Man Made Home

Currently on Channel 4 there is a fantastic programme, 'Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home.'
Kevin McCloud who presents 'Grand Designs' is turning his hand to constructing a cabin in the woods using only materials from the land, and from other peoples waste, unwanted items recycling and reusing them.
He is building the cabin with the help of friends and professionals, using eco friendly methods, where possible, and aims to have the cabin 'off grid' .
In the first episode he finds away to product crude oil out of fatty sewage waste, and makes his own ale!
The show is lighthearted, fun and inspirational. Showing ways and methods for how to build with sustainability and thoughtfulness in mind.

Answering the question: "Can a simple, more creative life make you happier?"

The first episode you can catch online at 4OD (OnDemand) whilst the second episode will be airing on Sunday 30th Sept at 8pm on Channel 4 (UK).

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mcclouds-man-made-home

Spirulina powder

Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae which grows in warm alkaline waters, commonly grows well in Africa. Originally used as a food source by the Aztecs.

Spirulina is a wholefood and is arguably better for the body to digest and absorb than man made multi-vitamins. It is a very good source of a complete protein, with 60-70% of protein (of its dry weight), and rich in vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Also very high in iron and is easily absorbed in the body. Health benefits of Spirulina include; help purify the liver, and therefore helps counteract toxins in the body, help fight viral infections, strenghten both the immune and nervous system, and can encourage weight loss.

I bought Spirulina in powder form because you only need a tablespoon a day, whereas the tablets, you need to take these three times a day 30 minutes before you eat - this does not work into my day to day living, so powder it is! You mix one tablespoon of powder into 250ml of cold water or juice. I recommend half water half orange juice, though you could throw it into your morning smoothie! I found mixing the powder into the juice quite difficult so I got one of these sport bottle and shake it up, which works really well.

The taste is quite subtle but unique! hence why I mix it in with juice and not water alone!  

Spirulina is considered a 'superfood' and a wholefood - much better for you than any processed man made pill.



Vegan Raspberry Mufffins

These lovely muffins are so easy to make and you can always change the fruit to one your would prefer, I like raspberrys and in this recipe they stay tart and give a burst of flavour.





To make 8 (ish) all you need is;
1 and 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of sunflower oil
3/4 cup soya milk
1 cup of frozen raspberries

You then mix the dry ingrediants together in a bowl, combine the milk and oil, then pour this into the dry mixture and stir. Finally fold in the raspberries. Spoon final mixture into muffins cups in tray.

Oven needs to be set to 200 degrees and they take 25-30 mins.

This is a very simple recipe and can be used as a foundation to make interesting an exciting alterations. I made these last night and I used 1 and 1/4 cups of flour and 1/4 of ground almonds, which worked really well.

Enjoy!

Soy Green Tea Ice Cream

I've rediscovered my ice cream maker this summer and have been playing about with a few recipes, but lately I've been reminiscing about my trip to Thailand last summer, so I've had a go at recreating some of my favourite flavours out there. (Incidentally, it's iced green tea latte - with the green tea pulled like a shot of espresso over ice, topped off with condensed milk - and cartons of soy milk that I'm talking about. Perfect in the heat.) I've adapted the recipe from an American site, but I think after tasting it I got the measurements pretty much right.

Ingredients
500ml soy milk (I used sweetened, and would probably recommend it against the sharpness of the green tea here, but you could easily go for unsweetened instead)
500ml soy cream
2tbsp arrowroot powder
2tbsp matcha powder
170g caster sugar

Method
1. Using about 125ml of the soy milk, whisk in a bowl with the arrowroot powder. Add the matcha powder, and continue whisking until you get a smooth, quite thick green paste.
2. Pour the rest of the soy milk into a large(ish) saucepan, and add the cream and sugar.
3. Over a medium-low heat (i.e. don't get all impatient like I was tempted to!), bring the mixture to the boil, stirring with a whisk occasionally. When the mixture starts to boil, take it off the heat.
4. Add the matcha mixture into the saucepan, whisk it all together. It should start to thicken up a bit.
5. Leave to cool for a while, then when cool enough, put in fridge for a few hours.
6. Transfer mixture to ice cream maker and freeze "according to manufacturer's instructions" (I love how that exact phrase is used EVERYWHERE in ice cream recipes!) - mine took about 50mins (slightly longer than a usual batch of ice cream would take).

