Sickly Pupsickle

I'm really excited for the week to come. My father is coming to visit from Wales on Saturday and I literally can't wait to see him. I don't think I've seen him since May of last year, seeing as my visit at Christmas fell through because of the terrible snow and ice. I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with him, eating good food, strolling in the evening sun with Gerry (the weather has been fantastic through the whole of March in Ireland, for once!), and visiting lots of galleries and some new sites he's never seen before. I'll be taking my camera with me everywhere so I'll definitely have a few pics and stories to share about vegan eats and treats!

We'll also be visiting Dublin Flea Market. Some friends and I are thinking about getting a stall there next month - I will be flogging some vintage jewellery and clothes, while they will be selling their artwork, zines and papercraft items. It will be a really fun venture and will give us a bit of extra money on the side.

In other news, I took Gerry to the vet as he has been experiencing hair loss on the back of his legs since January. I hadn't taken him any sooner as I thought it may have been natural shedding, or something known as "Bald Thigh Syndrome" that greyhounds are prone to getting, for no particular reason. Also, as he didn't seem irritated by it in the slightest I didn't really see the urgency. Anyway, yesterday I trotted him over to the vet to get it checked, as it's been getting a bit worse lately and I wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious. Gerry is always straining at the lead to go to the vet's because he can see all the doggies in the waiting room and wants to go in and say hello and have a good sniff around the food and toys they have for sale at reception. However, getting him into the surgery is a totally different matter! He refuses point blank to walk in, and I have to carry [all 21kgs of] his big, gangly body into the surgery and up onto the table. What a scaredy-pup! Once he was in there he was grand though, he waited patiently while I talked to the vet and didn't whine or make a fuss when he was given an antibiotic injection. He is now on antibiotics for 2 weeks, as he seems to have a bit of a skin infection. They are hoping it's some sort of mite and that the antibiotics and application of a repellent spot-on called Advocate will get rid of it once and for all, and that it's not a skin condition that will need constant management or an allergy that we can't do anything about. I have to take him back in a fortnight to see how he's doing. If it hasn't cleared up they'll be taking him in for a skin test, but hopefully it won't come to that and we can just continue with the monthly application of the Advocate and see if he needs any more antibiotics or not. Poor little chap! Apart from this he's in amazing health though, enjoying the Springtime sunshine in the park, running around with his friends and lapping up the attention he attracts from everyone!

I am still trying to source vegan kibble for him. It's a nightmare. I've literally checked everywhere, and as nowhere in Ireland stocks any (apart from one place which is way too dear) it's either too expensive to get it shipped over from the UK, Europe or America, or they won't deliver here at all! I've emailed a few places to check that their ridiculously high shipping fees are correct, but I've yet to hear back from them. All I can do at the moment is feed him as high quality raw organic kibble as I can, and make sure all his other treats are vegan. He goes crazy over a kong filled with frozen mashed banana and apple chunks, and he adores his vegetable based chews and biscuits, as well as rice, broccoli and carrots, so he's definitely a healthy pup who doesn't get fed any junk :-)

***UPDATE***
I just got a lovely email from a staff member at Veggie Pets about ordering 30kgs of  V-Dog. She is going to find out exactly how much it is for me to send it to Ireland, and they can hopefully do it quite cheaply if I'm going to be a regular customer. I really do hope it's an option as £22 for a 15kg bag is very very good, and I would have no problem paying an extra £20 on top of that for shipping. Even if it costs me a total of the equivalent amount of euros that it would to get the Yarrah food from Zooplus, I still wouldn't mind as it would be 10kgs extra food than what Zooplus could give me. FINGERS CROSSED!

Here's a photo of the gorgeous Bianca over at Vegan Crunk, and her vegan dog Datsun who is a most handsome ambassador for V-dog. Hope you don't mind me stealing this pic from your blog, Bianca!

Greyhounds to China Protest

Today I attended a demonstration in Dublin city centre, to protest against the Irish Greyhound Board exporting greyhounds over to China for racing. There are no welfare policies for animals in China, so you can imagine what an awful life our Irish dogs will lead during their racing careers - not to mention what will happen to them afterwards.

It was a really decent turn out, and some people even brought their dogs along with them. Not only was it great to attend and show my support, but I even met some really nice, interesting people. I met up with lovely fellow vegan and lurcher lover, Cat, whom I've met through this blog and also managed to exchange details with a girl who lives not too far from me who owns a greyhound, so that we can organise some doggie meet-ups.

