HEALTHY CHIPS

Yes it's true, chips can be healthy - music to my carb loving belly! If like me, you get home from work and crave something stodgy and warm but not too oily or junky, these baked chips are the one for you.

Baked potato chips are also an excellent carb loaded raw till 4 dinner option for anyone transitioning to a raw diet, it's like having a guilty treat your used to eating, without feeling gross and heavy afterwards. I myself am trying to incorporate more healthy foods into my diet and am looking at raw till 4 diets to gain some meal inspiration.

Instructions:

1.) Pre heat your oven to 200c (fan assisted).
2.) Simply cut up 4 baking potatoes into fries (eat as many potatoes as you need if your on raw till 4 otherwise save half or eat them with something else).
3.) Line two oven trays with baking paper (depending on how many potatoes your baking).
4.) Sprinkle on any spices or herbs. I used garlic granules and mixed herbs on mine.
5.) Bake for around 30-40mins, turning over halfway through cooking time.
6.) Serve with healthy condiments (see below) and lettuce leaves for wrapping.

You can beef up (or should that be veg up?) your chips as much as you want, by adding your own spices and herbs like oregano, rosemary, paprika, garlic granules, onion granules, chilli powder etc. Serve with sauces such as chilli, vegan mayo or ketchup - just like regular chips! Obviously you have to choose your condiments wisely - low salt, sugar and fat are the way to go. You can even make your own raw sweet chilli sauce here.

I love to wrap my chips in the lettuce leaves then dip in my ketchup or mayo. Feel free to add your own salad/veggies on the side too.

If you have any raw till 4 eating tips or great healthy vegan/raw food recipes let me know in the comments below! Look forward to sharing my healthy eating journey with you guys!

FRUITS OF THE FOREST BAKED OATMEAL

Oats, oatmeal, porridge - it doesn't matter what you call it, this breakfast is for everyone because it's basically like eating cake (alright healthy cake) for breakfast. Ok so you don't like berries, add tropical fruit if you don't like fruit add pb and chocolate, it's entirely up to you - just make sure you bake it! This adds an entirely new dimension to oats and I absolutely love it.

Ingredients:

- 12tbsp oats
- 2 mashed bananas
- 100g frozen berries
- 1.5 tsp baking powder (I like to use Doves Farm Organic)
- Tbsp chia seeds
- Tbsp flaxseed
- 1.5 cups of almond milk
- Tsp vanilla
- Tbsp agave syrup
- Handful of berries for topping (frozen or fresh)
- 2 tbsp almond butter for topping
- Casserole/oven proof baking dish

Instructions:

1.) Preheat oven to 200c (fan assisted ovens).
2.) Put all the ingredients listed into an oven proof crockery dish, minus the toppings. Mix together with a wooden spoon.
3.) Bake for around 20-25mins until the top is slightly golden and crispy but the middle is soft.

This to me says Winter in a bowl. It's one of those extra special breakfasts that can be shared with family over the holidays or the weekend when you have a bit of extra time to spare. Baking it in a casserole dish adds to the homely, rustic feel of this dish that instantly transports you to a cosy country farmhouse!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers! I still have lots of festive recipes to share with you guys so keep popping back over the Holidays!

BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE

This is the best smoothie I've made so far (if I do say so myself). Yes possibly even outranking my beloved peanut butter and chocolate smoothie (recipe for this will be hitting the blog in the near future!). What's not to love about blueberries, they're a superfood containing vitamin K, C and fibre to name a few. They're also full of antioxidents, I like to think of them as natures pearls, nutritious sweets if you will.

Ingredients (makes 2 small servings or one large):

- 3 frozen bananas

- 1 pack of frozen blueberries

- 2 tbsp flaxseed

- 1 tbsp chia seeds

- 1 tbsp agave syrup

- 1 cup almond milk 

- Dash of water

- Small handful of frozen blueberries to add on top

- Sprinkling of chia seeds 

Instructions:

1.) Add all the ingredients to a blender and set on high. If your blender won't handle frozen fruits try using fresh fruit and adding ice for a similar effect.

