribes where big NON-VEGAN (not even looking them from a far galaxy in a parallel universe of another realm of existence would make them look like vegan) are trying to get back that slice of the economic pie that is being munched back by people going plant-based/vegan/more local etc. meaning that they are not supporting their massive businesses. And how are they doing that? Going in partnership with brands that are famously PLANT-BASED (still ain’t vegan) to provide food for that slice of the economic pie that is moving away from them (i.e. KFC using Beyond Burger for their plant-based menu items). This is basically trying to lure back people with the promise of getting closer to the vegan ideology by offering plant-based food and making people think that they actually care.
Greenwashing
In actuality, what they are doing is greenwashing. What does this mean? It means that companies advertise themselves or their products as being environmentally friendly while their policies and other products are most definitely not. This is a practice that you can see more and more of lately for example with petrol companies and the clothing industry (i.e. Primark and H&M). This obviously goes back to the fact that these companies are losing big chunks of the economy with people turning away from them by switching to more sustainable brands and practices. So, here you go: how can KFC (and for that instance, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway etc.) get the nostalgic vegans, the people that are starting on their vegan journey and those approaching a more plant-based diet? Offer plant-based options. Something that you would never have expected by those companies who have made killing animals their main source of business.
And around the Internet obviously, there is this diatribe between the vegans that are convinced that anyone offering plant-based options should be praised and those who don’t think that (me).
Just as an example from the first category, the vegan rapper and animal rights activist Gaia’s Eye – Gaia Is I, is explaining in this video why he supports KFC: his opinions are well articulated and thought, but I still think it’s naive. Going to KFC, giving money to this big corporation, is just making sure that KFC (&Co.) will still be around with its murdering business.
The philosophy behind veganism advocates for animal liberation: to keep feeding these companies, it means slowing down such process.
What can we do?
I am painfully aware that sometimes, especially when you are travelling to more rural places or internationally, it might be difficult to find vegan-friendly food. But it is possible, even without going to KFC or McDonald’s and the likes.
I went to some remote regions of Iceland as well as in Montenegro and it wasn’t always easy to find food. However, I went to local shops and mini-markets to get bread, vegetables and fruits, and sometimes I could find a health store with vegan-friendly foods.
In less remote regions of the world, if you really are nostalgic about foods, there are many independent places that can offer fast food up to the standards of the major fast-food companies.
If you want animal liberation, you can always find a solution.
Hi everybody! How are you? Here it’s all good and am enjoying the best winter weather: sunny and cold, perfect for walking! With so much talk of Veganuary, there is also talk of what are the best cheese and meat alternatives. And boy, there are many! But if you are following this blog, you might have noticed that I am not too keen on those plant-based brands that are owned by multinational corporations that are known for mainly dealing with non-vegan food and products. However, there are so many brands that were born as vegan and have been bought by such multinationals, making it difficult for people to navigate the variety of such products.
Don’t despair! In this post, I’ll try my best to help you with identifying such brands, making it a bit easier for you to avoid involuntarily buying from these corporations.
But before I proceed, I would like to say that this issue seems to annoy a lot some vegans because they raise the argument that: “It doesn’t matter buying from these multinationals because the main aim for vegans should be to have as many people as possible going vegan. We should actually be happy that vegan products are becoming more and more popular, as this will make it easier for people to go vegan”. I am going to make it clear where I stand: I don’t agree with this (next: the “plant-based options of McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC”…).
Corporations like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Unilever, Nestle, etc. are all very well known for exploiting animals, people and the environment: buying their products means financing them and helping them exploit more animals, people and the environment. Involuntarily buying from them happens: it has happened to me and it will happen again for a very simple reason, as they keep buying smaller, emerging, independent, vegan brands that are successful, so everybody will end up giving them some money. But then you learn, and if you know which are the brands, you’ll avoid them. But giving money voluntarily to Coca Cola, Pepsi and the likes, refusing to acknowledge the facts in the name of promoting veganism popularity, doesn’t help anyone, except such multinationals. It doesn’t help the animals that are being tortured and killed for the making of their non-plant-based products; it doesn’t help the people that are being exploited, especially in the developing countries; it doesn’t help the environment, which is being polluted and destroyed to make space for more intensive farming.
Obviously, there are also people that might not know about this issue, and well, we really can’t do much about that.
