Veggie Friendly Friday

Linda McCartney Fish Free Scampi

The thing is when I ate meat and fish I absolutely hated scampi but I can't get enough of this stuff. They look so much like real scampi, creepily real like with the red line down the back like real scampi hmm. But I do trust the Linda McCartney range and the fact it is illegal to lie on produce packets, I think I'm safe These scampi's are incredibly hard to find. I looked all over Cumbria after trying these and the only place I get it is Sainsburys but only sometimes (I have a feeling they're not too popular) They taste like fish and are a great source of protein, however the texture is rather like chicken but I kind of like this in a strange way (I'm really not selling this too you am I?) They can be eaten as a quick snack or a whole meal. 

I tend to eat them the classic scampi way, with chips and peas and lemon and what not. But they can be eaten in loads of ways such as in a seafood stirfry replacement. I can't get enough of this stuff but I can see that they're not for everyone, it seems to be that fake fish is a step too far. I myself think it's a great idea for us veggies.

See what you think if you can get hold of them. 

A Not So Blue Monday

This Monday the things that made me particularly happy were:

-Gareth's new glasses, what can I say (perf)

-The walk me and Gareth's dog Domino had, we had a little adventure in the sun 

-The tiramisu we made, the recipe's so easy here you go:

A whole container of whipping cream

Half a bar of milk chocolate 

A whole packet of ladies finger (or almond fingers we found out)

A cafetiere of fine coffee 

1. After the coffee has been cafetiered pour a small amount into a bowl 

2. Dip the cakey fingers in the coffee, make sure they are soaked through but not soggy

3. Whip the whipping cream and add sugar (this according to Gareth makes chantilly cream ooo ) add as much sugar as you want, we made this up 

4. Add some grated chocolate to the mixture 

5. Place the soaked sponge into a nice dish and a tiny bit more coffee (a tiny bit more like)

6. Take the cream and spread ontop of the sponge, smooth down with a spatula 

7. sprinkle the rest of the grated chocolate on top (or if you're like Gareth make fancy chocolate swirls) 

8. Sprinkle a small amount of coffee for decoration and pop in the fridge 

-The night time stroll we had along the beach, I love going down to the beach at night. It's so silent apart from the waves crashing. Don't go down on your own though because you may slip on some seaweed and that wouldn't be pretty. 

That was my Monday

How was yours ?

Veggie Friendly Friday

Linda McCartney 1/4 lb Mozzarella Burgers

Ah I love the Linda McCartney brand, I love how wholesome the packaging is and how it tells you a little bit about Linda McCartney and her life. But my favourite thing from the Linda McCartney label are these veggie burgers. You see I'm not really a fan of the all too common 'veggie bean burger' bleurgh ! Who wants to eat a cluster of tasteless beans held together by nothing, bread crumbed and fried, no thank you !

That's why I love these burger because they are a soya based beef style burger, which gives you the solid bite of a beef burger without the beef (obviously) Also what they've also done the wee geniuses is added a hunk load of mozzarella cheese into the burger to add to the texture and the taste to make it chewer, so it doesn't fall apart like a bean burger. 

The only problem about these burgers for some vegetarians is the texture. Many people who have turned vegetarian don't like to eat what some people call 'meat substitutes' when the food looks like an actual piece of meat. This burger has this flaw, when I first bought these I was worried about this because the texture of meat makes me a little sick and I didn't find it very ethical as a veggie to eat something that looks exactly like what I'm trying to get away from. But once I tried it I was hooked, the burger doesn't taste like meat, more like a big, hot chunk of cheese in bread mmm but with more solidness to it.

 It is also an exceptional source of protein and iron for all those almost anemic people out there like me. Even if you're not a vegetarian these burgers are a great healthy alternative from the normal fatty beef ones. They fill you up all day and like a normal burger you can have it for lunch or dinner. When my friends are having a barbecue I always tend to bring these along with me because you can barbecue them and they are a great alternative. I usually eat these burgers in a roll with salad and mayo served with chips normally or on its own with fried onions.

I would urge all of you bean burger haters to try this one because you will never go back ! 

Veggie Friendly Friday

A Picky Platter

A selection of cheese, hummus and veggies 

One thing you have to know about being a veggie is that you do not have to eat a meat substitute with every meal. Recently I've been eating a lot of quorn and even though it is good for you and boosts your protein, it can get a little boring. So when Gareth mentioned the words 'Camembert' to me I instantly had this kind of meal in my head we rushed to Asda (straight into the reduced section we're not stupid) and picked up a portion of camembert cheese, 4 different types of hummus (we love our hummus), a sweet potato, some mozzarella, some green beans and sweetcorn and a big loaf of crusty bread.  