Enjoy!

Bistro 1847

Scott and I both went to Bistro 1847, seperately last week so you are today getting two reviews for one!

When we got to the restaurant we were surprised at how small it was - but it was really lovely and homely, the decor was really welcoming. It was a Friday night so the place was quite full, but wasn't excessive. The menu didn't overwhelm you, there were a handful of dishes, all of which sounded amazing but it was nice not to have to choose between 50 or so options.

In the end, I went for the beer battered halloumi (to be fair I just saw the word 'halloumi' and it was a no-brainer!) and Mike had the purple potato rosti with homemade hollandaise. Sadly the rosti wasn't purple but it still tasted amazing - Laura and I had already seen how it was made at National Veggie Week in Manchester a few weeks ago, and while the purple certainly looks striking on the plate, it still tasted incredible without it. My halloumi dish lived up to expectations, the tomato sauce with it was surprisingly good too, and all in all the portion size was spot on - we were pleasantly full after our mains!

But as our mains didn't get sent through to the kitchen properly, which we didn't particularly realise as we were well enjoying the wine and the atmosphere, we were offered free desserts, and I'm not one to turn down dessert at the best of times...!  Especially as there was vegan gin 'n' tonic cake which again Laura and I had the privilege of sampling and learning how to make at NVW. This was I think one of the yummiest desserts I'd ever had - the sponge was so light, but with a tonic icing drizzle and juniper berries to finish it just worked so well. I was also surprised at how good the sorbet on the side was - a really light and tasty accompaniment. All in all our bill, which included 2 mains, a bottle of wine (and then free desserts) came to £40, which was amazing value considering the quality of the food. A definite thumbs-up, and somewhere I'm already excited to return to! - Scott

  As it was my mums birthday, who is vegetarian, it only seemed right to head to Bistro 1847 to celebrate! Along with my dad, partner and two close friends of my parents we descended on 1847 on Saturday night. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and has a  boutique feel to it. Its quite small but has great atmosphere. The waiting staff were very friendly, bubbly and extremely helpful. 

The starters were lovely and light, the right weight to start with. We ordered, halloumi lollipop sticks with salsa, the cheese was grilled and the salsa was fresh and full of textures. Butter bean and sun dried tomato pate with homemade flat bread had a great basil infused flavour which made the pate have different elements each mouthful. Salt and pepper tofu with collection of sauces and baked Blacksticks Whitehaven which had an amazing strong flavour. I had to test all of them, you know just so I could give an honest review! and they were all truly wonderful, full of flavour.

Mains we chose, halloumi 'fish and chips' and the tofu option which was the first time I had seen this as an option. I really enjoyed my battered tofu, I was so impressed with the chips! seriously the best chips in Manchester! and the homemade mushy peas and sweet tomato sauce were great compliments. Savoury scone with mushroom ragu was a lovely hearty meal, great on an autumns day with a large glass of red and broad bean and leek pie with summer vegetables and a red wine reduction, which was a light summery take on a classic bean and vege pie. Again, all tried by yours truly and all delicious.

 Desserts....we decided to get three and share as we were all pretty satisfied with our two courses but they did sound good!
We selected rose sugared doughnuts with white chocolate and raspberry dipping sauce, this is like posh jam doughnuts, but better!
We also got salted caramel ice cream with peanut cookies which we were able to get as a vegan option, this was tasty but we all agreed very salty! and last but not least the famous Hendricks gin and tonic cake with a shot glass of cucumber and black pepper granite. This is such a beautifully sophisticated dessert. We finished with coffee, full tummys and big smiles on our faces! -Laura


The best vegetarian restaurant in Manchester city - amazing

where? 58 Mosley Street (Entrance on Booth Street)
Manchester
M2 3HZ
0161 236 1811

                     

Emotional Brilliance

Saturday 21st July saw the wholewide launch of Lush's brand new cosmetic range based around YOUR emotions.

