Sorry...

Just wanted to let you guys know I am still alive and kicking.

Alot has happened over the last few weeks so I am struggling to find time to blog. The next few weeks are going to be hectic with work and home life. I am getting my own place (currently still viewing properties) so when I have settled in I will start blogging again.

Hope you guys don't leave my blog forever, I will be back after this little blip is out the way.

Talk to you all soon,

Rachael x

Happy Birthday to me : )

Today is my birthday!! Yah. I'm 28 years old....eek...I'm approaching that big birthday!

We are going to Drayton Manor Park for the day and then out to dinner tonight. It's funny as my boyfriend also shares his birthday on the same day (he is one year older though).

I've already received £20, a bunch of flowers, a Lush gift set and a teddy!

I will post some pics later : )

Changes

In my absence of blogging I have gotten my 2nd tattoo. I have been thinking about it for a while (my first one is three stars on my back which I got 5 years ago). I knew I wanted something on the inside of my wrist. When we were in Las Vegas in April I considered having something done then (the tattoo shop is half owned by Chester Bennington from Linkin Park and I thought it would have been amazing to say I had it done there!). I did look through all the designs but didn't see anything I liked. I then spotted a tattoo on here and decided I wanted what she had. So on the 18th July off I went to Abody in Leicester to get it done. £50 and 30 mins later this is what I got...

I am going through a phase at the moment and feel the need for a change. The best things I find that help are nail varnish and hair dye. Here are the results.

I promise the only other change I will get will be new clothes, no more tattoos for at least a couple of years! Does anyone else have moments where they feel they need a change???

Loving summer and its food

Summer is in full swing but unfortunately the weather doesn't seem to know it! I can't complain because we have had some lovely warm days and the forecast for the next couple of weeks is looking better. I love how food changes throughout the seasons. Here are some of the things I have been eating:

Raspberry Muffins

Mushroom Risotto

Tofutti Cornetto



Alpro Strawberry Milkshake and mini Chocolate Vegan Muffin

Vegan Beef with Rice Noodles, Peas and Broad Beans


It's my birthday on Thursday so I need to make some cakes to take into work. Luckily I have the day off and we are planning on going to the seaside. I'm not sure what cakes to make, I'm thinking of maybe apple muffins and chocolate cupcakes? Any other suggestions...??

Lots of food but not alot else

I have been eating some really good food lately. Here is some of it:

Tofutti Ice Cream Lolly

Cold pasta salad from Sainsbury's with tofu salad toppers mixed in

Vegetable spring rolls and a stir fry made with noodles, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, soy sauce and tofu

Sausages made using an Asda packet mix, peas, broccoli and creamy pasta made with mushrooms, soya cream and Tofutti cream cheese

Bean burger with broccoli, green beans and Morrisons salad bar salad

Pasta mixed with tomato sauce, mushrooms and mixed beans with a side of garlic bread

My first attempt at a Tofu omlette from Vegan Brunch. I added mushrooms and spinach. It turned more into scrambled egg as the omlette was too soft. I served it with baked bean and potato wedges. It was yummy.

Apple Pie Larabar - I didn't really like this : (

Fry's sausages in buns with onions, salad, mustard and ketchup

Fry's Chocolate Cream bar

Bran flakes with strawberries and blueberries served with Alpro soya milk

Pecan clusters with blueberries served with Alpro soya milk with 3 small slices of bread topped with homemade plum jam

Booja Booja Hunky Punky Chocolate Ice Cream - this was well worth the £5.99 I paid for it

RIP Michael Jackson

I woke up to the sad news that Michael Jackson died yesterday. How very sad for everyone. I hope his children are well looked after and supported. His music will forever live on. Hope he is now at peace.

Homemade pizza

I have been meaning to make a pizza for the past two weeks and finally got round to it last night. I usually make my pizza dough from scratch in the bread machine. This time I cheated and bought a packet of Co-op's pizza dough mix. It's very easy to make, you just need to add water to the mix and stir to form a dough. You then need to knead it for 5 mins and then roll it out onto a greased baking sheet. Cover for 30 mins.

I next added my toppings (always the best bit deciding what to have!). This time I opted for pesto on the base topped with pizza sauce. I then added a white onion, 125g mushrooms, 1 tomato, some tofu salad toppers in sun dried tomato flavour and some sheese smoked cheddar to finish it off. I baked it at 200c for around 30 mins.

Here is the finished item straight out of the oven. Yum...

Books glorious books

I have been craving new vegan recipes recently so naughtily ordered three vegan books off Amazon. They were: The Garden of Vegan, La Dolce Vegan and Vegan Brunch. I didn't really know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. The Garden of Vegan and La Dolce Vegan are both written by Sarah Kramer. Each book was a paperback with no piccies of the food! I always like to see pics as it gives me an idea of what my dish is supposed to look like. More reason to cook them to see how they turn out! I love both of these books already. They are both thick and choc full of mouth watering recipes. I have already made three dishes from La Dolce Vegan (I only got it on Friday!). I attended a party on Sunday so made 3 different flavour muffins; double choc, maple streusel and banana and blueberry. All I can say is wow. All turned out perfectly and were just right. Not too sweet, good texture and appertising to look at. They went down a treat with all the non vegans. I think all that baking went to my head as I forgot to take any pictures of them! Doh..a good excuse to make some more : ) I have yet to make anything from Vegan Brunch but plan on doing so at the weekend starting with the first recipe, a tofu omlette. I will post a pic of how it turns out. This book is written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, famous for books such as Veganomicon and VCTOTW.

