Vegan Life Issue 4

These past couple of weeks I’ve been savouring my copy of Vegan Life Issue 4. Usually I get through magazines in a flash, but there’s so much to read in this one.

Vegan Life Issue 4

As usual, the magazine gave me plenty to think about and invoked so many emotions… sadness and despair while reading about the plight of Moon bears and Angora rabbits in China…

Moon Bears

… to hope and optimism when reading about the plethora of vegan businesses popping up all over the globe.

The feature on vegan cosmetics was timely as my make-up bag is in desperate need of an overhaul. Most of its contents are years old (probably older than Lil’ L!) and from The Body Shop (which I mistakenly thought was natural / cruelty free). It was fantastic to hear there are so many vegan cosmetic brands available these days.

It was also useful to learn about the animal-derived ingredients to watch out for including beeswax and honey; lanolin (wool grease); squalene (shark liver oil); carmine (crushed beetles); tallow (animal fat); collagen (placenta-derived); allantoin (cow urine); and elastin (animal connective tissue).

Vegan Life Issue 4

This morning I did a little online research into vegan cosmetic brands and I was amazed at how many there are available here in the UK. I came across an online shop called Honesty Cosmetics which sells 100% vegan products. They stock Beauty without Cruelty, Lavera Trend Sensitiv and Benecos Natural Beauty (the vegan range). Their products really appeal to me as they’re natural and organic as well as vegan. I’m really looking forward to refreshing my make-up bag. It’s long overdue!

On the food front, I was so happy to see El Piano featured in this month’s issue. A vegan Spanish restaurant? Now that’s something I never dreamed I’d see in my lifetime! I’m heading to Spain soon, and my Spanish friends told me that it could be difficult to find vegan options there. From what I’ve heard, Spain sounds a bit like my experience of France, where pigs (ham/chorizo) seem to end up in most dishes, even the vegetable ones :/

El Piano

So you can imagine how delighted I was to discover that El Piano has branches in Malaga and Granada… two places that I’ll be visiting during my travels. It’s going to be so refreshing to be able to head into a Spanish restaurant and know that I can eat anything on the menu. Happy Days 😀

This issue of Vegan Life is jam-packed with tasty recipes too. We’ve already tried Tara Stiles’ Portobello mushroom burger from the Make Your Own Rules Diet book (featured on the front cover). It was super easy to make, so perfect for a Saturday night movie dinner. My brain is already whizzing with ideas of variations on the Portobello Burger theme.

I’ve also tried Jane Easton’s Indian-Style Padma Pancakes (from the Viva! cookbook). Most weeks I make a big batch of curry and we serve it with rice one night, then the leftovers are stuffed into pitta breads for lunchboxes or flatbreads/pancakes for another evening dinner. I often make chickpea pancakes as they’re rich in protein and iron, but I usually flavour mine with paprika/chilli/oregano, rather than Indian spices. I was intrigued to find out how they would taste.

Vegan Life Issue 4 Recipe

Chickpea pancakes can sometimes be quite dry or heavy, but these came out just perfect. They were light, yet sturdy enough to flip and roll. The recipe suggested flavouring them with turmeric and ground fenugreek or asafoetida powder. I found a bottle of asafoetida powder at the back of my pantry which I’d not even opened. I thought this would be a good time to dust it off and give it a try.

Oh my word, I don’t think I’ve ever been so repelled by a flavour. Seriously, I nearly barfed! It’s hard to describe the flavour but, to me, it tasted like an intense ‘eggy’ flavour, maybe ‘eggs gone bad’. Argh even now I’m shuddering at the thought of it. Maybe I had a bad batch?

Second time round, I used ground cumin, a little turmeric, fresh red chilli pepper and fresh coriander (cilantro). This flavour combo worked much better for me. For the filling, I used our Sweet Potato, Red Lentil and Coconut Curry leftovers. This was my lunch today and it was so good! I’ll definitely be making it again.

Indian Chickpea Pancake

As you can tell, this latest Issue of Vegan Life has given me plenty of food for thought AND for my belly hehe 😉

Did you manage to get hold of a copy yourself? If so, have you tried any of the recipes yet?

