2016 Reading Challenge

Bristol Libraries have tweeted a Reading Challenge.  On the basis that one book a month should be do-able, even for someone who struggles to find make enough time to read, I've decided to go for it.  I was attracted by the categories which should provide a wide range of possibilities.  I'm particularly looking forward to reading a book that was banned at some point.

 

What's more, I'm proud to announce that I have already ticked my first box, ie a book you can finish in a day.

A while ago I borrowed Food Rules by Michael Pollan from the library.  I skimmed through it but didn't take time to read it properly until I received an email from the library to say that it had been recalled.  So this afternoon I read it from cover to cover.  It's an expansion of Pollan's philosophy on food, namely 'Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.' and is packed with commonsense rules to help steer us away from our modern processed food diet to a more traditional one of natural products, simply prepared and carefully eaten.  My favourites include 'Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognise as food', 'Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the colour of the milk' and 'Break the rules once in a while'.

PS  As the mother of a third year art student I should mention that it is exquisitely illustrated, although I can see no indication of the identity of the artist.

What's for tea?

One of the joys of blogging is being inspired by other bloggers.  Eliane over at faites simple has challenged herself to plan her week's meals in advance on Sunday evening and to make better use of her 'embarrassingly unused cookbook library'.

This is something I have tried at various points in my life.  When I succeed it transforms my week.  No more midday panics over what we're going to eat that evening, no getting halfway through a recipe only to discover that I'm missing a key ingredient, no nasty discoveries at the back of the fridge ...

So this week I'll be (mainly) cooking from Rose Prince's the new english kitchen.

Monday
Haggis, neeps & tatties (in celebration of Rabbie Burns)

Tuesday
Baked chick peas, peppers & potatoes with yoghurt sauce

Wednesday
Butternut squash risotto

Thursday
Braised red lentils with lime juice & feta

Friday
Tamarind fish stew (from the freezer)

Saturday
Chicken curry (from the freezer)

Sunday
Beef braised with rhubarb

Sustainable

I have succumbed to the recent trend of choosing a word to inspire me during the course of the year ahead.  I pride myself on not jumping on bandwagons but on this occasion I think it makes sense.  Traditional new year's resolutions can very easily, or at least in my experience, become hostages to fortune.  A word is so much more forgiving, especially if it's regarded as being more of an aspiration rather than a fixed goal post.

Anyway, my word for 2016 is 'sustainable'.

It has been prompted by recent events including the Paris Climate Change Conference and the floods in the north of England and Scotland.  The environmental aspect of it is fairly obvious but I'd like to extend it to other areas of my life.  Here are some of the ways in which I'd like to see it work out in practice:

• I'd like to eat less meat and more plants
• I'd like to cut down even further on my energy consumption
• I'd like to get rid of more 'stuff', preferably to other people rather than landfill
• I'd like to get more sleep
• I'd like to redress my work/life balance
• I'd like to make more time for people
• I'd like to grow more of my own food and prepare more meals from scratch
• I'd like to push sustainability higher up on the agenda during the coming electoral campaigns

There's plenty to be getting on with!

This Weekend

This weekend ...

... I paid an early morning visit to Sanctum where I listened to an intriguing soundscape and a tap dancer, followed by breakfast at Harts Bakery

... I helped plant an orchard on a derelict plot in Bedminster

... I attended Quaker Meeting for Worship where a Friend reminded us that hope does not always have a happy ending.  It's tenuous and sometimes you have to hold on tight to stop it slipping from your grasp.

30 Day Vegan Challenge: The Verdict

Post Challenge Breakfast

I had every intention of posting my reflections on my 30 Day Vegan Challenge weeks ago, while it was still fresh in my mind.  However best laid plans ...

Anyway, here goes:

To begin with, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd imagined (feared?).  Or at least not for most of the time.

It took me a week or so to find an acceptable substitute for milk in my tea.  I experimented with almond (which curdled!) and oat (which was too watery), before settling on soya, which didn't separate and gave a good colour.  It had a slightly chalky taste which I almost, but not quite, got used to.

I bought a tub of industrial looking vegan sunflower spread which was alright if I spread it thinly and and topped it generously with jam or avocado.  I reluctantly succumbed to a tub of sheeze(!) but had reason to be grateful for it on more than one occasion when I returned home hungry and needed something to keep me going until tea time.

Apart from that it was relatively plain sailing.  I did need to think ahead, but even on days when I failed to do so, I always came up with something perfectly edible.

It helped that I love soup, and virtually anything with rice, pasta, rice noodles or couscous.  As a base for lentils, vegetables or tofu in a tomato or coconut sauce, livened with herbs or spices, the possibilities were endless.