Here are some photos from today's protest. I'd really appreciate it if anyone, regardless of where you live in the world, could go HERE and sign the online petition. We have to stop this NOW.

Not Going To Plan

Gerry will have his first birthday next month, meaning that I've owned him for 6 months now. Time has flown and he's a pleasure to have around!

The only thing is..... veganising his diet is not going to plan at the moment. It's not worrying me too much, but it's still annoying. Especially as the only obstacle is money. I work part time and the cheapest place I can get vegetarian kibble from charges €72.00 for 20kg. That's a lot of money for food which would only last about 2 months tops. I am currently in the process of changing him over from Red Mills to Happy Dog, which is only €48 for 30kgs and is described as: "dog food containing no chemical colourings, flavours or preservatives, no animal meal and no soy."

I was recommended Happy Dog by a German girl who works in Maxi Zoo. I mentioned to her that I fed Gerry Red Mills and she told me that it wasn't very good quality, and that it was still full of sugar even though it wasn't listed plainly in the ingredients, as Irish advertising standards do not require that you do this. I don't know if this is true, it sounded odd to me, but I took it on board anyway. When I got home I checked the ingredients and the pack actually said "animal and meat derivatives" on it....... last time I checked all it said was "chicken" and a certain percentage, which I was happy about as I was avoiding foods that just vaguely listed "meat and animal derivatives" as an ingredient, for obvious reasons. I have no idea if the ingredients suddenly changed, or the way they listed them changed, but I clearly remember not seeing this before. So I decided to get the Happy Dog, which is apparently made from the best raw ingredients, and actually seems to list everything concisely on the package. I want to know that the meat he does eat is pure and not any kind of disgusting off-cut unfit for human consumption.

It still sickens me to think that I'm failing with this, but what else can I do? I simply cannot afford Yarrah Bio-Vegetarian. If anyone out there can recommend a site where I can get vegan kibble at a more affordable price and cheap or free shipping to Ireland please let me know! The other alternative is, of course, to make meals from scratch for Gerry. But I worry about my own health and nutrition on the best of days, and vegan canine nutrition for a naturally carnivorous animal is even more complicated to cater for, not to mention costly.

I don't know where to go from here. I guess it all depends upon me getting full time work, but I am happy where I am at the moment and if I were to change jobs it would mean I'd be around far less for Gerry.

Also, if anyone could recommend a vegetable based oil that I could feed Gerry to improve his skin and coat that would be great. Greyhounds are prone to getting BTS (Bald Thigh Syndrome) where they lose their hair on their bums and back legs. Gerry has this now to some extent and it's a cosmetic condition, rather than medical.  It doesn't bother him in the slightest but it still is rather irritating to have to deal with. I've had to temporarily start feeding him salmon oil to improve his coat and give him the extra fatty acids and Omega-3 that he needs. If there's a vegan alternative out there I'd certainly be using that instead.... Would coconut oil have the same effect and similar amounts of Omega-3? HELP!!

Dog Treats fit for Humans!

Just a quickie...

As Gerry has to be left alone for the occasional day where my boyfriend and I are both in work at the same time, I decided to bake him some lovely treats to go inside his activity ball. I'd run out of his Christmas supplies of Organic Pet mini biscuits, so instead of buy more I decided to go for the cheaper (but very much more laborious!) option of making my own.
























I used:

- 1 Cup Cornmeal (Polenta)
- 2 Cups White Flour
- 1 Cup Oats
- Honey (a little to sweeten)
- Vegetable Oil (to glaze and aid browning)

They turned out really really well! It took me FOREVER to roll them into tiny balls, and this amount of mixture made quite a substantial amount. I wouldn't normally have honey in the house, of course, but we still had some left over from when Gerry had kennel cough back in October. You can substitute this for agave nectar or molasses.

They are gorgeous by the way, I even had a few myself!! This should keep him entertained tomorrow, trying to fish them out of the ball by pushing it around the floor with his nose. I feel so so bad having to leave him for the whole day, but as long as he gets a long run in the morning and another again when I get home he's usually fine... I leave the radio on for him, he has plenty of toys, and some long-lasting chews to keep him happy.

Random Shizz

A few random photos of goings on in Velovegan world lately:

1. New haircut
2. Vintage bracelet & cheapo ring I bought
3. The Long Hall - a place I love to drink
4. Meat is Murder
5. Valentine's gifts from The Boy <3
6. Adventures with Lollipops

Yes, things have been quiet. We are planning to have regular music, games (Sega Megadrive, Xbox, arcade emulators projected onto the studio wall from the PC) and movie nights with friends soon to save money and have something to look forward to mid-week. Time to break out the vegan snacks.... popcorn, crisps, raw veggies with salsa and hummus.

