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July 28 2010

planetveganscotland
15:56

July 27 2010

planetveganscotland
11:45

sweet things

Alpro soya milks and puddings

Alpro soya milks and puddings

Have been sent some Alpro goodies to try :) We do like their soya milk. The only one I didn’t know about was the ‘milk alternative’ suitable from 1 year old. Lots of extra vitamins and iron in it (and surprisingly nice in nocaf!). The chocolate puddings are lush lush lush…

Blackcurrant smoothies, there have been a few more – here’s a before pic :) Layered up are borage flowers, gooseberries, blackcurrants, leaf beet, parsley, linseeds (flax), brazil nuts, bananas and apple juice.

smoothie to be

smoothie to be

sweet red onion from garden - very pleased with these

sweet red onion from garden - very pleased with these

blackcurrant cake - currants cooked in batter and raw squished into icing too

blackcurrant cake - currants cooked in batter and raw squished into icing too

 also made some banana muffins with lots of redcurrants in – no pic but very good :)

Charlotte's strawberry jam bubbling on cooker - taking 'sweet' to new levels!!

Charlotte's strawberry jam bubbling on cooker - taking 'sweet' to new levels!!

Related posts:

July 17 2010

planetveganscotland
08:09

cup of tea, anyone?

Tetley for Soya

Tetley for Soya

I was most intrigued during the week to be offered the above product samples for review on the site. It didn’t seem likely that a major company was producing something so accommodating to vegans and non-dairy drinkers. I googled to make sure it was true… and it was: Tetley for Soya

I don’t usually drink black tea now – I’ve had two cups this year. Once when out with a friend in a cafe and then again when visiting another friend after a long day out. I sampled this however and it is rather pleasant – it looked a bit pale after brewing and soya milk poured into it and I expected it to be mild tasting, even bland. But it has a strong flavour without being bitter. Basically I think it’s rather a better quality tea than standard Tetley. Davie is a more regular tea drinker and declared it “affa fine” (English transaltion: very good/nice) :D Currently available in selected Tesco stores, all of them in England, going by the Tetley website!

no delicate floral teacups here

no delicate floral teacups here

While on the subject of tea and dairy alternatives we were sent another great product a couple of weeks ago: Good Hemp Dairy Free Alternative to Milk (from the makers of Good Oil that we use all the time), which I imagine would be nice in the above tea too. I tried it in Nocaf, Dan on cereal and we both really liked it, more nutty than soya milk. According to the booklet sent with it, it’s in Waitrose and health food shops from Monday.

Good Hemp Milk

Good Hemp Milk

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June 06 2010

planetveganscotland
10:32

mellow

iris by pond, cleavers among

iris by pond, cleavers among

 a very mellow listen: Deltadream - based on the ancient lost Solfeggio frequency “Ut”, a tone linked with releasing guilt and fear, the shorter track there is a free download.  

mellow and cooling eat: minted noodle soup

books weve been mellowing out to in the sun: Named of the Dragon, a gentle mystery, writers, Arthurian and Tudor themes; The Other Half Lives, from Sophie Hannah, the best of her psychological thrillers I’ve read so far and Ask Mother Nature, another nature spirity book responsible for me feeling happy about all the chickweed growing in with the lettuce now :)

chickweed helps retain water in the soil and is a nice inclusion in salads

chickweed helps retain water in the soil and is a nice inclusion in salads

bridge over totally calm waters

bridge over totally calm waters

 Had a nice time with some more pilgrims to the house, this time the grandson of the man who built it. We all learned much from each other – apparently the roof used to be covered in solar panels, was the first house up here to have them…  no trace of them now… hopefully one day we’ll have them again :)

borage buds, soon time for blue stars and berries in the smoothies

borage buds, soon time for blue stars and berries in the smoothies

fully open

fully open

May 28 2010

planetveganscotland
08:05

a mouse and relaxation

mouse on peanuts - what a beautiful tail :)

mouse on peanuts - what a beautiful tail :)

off he goes

off he goes

peanut acquired

peanut acquired

 We bought some Relax Kids CDs at Findhorn years ago and they have been used to great effect for relaxation and self esteem boosting ever since. They now have many new titles for children and teens and a wonderful website where you can listen to excerpts :D

