It seems as though January has flown by. I can’t believe I am entering week 3 of Veganuary already. The entire experience so far has been much easier than I expected. I’m sharing some of my highs and lows today…

The worst bits of week 3 of Veganuary

I have had a couple of fails in the past couple of weeks. The first of them was Candy Kittens Wild Strawberries sweets. Admittedly, I have never been much of a sweet fan, and I haven’t really had any in the 18 years I’ve been vegetarian for. These jumped out at me though, so I decided to give them a try, seeing as they were £1 a bag in Asda.

They are really sour. So much so I coolant eat them. Beyond gross in my opinion. I suppose if you’re a fan of sour sweets, they’ll be amazing though. Definitely not one for me though.

The other fail of the week was a Greggs Vegan sausage roll… It was under cooked, cold and really claggy. (That’s a real word, yes)? Up here in the North, it means something that gets sticky. It sticks to the roof of your mouth. BLEAH! I won’t be buying another.

The best bits of week 3 of Veganuary

Where do I start? There have been so many delicious things leading up to week 3 of Veganuary….. I absolutely loved the Aldi Sweet Potato Burgers. I’d go as far as to say they are the best meat free burgers I have ever had. That’s hefty praise, when you think I’ve been veggie for 18 years!

I also loved the Vegan Magnum ice lollies and the M&S Plant Kitchen margarita pizza. Not forgetting the Aldi Moroccan Falafel and Jus Roll Cinnamon Rolls. All of them were amazing! The Sweet Potato Burgers are definitely my favourites though! YUM!

What have I missed?

I ran out of Hazelnut Butter so I haven’t had any Ferrero Rocher Mug Cakes for a while – I’m missing those lots! They definitely aren’t as good with Peanut Butter! Other than that, I’m not missing much. I definitely feel less bloated and tired, which is a good thing!

Any Slip Ups?

I don’t think so! I am still struggling to avoid soya, which I have learnt is a trigger for stomach issues and nausea for me. So I am trying to watch out for products with soya in now.

Any Issues Imminent?

I am off for a spa break later this week, and am worried what I will (or won’t) be able to eat. I know there’s a vegan friendly evening menu, but I don’t know about breakfast. It may have to be a bowl of fruit, but I’ll see!

Finally, What Is Veganuary?

In case you missed my other veganuary posts, the idea is to become Vegan for January (or for 31 days, starting in January). The Vegan diet involves cutting meat, dairy and eggs completely from your diet, and living a plant based life. If you want to take it to the next level, you can ditch Honey, leather and suede too.

Finally… I am feeling confident as we head towards the last third of the challenge. I’ll aim to share another update next week. Meanwhile, you can follow my progress on instagram here.

I can’t believe I have already completed week 1 of Veganuary – it has flown by! I’m going to share my experiences so far in this blog post. The first thing I have found is that after 7 days, I definitely feel less sluggish! I seem to have more energy and am definitely getting more work done. That could be down to the fact I have upped my veg intake massively, rather than cutting dairy out, though.

Biggest Fail Of Week 1 Of Veganuary

My week started with me swapping cow’s milk for soya milk. By day 3, I was feeling really poorly. I was itchy, had stomach cramps and nausea. It got to the point where I was being sick when I added soya milk to anything, so I realised I must be Soya intolerant. Typical! If anyone’s going to be allergic to the most popular dairy substitute, it’s me!

Once I ditched the Soya Milk, I immediately began feeling much better! By day 5, I felt better than I have in a long time! On day 5, I ate the Marks & Spencer Vegan lasagne I had purchased on day 1. I quickly realised this was a mistake as I felt poorly very soon after. After checking the ingredients, I realised its made from soya milk. Whoops! Thankfully, the stomach ache passed within a few hours this time – I won’t be buying that again, though!

Favourite Foods This Week

I have been exploring a lot of convenience foods this week. I went to M&S on day 1 and bought plenty of bits to see me through the week. The Mushroom Pie was absolutely delicious!

I’d never have guessed it was vegan! I had the Roast Aubergine on a wrap, and it was lovely too. It went really far, and I could easily have made 4 wraps from it if I’d added salad to them.

Not pictured, but amazing nonetheless is the M&S Vegan coleslaw! I’ll definitely be buying more of that!

I blogged about my Vegan Ferrero Rocher mug cake recipe a few days ago. This was by far my favourite dessert during week 1 of Veganuary!

What Have I Missed?

Honestly: Nothing. I thought I’d really miss chocolate, but I have been more than satisfied with Vegan Mug Cakes and the Aldi version of Oreos (Which are vegan). I haven’t even craved pizza yet! It’s weird!