It's getting near to the time that Gerry's large bag of Red Mills is going to be replaced with Yarrah Bio-Vegetarian dog food. Updates will follow!

My father is coming to visit at the end of March for a few days. I'm super excited. Lots of nice vegan meals out... and probably many home-cooking disasters, as I always try to re-create my favourite dishes when he's over and somehow end up messing them up completely and scarring him for life.

I am meeting my friends from Kildare on Saturday, one of whom is a vegetarian. We'll be going for a birthday meal with her and checking out a couple of art galleries. Doin all dem kultural fings, loike.

Other than that, life has been peaceful. Well, actually, two very good and spontaneous drunken nights the past 2 weekends, but quieter than usual.

How is everyone?

Dada Moroccan Restaurant

The boy and I had a lovely meal the other night, to celebrate 7 years of eachother's wonderful company. I'd never been to Dada before but love Moroccan food so I knew it was going to be good. This restaurant is situated at the top end of South William Street, just down from Dunnes Stores and around the corner from the Hairy Lemon pub.

For starter I had fried spinach with olives and spices. It was so tasty, with a salty flavour and subtle spices. It came with a small side salad and three small slivers of pitta bread, which were soft and delicious - although this wasn't really enough bread for the amount of spinach to be honest. The boy had the harira, a soup made with lots of different beans, chickpeas and vermicelli noodles. This came with pitta as well and he enjoyed it very much, saying it was a warm, hearty starter that he would definitely order again.

Our food was served promptly, which was good, as we hate waiting ages between courses. The starters were not very large so they left us with a real appetite for what was to come! I ordered the pumpkin and carrot tagine with lentils and I really wasn't disappointed - to look at, it wasn't very exciting, just three slices of carrot and three slices of pumpkin with a tomatoey lentil stodge surrounding it. However, once I tucked in, I was really impressed at how tender and tasty the pumpkin and carrot were, and when cut up into smaller chunks and mixed in with the rest of the tagine there was a lot more carrot and pumpkin than I originally thought there was. It certainly was very good and I think it was actually a really healthy option too. The flavours were simple, not at all spicy, but went well together. Sometimes I think simple, healthy food works best, instead of those dishes with too much going on that confuse your palate. The boy got chicken cous cous with sultanas and caramelised onions, which he said was also quite plain but with a nice sweet kick to it. We also had a lot of lovely homemade bread with the meal, which was brought out to us after I'd finished the three small pieces that came with my tagine. Three pieces definitely weren't enough, so it was a nice gesture of the waiter to bring out more. I only asked for a couple extra but he brought out a whole small loaf, which was warm and freshly baked!

After our meal we were brought some traditional Moroccan mint tea, which was delicious. The boy isn't a big tea drinker but even he was dismayed when he finished the small shot glass and would have had more if he could!

I will definitely be coming here again. The two course early bird menu for €19.90 is pretty decent value, and with the bill we got a stamped menu offering us a complimentary glass of wine with our next early bird meal. The staff were very welcoming, friendly and attentive. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the décor! It was very traditional with lots of plush, velvety cushions. We had a corner table which was very comfortable indeed and it was nice to lay back and relax and have a chat after we'd finished. The Moroccan lanterns made fantastic patterns on the ceiling of the dimly-lit restaurant, and there were dried chillies and bottles of wine lining the walls above our heads. I'm going to bring my father here when he visits next month and try the seven vegetables tagine for my main with the Zaaluk for starter (here's a recipe, how good and easy does this sound?!) with a selection of Moroccan dips and breads to share. NYOM!

An Award!

Wowzers! I was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award over at Tea & Sympatico and have to post 7 random facts about myself and re-award 7 more bloggers. So... here goes!

1. I only work part time and hardly have any money as a result, but keep putting off finding a new job because I love having so much spare time. It's far more important to me, to be doing the things I love, than to be working and earning money! Then again... some things I love are impossible to do without money. It's a Catch-22.

2. I am always hungry. I'm never satisfied. I always think about food. This is not a good thing when you're trying to stay slim!!!

3. There are very few people in this world who I can tolerate without getting majorly pissed off with after about a day. I can imagine I am a really annoying person too though. As a result I have very few close friends! I think I prefer my dog to most people.