Friday evening I went to see the new products with glass of bucks fizz and camera in hand!

The idea is that you select colours that appeal to you and those colours will indicate a certain emotion, thus being your colour of your emotion at that time. Everyday will be different and you can express that through the makeup that you wear.

Lush believe that you wear your emotion through the colours you have choosen which make them personal to you, instead of colours indicated by trend or fashion.

To choose your colours head into store and spin the wheel of colours, and choose three colours, these represent eyeliners and liquid eye shadows and lipsticks. All colours are beautiful and vibrant with such intense pigmentation.
These products are versatile as you can use the lipstick on you cheeks as blush and eye shadows as eyeliner.
All these new colours are vegan and cruelty free, packaging is recyclable.

My colours/emotions for the evening were Drive, Ambition and my subconscious emotion was Vibrance!

It was a great evening and the staff at Lush Arndale are always lovely and extremely helpful and bubbly!
Colours cost 14.50 for 5g and are available now in store and online.

                                                                                            

Vanillary

                                                 

My favourite perfume of the minute is this beautifully subtle scent from Lush, the Vanillary solid perfume stick. 

pic taken form Lush website

They use real vanilla and jasmine, which gives this perfume a lovely subtle warming creamy smell instead of that harsh chemically vanilla smell we are all so use to.
I love the packaging because you can just throw it in your bag and not worry about it breaking, making this great for travelling and now has become one of my festival essentials!
As its a stick perfume all you need to do is push the bottom and the product rises out of its tube but dont push it out further than you need to. I have found that if I apply the perfume onto my neck first and finish on my wrist I can use my wrist to push the product back in and apply at the same time!
Lush have a large selection of solid perfumes, which come in spray from too. I highly recommend you give them a try.
                                                    

                                                       

Raw Chocolate

Goji and Pumpkin Seed Pie, me little treat with my coffee! It is a vegan chocolate bar alternative with heaps of added goodness! sugar free, dairy free, gluten free and made using raw chocolate which is believed to have natural prozac properties! These chocolate bars, which are available in a selection of flavours, are made using all organic and fairtrade ingrediants. This bar which I enjoyed is rich in taste, moist, soft and crumbly, and the pumpkin seeds were nice and crunchy. Overall it reminded me of Christmas pudding and it was lovely and more-ish. Looking forward to trying the other flavours.

Where can you find them? Eighth Day, Oxford Road and on their website;

www.sproutingseeds.co.uk

My Vegan Nut and Basil Pesto

This is my own recipe for a lovely nutty basil pesto which I stirred into cooked and chilled bow pasta for a very yummy salad for our Jubilee Celebration Lunch.

2 handfuls of pine nuts

1 handful of cashews, roughly chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
2 handfuls of basil
olive oil
salt and pepper


In a frying pan add garlic, spring onions, cashews and pine nuts and a splash of oil, fry on low so the onions slightly soften and the pine nuts toast lightly.
In a food processor blend basil leaves and pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper until basil is roughly chopped.
Then add the nut and onion mix, blend until nearly smooth.
Add olive oil, a bit at a time to get your preferred pesto consistency .
I then stirred this through 1/2 - 3/4 of a bag of bow pasta.
Enjoy

Meat Free in Manchester!

First off, happy veggie week!

