Ferment Your Vegetables by Amanda Feifer – Book Review

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at fermenting vegetables, so when I was invited to review Amanda Feifer’s new book ‘Ferment Your Vegetables – A Fun and Flavorful Guide to Making Your Own Pickles, Kimchi, Kraut and More’, I jumped at the chance.

For those of you who have yet to come to across the lovely Amanda Feifer, she is a Philadelphia-based fermentation teacher and blogger at Phickle.com. I would love to attend one of her workshops one day, but since this is unlikely to happen anytime soon considering she lives all the way over in Philly, acquiring her book was definitely the next best thing.

Ferment Your Vegetables Front Cover

The opening section – Getting Started with Fermentation – provides everything you need to know when embarking on fermentation for the first time, including need-to-know basics; keys to successful fermentation; and what to expect when you’re fermenting.

It also quells any fears you may have about the safety of fermenting. Continue reading “Ferment Your Vegetables by Amanda Feifer – Book Review”

Flaunt Your Haunt – Bath City, UK

Today, I’m taking part in the Travelodge #FlauntYourHaunt campaign and I’m going to share what I love about my home city. I’ve lived in Bath for sixteen years now, but not a day goes past that I don’t count my lucky stars that I ended up in this incredible place!

So what makes Bath so special to me?

Bath Abbey in November

Continue reading “Flaunt Your Haunt – Bath City, UK”

Reflexology with Sarah Durrant at The Lansdown Clinic, Bath

Last Thursday, I visited Sarah Durrant at The Lansdown Clinic in Bath for a session of reflexology.*

Reflexology by Sarah

For those unfamiliar with reflexology, it’s a gentle and relaxing complementary therapy based on the theory that reflex areas in the feet (as well as hands) correspond to every gland, organ and part of the body. Stimulation of specific points can affect the corresponding area and help to alleviate problems and restore balance in the body.

Reflexology can help to relieve a whole host of health issues, including: Continue reading “Reflexology with Sarah Durrant at The Lansdown Clinic, Bath”

The Vegan Kind’s 2nd Anniversary plus a UK Giveaway!

I can’t believe it’s already been a whole year since I wrote this post celebrating TVK’s first anniversary, and two years since I received my first ever TVK box! I still get extremely excited when it’s “TVK time”, perhaps even more so than ever. Just when I think they can’t possibly get any better, the TVK team will send out a box that totally blows me away.

These past twelve months, TVK has introduced us to 58 brands and 67 vegan products, almost all of which were new to me.

TVK 2nd Year Collage 2

I love the fact that the boxes include a mix of edible items as well as toiletries and household products. This really sets TVK apart from other vegan subscription boxes.

From what I recall, this past year, all products included in the boxes (bar one luxury moisturiser) have been full size – including the shower gels and shampoos! I hear other subscription boxes include a lot of samples, so this is a big bonus point to TVK. Continue reading “The Vegan Kind’s 2nd Anniversary plus a UK Giveaway!”

Quick and Easy Macaroni Cheese. Vegan Life Issue 10

When I was a kid, macaroni cheese was one of my all-time favourite comfort foods. Sadly this childhood favourite turned into the ultimate ‘discomfort’ food for me in my 20s, when my intolerance to dairy became acute. With almost instant flare ups of eczema, stomach cramps and joint pain, the pay off for indulging in this dairy-laden dish just wasn’t worth it.

It was probably a good ten years before I tucked into a cheesy pasta dish again. And it was thanks to the highly creative vegan food blogger community that I discovered how cheese sauces could be replicated using non dairy ingredients.

These past few years, I’ve tried a whole host of non dairy ‘mac n cheese’ recipes and have experimented with a few of my own. I now have a favourite self-devised vegan ‘cheese’ sauce recipe which I use for pasta dishes, which the family absolutely loves (and has hidden veggies inside!) but I’m always on the lookout for new ones to try. So when I saw the tantalizing macaroni cheese shot on the cover of November’s Vegan Life magazine, I couldn’t wait to check out the recipe.

Vegan Life Issue 10

I was intrigued to find that the ‘cheese’ sauce is actually a dry mix that you can make ahead of time and store in the pantry. It was devised by Miyoko Schinner (the blogger behind Artisan Vegan Life) and appears in her recently published book The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples.

The recipe sounded so simple to make. I couldn’t wait to give it a try! It’s dairy-free and gluten-free so this is a great dish to serve to anyone that’s vegan or  gluten / dairy intolerant. Continue reading “Quick and Easy Macaroni Cheese. Vegan Life Issue 10”

Indian-Spiced Cauliflower Rice and Vegan Life Issue 9

Vegan Life Issue 9 Cover collage

It’s been just over a year now since Vegan Life launched here in the UK and, for me, this magazine just gets better and better. I love the variety of features it covers. This month, I especially enjoyed the interviews with Born Free president Bill Travers OBE, who explained the reasons why he has recently gone vegan,

Born Free Collage

and the interview with Earthlings director Shaun Monson. After reading the article I checked out the trailer for his new film Unity. It looks awesome! Has anyone seen it yet? Continue reading “Indian-Spiced Cauliflower Rice and Vegan Life Issue 9”