2.) Decorate with more frozen blueberries and chia seeds on on top

What you can't see in the pictures (as my belly got the better of me - oops!) is the layer of soya vanilla Provamel yoghurt I poured on top. This goes seriously well with blueberries so be sure to give that a try! 

This smoothie got me thinking about the perfect smoothie consistency, mainly because I was arguing with my other half about it, I'm a thick gal myself (watch it!...) and he likes his on the runny side (1st world problems I know). So after much debate we came to a happy medium by adding a dash of water. 

Do you have a preference between thick and creamy or smooth and runny smoothies? What do you add to gain that perfect consistency? Let me know below, would love to hear your thoughts!

RAW CACAO BLISS BALLS

These little bitesize wonders are raw, healthy and every sweet-toothed, chocolate lovers dream. You can enjoy these beauties safe in the knowledge that every ingredient is good for you and they don't contain any refined sugar, gluten or dairy. They take 5 mins to whizz up and another 5 mins to roll into balls, they can also last for over a week in the fridge - what's not to love!

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of medjool dates
- 1 cup of rolled oats (I used gluten free porridge oats)
- 4 heaped tbsp of cacao (add less/more depending on how chocolatey you want them)
- 1/2 cup of walnuts
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- 1/2 cup of filtered water for mixing
- Shredded coconut for rolling

Instructions:

1.) Add the oats to your food processor first. Then add all the other ingredients, you want the mixture to turn into a thoroughly combined smooth consistency. Use the plunger if you have a Vitamix to ensure all the ingredients are mixed in well.
2.) Keep adding drops of water to the blender to make the mixing easier.
3.) Once the texture is smooth, scoop the mixture out with a spoon and into a container for refridgeration.
4.) Leave mixture in the fridge overnight to harden.
5.) Now comes the fun part! The next day take the mixture out of the fridge and roll it into balls.
6.) Next roll the balls in a bowl of shredded coconut. You could also use cacao, chopped nuts or whatever you fancy - this mixture pretty much goes with every coating imaginable!

I love that these bliss balls are both filling and energy fuelled. Pair these with a lovely cup of tea for a heavenly mid-afternoon treat.

CHRISTMAS TREE TART

"Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree how lovely is your flaky pastry!", that's what you'll be singing once you try this incredibly fancy yet easy to make puff pastry Christmas tree tart. I used this recipe for inspiration but cheated and bought the ready made Jus Rol puff pastry sheets instead. They cook in 10 mins, are vegan and have no natural flavourings yippee. 

I filled mine with savoury spinach but you can add whatever you fancy, you could even make it sweet and serve with ice cream for your Christmas dessert, mmm!

Ingredients (makes 2 trees):

- 1 pack of Jus Rol puff pastry 

- Small bag of spinach 

- 1 white onion

- 1 shallot

- Large handful of pine nuts

- Garlic and herb toffuti (approx 2 tbsp per tree)

- Rular for measuring if you like to be exact!

Instructions:

1.) Cut the pastry sheet in half. Use a ruler to measure the middle of your sheet and put a little notch with your knife (being careful not to cut through). On either side of the notch score the pastry up 1.5" again don't cut through the pastry, this is your tree stump.
2.) Mark the top middle of your pastry with a knife for the tree top, then mark the bottom tree points half way in between the stump and the edge of the pastry.
3.) Join up your 3 points by scoring the pastry into a triangle tree shape.
4.) Cut the bottom squares off your pastry (after the bottom tree points - see pic below) and the top corners (so there's a slope), this is extra so you can use it to make something else if you wish.

5.) Measure the length of your tree sides and divide by 7 for your branches, notch where the line should start on your tree side and score across with your ruler.
6.) Spread your tofutti on the tree (covering the whole triangle shape), next add your filling on top - make sure you don't overfill or add something that's too wet. I used kitchen towel to remove the moisture from my sautéed spinach mix.
7.) Wrap the branches over the tree, left and then right overlapping each other like a plait (see below).