Nature meditations being our most used

Nature meditations being our most used

February 06 2010

planetveganscotland
12:44

swan lake

There were swans on the loch yesterday :)

swans on the loch

Had a lovely day with friends morphing into a very balletic afternoon which was great fun. It’s been wonderful rediscovering ballet being for enjoyment, rather than an eternal striving (not to mention starving) for perfection. Looked out the old class music etc. I have but it’s all on cassettes – technology moved on a bit fast for me there ;)

old pointe shoe

Fast Food Nation

Watched Fast Food Nation (quite good trailer there on amazon), fictional film based on the non-fiction book – strong stuff, a round of exploitation to go with the fries… good cast, making it very watchable though gradually more horrifying.

January 30 2010

planetveganscotland
16:49

January 23 2010

planetveganscotland
12:46

January 12 2010

planetveganscotland
11:19

a casserole and a cookbook

casserole and Cranks cookbook

We will have been married 20 years this year… which causes me to reflect how far weve come, how much the world has changed in that time and to note the two items above. They were given to us as a wedding present by friends who I used to babysit for and here they are still with us, I don’t think any other dish we own has survived that long! The Cranks Recipe Book sparked my interest at once, as I had eaten in their restaurant in London while a student, and it called to mind lovely brick walls and earthenware plates of hearty soup (they now have one restaurant in Devon). 

It really taught me to cook, being the only cookery title I had at the time (bit of a change there then) in our first flat that we loved so much. I was fairly clueless when it came to the culinary arts. I remember phoning my mum at times with questions such as ‘how do you cook a neep? I can’t even seem to cut it up’. With the book I learned to bake bread, make cakes and the wonderfully frugal crecy plate pie, prepare soups and casseroles got put in the dish :) It influenced me in more subtle ways too. Being the one and only it got thoroughly read and I absorbed the health oriented nature of the pages, reading for example, how much adding fresh herbs enhanced the nutritional value of the food. I remember the excitement of planting up a small herb garden and reading more deeply into these subjects. Looking at it now I notice all the cheesy recipes but you could just use any one of the many vegan cheeses available now or leave it out altogether. 

Bit different when we first went vegan - a vegan cookbook obtained from the library that shall remain nameless (mainly as I can’t remember it’s name, I think it was somewhat generic, but also I do not want to slander it as it may have had other redeeming recipes) was responsible for me making a vegan cheese out of marg and yeast extract 13 years ago - absolutely disgusting, totally foul!!

So, my cranks book, heavily marked with food, water and childrens crayons. It is now available in a swanky new asparagus covered edition but you can still pick up the original for a penny :D

well used

As for the dish, it still gets used though not as much anymore. The odd apple/rhubarb crumble is popped in it. I now favour my big Le Creuset that you can cook on the hob and in the oven with - very handy for making a sheperdess/red dragon pie base in and just putting mashed tatties on top and then into the oven it goes. I am very lucky to also have two similar cast iron AGA pans/casseroles given to us by another friend who had them sitting unwanted and unused in his garage, and these are my 3 usual dinner cooking pans now.

AGA handle

Weve always been blessed with friendship :) I am currently reading Walking to Greenham sent to me by a wonderful woman and friend… a fascinating book and I find myself contemplating the larger worldwide changing of the times. What will the next 20 years bring?

December 23 2009

planetveganscotland
09:52

snow and trees

A stroll round the garden yesterday:

rosehip

snowy trees and the base of Davie's new bridge

pond and trees

noble fir

Toby and the whomping birch

Scots Pine

well coated birches

rope swing

view from the rope swing

Wonderful things that help us through the Scottish winter: hot water bottles filled from the big kettle on the wood stove each night, so cosy for the feet and full spectrum light bulbs, good for the mood in the dark times :D

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