I’m currently at home, staying with my Pa in a little village called Dyrham, of which the main attraction is the National Trust owned property and deer park. WOOHOO! It is lovely, if dull. Anyway, my Pa works in Bristol, which is a vibrant, thriving town, home to The Factory, the beautiful harbourside, and many a vegan option. Last week I got a lift in, and met my good friend Heather (my oldest friend! Or rather, my longest serving friend. Haha.) for lunch at St. Nicholas Market.

The veg*n option changes, but for £3.90 I got the vegan special; kenyan beans, courgette, new potato and fresh tomato in a plastic tub filled to the brim with tasty green rice, and lashings of chickpea dahl, with a bag of poppadoms too. We ate in Castle Park and I enjoyed it so much, I forgot to take a picture of it until only rice was left.

Mmm. Icky goo. So, their poster states that they change their menu every day and make all their Punjabi curries from scratch using veg from a local greengrocer. They don’t use industrial curry pastes and use sunflower oil instead of ghee! So, if you’re ever stuck for snacks in Bristol, just head up to Corn Street and St Nicholas Market! Spice up your Life is directly next to Rolls Royce Café, which does a variety of vegan pasties and cakes (I’ll probably head there this week for photographic evidence. Plus, I love their treacle flapjack!) so whatever you’re in the mood for, a filling lunch or a quick elevenses, St Nicholas market got your back.

I’ve been crrraving flapjack for a long time. Roughly a year, in fact. Since I became vegan, actually. Strangely, this past month I’ve been eating an absolute ton of the stuff! Heather introduced me to a vegan-friendly café in Bristol which does a range of vegan flapjack (and pasties…will report more later!) and since then I’ve bothered to check packaging in corner shops. Surprisingly, quite a few flapjack products are vegan! Sweet. One of the pluses of coming home though, is having my darling mother around to knock me up some delicious home-made flapflap. (Yes. Flapflap. It just…makes more sense.)

My darling Mother was so kind as to share the (embarrasingly) simple recipe with me. (It’s in imperial measurements, because I’m English. A’ight?)

Ingredients
4oz Pure (or vegan butter substitute of your choice)
4oz muscovado sugar
3 tbs golden syrup (or treacle)
pinch salt
pinch baking power
6oz oats

Method

Melt the Pure and sugar together over a low heat. Add golden syrup, salt and baking powder. Mix well.
Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the oats.
Grease a pan of appropriate size and dollop mix in. (Technical stuff!)
Pop in pre-heated over on 180c for 20/25 minutes.

Additions

Any dried fruit you can name! Apricot, raisins, dates…uh…I fail this pop quiz, but anything soft and squishy is delish-y. (I crack myself up.) Also, don’t be afraid to cover it in dark chocolate topping and get really messy during the eating process!

Enjoy!

I have been without my own, personal, address for which I pay rent for all of five days now, and I’m mostly loving it. On Wednesday, when I moved out of my house, I went straight down to Saffron Walden, near Cambridge, to stay with Jack (pictured here, hemming my jeans). We went to the pub, juggled on the Common, made vegan bolognaise – which he couldn’t manage all of. TAKE THAT, carnist. Beans are filling, yo. I failed to take any photos of the couple of days whatsoever.

Returned to Canterbury on Saturday as I had to be here tonight to catch my train to Ashford tomorrow in the ay. em. for my Eurostar to Paris and, when tidying Thom’s house, found the ingredients to make Golden Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World! Basically; flour, canola oil, sugar & soy milk but finding that in a non-vegan house was a bit WOOP. So I mixed up some batter and added a little lemon juice in the mix. Since I had just used the lemon juice for wiping down the walls (lemon juice is a brilliant kitchen cleaner by the way. Oven cleaning tip: half lemons, put in water, heat slightly. Lemon-y water will evaporate, acid will break down scum, oven will clean nicely. Sweet.) the lemon-y icing reminded me a bit of housework. Delicious nevertheless, although, Thom’s oven doesn’t heat up properly so the cakes are burnt on the outside and still a little soggy on the inside. They were well recieved, however, and when I left the room, I even heard Bex exclaim ‘vegan food is, actually, quite tasty!’ to someone unused to vegans whipping up cupcakes at moment’s notices. Yeah.

