Fun in the kitchen!

Trial and error is the key to any kind of baking, always remember that!
I love baking, i always have and i sometimes end up taking it too seriously so i decided i'd just have some fun and do some experimenting in the kitchen, safe to say it took a while to get it right. I bet you're wondering what i'm talking about now?

VEGAN CUPCAKES/FAIRY CAKES!

This was my end result, my final batch of fairy cakes that i was really happy with! and i would like to share the recipe and method with you.
Ingredients:
125gram of self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
75 grams of caster sugar
50 grams of vegan chocolate chips or pieces
50 grams of good quality raisins
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
teaspoon of vanilla extract
110ml of water

If you want them to rise more i would suggest adding a tiny bit more baking powder (half tsp) and the water should be luke warm.

Method:
Pre-heat your over to 180 degrees.
Lay out your muffin baking tray and line with six cupcake cases.
Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl then add the baking powder and sugar.
Add vegan chocolate chips and raisins to the mixing bowl and stir all the dry ingredients together.
Slowly add the water at the same time as stiring you're ingredients, once the water has fully been added to the mixture give it a really good stir then add the sunflower oil and vanilla extract.
Make sure you stir the mixture so there is no lumps apart from your chocolate and raisins.
You could also put your ingredients into a food processor and mix it up that way (This is what i did).

Decoration:
This part is really up to you, i never measure my icing sugar i just pour the powder into a bowl and add water in small ammounts until i get a thick enough consistency. As you can see on my fairy cakes my icing is blue, so whilst i was mixing up the icing sugar i added food colouring.
I used a teaspoon to swirl the icing sugar onto my cakes in a small neat circle then added one love heart sweet to each.
<3

Meet your meat.

I don't feel like there is much i can write to go a long with this video, i think it says it all.
I'm a vegetarian aiming for veganism and this video has made me want to do it even more!

This video is for educational purposes for people considering vegetarians or veganism or people that are interested on how their meat is made.

Most people struggle to become vegetarian or vegan due to not knowing what to replace meat and dairy with, so i have decided to write a list of easy to access meat free and dairy free products!

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/search/searchcontainer.jsp?trailSize=1&searchString=meat+free&domainName=Products&headerVersion=v1&_requestid=146911
Asda have 3 pages of meat free products, they do also have some dairy free products but not a lot.

http://www.veggiestuff.com/acatalog/vegetarian_food.html This is a speciality vegetarian/vegan supermarket! So many products to choose from and really great prices!

http://www.veganstore.co.uk/ This is a vegan store for all your needs even cosmetics! And a familiar product in the cosmetics, Barry M!

http://www.animalaidshop.org.uk/  Animal aid shop is perfect for chocolate lovers as there is a brilliant selection! Also many more categories!

http://www.honest-to-goodness.org.uk/ Everything from your household products to your essential cupboard foods!

These are all your one stop shops, for more shops with more to choose from food wise go to http://www.veganvillage.co.uk/shops.htm 

Thankyou, Danika Alice.
X

Factory farmed pigs.

This is a post about how pigs are farmed, i find this to be a subject that not many people are aware about and i have chosen to write about pigs because foods such as bacon and sausages are one of the most common.

• Pigs are more intelligent than dogs and they were once wild animals in britian.
• They now live locked away in prisons for meat.
• More than 90% of piglets are now factory farmed.
• Investigations in factory farms have show dead, diseased and dying animals.
• In almost every fattening unit is glaring neglect and indifference: Broken legs, Abscesses, Ruptured stomach's, Animals coughing with pneumonia, Others panting from meningitis, Cuts and Lacerations from the perforated metal on which they are forced to live.
• Piglets live for only a small period of time, they are killed at around 5 months young for meat. They are mainly killed for produce such as bacon, sausages, ham and pork.
• 'Breeding Stock' pigs are kept for producing piglets which are then killed for meat as mentioned above. Breeding stock pigs usually give birth in a small farrowing crate on a concrete floor, the bars on the crates stop the mother pigs from being able to move at all, it is so bad that they cannot take a step forward of backward, this casused major back and leg problems.
• The bars of a farrowing crate also stop mother pigs from having contact with her newborn. Her piglets are taken away from her at the early age of 4 weeks and after 5 days of them being taken away the mother is then made pregnant again, her misery continues.

