Hannah's Veggie Lifestyle

For the second year running, I'm taking part in Veganuary , where you pledge to live vegan for the whole month of January. After last year, I resorted back to a fully veggie diet, but this year I'm going to try and stick to a vegan diet beyond January. I'm using this month to try out lots of new recipes, and revisit some of my favourites, so I thought I'd share some of the best with you guys! First up is a delicious, comforting curry that you won't miss having meat in. The textures of the chickpeas adds a feeling of meatiness and are a good source of protein too. I adapted this recipe from Eat Like a Girl's post , which alone is a very delicious curry. However, I added in a couple more spices to give it an extra depth of flavour. Also, I like to swap out the butternut squash for sweet potato sometimes, to change it up a bit. Make sure to chop up the spinach well, otherwise it can form quite large clumps once it's wilted. If you're not a big fan of spinac...

Completely vegan chocolate cake - who would know? We are all aware that reducing our meat and dairy intake is a great way to reduce our individual impact on the environment, as well as holding large companies accountable for the damage they do too, of course. So, I've decided to share some of my favourite meat/ dairy replacements for when you want a taste of the original, with a much smaller environmental impact! I'd love to say I'm a vegan, but if I can't find a good enough alternative for some dairy items, I do still eat the original (although in much smaller quantities than I used to). As veganism continues to grow, so does the incredible alternatives available, which means it's getting easier and easier to swap out meat and dairy products in our diets. It's still important to incorporate lots of unprocessed foods like fruit and veggies into your diet, so I do try and only eat these when I truly want an alternative. But, if it's helping us eat less dairy ...

As lockdown measures start to ease and we begin to return to some form of 'normal' life, it felt right to bring the Lockdown Baking Series to a close. But I wanted to end it on a (sugar) high, and what better way to do that than with cinnamon rolls? For years I've been using the excuse that recipes that use enriched dough (a classic bread dough with ingredients such as butter added) can't be made vegan and be just as good, because they wouldn't have the same richness that dairy and eggs bring. However, when I discovered these cinnamon rolls, I was proven wrong.    I first discovered this recipe when I had a craving for cinnamon rolls during Veganuary, and I haven't looked back since. They're just as soft and light, and even with plant-based margarine, they still taste surprisingly buttery. Now I know that a lot of people think the only suitably topping for cinnamon rolls is cream cheese frosting, which of course makes them more difficult to make vegan. Howev...

Coconut yoghurt, granola, sliced strawberries  and banana sprinkled with chia seeds... what better way to start the day? For those of you that know me well, I hate getting up with a passion. When I have to get up early I'll sit blinking at you for twenty minutes until my brain and body catch up with each-other, and don't even think about asking me to do something for you. But, I also hate doing nothing, so wanting to sleep and be busy is not exactly the easiest conflict to solve (and yes, I have tried going to bed earlier. It doesn't work- I just end up sleeping even longer). If I do wake up late I usually skip breakfast and have an early lunch, but this always ends with me eating rubbish in the evenings. I love the fact that there are so many options for breakfast, but what I don't love is the idea of eating them when I've just woken up. I'm much more of a 'eat breakfast food at dinner time' kind of girl, but that leaves me stuck for what to actually e...

I know I promised granola this week (I'll put it up soon!) but I made these earlier on in the week when my mum was cleaning out the oven, so I had  to find something no-bake to make. I'm trying to bake (slightly) healthier things at the moment, which is definitely a mixed result so far. These are mainly rice krispies, and they are refined sugar and dairy free, which is good enough for me. Instead of using shop bought ran peanut butter (which often has lots of added ingredients like palm oil and sugar) I blended up my own peanuts. This worked well because I could make it more chunky, so the bars had an extra crunch. This meant the peanut butter was 100% nuts too, which is definitely the best type.  The recipe I based these on didn't have any desiccated coconut in, but I wanted something to decorate the top with and it complemented the coconut oil well too. If you're not a fan, then you can leave it out. You can also add in some other variations if you like, such as dried...

I know that just because something is vegan doesn't make it healthy, but the lack of icing means I can (almost) convince myself that these are, which is a good enough reason for  them to become a regular bake in our house. This is the first vegan banana muffin recipe I've found that are just as good as banana muffins with eggs and butter- they're fluffy, moist and very moreish. If you want to make them healthier, then swap the chocolate chips for chopped nuts, or leave them out completely. I found this recipe on a Vegan Baking page on Facebook, but adjusted it slightly. I swapped some of the peanut butter for coconut oil for added moistness, and took out the vanilla extract because I found it didn't add much. You can add in a tsp of good quality vanilla extract and take out the cinnamon if you prefer- or use both.   Makes 12 muffins, but the recipe is easy to scale up or down as needed.  Ingredients- 1 1/2 cups self raising flour 1 tsp baking powder pinch salt 1 tsp...

My friend has a YouTube channel ( CaitlingGodfrey ) and she said in a recent video that she and the rest of her family are trying to bake as much as they can so they've got lots of treats during lockdown, which tickled me because in my family, we're trying to  stop  baking as much. Moving back home has meant I've got access to all my baking equipment again -plus my beloved Kitchenaid-, and having extra time too means it's all I want to do! I thought I'd start a series sharing my favourite recipes I've found during lockdown, and first up we've got a recipe for homemade doughnuts. This was my first time making doughnuts, and I can definitely recommend giving it a go. They're very naughty so I'll only be making them as a treat, and they're best on the day you make them so make sure you've got lots of people to share them with. If you're on your own at the moment or have the will-power to only eat one a day, then 1. please can you give me som...

This isn't exactly going to come as a surprise, but all of the cookbooks are vegetarian. But if you're a meat eater, don't stop reading! You don't have to commit to a 100% vegetarian or vegan lifestyle to enjoy these recipes (although I can promise you, you won't regret it if you do). 1. MOB Veggie- Ben Lebus The more I learn about MOB, the more I love them. It started off with one guy wanting to help young people cook delicious dishes cheaply, and it's grown so much since then. This book has helped me to experiment with new flavours at university without blowing all my weekly food budget on expensive ingredients. I love the fact that every recipe has a song associated with it too- it shows how much thought has gone into every single dish.  Favourite recipe- Veggie Nasi Goreng This is in the brunch section of the book, but I always make it for dinner and it's become a firm family favourite. Make sure you undercook the rice slightly when you boil it so it doe...

As I said in my self-isolating ideas post, now is a great time to get cooking from scratch. It's a fantastic activity that will leave you feeling accomplished, and you'll have something tasty to enjoy at the end too! So, I thought I'd share with you some of my all-time favourite recipes and some new ones I've discovered during lockdown too. If you're trying to shop less or struggling to find some ingredients at the moment, then check out some of the swaps I've included so you can still get in the kitchen. 1. Cornflake flapjack If you can't find flour or eggs in the supermarket at the moment but fancy baking a sweet treat, then this is the perfect recipe. Martha Collison (from Series 5 of The Great British Bake Off) posted a recipe for these on her blog and I knew straight away that these were going right to the top of my to-bake list. Adding cornflakes into the flapjack mixture makes them taste like the cornflake tart you might remember from school dinne...