4. My new love is my iPhone, I am just obsessed with the Instagram and Hipstamatic photo apps. I adore photography and have an account over at Redbubble which is really good fun. Although lately I'm using my iPhone way more than my Nikon D80, just for the fact that I take my phone everywhere I go and hardly ever have my big camera on me. Or maybe it's pure laziness...

5. Which brings me nicely to the fact that I am probably the laziest person I know. I can procrastinate all day, I could sleep all day. I start things and never finish them - especially when reading books, trying to follow up on ideas, or trying to keep up with a blog. However, that said, I am an extremely productive person when I do get my ass in gear. I'm excellent at organising and prioritising, so am a real quick worker when I need to be and always finish tasks super quick and super thoroughly when I put my mind to it.

6. There's nothing better than discovering new, amazing music. My new favourite band has to be Health, and my other favourites of all time have to be Black Dice, Holy Fuck, and Liars. I hate questions in quizzes like "what song sums up your life?", "what lyrics best describe you?" or "what is your favourite song of all time?". How are you meant to choose? That is ridiculous. The reason I never got an iPhone in the past was that they didn't make one large enough to contain all my favourite music - so how do you expect me to choose one?!

7. I have a few fears: Earwigs creep the hell out of me, I am extremely scared of dying before I get to do and say everything I want to do and say, and I get very panicked if my routine is disrupted in any form. Yes I'm rather OCD, I like to plan, I like to know what I'm doing, where I'm going, who I'll be with and what I'm eating well in advance of whatever occurrence is approaching... it's just one of my many idiosyncrasies!

I tag:

Identity V
Pixie Rose Dresses
Vegan Crunk
Maple Spice
Tofu Vegan Zombie
Vegan In Brighton
Vegan But Not Scary

Although I can imagine you guys have already done it...
I have done a similar one in the past too, but hey they are FUN!

Valentines Day, Pies, And Stuffing Kongs!

Just two more days to go til Valentine's Day! I'm not really a big fan of this over-hyped and overly-commercialised event and would never bother going for a meal out - but hey it's an excuse to spoil my Gerryboy and have fun making homemade cards. I really couldn't wait until Monday to give Gerry his treats, so I gave them to him today as he was such a good boy and because we are going out later to celebrate two family members' birthdays so I thought it would be a nice idea to leave him with some gifts.

Here he is totally enjoying his new LOVE pillow in fine greyhound style!

And his other Valentine's treat is a new Kong toy:

Er, yes, you non-doggie people must be thinking "what the HECK IS THAT"... yup, it does look a bit freaky/weird/dubious/scary... but I can assure you, it is the best present he could ever wish for! Kongs keep doggies entertained for hours. You stuff them with whatever food you want and it keeps them busy for ages trying to get at the food while they chew on the rubber and clean their teeth and gums!

Now, Gerry had a Kong ages ago, but it was a knock-off unbranded version and it slowly started to fall apart under the constant pressure from his greedy jaws, so I decided to go all-out and spend €14.99 on a super extreme strong Kong. I'd never really known what to stuff it with before, peanut butter was the only vegan thing that came to mind and that I'd heard worked well in a Kong, but with more research (namely THIS page) I have become really inspired to make Kongs Gerry's new vegan heaven! I have so many ideas.

Tonight his Kong is going to be stuffed with a frozen mixture of Mashed Banana, Peanut Butter and "The Organic Pet" Mini Biscuits.

Other ideas include:

- Mashed Peas, Broccoli & Potatoes
- Cooked Pasta & Mixed Beans
- Frozen Banana & Plain Soya Yoghurt
- Chopped Apples & Peanut Butter
- Frozen Oatmeal & Unsweetened Apple Sauce
- Chopped Carrots & Celery with Kibble

Yes, you read that right... Celery. He goes bloomin' mad for the stuff!! Is there anything my Gerry won't eat?! ;)

Anyway, What about human food for once?, I hear you cry! Well ok then, here's a few pics of things I've eaten recently.

First off, a bloody amazing pie the Boyfriend cooked for me - Curried Chickpea & Lentil. HELL-OH...!! SO GOOD! Mmmm - just fry some onions and garlic in a pan until browned, throw in a can of chopped tomatoes and loads of pulses and coriander, cook them for a while with some chana massala spice powder until some of the liquid has been absorbed, line a pie dish with pastry, pour in the yummy mixture, cover the top with more pastry and let the oven do it's magic:

(Yes The Boy was even artistic on the top, EXTRA KUDOS!!)