Any Slip Ups?

Hubby pointed out to me the other day that the Honey roasted peanuts I was eating weren’t vegan. I totally forgot Honey isn’t allowed. Whoops. I won’t be buying those again.

I have had to stop myself from finishing the kids’ leftovers a couple of times, but as of yet, I am 100% dairy and egg free – YAY!

What Is Veganuary?

The idea of Veganuary is to become Vegan for January (or for 31 days, starting in January). The Vegan diet involves cutting meat, dairy and eggs completely from your diet, and living a plant based life. If you want to take it to the next level, you can ditch Honey, leather and suede too.

Finally… I am feeling confident as we go into week 2. I’ll share another update next week. Meanwhile, you can follow my progress on instagram here.

Today, I am sharing my really easy to make Ferrero Rocher style vegan mug cake recipe. Imagine a Vegan Ferrero Rocher…. Imagine that in a vegan cake… Which you can make, bake and eat in under 4 mins… This Vegan mug cake recipe will bring that dream to life!

It’s no secret I am a HUGE cake fan. When I weighed up the likelihood of my successfully completing Veganuary, the two things I was most worried about were the lack of cake and pizza. So far, I have avoided pizza, but I have made 2 vegan cakes. The first was a huge failure, but this Ferrero Rocher style vegan mug cake was so epic, I decided to share it! (Admittedly, it won’t win any awards for being the prettiest dessert ever, but it makes up for it in taste – I PROMISE)!

Ferrero Rocher Style Vegan Mug Cake Recipe…

Let’s get down to business, then!

Ingredients:

•2 TBSP Plain flour

• 1 TBSP cocoa powder • 1/4 TSP Baking Powder

• 1/4 TSP Baking Powder

• 1 TBSP Golden Syrup

• 2 TBSP Hazelnut butter (I used indigo_herbs)

• 2 TBSP Oat Milk (I used Oatley Barista, as I think it’s extra creamy).

• 1/2 TSP Vanilla extract

Optional:

• Vegan squirty cream.

Method:

• Put all of the Vegan mug cake recipe ingredients into a microwave safe mug.

• Stir all of the ingredients together until they are fully blended. (It should look something like this)…

• Zap it for 90 seconds (900w microwave).

• Add Vegan squirty cream if required. (I added this as I thought it would be dry – I was wrong). It’s lovely and moist even without it!

• Eat! I turned my Ferrero Rocher style vegan mug cake out, onto a plate for the purpose of the photo. But it saves on washing up, if you eat it straight from the cup!

Thoughts…

I made this cake recipe myself, after scouring the net for a Vegan mug cake recipe which used Hazelnut butter, rather than peanut butter. I love both, but Hazelnut seems more decadent, to me – a real treat. (OK, OK… Cards on the table time – I had a jar of Hazelnut butter in the cupboard, and no Peanut butter to hand).

I was expecting it to be really dry, but it genuinely wasn’t. It was genuinely delicious, and tasted just like Ferrero Rocher. I am a very happy Vegan, today!

Tips…

I used golden syrup instead of caster sugar in the hope it would add a little extra liquid to proceedings – it definitely did! The Barista edition of Oatly is creamier, and I suspect this helped make the cake taste as rich and sumptuous as it did.

The cake won’t win any beauty pageants based on its appearance, but it’ll more than pass the taste test of any Ferrero Rocher fan – Vegan or not! So be sure to let me know what you think, if you make it!

Finally… if you like this recipe, why not check out my other food inspired blog posts?

I’ve been Vegetarian for over half of my life now. I was Vegan for a month about 15 years ago, for a bet. Other than that, it’s been Cheese for the win. I had some allergy and intolerance tests done recently, and they showed that I am allergic to dairy, and intolerant to egg. This could be part of the reason why my health has been so up and down the past 9 months. So, with that in mind, I have decided to join in with Veganuary.

What Is Veganuary?

Veganuary involves being Vegan for January. See what they did there? The Vegan diet involves cutting meat, dairy and eggs completely from your diet, and living a plant based life. But if you want to take it to the next level, you can ditch leather and suede too.

My Vegan Plan

I am not going into this expecting to make fresh, clean food every day. I am definitely a convenient vegan. So, if you can buy it pre-made, I will do! Something tells me I’ll be eating a lot of Quorn, plenty of chips and drinking tea and coffee with soya or oat milk replacements.