Remember that knowledge is power, information is power, knowing things is empowering and after a bit, you will be able to easily recognise which companies are owned by non-vegan multinationals.
Now, without further ado, here is a list of which plant-based brands are owned by the likes of Coca Cola, Unilever, Pepsi Co., etc.
Heck – vegan breakfast sausages, meat-free chipolatas, italia chipolatas, italia burgers (Heck)
These are some of the most common brands of plant-based foods in the U.K. that you can find in supermarkets.
Also, consider that there are famous plant-based brands that are not vegan (see Impossible Meat, you can also read some more here).
So now you will probably ask yourself, what will you be able to eat since these are very popular brands, so easy to find. It seems like this stuff is becoming more and more difficult!
There are some more, but I hope this gives you the idea of how many creative people are out there, making new vegan products that you can buy without feeding the massive corporations. There is always an alternative, and your choice is important!
You can also find some more information here and here.
If you find it useful, let me know. Also, if there is any mistake, get in touch and I will rectify it 🙂
Happy Sunday! It is the end of the weekend, we’re getting ready to enter the new week (can you believe we’re already halfway through January?!) and I have the perfect pick-me-up for tonight’s dinner: vegan rösti.
These are delicious and deceptively easy patties of grated potato and kale or cavolo nero. I make them anytime I don’t know what to eat, want something easy to make, fairly healthy but with a little bit of a kick.
There are a couple of different ways to make them: either slightly boil the potatoes and then use a potato ricer or grate raw potatoes. As I don’t have a potato ricer and don’t want to cram my small kitchen with single-use utensils, I go for the second version, grating the potatoes raw. However, you could also boil the potatoes and grate them, but I find that some potato varieties don’t come out great and are just too smushed making it difficult to then get the classic Rösti’s appearance (unless you make the recipe for Smashed Potato and Sage Rösti by The Vegan Larder 😍).
Beautiful peeps! I hope you are all doing great and have survived the holiday period (and maybe enjoyed it, too!). I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed this time as I had a few days off from work and oh my, I needed it: the last months of 2021 had been quite demanding at work and hadn’t managed to get a proper balance in my personal life, so getting almost 10 days off had been fabulous. A lot of relaxing and recharging, much needed. It has been also a good time to catch up with some reading and researching and I am going to share with you the fruits of such research!
Today I wanted to expand a bit on what I was writing about in my last post, where I was referring to the Veganuary website suggesting to use certain foods and ingredients as substitutes for their non-vegan counterparts, while they are owned by big multinational corporations such as Coca Cola, Unilever, etc. that are really not vegan nor have animal and environment welfare as part of their principles.
An example, is the Alpro brand. Oooft! I know, it is everywhere, it is convenient and it has a wide variety of non-dairy products. Unfortunately, Alpro is owned by Danone, a massive multinational company with a focus on dairy products (it literally started as a yoghurt producer).
These are just few of the most popular brands that are taking over the vegan and dairy-free market of milk substitutes.
You might find this frustrating because these brands are easy to find and fairly cheap, and now you might wonder if there can be alternatives to these plant-based milks, as it seems that as soon as a brand becomes just a bit more available, any of the multinationals want a bite of them! Well, don’t despair! There are plenty of smaller and independent plant-based milk brands that are fairly easy to find and still maintain their ethical essence.
Among these are (and no, I am not sponsored by any of them):
The good thing about these smaller/independent businesses (at least in theory and from what they advertise), is that they use fewer and more genuine ingredients and it is easier to hold them accountable for what they are doing.
I am going to keep a watchful eye on the situation and will keep you updated with any changes.
It’s officially 2022. Today it’s the very first day of a new year and I am very excited to see what it will bring (but I don’t want to jinx anything as we’ve seen how the past 2 years have gone, generally speaking). And with the new year, it comes also Veganuary. Let’s take a look into it.
Veganuary is an initiative by the UK organisation with the same name, that promotes veganism by simply asking whoever want to take part to try a vegan diet during the month of January. I think it is quite a simple and fairly effective initiative and it can surely benefit the vegan cause: they provide facts to raise awareness without being too pushy, in their website you can find recipes to get you started as well as nutrition tips. They are making it very easy for people to potentially go vegan, without excuses of not knowing what to eat, of vegan food, being too difficult to make or that the dishes are not balanced. On the Veganuary website, you’ll find all the relevant information.