If you use vegan cosmetics, I’d love to hear your recommendations. Do you know of any UK high street shops that sell vegan cosmetics we can try before we buy?

Vegan Life is UK-based magazine, available worldwide both in hard copy and digital formats. Check out this link to find out more.

16 thoughts on “Vegan Life Issue 4

  1. Planned to subscribe but it was cost prohibitive. I am in the US and it would be in excess of $80.00. If they come up with a digital version that would be great. Glad you are enjoying it!!

    1. Hi Gina! Vegan Life has just launched a digital version of the magazine in the form of an interactive app. It’s available worldwide for a yearly subscription of £9.99. You can also buy single issues for £1.99, which is great if you want to check it out before subscribing. If you search the app store on your device for Vegan Life Magazine it should come up. You can also subscribe via this link: http://veganlifemag.co.uk/app/
      If you have any problems downloading it, don’t hesitate to give me a shout x

  2. I love this magazine, have been really impressed with it so far. I download it on my iPad but haven’t got round to reading this issue yet… looks great as usual. I definitely need to sort out my cosmetics! Did you find anywhere that does testers in-store?

    1. Hey Aimee! So far I’ve found Lush and Superdrug (B.Makeup) that have in-store testers. I really want to try Too Faced cosmetics too as they get great reviews. Debenhams sell them (http://www.debenhams.com/beauty/too-faced) so I’m going to check my local store tomorrow. Urban Decay is also cruelty-free & marks their vegan products (http://www.urbandecay.com/commitments/commitments.html). For my next birthday, I think I’ll do a make up ‘wish list’. It’d be so cool to have a whole new set of vegan cosmetics to try 🙂

  3. Ooooh this magazine always has me drooling!!

    I use lush often as its vegan, and lime crime has vegan products, too.. I love lime crime lipsticks but there is also some controversies around the company… I think ELF company is vegan and cruelty free as well…

    The chickpea pancakes look incredible!!!

    1. I’m so happy to hear you’d recommend Lush make up. We’ve got a huge new store in Bath which I’ve not been in yet, so I’ll head there tomorrow and check it out. I’m sure they’ll be happy for me to try out the make up… usually the minute I step in the shop they’re running over to rub creams into me. I got a great arm massage from one of the shop staff on my last visit 😉

  4. With a little help from you and your posts about the Vegan Life magazine I went and bought myself a subscription, I couldn’t miss out anymore! I’m so glad I did, its a great mag :o)

    1. Yay! It’s a great read isn’t it? I’m so happy that it’s going monthly from May 😀 I’ve found it so hard waiting 2 months for the next issue!

  5. Hello!
    Just found your blog today- looking forward to reading more once I have a bit more time.
    Just curious- where are you headed to in Spain? I’m from Canada, but was in the Seville area last year and found a few great vegan friendly restaurants. 🙂

    1. Hey Natalie! Lovely to hear from you! I am actually planning on visiting Seville during our trip & it’s so exciting to hear there are vegan-friendly restaurants there! Can you remember their names? If so, please do let me know as I’d love to check them out 😀 Thank you so much! xx

      1. Hi Sharon- I tend to forget details, so I wrote a quick journal from each day in Spain with restaurant names included. 🙂
        In Seville- Arte y Sabor near Almada de Hercules and Habanita. (Habanita has these banana balls in tomato sauce that you HAVE TO try!)
        If you venture to Ronda, the Spice Trail was quite good.
        Enjoy!

        1. Oh wow, I’m even more excited about my trip now 😀 Banana balls in tomato sauce? Yep, I’m definitely going to have to give those babies a try 😉 I am planning to visit Ronda too, so I’ll check out the Spice Trail.
          Thank you so much again Natalie for helping me out. I’m so glad you kept that journal! Have a wonderful weekend ♥ xx

  6. Hi,
    Read your comment about asafetida. That is one spice that should be used very carefully. If you use more than a pinch or roast it too much, it can overwhelm the dish you are preparing.

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