My Eurostar leaves in six and a half hours, so I ought to probably get some sleep before then. A bientot!

Roughly a year ago, a heap of factors came together which made me reconsider my steak-loving, cheese and tuna toastie inhaling, un-consequence considering eating habits. I was seeing a vegetarian and eating bog-standard veggie food on the weekends while vaguely discussing animal death. I had a phone call from Friends of the Earth informing me that farming animals contributes more to noxious gases in the atmosphere than transport. I realised that a portion of ketchup doesn’t count towards the daily five and over a couple of months phased out meat and then dairy from my diet. Oh, I ate local, organic meat at a festival last July and have ‘allowed’ myself biscuits with milk powder ingredients when I’ve been really hungry…but that’s what I want to consider today.

I am not an ‘animal rights’ activist, which I always believed gave me leeway to regress if I really ‘needed’ to since one cheese pizza (one, in a year) doesn’t contribute that much to the deforestation in South America, right? Plus, it was midnight, I was drunk in London, headed back to my broke ex-boyfriend’s where he maybe had a handful of pasta. Justificaaaaation, away! Who cares if the cows get mastitis from being over-milked, that they’re raped to produce calves and then their children get taken away from them? Not me. I fucking wanted that pizza and I was prepared to lie to myself to get it. I’m 99% vegan. I do more than most people. I deserve a handful of mini-eggs at Easter after all the vegan friendly one’s from Hotel Chocolat were already gone (good for the planet, not for me). But, uh, that’s not vegan. You can’t be 99% vegan. That’s vegetarian. That’s not a moral thing, either, that’s definitions of words. Vegan means no animal products. Ever.

At the beginning of my foray into veganism, I suggested that it was counter-productive to think ‘I am never going to eat meat or dairy again’. It can be a scary thought, especially when you still view it as a deprivation diet. Never. Again. Never? When you start banning people, even yourself, from activities and foods, they do become all you can think about and want to do. (The only thing my Mother banned me from was getting tattooed. I now have around 20.) So the pop-psychology trick of ‘I may do it in the future, I’m just not doing it now…’ is a good idea. At the start.
One year on, I’ve internalised a hundred different reasons why being vegan is better for people and planet. I can whip up tasty vegan treats in moments and frequently stuff my friends with cupcakes. I’ve been vegan in Spain and France where they put chorizo in tinned beans and coat everything in butter, respectively. I know that I can do it. So why am I still ‘allowing’ myself non-vegan food (and calling myself a vegan while I eat it)?

Partly, I got tired of being ‘the vegan’. I didn’t want every meal to be a STATEMENT, an argument, or a battle. I just wanted to eat and not defend myself for my food choices, or force other people to defend theirs. (People have a tendency to immediately jump to their own defence when you mention being vegan, regardless of whether you ask them what their eating habits are. It’s exhausting.) Other reasons include; being around my omnivorous family, rubbish veggie options when eating out and, yeah, drunk and hungry. I decided that letting myself eat what I wanted, or what was easiest, couldn’t hurt in these situations. The mini-eggs had already been bought, what did it matter which mouth they went into? After all, I had never said I would be vegan for ever, just for now.

Gradually though, I realised I was ‘allowing’ myself non-vegan foods more frequently on the basis that I ate vegan ‘most of the time’, and then I wrote ALL OR NOTHING, about the attitude people have towards anyone who tries to change anything. Either do it all straight away, or don’t even start. Certainly don’t talk about what you’re trying to do if you’re not going to live it 100%. Now, everything takes time. You can believe that veganism is the way to live and still be transitioning because you only realised it yesterday and haven’t got the hang of pressing tofu yet. Whatever, you can still talk about veganism and how to go about it. In fact, it’s helpful to other people going through the transition period to do so! Having been vegan for a year and still relying on that fact that I stopped eating meat and dairy over a period of two months in order to justify the odd digestive biscuit though, is a bit ridiculous.
So, I’m saying now that I fully plan to NEVER eat any animal products AGAIN.