The initiative started in 2014 and seems to go quite well. However… I still have to find a person that decided to go vegan because they tried Veganuary. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I live in a small rural town, but it also seems that the places where I can get a vegan takeout or even sit in for a meal, have either closed or significantly reduced the variety of vegan food on offer. Yes, supermarkets are providing some ready meals or quick to make stuff, which is great when you are in a hurry and didn’t manage to cook anything the night before. But they are not for everyday consumption. So I am wondering where are all these vegans? Are they only in the bigger cities? If you know, please share your knowledge.
Now, going back to Veganuary and its effectiveness. I applaud the initiative and the organisation because they are raising awareness not only in the UK but all around the world, and as the old saying goes “The more, the merrier”. But I have to raise a concern (no, I don’t have to-have to in the categorical sense, but that I feel I should. Then why you don’t say that? Because I don’t want to. Now let’s proceed.): some of the ingredients they are suggesting people should use, are from brands owned by multinational companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc, which we established are not vegan (you can find a list of non-vegan companies, as well as a chart of the multinationals and the brands that they own). I know that many vegans are very excited about this initiative, and again, I am too and I am very supportive. Also, I understand that they are promoting the use of certain foods because they might be cheaper than buying them from smaller, independent companies and it’s also easier than making them yourself: all factors that can help people approach veganism.
Nevertheless, I strongly believe that any money given to these companies is just protracting the suffering of animals: it doesn’t matter that that product is labelled as plant-based and vegan-friendly if it comes from a business that is exploiting animals, its employees and the environment (you can read some more of this here). There are really plenty of small businesses that make vegan food and ingredients, that are true to vegan ethics because they were born as vegan and ethical companies. There are several places where you can find lists of such businesses for vegan food, clothes etc. and if you find yourself stuck in terms of beauty products and snacks, FreedmStreet is the website for you (no, this is not a paid post, it’s just that I have been buying stuff from them for the past 3 years and I am always 100% satisfied, hence why I am suggesting it).
So, go vegan, try it for January, for a few months or for your life, but try to do also some research: there are many resources online that you can consult and this blog wants to make your life easier, plus there is a massive community online and many charities and organisations to whom you can talk about going vegan.
If you need any assistance, please leave a comment or get in touch!
And to conclude, here are some easy recipes to get you started
It’s New Year’s Eve, 2021 is coming to an end. We are still in this “global pandemic” and it doesn’t seem like we’re are really getting out of this situation at least for another while. Paraphrasing something that I’m hearing a lot recently: “A year has passed, but where did it go?”. Because at the same time we are all perceiving that yes, 12 months have surely come and gone, but also it doesn’t feel like it. I believe this whole situation is making us all feel a bit discombobulated.
So here we are, and we keep on going, trying our best to survive these crazy times, trying to maintain a sort of mental sanity, trying to find some bits of normality during a period that normal is not. And the year coming to an end is usually a source of melancholy because we’re coming to the very final part of these 12 months, and the end always brings up many feelings and emotions like sadness and anxiety, because of the thing that we’re leaving behind and the things that we wanted to do but we haven’t managed. It can quite distressing and it is not surprising that (coupled with the darkness of these months) many people get the “January blues” (you can read on my experience with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and while for me it works in reverse, the symptoms are the same and you might find useful my way of dealing with it).
But we’re usually forgetting that an end means a new beginning. The New Year brings another set of feelings and emotions because there is the hope of a new start with all the new opportunities and chances that that can bring. I am not one to say that if you had a shitty year, go ahead and make 50 “New Year Resolutions” that you’ll probably won’t manage to cope with and you’ll get overwhelmed and frustrated and your new year will result in just a big disappointment.