Last Saturday, 19th May, St. Alberts Square, Manchester played host to The Vegetarian Society's Meat Free in Manchester event. We went there armed with our Vegebee tote bags, as seen in this photo!
The day consisted of cooking demonstrations, tombola, banger racing, sausage rating! freebees and a tent full of info on being a veggie! there was also two food stalls, serving falafel options and the other served vegan burgers, cakes and pastries. The latter were all prepared by volunteers and all profits went to animal rights organisations.

Keeping everyone fed when they weren't at one of the stalls, there was so much to choose from! We spent a fair amount of time learning how to improve our cooking skills in the demonstration tent - we both agreed that a highlight was Wendy Swetnam, who is head chef at 1847, the veggie bistro just off Mosley Street in the city centre. Her menu featured purple potato rosti with aspargus, poached egg and homemade hollandaise. It was followed by the most wonderful Gin and Tonic vegan cake, which we were very lucky to grab a sample of, and required the recipe! With the theme being breakfast this year, other talks featured an eye-catching traffic light smoothie and a breakfast tofu and omelette wrap, as well as fish cakes and other dishes. There was definitely lots to take in and get inspired by!

The banger bonanza was a taste testing of 4 different brands of veggie sausages to decide Manchester fave sausage! We both chose different ones! Scott opted for Redwoods because it took him back to family sunday night dinners, where as Laura went for Quorn new Best of British, which reminded her of BBQs and sunny days! By the end of the day though, votes were pretty close between all 4 sausages, so it'll be interesting to see what came out top!

The cooking demos made us rather peckish (bit of an understatement probably...!), so we tried out both stalls. Scott had the falafel wrap with all the trimmings, and we both shared a portion of spiced potatoes. Then Laura tried the cheezy burger from the vegan stall - the burger was really tasty, although Laura was less convinced by the vegan cheese and we're still on the lookout for a tasty vegan cheese alternative!

Scott was quite excited by the 'pedal ur own smoothie!' so before we left he got on his bike and pedaled like mad to make his very own fruit smoothie...so proud! There were loads of flavour options and combinations, but he went for a berry blend, with banana and apple juice. It was super tasty!

All in all it was a very good day, Manchester was kind in holding back the rain - although a wee bit more sun wouldn't have gone amiss! Already looking forward to next year...!

Alpro milk alternatives

photo taken from Alpro website

i've never been a big fan of milk, and as much as i love soya milk, sometimes it can be a bit samey. so, when i heard of alpro new milk alternative drinks (including soya alternative!), i really wanted to try them. there's an almond and hazelnut flavour - both were lovely but the almond one just tasted like sweetened milk to me, which i was disappointed with because i love almonds. the hazelnut one though was brilliant - it still tastes sweet, but i loved the creamy flavours of the hazelnuts. it also goes surprisingly well with cereal, and it sounds strange but it makes a bloody good cuppa tea!

both cartons are priced at around £1.50-£1.70 for a litre, although i've found it in tesco's (on market street in manchester, not sure about other stores) for £1, and for that price you really can't afford to not try it!

glogg

the lovely people at lush gave us a surprise goodie bag at work the other week, and i ended up with a bath bomb (which is incredible after a long day working or essaying) and a bottle of shower gel. all i've used from lush before are their shampoo bars which a friend brought to uganda because they're completely natural and better to use, especially in the cold shower at 7am! and their face cream because my skin can get pretty oily really easily. so this is the first gel i've used from them, but i was impressed: 'glogg' has a lovely cinnamon scent a warm mulled wine aroma (and it even has some red wine in the ingredients list!) and my skin feels soft and pampered afterwards. i was sceptical at first because when it comes to shower gel i'm a big fan of the original source range - love their mint shower gel, really wakes me up in the morning with a refreshing zing! but you can definitely tell the difference with lush and their use of natural ingredients. definitely worth a try. (and while you're at it i strongly recommend the shampoo bars, too!)