Follow My Vegan Progress

I’ll be doing a weekly update with my progress throughout January, so do check back to find out how I have got on.

I may follow a few quick recipes, and I will be sure to share any recipes and products I love on my blog as well. As a result, I have set up a new Instagram account just for sharing my Vegan journey – you can follow that here.

Sneaky Animal Products

When I became Vegetarian, I was so shocked at how many products contain Gelatine. (This is thickener which is made from animal products). It is found lurking in so many foods. For example Jelly, Jelly Sweets and lots of low fat or fat free yogurts. The same can be said for Dairy products. I have spotted it hiding in lots of things!

Check The Labels!

During Veganuary, I am focussing purely on the food I eat. The list below is just some of the sneaky items to look out for on ingredients lists. You can find a full list of things to look out for in foods, cosmetics, drinks and more here.

• Whey – from milk. Whey powder is in many products, look out for it in crisps, bread and baked products etc.
• Collagen – from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as cows, chickens, pigs, and fish – used in cosmetics
• Casein – from milk (a protein)
• Lactose – from milk (a sugar)
• Lard/tallow – animal fat
• Honey – food for bees, made by bees
• Cod liver oil – in lubricating creams and lotions, vitamins and supplements
• Gelatine/gelatin – obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones and is usually from cows or pigs. Used in jelly, chewy sweets, cakes, and in vitamins; as coating/capsules
• Vitamin D3 – from fish-liver oil; in creams, lotions and other cosmetics
• Albumen/albumin – from egg (typically)
• Isinglass – a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish, and is used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer
• Elastin – found in the neck ligaments and aorta of bovine, similar to collagen
• Aspic – industry alternative to gelatine; made from clarified meat, fish or vegetable stocks and gelatine
• Pepsin – from the stomachs of pigs, a clotting agent used in vitamins

Finally: If you’re joining in with Veganuary, do let me know! I’d love to follow your journey too!

It’s day 22 of #blogtober and today’s prompt is vindaloo or korma – in honour of #NationalCurryWeek. In honour of that, I am sharing what is quite possibly something I should be embarrassed about. How curry doesn’t like me! Read on to find out why.

Curry Doesn’t Like Me

My mum was always a traditional British cook – you know the type… Meat and two Veg, Roast dinner every Sunday without fail, Turkey sandwiches for days after Christmas…

The first time I tried Garlic Bread, I was about 12, and I loved it. The only problem was, I stunk of it for days afterwards. The smell literally seeped from my pores. It was gross.

When I was around 14, I tried my first Curry. It was a Tikka Masala. I enjoyed it, but again, I stunk of it for days. I don’t just mean a little bit either – I’m talking other people asking if they could smell curry around me. It was so embarrassing.

What Have I Tried?

I have tried everything. Google says drinking milk at the same time as the curry or garlic helps… It didn’t work for me.

Research has shown eating an apple right after garlic neutralises the enzymes which cause the smell and stop it lingering… Nope – that didn’t work for me either.

I’ve tried mint, chewing gum, green tea, lemon, and tons of mouth wash as well. None of them work. It seems I have no choice but to wait for them to be digested before the smell disappears.

Some people say that sweating gets rid of it faster. Honestly, I’m not someone who sweats much anyway. I tend to get a heat rash and faint before I break into a sweat – weird body I have!

How I Manage It

If I eat a curry or a slice of garlic bread, I do so knowing I am going to stink of it for days afterwards. Thankfully for me, my hubby’s sense of smell is pretty rubbish. The smell knocks me sick though – to the point I have had curry once in the past 7 years.

That was last week, actually. It was a rubbish microwave meal – a Vegetable Biryani and I still stunk of it for 3 days after I ate it. My daughter didn’t see me eating it, and the next morning she asked me why I smelt so bad. Charming! I think it’s safe to say, “Curry doesn’t like me”!

Why not check out my other Blogtober blog posts here. You can also find blog posts from other bloggers via the Big Family Chaos linky, by clicking the badge below.

Today is day 17 of Blogtober and today’s prompt is “quick hide the wrappers – #chocolateweek”! I’m going to share my 10 favourite UK Chocolate bars.  How many of them do you love?

My 10 favourite UK chocolate bars

Some of them are still available to buy, while others have been retired to the sweet shop in the sky. In no particular order then….. here are my favourite UK chocolate bars:

1). Crunchie (Released 1929 by Fry’s – who later merged with Cadbury).

What’s not to love? Delicious honeycomb middle, coated in amazing Cadburys Milk Chocolate. I love to nibble off the chocolate and then be left with the honeycomb centre. YUM!