And here is my variation on the Veganomicon's Pineapple & Cashew Nut Quinoa. I used red quinoa and served it over a grilled portabello mushroom. I am a huge fan of pineapple in cooking (much to the disgust of many friends and the boyfriend), so this was right up my street. It's cooked in pineapple juice too which gives it a lovely sweet flavour, and the cashew nuts go so well with it and lend it a nice, crunchy texture. I will definitely be making this one again!

I'm going for an Indian meal tonight at the Royal Tandoori in Terenure. Pretty excited to try their Chana Massala and Mushroom Bhaji. They also have Chana Rice and Mushroom Rice... NOM! I'll be posting pictures! Then we're having a Chinese takeaway for Valentine's Day (Sczechuan Tofu here I come!) and going for a meal in a Moroccan restaurant in town on Wednesday which I'm particularly interested to try out - their Pumpkin, Carrot and Lentil Tagine sounds divine as does their Seven Vegetable Cous Cous. So look out for my next blog entry!! :D

I Love You, Gremlindog!

So it's been 4 months since I got my Lurcher pup Gerry. Wow he's grown, I didn't really realise how much till I was looking at some old photos of him today.

He's such a handsome lad now, and since cutting down his meat intake his skin has improved tremendously and he's so full of energy and is fighting fit. He's such a cheeky little lad, he makes me laugh so much... he spontaneously leaps in the lake to run after swans, he pulls this funny little gremlin face in the mornings when he stretches, he puts his head under the duvet in the morning and nibbles my toes to wake me up, and he'll chase me for miles on my bike. I'm also constantly amazed at how obedient he is... he woofs, twirls around and hi-5's on command, he always comes when he's called, he never does anything naughty around the house, and he is so good around other dogs and people. I just love him to bits and couldn't imagine being without him!

The only meat in his diet now is in his Red Mills kibble - and that is only a small percentage of Irish reared, organic chicken. Everything else he eats is vegan. I'm so glad I changed his diet and got rid of any indecent meat derivatives: the next order I'll be making is for Yarrah Vegetarian kibble at the end of March. Then in April, when he reaches a year old, he will be making his first trip to the vet to have a health check and get his boosters. Hopefully they will look at him and tell me what I already know - that he's on top form and that I'm doing well with him :)

iPhone U, uPhone Me

Just a little update. Not a food related one, unfortunately, but I thought I'd share some photos I took with my iphone. I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with it! The lomo, instagram and hipstamatic apps that enable you to take vintage inspired photos are just so lovely and I'm addicted to them... so here are a few snaps:

I really wish I had something interesting to blog about... tonight my boy is making us a vegan pie containing curried chickpeas, lentils, onions and garden peas. I really can't WAIT to get home and try it! I'll take a photo of it, but it's so simple - and just pretty experimental on his part - so I don't think there will be any need for a recipe ;) If I had my way there would be spinach in there too...

February also brings with it Valentine's Day and our 7 year Anniversary, so I'll be sure to blog about the nice meals we'll be making or having out :)

You Can't Beat the Beatty!

[Picture has disappeared?!! No idea where it went!! It was here for weeks!!]

So a friend and I went to the Chester Beatty Library in town today and decided to try out the Silk Road Café in the building. The staff were quite helpful when I mentioned I was a vegan and told me that the Falafel Sandwich and the Salads were fine for me to eat. I ended up getting a lovely big plate of mixed bean and chickpea salad, roasted vegetables, lettuce and different types of olives. It was a little pricey at just over €8.00, but it did taste very good! My friend is a vegetarian and he chose a puff pastry covered spinach pie. I'm not sure what was in it that made it unsuitable for vegans as I didn't ask - all I could really identify as unsuitable was a tiny cube of feta cheese on the top. I'd definitely eat there again if I was at the gallery but wouldn't go out of my way especially to eat there again, even though the atmosphere is pleasant and there is free guest wifi.

More Cheap Eats, Fun & Friends

I went to Govinda's again last night... yes I know what you're thinking, I'm addicted. You'd be right too, I really am - what do they put in their food? I swear there's some sort of narcotic in there that keeps drawing me back in!

I met with my good friends from Kildare, Rob and Katie. They are not vegan, but love veggie and vegan food. Katie has successfully been a vegetarian now for the last 6 months and admitted to being surprised that she hasn't missed meat one bit. She is an excellent cook so I'm not surprised! It was the first time I'd seen my friends since Christmas so we exchanged gifts over a lovely meal. They gave me a book you're all probably quite familiar with called Vegonomicon, which I was ecstatic about! I've never managed to obtain a copy and have only heard good things about it - it's meant to be the Bible of vegan cookery books and I can't wait to start trying out the recipes.

