Virtuelicious

I'm joined by the fabulous Rebecca Heap for a good old chinwag about fuss free cooking whilst camping. We come up with a brilliant menu for a weekend away which makes it easy to cook. No more slaving away over the bbq and certainly no more charred sausages. We're talking healthy, tasty, filling food without the hassle. Sounds good right? And if you like the menu you can purchase the kit here: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/product/camping-kit/

Whilst we're at it we put the world to rights - did you know 250,000 tents were left at festivals last year? Crazy! Well Rebecca is doing amazing things to help reduce this waste. She has created a wonderful tent marketplace where you can rent out or rent a tent. I love this idea! So no need to buy new tents for one off trips. It's a great way to make some money if you own your own tent too. Definitely check it out: https://www.tentshare.co.uk

Are you looking for inspiration to make this pancake day a bit different? If you love pancake day as much as I do then you'll love this video! 

I'm joined by Ankita Stopa of One Girl and her Thermie to have chinwag about our favourite pancake recipes including Indian and Japanese pancakes. 

We discuss how to make pancakes that are suitable for different occasions and food intolerances.   

See my blog on pancakes here: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/pancake-day-recipe-ideas/ 

See Ankita's Japanese okonomiyaki pancake recipe here:  https://onegirlandherthermie.co.uk/okonomiyaki/ 

For more quick recipe inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/Virtuelicious and https://www.instagram.com/virtuelicious/

And here's the peri peri seasoning I mentioned: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/product/peri-peri-kit/

Want to win the meal planner journal? To be in with a chance all you have to do is sign up to my newsletter and when you receive any newsletter from Virtuelicious just reply saying you want to win. That's it! You can sign up from the blog post, just scroll to the bottom of the page to get to the sign up form. Here's the link: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips 

Good luck! xx

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

Add the va va voom factor

• always have onions, garlic, ginger and chillies to hand
• pre-prepare then and either refrigerate or freeze
• don’t be afraid of using ready made blends - just check the label for nasties. Here are mine: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/shop/
• keep the water from steaming or boiling veg - it can make a tasty hot drink or use it to add flavour to sauces
• add texture with seeds, nuts, croutons or raw diced veg e.g. peppers
• make your plate visually appealing with colour and garnishes

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

Eat more veg

• again, batch cooking is key. Roast or steam a load of veg when you get it home from the supermarket. Then store in a large container ready to pick on and add to dishes whenever you want it.
• hide veg in dishes e.g. add pureed veg to pasta sauce, grate parsnip into rice
• sub carbs for veg e.g. cauliflower rice

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

Keep your carbs in check

• eat a variety of grains
• choose wholegrains where possible to keep yourself fuller for longer
• batch cook, portion up and freeze so that they are ready whenever you want them
• substitute some of your carbs for pulses e.g. reduce the amount of pasta on your plate and replace some of it with butter beans; likewise, add beans or vegetables to rice.
• try not to have carbs with carbs e.g. potato curry with rice or a chip butty
• replace breakfast with a non-carb/low-carb alternative e.g. smoothie, rosti, fry up etc.

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

Eat More Protein

• eat more protein by eating more pulses
• make your own hummus (you can get my recipe blend here: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/product/hummus-recipe-kit/)
• sprout your own beans (so much cheaper than buying then sprouted)
• batch cook pulses - a slow cooker works wonders for this
• add nuts and seeds to meals e.g. cashew nuts in your curries, seeds on your porridge

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

Ensuring a balanced diet

Whatever type of vegan you decide to be, ensuring you eat a balanced diet is a must. All too often turning vegetarian or vegan results in a carb heavy, low protein diet. It’s just so much easier to put on a pan of pasta and top with pasta sauce than it is to bake a lasagna packed with lentils and vegetables - that’s just one example. But that lasagna can be portioned up and frozen so you have a nutritious ready meal whenever you want it. It just takes planning.

Make sure that each meals contains protein, carbs, vegetables and what I like to call va va voom.

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

Be prepared

Going vegan is a big change. It requires planning. If you want to eat a balanced diet of largely unprocessed foods then you can do that but it takes a bit of work upfront. My 3-Hour Cooking Week e-book can help with this. It’s a vegetarian plan but with a few swaps the meals can be turned into vegan ones. Get it here:  https://virtuelicious.co.uk/product/3-hour-cooking-week-e-book/

Set aside some time to do your meal planning. Get your diary out and work out when you’ll be home and when you’ll need food to take with you on the go, especially when a vegan meal may not be an option.

Work out what meals you want and when you will have time to prepare them. And make sure you set aside time to do the shopping.

Batch cook so that you have some to eat now, leftovers in the fridge and portions in the freezer for another day. Don’t forget to portion up the food so that you can defrost one portion at a time.

Make sure you always have something ready to eat for when you get home ravenous. And don’t forget the snacks!

My meal planner journal covers all this and more: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/product/meal-planner-journal/

Read the blog: https://virtuelicious.co.uk/veganuary-tips and listen to the last episode to find out how to win the mean planner journal.

What’s your motivations for going vegan? Is it to save the planet or is it for health reasons? Do you want to eat more “clean” foods? Do you want to focus on upping your cooking skills? Do you want to loose weight? Or are you just trying to prove to yourself that you can do it?

Whatever your reason, it is worth spending a bit of time thinking about what you want your diet to look like. Changing your diet can mean spending a lot more time in the kitchen. But it doesn’t have to mean that at all.

It is possible to eat largely the same as you did before (depending on how you ate before, of course) by swapping out foods for their vegan alternatives. You can get a lot of vegan look-a-likes e.g. bacon, sausages, meatloaf, beef, charcuterie, tuna, black pudding, haggis, fish, milk, cheese, spread…nearly everything. Eating like this will save lots of time and effort. It will also be expensive and if your goal is to eat foods that look like what they are made of then this may not be for you. Check out this shop for vegan alternatives: https://thevegankind.com