8.) When you get to the last two branches fold under the two large bottom squares.

9.) Turn up the last two branches slightly before wrapping over. Make sure there're no gaps for your filling to spill out.

10.) Pop in the oven according to your Jus Rol instructions. I also popped mine under the grill to broil the top golden brown for a few minutes (be careful not to burn it at this stage, it goes brown pretty quickly!)
11.) The trees are quite large so you could always cut them in two and serve with roasted vegetables, mash etc depending on your filling.

This tree would make an impressive table centre piece for a boxing day buffet dontcha think?

URBAN DECAY NAKED SKIN

I thought I'd introduce you to one of my favourite vegan make up lines so far, which is the Naked Skin range by Urban Decay. 

I've tried lots of different foundations but this one has got to be the most perfect for my combination skin by far. The formula is truly weightless and goes on like a dream, it feels more like applying a light moisturiser than a foundation. The coverage is also quite light but for me it's enough, I don't like the feel of a heavy foundation on my skin, or god forbid streaky tide marks! I started off with shade 1.0 but realised once a camera flash hit me that I looked like Casper so decided to bump up to shade 2.0, there wasn't a huge difference between the two but I feel the slightly warmer tone of shade 2.0 helps during the Winter months! 

Shade 1 below and 2 above, as you can see not that much of a difference between the two.

I also like to use a concealer underneath (and sometimes on top if I have a big spot!) by Too Faced called 'Absolutely Flawless' in shade Vanilla. This is a paraben free, vegan friendly concealer with a buildable coverage that blends easily and will completely mask any blemishes you may have. Unfortunately the Naked line doesn't include a concealer at the moment but hopefully Urban Decay will release one one day!

The UD ultra definition loose finishing powder sets the foundation for the whole day, leaving your skin shine free and silky smooth. I use shade light in the powder, which works with foundation shades 0.5-3.0. It's worth mentioning that the powder doesn't come with an applicator, I recommend using the vegan friendly baby buki brush by Lily Lolo to apply.

Have any of you tried the Naked line? Or do you have any other vegan friendly make-up recommendations? Leave your comments below!

THE GREEN GRINCH SMOOTHIE

A perfect one for all you raw foodies out there, or if you just fancy a seasonally apt green Grinch smoothie to start your day right. I promise no Grinches were harmed in the making.

This smoothie may be green but it's also sweet, perfect for kids or if your trying to add more greens to your diet but your not quite used to the taste - I know drinking greens is usually something you have to gradually ween yourself on to and the best way to do that is by adding a few fruits to sweeten the mix.

 Look at that colour!

Ingredients (Makes 1 cup):

-  1 large ripe banana

-  2 cups of spinach

-  1.5 cups of unsweetened almond milk

-  0.5 tsp vanilla

-  4 dates pitted and chopped

-  Ice to taste (depending on how cold/solid you like it)

-  Dried fruit to top

Instructions:

Mix everything in a blender until it becomes a smooth puree. You shouldn't be able to see any spinach or dates whirling around!

I found I was still hungry after just one cup so you could always double or even triple the ingredients depending on how much you want to make. Alternatively, pour the smoothie into a bowl (big wooden bowls are ideal) and add your own fruit, chia seeds, flax and protein powder on top, for a superfood smoothie that's nutritionally dense.

VEGAN FRENCH TOAST

For some silly reason I've never really given much thought to french toast, it's always pancakes this and waffles that, I feel like french toast is the under-sung hero of breakfast tables everywhere (well my breakfast table anyway).

I guess it's because I've always associated French toast with egg but not anymore! Of course vegans being the clever bunch that we are (way to toot my own horn), have come up with a healthier banana based alternative.