This realisation and renewed vigour for veganism was brought to you by the ‘Mystery’ comment on ALL OR NOTHING and inspired by @VoraciousVegan, Tasha, who went on a seven day SoulJourn for World Hunger and made me realise that if she can do that for a cause and there are people starving all over the world due to the power-mongering, money-loving nature of those in power, then I can damn well miss a meal through inconvenience.

Last weekend, my Dad and stepmum took me for dinner at Demuths, a ‘positively vegetarian’ restaurant in Bath. Apparently, it’s been there for twenty-five years, but we’ve walked down that street many times and never noticed it! The reason for this is probably best summed up by my Dad’s question upon persuing the menu; ‘Do they do any real food?’ Well, yes, yes they do!

It’s lovely on the inside, all pale purples, candles, photos of asparagus and friendly staff. We arrived at half past five, when it reopens for dinner, and the sign still read ‘closed’. Knocking on the door, we asked the waitress if they were ready and she politely informed us of the opening time, then checked her watch and laughingly led us to a table in the corner by the window. The view was of a strange mini pebble garden and some grass in a window box. Lovely!

The menu was vegetarian leaning, with gluten & wheat free options marked. Most of the meals could be made vegan by the mere action of not adding cheese. We started off with ‘thoughtful’ bread, & olives which I think is gluten-free and very good dipped in virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I didn’t try the olives, but my step-mum soon finished them off with great satisfaction.

Mmm, this was my dinner. I went for the sweet potato fondants with split pea dahl and roasted aubergines. It would have been nice to have more than one lickle poppadom to load it onto! Very tasty though. I couldn’t tell if it was too spicy for me, or just oddly spiced, as I’m not that keen on overly flavourful foods. The roasted aubergine also seemed a bit out of place. It was very filling, but if I go again, I would definitely go for the apricot and chickpea tagine, which was delicious; the perfect balance of spice and tomato plus juicy apricots. The veggie option comes with grilled halloumi and saffron yoghurt which my parents shared.

On the right is my Dad’s meal, aka. Bill the Flowerpot Man – goat’s cheese and lemon thyme souffle. I, naturally, didn’t try any of this, but he ate every last scraping and seemed happy. (He’s not the sort of man to vocalise an appreciation for vegetarian food…)

Pudding! I had the dark chocolate fudge cake with vanilla soya ice cream which was so rich and delicious and filling that I couldn’t finish it! That spiky orange thing is a sugar shard which was in the menu with the passion fruit mousse, but because I bugged my stepmum to get that just so I could see what a sugar shard was, the waitress popped one into my cake! It’s also fun to say. Sssugar sshhard, go on, nobody’s listening…

This is the sticky toffee pudding which my parents shared and enjoyed. It is my Dad’s favourite desert, although he left the spiced fruit compote, having already had his portion of veg for the day.

Overall, I would definitely go back here, so long as somebody else was paying! It was a little bit pricey for someone on my income (read; verrah low) but for a celebration or on Daddy’s wallet? Yessir! Actually, the puddings were worth it, and if I was caught out peckish in Bath, I would pop in for the dark chocolate fudge cake anyday. Oooh yes. More photos of the foooood are over at <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/speculummundi/sets/72157624079799106/”>flickr</a>.

There are two Viva La Vida’s in Madrid & I came across the smaller one, hidden away in the backstreets, not ten minutes from the Retiro Parque. Although I knew of it from Happy Cow, I only found it through aimless ramble rather than concerted effort (which might say more about my map-reading than the elusive nature of the shop).

Inside, it’s both buffet & market with well stocked shelves lining the walls, a tall table & stools on the other wall for patrons to perch on & a fridge full of organic drinks & vegan supplements surrounding the central food-filled hot plate. The tropical plant display coupled with the giant front window gives the place a pleasant & cosy atmosphere, even as it balances café & shop vibes.