Fuel for breakie

Pooh Bear with Soya

We escaped Manchester city centre on a saturday morning and grabbed a bus to Withington to visit Fuel for breakfast. Fuel is a vegetarian cafe/bar which caters well for vegans too. The decor is funky alternative and there is an eclectic collection of art work, furniture and nic nacs.
The girl who was serving us was really lovely and friendly, there is also a wonderful laid back atmosphere and the breakfast portions are BIG!
I started with the very yummy Pooh Bear with soya, which is cinnamon infused steamed milk with honey- and my bf had a banana and strawberry smoothie - which are made to order. He ate the Veggie Full Breakfast and I had the Breakfast Beast - this was veggie sausages, mushrooms, hash browns, beans and with or with out cheese all wrapped in a tortilla! - its was epic! - both breakfast were very good.
After we had digested our food we then also shared a vegan carrot cake! which we both agreed was the best carrot cake we had EVA had...vegan or otherwise....delicious.
Fuel is a great place to go for breakfast and brunch to escape from the city and just chill out!

where is it? 448 Wilmslow Road Manchester M20 3BW

Curly Wurly!

picture taken from Lush.com

I have curly/wavy hair- depends on the day! - and before recently I have just used John Frieda only because they have a wide range of shampoos and hair treatments for curly hair. I always been pretty aware of what goes into my body and only in the last couple of years become more and more focused on what goes in, on and around my body!
So new shampoo was on my shopping list!
Lush was my first port of call as they have such a large range of beautiful cosmetics which are all handmade, vegetarian and 80% are vegan. They are environmentally friendly and are presently fighting for the ban of testing on animals.
So I walked into Lush Arndale, Manchester, and a girl helped me decide which shampoo would be good for me!
Curly Wurly it was...this is a lovely rich shampoo. You dont need to use that much and therefore it lasted for SO long! and I didnt even need to buy a separate conditioner! for my hair type it had enough moisturiser to keep it soft and conditioned.
The shampoo has these lovely moisturising friends to help it out: cocoa butter, shea butter, jojoba oil, avocado butter and olive oil.
It also has bits of coconut in it- the tub instructions say that because of 'the bits' you may need to spend abit of time making sure they are all out - but I had no worries when it came to this and I have ALOT of hair!
The smell is lovely and coconuty and creamy - its a lovely shampoo - highly recommend it

Manchester Animal Action meeting this monday...

                       Its Vegetarian Week soon....yaya.......and that means vege funtimes!
On the 19th May from 11am til 4pm at St Alberts Square, Manchester, there will be marquees in the square offering a number of fun things to do, watch and eat!

Watch Rose Elliot and Cordon Vert cookery school chefs perform live cookery demos

Free samples

Make a smoothie and play our other interactive games

The Vegetarian Society want you to taste veggie sausages and decide Manchester's favourite!

Live entertainment

Lots of information and advice about a vegetarian diets

Its free and based on last years event - it was a really great day out........See you there :)

possibly my favourite veggie hangout spot in manchester...

Sadly I've not got any photos to go with this one (yet), but I've not posted in a while so I thought I'd get back into this whole blogging business by sharing my favourite veggie place in manchizzle. I love Northern Quarter, and it's probably where I'd opt to go when in town, but I live nearer the unis and am on campus more often than not. Eighth Day is all great and lovely, but for me I've always found it a tad on the expensive side, that's a bit of a personal taste thing I guess, but on my home campus back at UoM, next to John Rylands and under the postgrad bar is Herbivores cafe. It doesn't strike you as the most chic of places, but it's got loads of seating and the friendliest staff on campus, and some of the tastiest food in M'CR, all freshly prepared. My favourite is by far the smoked cheese and apple sandwich (I think just under £3), but there's loads of choice for both veggies and vegans alike. And between lectures it's a cheap and cheerful option - coffee and tea is all under £1 (and they also do hot apple yumyum), cakes are all around the same price (and the bakewell is my achilles heel...!) and if you're lucky, you might meet the resident dog. Couldn't recommend this place enough. Thumbs up!

