Vegan PSA

So I’ve only been vegan for 3 weeks, so I am by no means an expert on this sort of thing, but I have discovered a few little tricks which make veganism better for me.

First off (and hear me out) Marmite. Marmite is incredible. I know loads of people hate it (they’re wrong by the way), but even if you don’t like it, that doesn’t stop it from being incredible. You know all those vegan recipes which tell you to add nutritional yeast? You know what I’m talking about, and every time you see it you want to kill the person who wrote it because WHY would I have nutritional yeast lying around?! Well this is where Marmite comes in... Marmite is yeast extract, so it has all the benefits of nutritional yeast (get those vitamins kids), but a lot easier to find and also really tasty on toast! I add Marmite to all sorts of things - soup, stew, bolognese, chilli, you name it, if it’s saucy I’ve already put Marmite in there. It also works as a seasoning because it tastes very salty, so if you add a teaspoon of Marmite to all your tasty vegan meals you won’t have to add as much salt either. I personally have no problem with salt - I love it and add it to everything, but I know a lot of people try to avoid it so there are bonus points for you guys here. Right, thats probably enough about Marmite (or Vegemite, or yeast extract, whatever you want to call it) - I promise I’m not sponsored!!

Next up we need to talk about baking. I haven’t delved into vegan cakes yet, so that can be a post for another day, but cookies I have done. SO... I have a family recipe for chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are phenomenal, but not vegan so I decided to veganise them. Its super easy to make most cookie recipes vegan and here’s how: 

Butter - this ones pretty self-explanatory, just replace butter with vegan butter

Oil - we’re rolling here, you can replace butter with a flavourless oil (sunflower, vegetable, rapeseed, etc) if you want, but if you have vegan butter I’d stick to that

Eggs - there are a lot of vegan egg replacements, but the easiest two are apple sauce and bananas. Just replace one egg with 4tbsp of apple sauce, or mashed banana. This is especially good if you have some bruised or black bananas that you don’t want to eat. Apple sauce doesn’t change the flavour of the cookies at all so if you’ve got some funky flavours going on I’d use that. Bananas do lend some of their taste to the cookies, so they’re perfect for chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies - it ends up like a banana bread cookie.

Honey - you’ve got quite a few options when it comes to honey depending on the flavour you want. Agave syrup is always good and has a slightly floral taste like a lot of honey, but you could also use golden syrup if you just want the sweetness, maple syrup if you want something with a little edge, or treacle (molasses) if you want a dark, fruity flavour.

Milk - again self-explanatory, use your favourite vegan milk - cashew milk is my favourite, but you could use any - soya, rice, oat, almond, hazlenut, whatever - just remember that each may have a slightly different taste which might impact the flavour of the cookies.

I think that’s about it for making cookies vegan, but if I’ve missed anything feel free to ask!

General vegan cooking isn’t too bad either once you get the hang of it. I made vegan mac’n’cheese the other week just using vegan substitutes for all your usual mac’n’cheese ingredients and it was really tasty and creamy. If you do have nutritional yeast (I use this one) then add a bit of that to the cheese sauce and it will taste more like the real deal. Coconut milk is a staple for curries, and you can also get blocks of compressed coconut which you add water to and it creates coconut milk, or coconut cream if you add a little less water. If you don’t have vegan butter you can use any oil to make a roux for sauces or gravy. I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t tell you about Quorn fishless fingers, becaus honestly they are the love of my life. I have been vegetarian for 5 years, but before that I loved fish fingers, and I only recently found Quorn fishless fingers and they are incredible. They taste pretty much exactly like normal fish fingers, and I never liked fish, but fish fingers don’t really ever taste like real fish unless you buy really fancy ones. Just try them, they’re amazing and I promise you wont regret it. I don’t know if you can get any other fishless fingers, but I would definitely try them if I could find them!