I went for the takeaway option & loaded up my box with a bit of everything – severely underestimating the weight of 100gr. With an organic lemonade on top, the whole meal came to roughly €7. (I’d probably spent twice that feeding myself for the previous four days). Still, the fake meat was some of the tasitest & most tender that I’ve yet encountered, the salad was fresh, the potatoes crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Pretty delicious, all told.

If I were to return I would probably focus on the faux-meat style options that would be hard to recreate in a hostel kitchen, & not bother too much with veg & salad…but I was hungry. They also offered cake for desert, but I wasn’t sure how vegan they were & at €3 a pop, couldn’t afford any anyway.

It’s a maddening shame that vegan-specific foods & food places are so expensive in Europe, but, with that accepted, Viva La Vida is very good for grabbing a quick & filling lunch to devour in the Retiro Parque.

ps. More photos of Madrid over here.

Just updated my travels to include Paris earlier this year. Check out my surreal days of death!

Being vegan isn’t hard and it isn’t difficult. One thing it is though, is fucking inconvenient. I have to check the labels on anything I want to eat, ask ‘Does this have dairy in?’ when eating out at restaurants and, uh, turn down food people offer me. (Oh my gosh, what hardships!) I’m often hungrier than I’d like to be, especially when I’m out and about without an apple or pasta salad or other pre-prepared dairy-free snack. Cuz, y’know, you can’t just grab a sausage roll or chocolate bar.

We’ve created a society where convenience is king. Everything we do is tailored to our ease. All this convenience costs, however. Machines to take us places further away and faster pump gases into the air, running lights so we can see at night, toilets inside the house which use water to flush away the waste…convenient. All these things make our lives that little bit easier. All these things put a little more pressure on the environment which sustains us.

For me, eating vegan is akin to not driving a car. The livestock industry contributes 18% to greenhouses gases and since I choose to limit my contribution to climate change as much as possible, then I’m going to limit my contribution to the livestock industry. As with driving a car, I’m not reducing the current impact, but I’m doing my best not to add to it. I do most of the other little things ‘they’ (the wizards?) advise as well – turning lights off when leaving a room, not leaving appliances on when you’re not using them, not washing every day, washing my clothes at 40 and only doing a clothes wash every couple of weeks. I also don’t flush the loo if it’s only for a pee. (TMI?)

To some people, these actions would be inconvenient or just something they wouldn’t do. Personally, I try to rate a reduction in the pressure I put on the environment over me getting somewhere faster or eating meat because I need to…because it’s important that…Sorry, I can’t come up with a good reason for eating meat right now. If I followed this through to its logical conclusion, that would mean killing myself. Seriously no-impact woman. (Except for the emotional fall-out. I would have a ‘green’ funeral though. Y’know. Cardboard box and turn me into a tree.) Well, it’s an option. For now I’m hoping that I’m more use alive, providing information on how to live a more low-impact life.

I don’t think I do a lot (and I really don’t think I do enough) and I’m not saying I’m any kind of expert. I’m just one person, doing what I feel I can to make whatever difference it makes. Reversing progress and the concept of consumption that current Western society has is going to be fucking inconvenient, no matter which area you choose and in what manner. Going vegan is only so inconvenient because ‘they’ (the sorcerers) haven’t cottoned on to the dairy free lifestyle and tend to put lactose and milk proteins in crisps and other assorted foods. (Crisps? Really? What does it even do?!) Meanwhile, it’s less effort on my part than badgering people to sign petitions or attending demonstrations. (I really wanted to go to Climate Rush in Bristol next weekend, but I have work. Damn damn, buggrit.) Someone else might be all about canvassing in the street to raise awareness or designing a hybrid car, but couldn’t give up cheese.

Anything which requires effort is deemed ‘inconvenient’ thanks to our current climate of ease and convenience. I have found that usually the hardest action to take is the one which benefits most, and you can read that either way around. It’s inconvenient to give up dairy (meat is fucking easy to give up, they tend not to hide ground up cow’s hooves in sweets anymore), to walk to work instead of drive, to put on an extra jumper instead of turning the heating up. But if we don’t make our lives that little bit more inconvenient now, think how fucking inconvenient it’s going to be for the generations after us with no resources whatsoever.