These kind of meals are my favourite, just bang everything on a plate and just take what you want. Gareth made sweet potato fries and then chucked in the reduced veg and seasoned it to liven it up again. Then it was just the task of heating up the camembert and the bread and everything was ready to eat, simple as that!

This meal was so satisfying and I was full up all night, it was a nice change from the quorn dishes I've been eating recently and we even had enough hummus for lunch the next day! Now I would say that was a bargain meal made with little to no effort. 

What's your favourite kind of meal ?

Do the Truffle Shuffle !

So me and Gareth have been doing quite abit of baking during the past weeks. This is due to Gareth being a top chef and me just wanting to eat things like all the time. So I decided to share Gareth's top secret (made up) recipe for 3 delicious individually flavoured truffles. 

Basic Truffle Recipe 

I thought I would begin by telling you how to actually make truffles, before we get to the fancy flavourings. 

You will need for these recipes:

• 300g of dark and milk chocolate depending on your tastes, according to Gareth dark works better. 
• 125 ml of cream 

 And that's all that truffles actually are, it's when you begin to flavour them the ingredients mounts up. 

To make a regular truffle:

• Heat a pan of boiling water and place on empty bowl on top of the pan. 
• Place the chocolate into the bowl
• turn down the heat and let the chocolate melt on it's own accord in the first few minutes. This will give the chocolate a shiny texture stirring too much too early can result in rough, gritty chocolate. 
• As the chocolate melts stir occasionally
• Once chocolate is fully melted, take off the heat. 
• Place bowl down and start slowly pouring in the cream.
• As you pour slowly fold in the cream to the chocolate, turning into slower stirs. 
• Once cream is mixed into chocolate place in the fridge to cool. 

Pina-colado Truffles 

Extra ingredients:

• 1 Tin of pineapple rings
• 100g sugar 
• 50g cornflour 
• water
• 100g of desiccated coconut 

• Before melting the chocolate, pop the pineapple into a pan and mash up with a fork
• add sugar and cornflour 
• turn onto a low heat and stew until the mixture is thick and curd like 
• now melt the chocolate and before adding the cream stir in the pineapple curd
• add the cream and cool mixture in the fridge
• Once mixture is cool take a small handful of mixture and roll it into a ball
• Place the ball into the coconut and roll 
• Set onto a tray to cool 
• Once all are rolled in coconut, let truffles set in the fridge for 2 hours. 

Lemon Meringue Pie Truffles 

Extra ingredients:

• 1 Ice cube tray 
• Cocoa Powder Or hot chocolate
• 5 Tbsp Lemon Curd 
• 3 Digestive biscuits 
• Two medium meringues 

• Before melting the chocolate, place curd into a bowl and crumble in the biscuits
• Crumble meringue into the mixture and stir 
• Melt chocolate
• DO NOT ADD CREAM TO THIS MIXTURE 
• Dust cocoa powder onto the icecube tray. This is to stop the chocolate from sticking
• Drip melted chocolate over mould until each one is full
• Spread equally and then tip upside down into the bowl so there is just chocolate left on the outer shell of the mould
• Place in the fridge to set 1 hour
• Next pipe or spoon the curd filling into the chocolate moulds
• Drip the rest of the melted chocolate onto the moulds and spread over the top lightly enough to just cover the filling
• Place in fridge again to set

Choca Mocha Truffles 

Extra Ingredients:

• 1 cup of good quality ground coffee We used Nescafe Azera 
• 1 tbsp of icing sugar

• Before adding the cream boil the kettle and add water into the cup of coffee 
• Wait until completely dissolved and wait to cool 
• When completely cool add the cup slowly into the chocolate and mix
• Add cream and make balls with hands, then roll into a small dusting of icing sugar
• Place in the fridge 

Well I hope you have enjoyed these 3 little tasty recipes. Please do feel free to give them a try, they taste amazing if I do say so myself ! My favourite is the pina-colada because it reminds me of summer and alcohol ! 

 I am not in any way an expert in measurements for this recipe, just because Gareth threw it all together and then gave me the estimates for this blog post (what's he like!) But that's the beauty of truffles you can experiment until chocolate comes out of your ears if you like. Maybe try making your own recipes and getting creative and if you do please let me know so I can try them out too!

Happy cooking and more importantly, happy eating !

See you all soon