If your a fan of quick and easy recipes like me - especially at silly o'clock in the morning, this one is definitely for you. After whizzing it all up in the blender your ready to dip in your bread, fry it up and go.

Oh yeah, soak in that butter baby! Don't be shy it's dairy-free. 

Ingredients:

-  Bread of your choice

-  3 ripe bananas

-  4 cups unsweetened almond milk

-  1.5tsp cinnamon

-  1tsp organic vanilla extract 

-  Vegan margarine to fry (I used Biona organic sunflower spread) 

-  Maple syrup, icing sugar and fruit to serve

Instructions:

1. Blend the bananas, milk, cinnamon and vanilla together in a blender or food processor.

2. Pour the mixture into a deep dish. 

3. Heat up a frying pan and grease it with the vegan margarine.

4. Take a slice of bread and dip it into the mixture, coating both sides, before placing in the pan to fry. Turn over once brown on the under side. I fried two slices of bread at a time and added approx a tsp of butter before cooking the next pair.

Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or agave if desired and garnish with some fruit of your choice (I recommend strawberries and blueberries or even more bananas). You could also add a handful of nuts and a sprinkling of icing sugar to your stack, which I feel makes it look more fancy and quite festive, ideal for Christmas day brunch.  

 Those layers though...

It snowed on my plate!

Let me know if you've made vegan french toast before or give this recipe a try and tag me on instagram @theveganvirgo or twitter @veganvirgoblog - look forward to seeing your creations!

TOFU FRIED RICE

This has to be the easiest and most versatile meal you can make! All in all it must have taken me about 15 mins to make.

Serves 4/5

Ingredients:

- 4 cups of brown rice
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1inch cube of ginger, grated
- 6 spring onions, chopped diagonally
- 1tsp turmeric
- 1 block firm organic tofu
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen sweetcorn
- 3tbsp soy sauce
- Sesame/olive oil to fry
- Soy sauce for serving

Instructions:

1. While the rice is boiling away, fry 2 cloves of garlic, a 1inch cube of ginger in a wok or large pan.
2. Next chop the block of tofu into little squares and fry them in the same pan as the garlic and ginger.
3. Add a tsp of turmeric to give the tofu a yellow look (I prefer this to pale tofu, plus turmeric is so incredibly good for you!).
4. In a separate pan fry the spring onions and any other veg you'd like to add.
5. Once the rice is done, pour it all into the same pan/wok and begin to stir fry.
6. Add the cup of frozen peas and sweetcorn.
7. Next pour in 2tbsp soy sauce.
8. Add 1/2-1tsp of basil and chives at the end.

I love that the combination possibilities for this are endless, next time I want to try adding mushrooms and mange tout just like my old favourite Wagamama's dish, Yasai Cha Han. 

OKRA MASALA

Just a quick one today and the last in the series of Vegan Eats World pics, I promise. I have lot's of exciting new posts in the pipeline and feel excited to share all my ideas with you.

I had to share this last dish as I love okra, I usually make it in a standard tomato and onion sauce but the masala was an interesting twist and added a whole new dimension to my idea of okra! I would never have thought to put the two together but it works perfectly, the okra makes this a substantial vegan meal while the spices and comforting (optional) brown rice, make this an ideal Winter warmer.

On a side note I'm currently recovering from a chest infection so I'm craving lots of healthy food, now more than ever - and strangely lots and lots of tomatoes.  This dish was great for that, it was also relatively quick and easy to make so this one will be going in my book of favourites for sure. 

PAD THAI

Here she goes again with another Vegan Eats World recipe post, sorry guys I just can't get enough! The more I use this book the more I want to make, which is great for me as I'm a lazy cook! This one was a bit of a tough recipe as there's a lot to coordinate - think chopping, stirring and boiling all at the same time. However I'm sure your all much more coordinated than me in the kitchen and the extra effort is so worth it for a wow factor meal. This one's sure to impress at dinner parties especially when you serve each one fresh off the wok as it's ready, authentic style! 