We are now on facebook...join us :)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BeeinGreen/104536936348610

EcoTools Makeup Brush Set

Ive been quite a lucky person that I have been able to accomplish certain things that a young 'Laura' always wanted to achieve - one of these was to become a Make up Artist. As a Make up Artist I have used alot of different types and brands of brushes!
But I have to say that these EcoTool makeup brushes are the best quality of brush I have used, and the ones I use daily.
Not only are these brushes good quality they are eco friendly.
The handles are made from bamboo, which is a highly sustainable plant. Metal used is re cycled aluminium and the bristles are 100% cruelty free, using only synthetic materials, and they are incredibly soft and dont fall out! and they are affordable!
The company also donate 1% of their annual sales to 1% For The Planet®, an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet.
Im a great fan of these products and recommend them to friends and family....beauty doesnt need to harm the planet or animals in the process :)

Where to find them? Boots or here...www.ecotools.com/

Mocha 'cheese' cake

So I went to my parents recently and used my mums very lovely kitchen and appliances to make this lovely cheeseless cheesecake cake! I made it and didn't tell my dad that the main ingredient was tofu! and he was nicely surprised! - we all enjoyed it even my dessert lovin' sister - thou she did say that she would have preferred a more chocolaty taste! and covered it in cream! lol
The recipes is based on one I found from 'Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes', which is a great blog full of lots of vegan recipes.

Base
14 vegan digestive biscuits
1/2 cup of walnuts
1/2 of vegan butter (melted) - I used 'Pure' dairy free butter
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
1 tsp of coffee powder - I used Starbucks Via coffee
1 heaped tbsp icing sugar
zest of orange
2 tbsp of coffee
pinch of salt

Grease an 8 inch tin and line with greaseproof paper. Break up digestive biscuits into processor and process until crumbs are formed. Add cocoa powder, coffee powder,icing sugar and walnuts-pulse of a few seconds, try not to make this mixture too powdery! Add melted butter and process for 30 seconds. Add zest and coffee and process again.
Now spoon this mixture into the tin and press down to create the base - its quite a sticky mixture so I used the back of a metal spoon which I had warmed up with hot water to help even out the top. Place this in fridge for an hour.

Filling
1 packet of drained Firm Silken Tofu
125g of dark chocolate (melted)
3 tbsp of cocoa powder
2 tbsp of maple syrup
1 tbsp icing sugar
shavings of dark choc of topping!

Put tofu in processor, add remaining ingredients, process for minute or so until smooth.
Spoon onto base and even out with spatula-add shavings-cover with foil and refrigerate overnight....serve....yum :)

Easter eggs....

Happy Easter everyone, the official day of chocolate!

I was very lucky to wake up to vegan chocolate egg which was bought from Sainsburys from their Freefrom section. It a lovely dark chocolate egg with a wee box of plain chocolate discs. Its also gluten free.
I got my bf the adorable Lindt Gold Bunny, dark chocolate which is also vegan.....bonus!
Its great that there are vegan chocolate egg options out there and they taste amazing!
Hope you all have a great day eating lots of chocolate and spending time with your loved ones x

Happy Easter!!

card mum and dad sent me...it makes me giggle!!!

The Raven of Bath

After a longer than scheduled train trip to Bath, we decided a pub type dinner would go down a treat! Dad had done his research and found an institution of a pub called The Raven of Bath. Which is a family run pub which do at least nine different choices of PIES including vegetarian pies. All made with the best local meat and vegetables- you get a big hot pie on a bed of mash or chips, with a choice of gravy, or a wedge of cold-cut pie with chips and salad. All gravy's that you can choose from our vegetarian, thou I noticed that one was a Guinness based gravy, which isn't vege! - they had two vegetarian pies, one was mushroom and asparagus and the other was sweet potato and goats cheese, all pies went down very well along side warm draught cider! The pub is obviously popular, we were there on a Monday night and it was packed. Its a small pub and there is more seating upstairs. If you want an unpretentious night out of uncomplicated good food and local atmosphere, The Raven is where you want to be!