2). Double Decker (Released 1976).

If you like a few different textures at once, this is the bar for you! The base is chocolate coated Rice Krispies, then there’s a layer of nougat then the entire thing is coated in chocolate. Amazing!

3). Regular Aero Bar  (Released 1935).

The solid bar is better than the one which is shaped into segments. I loved these dipped in galaxy hot chocolate from the vending machine. They practically got me through College!

4). Kit Kat Chunky (Released in 1999).

Nibbling off the chocolate and being left with just the middle is basically the holy grail of chocolate based snacking in my opinion. Kit Kat Chunkys are one of the best bars to do this on – Yum Yum!

5). Peanut Butter Kit Kat Chunky (Released in 2006 as a limited edition, then again in 2012).

If you’re a peanut butter fan, you’ll love these! All of the usual Kit Kat Chunky epic ness, with a layer of Peanut Butter thrown in for good measure!

Half Way There!

6). Boost (Released in 1985).

Biscuit boosts have been around for a long while now. They were my go to chocolate bar on my way to school, and I still love them now. I find them more filling than other chocolate bars. Definitely good at keeping you going until lunch!

7). Salted Caramel Galaxy (Released in 2015).

Need I say more? Absolutely amazing! If I could only eat one bar of chocolate for the rest of my life, this would win. By miles!

8). Cadbury Fruit and Nut (Launched in 1926).

Interestingly, the Aldi one is the best I have tried. I eat loads of them! If you haven’t tried them yet…. Don’t! Leave them there for me! (I do like the Cadburys one too, but if you’re near an Aldi… theirs is much nicer!

9). Terrys Chocolate Orange (Launched in 1932).

I don’t know if you can still buy the bars of this, but the full oranges are amazing! If you’re ever stuck for ideas when buying me a gift…. these are always appreciated! Also: Who needs flowers when you can buy Terrys Chocolate Orange?

10). Twirl (Launched in 1984).

If you need a fast chocolate fix, Twirl is the way to go! When it’s that dreaded time of the month, Twirls are always in my basket! They never fail to make me feel better. Also… dipped in hot chocolate, they are epic!

So there you have it! My 10 Favourite UK Chocolate Bars! Did your favourite make the list?

Why not check out my other Blogtober blog posts here. You can also find blog posts from other bloggers via the Big Family Chaos linky, by clicking the badge below.

Today, I’m sharing my easy chocolate mug cake recipe. Almost everyone knows that I’m a self confessed chocoholic. My husband swears I only get through some days because of the thought of my evening treat! I’m pretty impatient too, so when I found a chocolate microwave mug cake recipe, I couldn’t wait to try it!

I’ve been making this mug cake recipe for well over a year now, and have tweaked it slightly over time, to make it even more delicious.

Easy Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe

Here’s a video showing how it’s made, and I’ll also pop a written breakdown below the video…

Equipment:

• Large, microwaveable Mug (I use one which holds 500ml).
• 1x Table Spoon
• 1x Fork

Easy Chocolate Mug Cake Ingredients: 

• 4x Tablespoons Self Raising Flour
• 4x Tablespoons Caster Sugar
• 2x Tablespoons Cocoa
• 3x Tablespoons Milk
• 3x Tablespoons Oil (I use Sunflower oil)
• 1x Dash Vanilla Essence
• 1x Medium Egg

Method: 

• Measure all of the dry ingredients into the cup.
• Add the wet ingredients.
• Mix together with a fork until fully blended – make sure you scrape the bottom of the cup well, so the ingredients aren’t stuck there. (It should look like this)…

• Put the cup in the microwave on high. (The below times are based on 800w Microwave, so adjust as per your own microwave’s power).
• Zap for 1 Minute 45 Seconds for a runny, chocolate core centre, or for 2 minutes if you prefer a solid chocolate sponge cake.
• Carefully remove the mug cake from the microwave. Either eat straight from the cup, or turn it out onto a plate and smother it with custard, ice cream or cream – EPIC!

Let me know if you make it, and what you think of it! Considering it takes less than 5 minutes from deciding you want to make this, and sitting down to eat it, I reckon its pretty epic! It satisfies even the biggest chocolate craving too, so make sure you give it a try next time you need a chocolate fix!

Additionally, find more recipes and lifestyle content here.

I am linking this old post up with #blogtober for day 16’s “Perfect Recipes For You” prompt.

Finally, why not check out my other Blogtober blog posts here. You can also find blog posts from other bloggers via the Big Family Chaos linky, by clicking the badge below.