Since I last blogged I have also "discovered" Etsy! What an amazing site. It's the type of site I have been hoping existed. I love vintage, home made and anything unique. I wish I was a creative person so I could put my wares on to sell. The only creative thing I do is cross stitching. I have been doing this on and off for around 15 years. The only problem is it takes me so long to finish a piece it would never be worth my while selling them. I like to do them for family and friends to give as gifts. Here is the first thing I bought off the site; it's a scottie dog brooch! How adorable. Look at the cute packaging. I was dead chuffed with it.

This weekend I would like to buy a food processor. Alot of recipes require the use of a food processor so I thought it was time I got my ass into gear and got one. If anyone has any suggestions on what one to buy, please can you let me know. I know the cheapest one will probably not be the best but then again my pocket wouldn't love me if it will cost over £100. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks peeps. x

I love Fernie

This is Fernie. She is our cat. We were given her 4 years ago when her carer moved away. She is a little minx but is oh so loving when her food comes out. We think she is around 10 years old but cannot be sure for definite. We called her "Cat" for 3 years before finding out what her name was. She hates other cats with a passion. She loves lying on the bed and chasing light movements. She will only eat packet food of one of three brands. She moults like there is no tomorrow but absolutely hates being brushed. Twice when her coat was greasy we had to put her in the shower....I so wish I had my camera at those times.

I love my cat and my cat loves me : )

Rhubarb cake, magazines and car boot finds

I'm off sick at the moment with tonsilitis and a cold...boo. Due to this I haven't been doing much cooking. On Sunday I did manage to find enough energy to make the Strawberry and Rhubarb Coffee Cake from here.

Now mine doesn't look like the picture on the Tofu for Two blog but it really is delicious. G isn't too keen having rhubarb in a cake which means there is more for me!

The latest copy of the Cook Vegetarian magazine arrived on my doorstep on Thursday. I don't know if any of you guys read this but I absolutely love it. All the recipes and articles are vegetarian with some being vegan. Alot of the recipes can be veganised. This magazine can be bought from all good supermarkets/newsagents.

It rained here on Sunday so my local car boot sale was cancelled. I am very lucky as the car boot sale is held every Sunday about 5 mins walk from my house. I have been inspired to start buying black and white china after reading Coffee Talk's Blog. I love her style and thought it would be something stylish I can purchase relatively cheaply. Here are my latest finds...

6 x dinner plates - £1


Ceramic cheese pot - 50p

The cheese pot was empty by the way. I keep my stock cubes in them , I have a slightly bigger one (behind this one in photo).

So much food, so little time

I have been doing lots of cooking lately and plan on doing more this weekend. I bought a new vegan cook book the other day so plan on sampling some of its delights. I made some tacos the other day which were yummy. I love the dried TVP mince so try to cook with it as often as possible. These were alittle watery and kinda fell apart when I ate them but you are supposed to get messing when you eat tacos...right? In the background is a glass of chocolate soya milk which I bought reduced for just 19p for 1 litre.

I have been trying to snack more healthly lately just because I feel I should do being a vegan. I had an Alpro soya yogurt (strawberry and banana flavour which is my fav) and 1/2 tin of peaches and 1/2 tin of pineapple rings. Oh and two kiwi fruits. In the background is all my work...boo

Curry is always a meal I make whenever I have veg to use up. I usually chuck in whatever I have. I prefer white rice so served it with the curry and two poppadoms. I wanted naan bread but couldn't find any that didn't contain milk...grrr...

I try not to buy biscuits as making them is so easy. This week I made raisin and pecan cookies. G was eating them before I had even finished baking the 2nd batch. These were very quick to make and very worth it.

I have always wondered what a cobbler was like (I love crumbles and knew they were similar). I made this simple blueberry cobbler. Unfortunately I used a dish that was too big so my topping looks kinda sparse. Next time I will double the topping. It was great but doesn't match a mighty crumble.

Twitter

I am now a member of Twitter. If anyone would like to follow my tweets please click "follow me" on the following link: http://twitter.com/candyflossrock

My charity shop finds...

I LOVE charity shops. And car boot sales. And Ebay. I love a bargain. Here are some of my latest purchases.

These earrings were new but in a charity shop - £1.99

Lovely flower and bead bracelet - £1.50

Flower Brooch - £1

Glass Sundae dish - £1.49

Shopping and relaxing

The past few days I have been busy shopping and relaxing. We have had some lovely warm weather here which has meant I have been able to have my roof down on my car. I do love my car! Will post some pics in the future...

I have been doing lots of shopping lately in preparation for my sister's 30th birthday. I bought her this lovely Lush gift set but when it came to handing it over I couldn't! Even I don't get presents this good!

The facewash I am currently using has almost ran out (it wasn't vegan....boo) so I treated myself to the Lush Herbalism facewash. I can't wait to start using it.

G and I went food shopping in Waitrose recently (it's too expensive for us to do our food shop there every week). Since watching the channel 4 programme about Willie and his chocolate factory we have been wanting to sample his bars. There are 2 varieties available, 72% and 70%. They are very expensive for what you get, £3.99 each. I really didn't like either of them. They are far too bitter and we both decided not to buy them again. Sorry Willie, I like what you are doing but we're definietly not converts....

A dinner I made this past week was Cholent from Veganomicon. I halved the recipe but it still took me 4 days to eat it. I had never tried the TVP chunks before and it did take me a couple of days to get used to them. Very chewy, very meat like. The Cholent was good though especially with mashed potato. This was my first day with rice.