Vegan Effect

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 29th of April 2021 This classic dish is easily veganise with modern mock meats.  This is much easier than you might think.  In a conversation with my meat loving brother and his partner, they both claimed that they don't have the time to prepare a health vegan dinner or healthy any kind of dinner.  They just want something to through in the oven and have done with it. Well this is a very simple and spectacular dinner in no time at all.  All you have to do is cut up some veg and make some stock by boiling a kettle.  You can even cut out the frying the onion and garlic if you want.  In short, this is quick and different with great taste and nutrition. You can have it with rice or potatoes.  Lemon Facts Lemons are thought to be good at elevating depression. The origin of lemons is unknown.  Lemons are packed with vitamin C.  Lemons are symbolic of romance and spiritual cleansing. Lemons wh...

By McDonald, T.   |  Updated 01 of July 2021 All vegans need to pay attention to nutrition since some vitamins you can't get from vegetables.   This is way you may have heard or even seen on food packaging about foods fortified with things like B12.  However, it is easy to miss out on a balanced diet if you neglect to investigate nutrition.  B12 Why is it important?  Without B12, serious health problems can occur such as: Permanent nerve damage Depression A pale yellow tinge to your skin Irritability Pernicious anaemia Function B12 helps to keeps nerve and blood cells healthy.  It also helps to made DNA in the cells.  B12 loses the protein it is bond to and then binds to another protein in the body called intrinsic factor allowing it to be absorbed. If the body can't make intrinsic factor, it is difficult for the body to absorb B12 resulting in Pernicious anaemia (NIH, 2021). Foods With B12 For vegans, this will have to come from either fortif...

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 26th of April 2021 Vegan pies are great!  I find the pastry to be fantastic and the filling to be satisfying.  Above is a Plant Chef no meat vegan pie, which i had with mash and cabbage.  The pie filling is  seasoned Seitan in gravy that was great although it did seem a little light on the filling.  On the whole this pie was differently a winner with me and not the only one.  Yes, plant Chef have another vegan pie.   Plant Chef Vegan Pies The Plant Chef Savoury pie has mushrooms in, but i felt it was a little thin on the filling.  It was, however, still very tasty and had a great pastry case.   Savoury Pie Vegan Pukka Pies Vegan chicken and mushroom pie.  In short, this had a great filling, but there wasn't much of it.  However, it was a nice pie and the pastry was OK. Vegan Chicken Pie Vegan mince and onion pie.  This had more filling and had a great taste.  O...

  Banana bread with figs and cherries Banana bread with cranberries and nuts Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 2nd of April 2023     This recipe is the best I have for banana bread.  It is low in salt and high in taste!  It is very simple to make and easy to eat.  I wanted something that was easy, healthy, and tasty so I looked around for the perfect recipe, but I just couldn't find what I was looking for.  Don't get me wrong, they were all great, but I wanted something vegan and simple so I came up with this.  It is firm but not too chewy and just sweet enough.  When it comes to banana bread, I like it to be more like bread pudding than bread and that is what this recipe gives.  If you like to watch how to make the recipe, a video is provided at the end of the blog.  In addition, it is possible to use different fruits and nuts and you can leave out the apple sauce if you are concerned about packaging. 

By McDonald, T.   |  Date 20th of April 2021 At first most people think, 'What?  Cauliflower Steaks!' However, you will never know what you are missing until you try it for yourself.  Easy to prepare and only takes 25 minutes in the oven and is a very tasty vegan steaks.  Give it a black pepper and paprika coating and be prepared to be amazed! Ingredients  Cauliflower Ground black pepper   Ground paprika  Balsamic vinegar Olive oil Method You will need to start with a whole cauliflower and cut away all the leaves and leave the stalk.  From the middle part of the cauliflower, cut a Steaks about 1 - 2 cm thick.       Coat the steak in place pepper, paprika and olive oil.  Place in a baking dish with a little balsamic vinegar.  Cover and bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees.  When you take it out of the oven, it should be tender to a folk.  Cauliflower Steak fresh from the oven Serve either on its own ...