open? Mon-Thurs: 11:30 - 11:00pm Fri & Sat: 11:30 - 12midnight Sun: 12:00 - 10:30pm

where? 7 Queen Street Bath, Avon BA1 1HE

Demuths Vegetarian Restaurant - Bath

My family and I went to Demuths for dinner, and we had the most wonderful meal. I had Eades Winter Beets for my starter, my Dad had pumpkin soup and Mum and my boyfriend had 'Mikes Cauliflower', then for mains I had King Edward Ballotine
stuffed with spring onion and tarragon served with a garlic, almond emulsion, sunchokes & a selection of pickles, being vegan I miss cream sauces and this almond emulsion was just beautiful. Dad had Applewood Smoked Somerset Cheddar Souffle, Mum had Purple Sprouting Broccoli and my Mr had Mushroom

Parfait.

All where beautifully presented - flavours were unique, creative and full of character. The restaurant is well decorated, simple, warming and homely. The staff were full of knowledge, suggestions and very friendly, it was a fantastic evening - definitely worth a visit every season!

Where? 2 North Parade Passage, Bath BA1 1NX

Eighth Day Cafe - breakfast

So my boyfriend and I had a day off together...yay!...so we went to Eighth Day cafe, we had the vegan and veggie full english breakfast, this includes mushrooms, 2 veggie sausages, tomato, toast and either 2 eggs or fried tofu. I had a soya mocha and the Mr had a 'blue' smoothie. The food was really good and great value for money. Tofu was tasty and the toast was good rustic style bread. Service is always great and really friendly.

.

The cafe its self is nice, they have plants dotted around and art to buy on the walls. The only thing a couple of us agree on is we would love it if the decor was abit more funky or cozy or sommit! It just lacks atmosphere but it definitely doesnt lack anything when it comes to the food.

.

.

general info: 10% off for you lucky students when you spend over 5 pounds, and 10% off takeaway food if you bring your own container, open 9am -7pm Mon - fri, 9.30am - 5.30pm Sat, closed Sundays and Bank Holiday - breakfast 9- 11 am on weekdays and 9.30-12 pm on Saturdays. Heads up!....pricing on website is not up to date.
.

.

where it is: 111 Oxford Road,Manchester,M1 7DU

.

overall: love Eighth Day Cafe never been disappointed.....lunch menu review to come!

Contact Theatre Cafe

I had a full-on day at uni today, and absent-mindedly went to Costa for an early lunch, in dire need of caffeine and calories. Of course I got to the counter but there were NO vegan lunch options, so I went over the road to Contact theatre, knowing that at least their homemade chips were awesome from undergraduate days.

Even though it was only 10am and the lunch menu wasn't served until 12, I got chatting to a very friendly staff at the till, and she offered the hummus, red pepper and rocket ciabatta, as the only breakfast options involved egg and bacon. As she was making my drink (gingerbread soy latte - omnomnom) we were talking about my vegan challenge, and she recommended their vegan cakes: ginger or flapjack were the options that day. I couldn't resist, especially not when she did me a coffee and cake offer for £3, which somehow got lowered to £2.50.

The sandwich was amazing - at just £2.95, it was fairly big and filling, everything tasted fresh and the flavours worked together. The latte was steamed well, with a lovely creamy taste, and as for the cake - wowzers, it was rich and moist without being too greasy. The atmosphere of the place is fun and quirky; it all feels very upmarket and trendy but, importantly, student-friendly, especially in terms of prices as well. This is definitely the sort of place you could sit and have coffee and cake or lunch between lectures, knowing that your veggie, vegan, even meat-eating friends are well-catered for. For me though, one of the big wins was the staff - very friendly and very helpful. Maybe that has something to do with how quiet it was at that time in the morning, but then again it's quite a small cafe so I can't imagine that being massively significant.