As for the meal - Govinda's impressed me as always. I got Sweet & Sour Veg, Cous Cous, Broccoli & Carrot, Beetroot, and Chickpea Salad. OMGosh it was good. My friends also got the Vegetarian Lasagne and the Paneer dishes, which they said were really tasty. Here's a picture of my plate, the Broccoli & Carrot mix was actually my favourite part. I have no idea how they managed to make it taste so amazing, but it really was! The Sweet & Sour was not like the conventional type of Chinese Sweet & Sour that immediately springs to mind when you think of that kind of dish, but had a more subtle "curry-esque" flavour which was neither too sweet nor too sour. Perfect!

Give Me Govindas!

I've been to Govinda's a few times recently while out and about in Dublin doing some shopping in the sales. I'm even due to go AGAIN tonight to meet a couple of friends. Here's a photo of a typical plate, costing €8.50 - a bargain if you ask me - Spinach & Butterbean Bake, Curried Chickpeas and two salads. The bake was utterly delicious, with its creamy butterbeans blended with wholesome spinach and topped with crispy breadcrumbs. The curried chickpeas were nice and rather like a mild chana massala, but kinda average, a dish I could easily cook at home... not that that's a complaint, it's a compliment seeing as it's hard to get a meal when you're out and about that is healthy, hearty and has that homecooked feel about it. The salads were a nice accompaniment as they were very fresh tasting and provided an excellent palate cleanser when alternating between the two dishes.

I've had a couple of mouthwatering soups there too in the recent past - including Garden Pea soup, and Lentil soup. The lentil was quite salty and they warned me of this beforehand and offered me a taster before ordering it, but I love salty things so it went down well with me. It was very comforting, warming food. A dish I've sampled there recently that I also do not have a photo of is their Vegan Shepherd's Pie, made with lentils, which was definitely another hit.

Pop along to the Govinda's on Abbey Street if you get the chance - I really do prefer it now to the one on Aungier Street which I always used to go to. They always seem to have a better selection of food, the staff are lovely, it isn't overly busy (maybe a forgotten gem?), and their seating arrangement is far nicer with little booths or alcoves made with back-to-back sofa type seats, which makes it much more intimate. If I worked in town I'd eat here all the time as it's always super tasty and you get a good variety of food on a huge plate, at an astounding price.

Apologies!

Sorry I've been so bad with the updates... I've been working extra days recently, and of course have lots of things to do as Christmas is approaching.We had a Christmas party last weekend and things got pretty mad, which was quite unexpected seeing as it was meant to be just a few people over for a couple of drinks... but that's the way we roll! ;-)

Here's myself and the G-dog. He's dressed in his little Christmas jumper ready for the party, with his little elf-booties. I know, I know, I'm really mean to him, right? C'mon though, it's Christmas, and he'll be getting a stocking full of lovely treats to make up for it!

Here's a photo of what I'm putting in his stocking: a little kitty toy from Ikea, a new lead, some vegetable based toothbrush shaped chews, and my father sent over three packs of "Organic Pet" vegetarian mini biscuits in three different flavours (mint, sundried tomato & spinach, and banana). They aren't exactly vegan as they have honey in them - but they are healthy treats for him so I'm sure he'll be very happy!

Human food-wise, here's a photo of two new packets of soup I found in Aldi, by Soupreme. The vegetable and minestrone ones are vegan - you have to cook them up in a pot with some boiling water, and they are essentially just a big cuppa soup, nothing special and certainly not very healthy... but they are good for a quick snack with some barley, rice and lentil "soup mix" added into them to add some substance. The other packet is a fake chorizo tortilla flavouring from Aldi, which you are meant to add into an egg tortilla - I was thinking it's probably possible to make a tofu-based tortilla, so I'll be giving that a go soon :)

So anyway, I'm sorry for the lack of proper vegan cooking in this update, as always recently, I am way too busy to be experimenting in the kitchen and have just been sticking to making things I've always made: bolognaise, thai curries, pasta and rice dishes, veggie sausages with beans and waffles, etc. I've been trying to get back into eating salad a bit more too.

Hope you are all well and looking forward to the Christmas holidays!

Snow Days

Not much going on in the Velovegan household at the moment. It's been snowing for 2 days, so I thought I'd share some lovely pictures of what we've been up to recently...