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 19th of April 2021 Jacket potatoes are the best!  I love a good baked potato for a simple dinner.  You can have them with all sorts of filling that can be hot or cold.  This time i have opted for a cold filling.   Ingredients Vegan cheese  Bell pepper Garlic Olives Onion   Vegan mayo Cider vinegar  Method Great the vegan cheese Chop everything up and mix together Add the vegan mayo and the cider vinegar and mix again  Serve with the jacket potato I had mine with broccoli and cabbage with some nutritional yeast sprinkled on top for extra flavour and nutrition. Garnished with basil. Please like, share and subscribe. Thanks.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 24th of November 2021      This is a quick and easy recipe that has no added salt or sugar.  I have also tried to keep the waste down to a minimum.  The lemon gives it that fresh taste while the chilli adds a little heat.  This dish is surprisingly creamy and has a smooth texture.  Great for those burritos! Waste 1 tin can  I have added paprika to make it look better but it is not needed for the recipe.  The chilli peppers may or may not come in a plastic bag, so you may have to look around or leave it out.  Obviously, there are options to this recipe, but this keeps it as close to zero waste as possible.  If you leave in and area that seals loose chickpeas then great! Ingredients Lemon x 1 Chickpeas x 1 can Chilli pepper x 1/4 tsp Garlic cloves x 4 Olive oil Method Cook the chickpeas for about 20 minutes.  No need to peel the chickpea just drain and run some cold water over the...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 4th of August 2021      This is a zero waste option to baking bread rolls.  Although it is almost impossible to make anything without some waste, it is possible the reduce the waste.  For instance, i have cut out the vegan milk and butter; thus, reducing the waste from their wrapping.  Waste Flour bag Caster sugar bag Instant yeast bag Salt container Oil container (glass) All of the above are recyclable and you will not use them up every time. However, if you can buy them naked from the bakers you might think why should i made them myself?  Well, the problem is upstream waste.  Nonetheless, you have to decide what is better for you.  Ingredients 200g whole-wheat strong bread flour 7g instant dry yeast 0.5 tsp baking powder 0.5 tsp salt 1.5 cups warm water 1 tbsp caster sugar 1 tbsp vegetable oil Method Add the flour to a medium to large mixing bowl.   Add the instant dry yeas, bac...

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 15th of April 2021 This is a very easy recipe that is tasty and quick.  It is very versatile with the banana and oats being the main ingredients with every thing else adaptable.   Not only that, you can have them for breakfast or just as a snack.  The first time around i underestimated the sugar and salt, but with some practice these were easy to conquer.  Once cooled down, it is possible to store them in an air tight container in the fridge of up to 3 days.    Why are oats good for us?  Oats are great at keeping us feel full because they have both insoluble and soluble fibre. Oats are good for digestive health. Oats are associated with good heart health.   Source 6 Cakes Ingredients   Banana x 2 Rolled oats x 1.5 cups Apple sauces x 1 tsp Sultanas x 2 tbsp  Cranberries x 1 tbsp Pecan nuts x 8-10 nuts Ground almonds x 1 tbsp Mixed spice x 1/2 tsp Sugar x 1 tsp (optional) Salt ...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 14th of April 2021      Don't know what to do with your banana peel?  Why not try this dish for a change?  This is a vegan's cottage pie where the meat is replaced by banana peel.  As long as you prepare the banana peel correctly, it will not taste like banana. Ingredients  1 Banana peel 1/4 a carrot 1/4 of an onion 2 tbsp of peas 100 ml of gravy Potato for the topping Nutritional yeast with B12 Method  Scrap out all the white fleshy bit from the inside of the banana peel.  Now finely dice the banana peel.  At this point you can opt to marinade the peel in something like balsamic vinegar or soya sauce or a combination of things.  Boil and mash the potato. Lightly fry all the peel, peas, carrot and onion while the potato is boiling. Put the filling into a pie dish and add the mash potato to the top.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.     

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 12th of April 2021 This stir fry is quick and easy to prepare.  It has a great range of nutrition including plenty of B vitamins and vitamin C from the peppers. Serves 1 Ingredients Tofu x 50g new potatoes x 2 (about 120g) Red and yellow peppers x 80g Green beans x 60g Butter beans x 100g Onion x 1/2 Chopped garlic x 1 - 2 gloves.  Cornflour x 2 tsp Black pepper x 3 x tsp Nutritional yeast with B12 Salt to taste Brown sugar x tsp Marinade  Soya sauce Cider vinegar Vegetable stock Method Prepare the tofu.  Press it as much as possible and marinade it over night.   Boil the potato first. Fry the tofu and the potato until it starts to brown on a medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients except the cornflour and the brown sugar.  Keep stirring for 5 minutes Add the remaining marinade liquid and keep stirring.  Add the cornflour and the brown sugar. Serve and drizzle some tahini.

By McDonald, T.   |  Date 10 of April 2021 Bangers and mash has always been a great comfort food.  Now vegans can share in the comfort of a banger!   Since this is vegan, i strongly suggest adding some nutritional yeast to the mash and a little to the gravy for those extra B vitamins and that all important B12 vitamin.  Serve with cancer busting broccoli and peas. Richmond Meat Free Sausages I had been wanting to try these sausages for a while and they where worth the wait.  Plant Chef These have been my favourite for a long time.  There are the chipolatas, the herby bangers and caramelised onion meat free bangers.  Anyone of these is great!   Plant Chef Caramelised Onion Meat Free Bangers Wicked Kitchen  Wicked Kitchen do a Chorizo style sausage that is really good.  Just imagine these with some mash potato, peas and gravy. Yum!  Mock Meat And Nutrition It is always a good idea to look at the labels at the nutrients incl...