On Resolutions
In order to enjoy the new possibilities that the New Year can bring us and so that we can make the most of what we also can build for ourselves, we should build a sustainable lifestyle, without stressing over the resolutions and the “New Year-New Me” fads. Obviously, if you like creating resolutions and you believe that what you are resolving to do in the next 12 months is doable, by all means, go for it. But if you are going to create 50 resolutions that are all undoable, not achievable, then you’re just paving the path to failure and frustration which will affect your mental and physical health. What I am suggesting is that of those 50 resolutions, at least 30 are achievable with some effort and willpower, but without extreme requirements of energy and time; 15 will require a fairly moderate effort and for 5 you will have to use maximum levels of time and energy. This is probably an extreme example but is to give you an idea. And the levels of time, energy and effort are based on you and only you: comparing yourself to others can be constructive to give you ideas and see what others are doing, but we all have different sets of skills and experiences and as a quote that is around since 2004 circa
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
(maybe Albert Einstein, maybe not)
Therefore, my advice is:
if you like the idea of resolutions, go for it, but keep it sustainable;
if you would like this approach but are scared that things might get frustrating, look at them as goals, think of what you really would like to do, break it down into smaller bits and make these smaller bits your goals;
if you don’t like the idea of resolutions, but still would like some kind of structure to the New Year, then think of what you are aspiring to and what could be your intentions to get to such aspirations.
Now, lessons from 2021 for TVCL:
Look after your mental health, find what makes you feel good and dedicate some time for that at least once a week or at intervals that work for you. But make time for it!
Look after your physical health: eat well and sometimes give in to (not too) unhealthy foods, do a detox when you feel like you should, but don’t overdo it – measure is all! Also exercise: find a good balance – 10 minutes per day of anything is better than nothing.
Find time for reading – read anything, from classic books to comics, but read. If you are stuck, you can try a little challenge like this one to get you started.
Find some time for nature, as it has many benefits and once you start going for some walks in nearby parks and woods and lakes, you’ll find that a breath in the fresh air will reset your mindset (Nietsche said this as well!).
Clean and tidy up where you live: not only it will be clean and tidy, but the whole process is almost cathartic and when you finish you really will feel better (talking as an ex-almost-hoarder, the de-cluttering process makes me feel much freer).
Family and friends are important, so dedicate them time: if you are an introvert you might find that social interactions can take some energyfrom you, but when you come back home from that meeting or you finish that videocall you’ll feel more serene.
Social events (ceremonies, nights out, etc) are a good way to interact with people and expand your “social circle”, but as of now I can’t take them more than maybe once every few months because of all the mental preparation to get to the actual event (like mental prep to get dressed, meet people, etc).
Yes, I’d say this is what I am taking from 2021, from a year with a global pandemic still going strong, where people still want to get married and go out and have some kind of normality.
Food
In terms of food, for tonight I ordered a Chinese takeout (a little tradition of mine), salt&pepper tofu and rice vermicelli with mixed vegetables. In addition, I made lentils as that’s my family tradition (one big onion and 3 carrots sauteed, then add 1 1/2 cups dried green lentils and 3 cups of water. Cook until the lentils have absorbed all the water).
Happy Sunday, folks! I hope you are well. I don’t know you, but as it is becoming colder and colder, getting closer to the Winter Solstice (21st December) I feel that I am craving chocolate-y food. So today I made this recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie: it is a delicious, easy and comfortable dessert that you can make quickly and requires minimal ingredients. This Chocolate Yogurt Loaf is so easy to make and the result is just amazing!
All you need is
1 1/2 cups spelt, white, or oat flour (180g)
1/4 cup cocoa powder2
1/2 tbsp dutch cocoa (or additional regular)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp each: baking soda and salt
2/3 cup sugar, unrefined if desired
3/4 cup yogurt (or see substitution note above)
2/3 cup milk of choice
1/4 cup oil, peanut butter, or additional yogurt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (not optional)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp instant coffee (optional)
While the oven is heating up to 350F, mix all the dry ingredients then all the other ingredients. Set in a loaf pan (previously greased). Bake until the centre of the loaf is cooked through (i.e. toothpick inserted come out clean)
You can make a chocolate glazing, but the loaf it’s already perfect this way!
Let me know if you try it and enjoyed it as much as I did.
We’re back with Recipe Sunday! Since this is the first Sunday of December and it is getting colder here in the U.K., I believe we all need some hearty comfort food and these Scalloped Potatoes by Elavegan are doing just the trick.
I made them recently and thought of sharing their deliciousness with you.
As always, since I am usually looking for recipes that can be made with few ingredients and don’t require enormous amounts of time, this falls in all the right categories for me: an easy and quick vegan comfort food that will brighten up your dinner/lunch.
With the ingredients basically being potatoes (duh), cashews, small onion, 3-4 garlic cloves, bit of spices, tapioca flour and the longest part of the process is peeling and slicing the potatoes, this has the bonus point of being a perfect recipe for beginners.
The Vegan Cat Librarian 