Oklahoma Cafe

Today, after work, we both definitely needed stress relief in the form of coffee and cake, so we headed to Oklahoma in the Northern Quarter. The place has a really relaxed, chilled out atmosphere with funky decor - there's a definite "lived in" vibe, and a real sense of community where you feel genuinely welcome. The menu is as diverse as the furniture, with options ranging from scrambled eggs to sweet potatoes, veggie moussaka to toasted chorizo sandwiches, and seating options from retro school chairs to the hand of God! The cafe is also part of a shop which has lovely quirky gifts and trinkets.

I opted for the spinach and chickpea calzone with a jumbo-sized (yes, it really *had* been one of those days) 'soy ahoy' smoothie. Laura went straight for the tea and cake combo and had soy chai latte and the only vegan cake in the cabinet, a tasty coconut number!

The soy chai latte cost £2.50 for a jumbo size, it was really good very subtle flavour but a little heavy on the cinnamon powder! The cake had a really homemade feel, rich buttery creamy topping which complimented the sponge well. The coconut flavour wasn't overpowering or too sweet. I did think the price was a little high at £2.95, but definitely worth it!

The 'soy ahoy' (£3.50 - jumbo) is a bit of a favourite of of ours - it's got an almost creamy taste, also very yummy and fruity. With the wraps, I was a bit disappointed that they aren't freshly prepared, as they are pre-packed which doesn't really keep with the bohemian mood of the cafe and shop. That said, the calzone was moderately spicy and had a real rich flavour from the chickpeas, very filling and thus good value for money (all wraps are £2.70-£3.00).

General info.... There is free wifi, 10% student discount and hot drink loyalty card 10 stamps = free drink! And there are also 'all day deals' for example latte and scrambled eggs £4.95, soup and wrap £5.50, and tea and cake £3.95.


Find it...Oklahoma, 74-76 High St Manchester
M4 1ES

Overall....we love Oklahoma!!!

Pizza and Pancakes

Lent starts tomorrow, and though I'm not religious I'm using the 40 days as a challenge to foray into veganism. I need to try to eat healthier, particularly when snacking or binging on biscuits or whatnot, and I like to use Lent as a sort of personal test more generally. Being vegan is something I've wanted to do for a while, but have lacked the insight or knowledge on how to properly go about it. So, as I embark on this project I'm going to share experiences by way of a diary on this blog, and also as a means of learning tips and advice from other vegans.

Day -1
I'm excited about tomorrow and have now bought supplies to make my own granola (which I hope to blog about when I get round to making it) as well as soy milk (Tesco had sold out of the hazelnut and almond milks I was keen to try, booo), dairy-free butter, veg, etc. As a sort of farewell to dairy food I fully embraced pancake day by scoffing 3 of them, loaded with chocolate, nutella, lemon, sugar, the usual. We also had Domino's pizza - the gastric combination of which has made me more ready to embrace healthier, greener food over the next few weeks. Talk about going out with a bang...!

The only real apprehension I have right now is what I'll eat on my break at work tomorrow, as our choice of vegan food is currently nil. Luckily I'm working with my fellow Vegebee though, and we're heading out for a bite to eat after work (review to follow). Until tomorrow, then...

Bye bye, cheese and cakes and biscuits...

Marigold Engevita Nutritional Yeast Flakes

So whilst browsing the internet for vegan recipes, nutritional yeast kept making an appearance! Ive never heard of this ingrediant before so I went to Eighth Day Co-op, Vegetarian Healthfood Shop and Cafe, and they had the 125g for only 2.59 which I think is pretty good! Nutritonal yeast is a great way to get B12 into a vegan diet. Its an inactive yeast and tastes kinda cheesy! can be used instead of parmesan in recipes and a topping for popcorn. It is also a complete protein, low in fat and salt and can be dissolved in water. I used it in tofu scramble which gave the tofu a lovely subtle flavour. I will be definately be using this ingrediant in other recipes soon.