Tasty Tuesday

Today on Tasty Tuesday I have had an idea for making raw "cottage pie". So this recipe requires a "mashed potatoes" topping with a "meaty" gravy base. I thought about this at work because someone was eating something that looked like cottage pie. It used to be one of my favourite meals as a meat eater, especially topped with melted cheese...so now I want to try and make a raw version because I like getting creative in the kitchen.

I already know what the mash will be made from. It will be cauliflower. Below are some receipes that I will consider using and modifying for my pie.

Megan Elizabeth's video

The Rawtarian recipe

I do not want to add any salt or oil to my mash and the only issue I have with Megan's recipe is the coconut meat, because I do not think I can get my hands on a coconut she describes. I want to experiment with using a nut milk/cream to make it more sloppy like my mash potatoes would be and this will hopefully make it creamy. I know there is a whole controversy about nuts being raw, but on my "fully raw" year I will eat some nuts (in milk form) and I am having nutritional yeast too.

For the "meaty" base layer I need to find a good raw gravy recipe so I can marinate some vegetables in it before topping with the mash. The vegetables I am thinking about using are probably going to be onion, mushrooms, a small amount of carrot, some other soft vegetables and I want to shred/grate something with a chewy texture that can be the "meat".

I have a feeling I will struggle with the gravy. Again I want to avoid oil. I want this meal to be low fat, plus with the nut milk the gravy will have to contain as little fat as possible.

This is going to be a work in progress, but please do wait for the outcome. I'm sure I will try it soon :)

Much love

Jennifer x

Monday Musings

I am feeling like my week is so structured that I need freedom with my blog. I may keep certain days the same, but Make it Monday will only appear again when I actually make something!

Today I thought a lot about kissing. It was mentioned in a group I'm in on Facebook that a few people have never kissed a vegan, so it filled my thoughts most of the morning. As far as I'm aware there are no vegan guys at my work, so my daydreams of kissing a vegan from work will not come true...but I'd still like some lip action sometime soon! (I have kissed a vegan by the way)

My colleagues have accepted my random giggling now, but when I giggle it's often because of the thoughts I have like above. I remember in university one of my tutors said "I'd love to be inside your head to know what you think about" (or something along those lines). Oh yes, my head is a crazy place to be!

I've decided that I'm going to stop using Facebook so much. I've uninstalled the messenger app and taken the website off my homepage and bookmarks. I have not checked it today and I don't intend to. My phone battery life is almost full because of this!

Some things have put the internet into perspective for me recently. I need to spend more time reading my books and less time maintaining cyber friendships. If you want to be my friend I want texts or phone calls or even better face to face contact, no more Facebook.

So on that note I am off. 

Enjoy your evening

Much love

Jennifer x

Soulful Sunday

I guess this describes how I'm feeling! 

The internet is continuing to make me crazy!

I had a lot of thoughts...

Sleepy Saturday

I admit I've been lazy. Winter is really killing me off. My schedule has not started yet. 13 hours of work last week hurt my eyes. They've been bloodshot since. I am not feeling my normal self, so my focus is off already! Still raw though :-)

Let's start from Monday.

Much love

Jennifer x

Fun Friday

Welcome to Fun Friday!

It's a bit later than normal because I went shopping with my dad for wallpaper samples and then we watched some terrible English soaps, but today I felt like I wanted to watch brainless TV!

So, I am listening to Britney Spears and I want to dedicate this post to some of her videos and songs that I love and can have fun singing and dancing to.

An absolute classic.

Oops I did it again

One of my favourites

(You drive me) Crazy

This one had me dancing for years!

I'm a Slave 4 U

This version of the song is the best in my opinion and it features Austin Powers ;)

Boys 

(I love the dance from 2 mins onward)

No other song says Britney's back and she doesn't give a whaaaaat like this one

Gimme more

This has to be one of her best songs ever

Stronger

I love it when Britney dances

Till the World Ends

And as she has made a come back this is her first release from her latest album

Work B**ch

What I've learned from Britney is...

Work for what you want, keep dancing till the world ends, I am stronger for all the stuff I go through that tests me, people will still be wanting more, I also love boys (as in males, I prefer them to be 24+ and less than 40), I also love dancing, some boys drive me crazy and keep me up at night and no matter how innocent I appear I'll probably break your heart.

I love Britney. 

Much love

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Welcome to Think Thursday!

Last year I decided to go vegan, first I went vegetarian in January and then towards the end of February I stopped eating dairy (although my official vegan anniversary date is 19th May). I went vegan with the intention of being a raw vegan, so I was high raw for days and then I'd give in to my cooked food cravings, or I'd see some vegan food I'd never tried before and ate that. I always felt like I let myself down. 

I did two fully raw 30 day challenges and kept disappointing myself by eating cooked foods. The weird part is this, I had been telling myself for the last few months that I would be fully raw from January 1st and so far I have not craved cooked food (that normally happens on the first day because I am "denying" myself of something). 

I think the fact that I had thought about it for a few months and made it my resolution, my body has just accepted it so far. As long as I stay prepared then I can only win in this situation.

So my thoughts are that as long as you think about something, set a date and make sure you are prepared for the commitment and your plan is easy to implement and maintain, then your body and mind can just make that switch over night.

I know it is only the 2nd of January and tough times may lie ahead (this is my 3rd raw day), but I am feeling really confident now about this. In fact I am super excited about the journey that I will have this year by eating fully raw.

Have you ever experienced anything like this before?

Much love

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday

Welcome to Wishful Wednesday!

As it is the start of a new year we now have 365 days (including today) to do something to make our wishes come true by the end of the year!

I wish to eat a lot of durian this year.

Photos from a Google search, I should try to reference where they are from...

And I'd love to be eating it alongside Durianrider ;)

Much love

Jennifer x