       

If you have any questions about this post please leave a comment or email me at Danika-alice@live.co.uk
Thankyou.x

Vegetarian and Vegan recipes!

Vegan Recipes.

Chilli:

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tins kidney beans (Or 8 oz / 225g dried kidney beans, soaked and cooked)
Tomato puree
½ pint (275ml) vegetable stock
Chilli powder
Raw cane sugar
Vinegar

Fry onion and pepper for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, 3 tablespoons tomato puree, vegetable stock, drained kidney beans, 2 teaspoons chilli powder, 1 tablespoon raw cane sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir well and simmer for up to 30 minutes, whilst cooking rice.
This dish is quite adaptable: you can use fresh chillies instead of powder or add other vegetables such as carrots or courgettes, you could also add soya mince!


Baked Falafel Burgers:
2 cups chickpeas, soaked for at least 6-8 hrs ( or use canned chickpeas, but rinse it well with cold water)
1 onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp lemon zest
few springs of coriander and 4-5 leaves of mint
2-3 green chillies ( or as per taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Take all the ingredients except the sesame seeds if using in a blender. Blend to a smooth paste. Dont add water until required for blending. The dough should allow you to shape this mixture into patties. In case, it gets difficult, add little soy flour/corn flour to thicken it. Shape into patties, place them in a greased baking pan, drizzle little oilve oil on it, top it off with seeds and place them in a preheated 350F oven. Turn them in the middle so that both the sides are cooked. Bake them till both the sides turn golden brown. Dont bake them for a long time since they get drier.

Spaghetti Bolognese:
150g spaghetti, gluten free
50g soy granules
4 tomatoes, peeled, chopped
2 onions, peeled, diced
6 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
3 tbsp dry yeast flakes
sea salt, to taste
¼ tsp ground pepper
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp dry basil
1 tbsp unrefined sunflower oil

      2 tbsp red wine (optional)

 fresh basil


Boil the spaghetti for 15 minutes. Boil the soy granules for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the diced onions. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, soy granules, ground pepper, sea salt, paprika, red wine and dry basil. Cook for 3 minutes then add the yeast flakes and stir. Remove from heat.Last but not least, add the minced garlic cloves, Pour the Bolognese sauce over the spaghetti and serve!

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Vegetarian Recipes.

Baked pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella:
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
1 white onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 or 2 dried red chilies, crumbled
 3 ½ lb• ripe tomatoes or 3 14-oz• cans of good-quality plum tomatoes
a large handful of fresh basil leaves
optional: 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
14 oz• dried orecchiette
4 big handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 5-oz balls of mozzarella

      

Preheat your oven to 400ºF and put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Heat a couple of lugs of extra virgin olive oil in an appropriately sized pan. Add your onion, garlic and chili and slowly fry for about 10 minutes on a medium to low heat until softened but without any color. If you’re using fresh tomatoes, remove the core with the tip of a small knife, plunge them into the boiling water for about 40 seconds until their skin starts to come away, then remove with a slotted spoon or sieve and remove the pan from the heat.

Put the tomatoes into a bowl and run cold water over them, then slide the skins off, squeeze out the seeds, and roughly chop. Add your fresh or canned tomatoes to the onion and garlic, with a small glass of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. Now put them through a food processor or blender to make a loose sauce. Tear your basil leaves into the sauce and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper and a little swig of red wine vinegar.

When the sauce tastes perfect, bring the water back to the boil. Add the orecchiette to the water and cook according to the packet instructions, then drain and toss with half of the tomato sauce and a handful of Parmesan. Get yourself an appropriately sized baking pan or earthenware dish and rub it with a little olive oil. Layer a little pasta in the pan, followed by some tomato sauce, a handful of grated Parmesan and 1 sliced-up mozzarella ball, then repeat these layers until you’ve used all the ingredients, ending with a good layer of cheese on top. Pop it into the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden, crisp and bubbling. Italians seem happy to eat this dish at room temperature or quite cold, but I prefer to eat mine hot.
Shepherds pie with sweet potato:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks

