Vegan Effect

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 10th of April 2021 [you need to set the date] This stir fry sauce is quick and easy and the vegetables are tender and tasty. Unlike other stir fries, this dish has particulate vegetables.   This is a light tasty dish with strong flavours and great textures. The beyond sausage meat has a great taste and releases its flavours into the pan to be soaked up by the vegetables. Serves 2 Ingredients  Tofu x 100g Carrot x 50g Cabbage x 50g Broccoli x40g Brussels Sprouts  x 40g Red chilli x 1/2 Red onion x 1/2 Red and yellow bell peppers 50g each Mushroom x 4 Garlic  x 5 gloves Courgette spiralized  x 60g Creamed coconut to fry the tofu x 1 tbsp Beyond sausage meat x 1/2 link  Sea salt to taste For sauce Soya sauce x 2 tbsps Balsamic vinegar x 2 tsp Water 140ml Apparatus  Frying pan with a lid (this is important)   Spatula  Method  Prepare the tofu.  I press the tofu al night and t...

Written by  McDonald, T.    |  Date 3rd of May 2021 Vegan Sunday dinners may sometimes need a bit of extra calcium and or protein.  In any case, tofu is an easy way to do just that.  However, in order to stay in keeping with a Sunday roast something special needs to happen with the tofu.  What better way to do that than giving the tofu a crispy coating and roasting it in the oven?  Tofu is a great meat alternative, which is loaded with calcium and protein.  The measurements will depend on how much tofu you have to cover.  However, you should have more flour than spices and the salt is to taste. Ingredients  Cornflour  Paprika  Turmeric  Salt Method Prepare the tofu by freezing it and then thawing it and pressing it.  Try to get it as dry as possible. Marinade the tofu in your favourite marinade overnight.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and add the tofu minus the marinade.  Shake the tofu p...

By McDonald, T.   |  Date 1st of May 2021 The rich flavoursome gravy will have you in a dream world.  The root vegetables add a bit of firmness to some bites.  Magnificently, the Gran Chorizo sausage is vegan and loaded with flavour!   Ingredients Pasta Gran Chorizo  Carrot Parsnip Cabbage Tomato paste Garlic Salsa Fruit juice of some kind   Balsamic vinegar  Rosemary Method Marinade the slices of Gran Chorizo overnight in sun dried tomato oil with the garlic and rosemary.   Cut the carrot and parsnips into cubes.  Add all the ingredients to the saucepan and add some water.  Bring to a simmer and hold it there for 10 -15 minutes or until the veg is tender.  At the sometime cook the pasta and add to other ingredients in the other saucepan.  Please leave a comment and subscribe to this blog for more.

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...