Entertaining at home wasn't a problem.  When my younger daughter arrived with a gaggle of her university friends (one of them a vegan) I was able to offer tasty alternatives to cottage pie, cake and a Sunday morning fry up.  Anna Jones' A Modern Way to Eat was a valuable resource.  Her mushroom biryani which I cooked for for a couple of our friends is bookmarked for future use.

Eating out was almost as easy, with one notable exception.  Bristol is well served with restaurants and cafes offering vegan alternatives which don't leave you feeling you've missed out.  A day trip to Salisbury was trickier.  We stumbled on a brasserie with a fixed price menu offering one vegan sounding dish per course.  I have to admit to not having asked any probing questions for fear of having to go hungry.  The notable exception was a local pub whose only vegan options were a soup and a sharing platter, neither of which constituted a proper meal.

There were a couple of shared meals during the course of the month, both of which offered enough choice to keep me happy.  A friend's kitchen warming party was not so successful, with plates laden with the most gorgeous dairy rich cakes I've seen in a long time.  If it hadn't been for a bowlful of pakoras I'd have wept with frustration.

I lost 2 kg.  Whether this was as a result of cutting out cheese and butter, or being unable to partake of the omnipresent selection of cakes and biscuits in the staffroom, I don't know, but I wasn't complaining.

Having decided to steer clear of meat substitutes and ready made meals (though I discovered a tasty felafel mix and Aldi do excellent burgers), the challenge forced me to cook from scratch, to eat more vegetables (though strangely not more fruit), to rediscover tofu, to introduce nuts and seeds into my diet and to play with colour and texture.

Breakfast on the day after my challenge ended was a bacon and egg fry up washed down with a cup of tea made with cow's milk.  Never did they taste so good.  But it's not been back to business as usual.  Having discovered that I can manage without any meat I'm going to try and live on less, restricting it to the weekend and special occasions and, ideally, as a flavouring rather than the centrepiece of the meal.  I'm back to using milk and butter, but will go easier on the cheese.  There will be more grains and nuts and seeds, and fish from our new fishmonger on Thursdays and Fridays.  And I've got to find space for more (any!) fruit.

30 Day Vegan Challenge

I'm now 9 days into my 30 Day Vegan Challenge.  Time for a few initial reflections.

• I've had to accept that my beloved cuppa will never taste as good as it does with cow's milk.  I have been experimenting with some of the impressive range of alternatives.  Soya milk tastes chalky and rice & almond milk curdles.  Oat milk has proved to be the most acceptable, but none of them produce a liquid of the right colour.
• Porridge, however, is improved with being made with rice and almond milk.  I suspect this will hold true for rice pudding.
• Avocado on toast makes a good breakfast, spiked with a few drops of Tabasco and a squirt of lemon juice.
• Vegan margarine looks like it belongs in a garage.
• You can't go wrong with olive oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, a tin of beans (any variety) and a shake of dried herbs (again, any variety).  Served with a grain, the job's a good 'un.
• Vegan risotto is alright, but would be even better with the addition of crispy bacon and a sprinkling of parmesan.
• Tofu fried until crisp on the edges is a thing of beauty.
• Adding water to a carrot cake mixture is scary, but it works.
• Wagamama's Yasai Katsu Curry is yummier than the chicken version (my younger daughter's verdict and, believe you me, she's an expert!).
• It didn't take long before I relented and bought a tub of 'Sheeze'.
• Watching The Hairy Bikers and The Great British Bake Off while undertaking this challenge is not helpful (which is when the 'Sheeze' came in handy!).

October Challenge: A Preview

Yes I know.  There's still more than a week of September to go, but I'm going to need a little help with my next challenge, so I'm making this appeal in plenty of time to learn from the experiences of others.

My challenge for October is to eat vegan.  For some time now I have been attempting (not always successfully) to be a semi vegetarian, ie restricting meat consumption to the weekends and special occasions.  I'm doing this mainly for ecological reasons, to limit my contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, but also for health reasons, to limit my intake of saturated fat and to hit my 5-a-day target.

However, in October I'm going to try and go one step further and cut out animal products altogether.  At first I thought this would be a doddle, but the more I think about it the more problematic it grows.  My main concerns are around alternatives for milk (I can't do without my morning cuppa!), eggs (no cakes? no puddings?) and cheese (I'm not convinced by any of the alternatives).  What will I eat for breakfast?  What can I order when I eat out?  What can I put on the table when I've only half an hour between getting home from work and going out for the evening?  How can I tell at a glance whether something I pick off the shelf is vegan?  What are the ingredients to look out for?  How can I ensure that I maintain a balanced diet and don't run myself down?

I know there are people out there who have the answers to these questions.  If you're one of them please share your wisdom below.  I will be most grateful.