2 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks

200ml vegetarian red wine (optional)

2 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves

350g passata

420g can mixed bean salad, drained and rinsed

900g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks

75g mature cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Stir in the carrots and parsnips, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the red wine, add the rosemary and simmer for 2-3 minutes until reduced by half. Stir in the passata and beans. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Transfer to a 2-litre shallow ovenproof dish. Meanwhile, cook the sweet potatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes until tender. Drain and mash with half of the cheese. Season to taste, then spoon it over the vegetable mixture. Scatter over the remaining cheese and place in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling. Serve with broccoli or shredded cabbage.

If you have any questions on my post please leave a comment or email me at danika-alice@live.co.uk

Thankyou x

Helpful websites.

So i am a big lover of making my meals from scratch and not buying ready meals etc, i also love to bake!
So maybe most things in supermarkets are 'suitable for vegetarians' but i never see anything suitable for vegans!
I'm not vegan myself but i have tried vegan sweets and cakes and they are lush (bought from websites)
To cut to the chase, this blog post is just a list of helpful websites for vegan baking and cooking aswell as vegetarian.
http://www.cookingforvegans.co.uk/
http://www.veganbaking.net/
http://www.vegansociety.com/
http://veganstore.co.uk/

http://www.vegetariancookeryschool.com/recipes/
http://www.theppk.com/
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/eggsubstitute.htm
https://www.vegsoc.org/

I hope these websites help you all, any questions at then please leave a comment or email me at danika-alice@live.co.uk

Thanks.x

P&G (procter and gamble) TEST ON ANIMALS!

So everyone should know who P&G are.... no? Well, Traditionally known for their soaps and detergents, P&G now produce a massive range of products in hair care, cosmetics, perfumes, personal hygiene, laundry care, snack food, paper and feminine hygiene, and even pet food. P&G’s brands include Ariel, Daz, Fairy, Max Factor, Olay, Pantene Pro-V, Herbal Essences, and Head and Shoulders, for a full list of their products click here: http://www.uncaged.co.uk/pgproducts.htm

Basically it has come to the attention of the public that P&G do actually test on animals!
I'm not here to preach as i always say in my blog, but don't you find it slightly disturbing that most of your everyday household products have been tested on an innocent creature that was living and breathing a very normal happy life before hand? If you have a conscience you will carry on reading.

Procter & Gamble exist for one reason, and one reason only - to make as much money as possible. P&G test on animals because of their desire to get new chemical ingredients on to the market. This allows them to claim that their new hair dye, skin cream or washing powder etc. is ‘new, improved’, in the hope of increasing sales. But with many companies producing similar consumer products without carrying out animal tests, it shows that P&G’s cruelty is motivated by greed.

So now you must be wondering, what can i do about this?
The best thing would be to head over to this link http://www.uncaged.co.uk/pgaction.htm and have a read of what you can do to boycott P&G! There is also a link at the bottom of the page with more ideas on what you can do to help, the link is: http://www.boycottpandg.co.uk/

Animals are living creatures, just like us. Put yourself in their position.
Here are a few images of what 'animal testing' looks like.

Are horse drawn carriages cruel?

Good evening! So tonight i have decided to bring up a topic about horses that pull carriages for weddings/city tours etc
My big question is, is this animal cruelty?
I was in york over the weekend and i went on one for a city tour and the whole time i had mixed feelings, i felt sorry for the horse pulling the carriage but at the same time my thoughts were:
They're getting excersize, plenty of fresh air, being groomed, being fed and being looked after. But is that really the case? after all these thoughts i had to look into it properly.

I read an article about it once i had gotten back home, here is the link: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/horse-drawn-carriages.aspx

So the article points out how bad it is, but surely there's another side to this argument?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carriage-and-Working-Horses-The-Facts-Truth/264550006933684#!/pages/Carriage-and-Working-Horses-The-Facts-Truth/264550006933684?sk=info
Here is another side to the argument, it is a page set up on facebook and it is the truth and knowledge page on working horses.

Which team to you side with?
Do you think working horses/horse drawn carriages is a form of animal cuelty? yay or neigh?