Meat substitutes aren’t really my thing - Quorn mince can go away, or any other type of fake mince - I’m really not interested. I use mushrooms (which I hate by the way) to bulk out chilli and bolognese, because if you chop it small enough you won’t notice or taste it. The only vegan mince I’ve found that I like is soya mince. It looks like cardboard and you buy it dry like pasta. I don’t follow the instructions on the packet because honestly I didn’t realise they were there the first time I used it, and now I’ve seen them I think my way is better. Just chuck it into you bolognese or chilli or whatever and it absorbs the liquid and takes on the flavour of whatever sauce you put it in. It’s basically just a flavour sponge, but it has nutritional value so if you’re lacking in protein I highly recommend. Lentils also exist, and I add red lentils to a lot of pasta sauces if I feel like I need the extra protein.

Lets talk soup... I love soup, and vegan soup is really easy to make, if there’s honey or cream or anything just use the substitutes I’ve listed above. I’m gonna go ahead and say it - thick soup is better - this is a fact. You might disagree, but honestly you’re just wrong at this point. If you want to thicken up your soup there are a couple of things you can do. First off you could make a roux, then add the soup to the roux slowly, then as you boil the soup it will thicken up. This is an okay idea, and I like using it for dahl and other curries as well as soup. Next thing you could do it crack open a can of chickpeas, drain and rince them, then add them to your pot. This is my favourite. If they’re in there for long enough you can’t taste them, they are a great source of protein, and as soon as you blend your soup it’s as if they weren’t there, but you have a lovely, thick, hearty soup. 

Pies. Right so you could make your own vegan pie from scratch, or you could just buy one from Pieminister as a treat, because let me tell you; those things are delicious.

I think thats all I’ve got on veganism at the moment, but if you want any more tips or advice, just let me know. I will obviously keep you updated with my vegan ventures and let you know of any cool new things I find! Lots of love

this is me...

Hi, I’m an 18 year old tea-addict studying maths and computer science at uni. I’m (recently) vegan and love baking and live in self-catered halls so I spend a lot of time thinking of and cooking vegan meals and baking cookies and cakes for my friends. I love to read - fantasy novels are my jam - talk V.E.Schwab and Sarah J Maas to me any day of the week! I’m a goth at heart and my wardrobe is slowly getting there... I have an instagram account where I’m planning on posting photos of my outfits and maybe makeup as well @corashadow​. My favourite gothic instagrammers are @mybeautifulnightmare and @delaney.biel, if you’re a baby bat like me I highly recommend following them for inspiration and just because they are wonderful people. Of course I wouldn’t be a real teen if I didn’t watch ridiculous amounts of Netflix, specifically trashy rom-coms and series like Atypical and The Umbrella Academy and I’m also a little bit in love with Game of Thrones. 

I adore all animals and have two incredible dogs who I love with all my heart @forever_flatties even though they cause complete mayhem everywhere they go! I also have pet chickens, fish, and rabbits. I love cats, but my body does not, this however does not stop me from stroking all the cats I see and dealing with the consequences of a severe cat allergy later...I have no regrets.

I would not be complete without my bestest friend in the entire world, who I am proud of every single day and love with my entire heart. She has an instagram account  @uni.mental_health.diary where she talks about the struggles of trying to be a normal uni student whilst suffering with depression and anxiety. She is my inspiration for living and we need more people like her in the world. I also struggle with mental health difficulties - some diagnosed and some undiagnosed - and am on medication and am seeking other forms of help so hopefully one day I can have a fully functional brain.

I love all sports, specifically artistic sports like ice skating, dance, and cheerleading; all of which I try to keep up at university. I’m also trying to get stronger so go to the gym to do weights with some of my flatmates. I also love music and play the flute, piano, harp, piccolo, organ, and ukulele. I don’t get to do much harp at uni as I don’t have access to one, but I love playing when I’m at home. I am in a choir at my university which is a small but lovely group of girls and we get together once a week to sing and have fun together and put on concerts a couple of times a term. I enjoy art and love drawing and am currently teaching myself how to water colour paint.

Okay so well done if you got this far without getting bored, I really don’t know how much of that you wanted or needed to know but you’ve got all of that for now! Hope you all have a wonderful day, lots of love xx

hi :)

So I'm starting up this blog, it's probably just going to be life things like what I'm up to, what I'm reading and watching, some gothic bits, vegan life, honestly I'm not too sure I'm just going to start and see where it leads me. Let me know what you like and don't like and feel free to leave suggestions or requests! Lots of love