We sadly overcooked our noodles on this one, we left them in the water far too long so they became quite dense and heavy (you can see from the mass pile of noodles on our plate!). So long as your quick on your feet with this dish and follow the recipe it should turn to perfectly, the flavours are amazing. Like all good pad thai's the crushed peanuts, beansprouts and lime were used to garnish the plate at the end, we decided to omit the spicy greens and avocado as the dish has so many flavours already (maybe if our portions were smaller we might have been able to manage it huh!...). 

I'm more than willing to give this another whirl as Pad Thai is a fav of mine so would like to perfect it. Let me know if you've used the Vegan Eats World recipe book before and what your fav dishes are, or perhaps you have another awesome pad thai recipe to share?

VEGAN EATS WORLD

Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero

I had to share with you my new recipe bible that is Vegan Eats World. This book came into my life recently and I'm so glad it did as I haven't been able to stop cooking/drooling over it's pretty plant based pictures ever since. 

This food is comforting, wholesome, filling and really flavourful. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and with over 300 international recipes there's bound to be something to take your fancy on any given day of the week.

Here are 3 of my favourite dishes so far:

Eggplant Shakshuka with Green Tahini Sauce

Egyptian Lentil Soup  

 Tofu and Potato Adobo Stew

This weekend I'll be making a Pad Thai from the book but what I really can't wait for is the dessert section (insert smug emoticon here). If this lot is anything to go by then they're bound to be incredible! Does anyone have any recommendations?

LIMECRIME VELVETINE REVIEW

Limecrime is a vegan, cruelty-free make-up brand that offers an array of unique shades from rainbow brights and unicorn pastels to witchy autumnal hues. I love their velvetine range of lipsticks that go on as a liquid and dry completely matt. I get so many compliments when I wear it and at least a dozen people a day ask me where it's from - strangers will even stop me in the street!

The application is a little trickier than normal lipstick as you have to apply it right first time, any error around the lip line will result in a smudge on your face that's hard to remove without taking the rest of your face off! However it's worth spending a bit of extra time getting that outline right as the result will be a perfect lip that lasts all day. Saying that I can still apply this on my bumpy tube journey to work every morning, it just needs a bit more concentration than your bog standard lippy.

Left: Wicked, Right: Red Velvet

Above: Wicked, Below: Red Velvet

As you can see in the pics above the colours are so bright, it's this pigmentation along with the liquid to matt formula that makes the velvetine really stand out from the crowd. I've also previously tried the Suedeberry shade which is a lovely orangey red and perfect for the Summer months. I'm totally in love with this brand and won't stop until I've tried everything they have to offer! I'm contemplating the black velvetine next, which would also be ideal for Halloween. Have you ever tried Limecrime make-up? If so what's your fav product and shade?

BRIGHTON BIRTHDAY

I wanted to get away from crazy city life for my Birthday this year (I must be getting old), so my boyfriend took me on a trip to Brighton for the day. The sun was shining and it couldn't have been a better day to have fun and enjoy the last of the Summer sun.

First we had a little stroll around the lanes then went for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Terre a Terre (sorry don't know how to do the accent on the a!). We opted for the sharing platter which comprised of mini versions of all the popular main dishes - we were blown away! There were mini nachos and guacamole, sesame tofu, wasabi cashews, aubergine zhuganoush and a teeny weeny glass of kale soup to name a few. 

All of this was followed by a chorus of Happy Birthday which was sung to me by the waiter (highly embarrassing but very sweet) and an amazing dark chocolate ganache and mixed berry birthday cake to take home - all vegan of course. 

The food was out of this world and we will definitely be visiting this restaurant in the near future (if not just to sample the churros). I'd recommend this place to everyone from veggie to meat eater as the quality of food is top notch, the service is excellent and presentation is incredible - what's not to like! All in all it was the perfect Birthday meal. 

THE VITAMIX

Hey Guys!

So first of all, sorry for the looong pause on the blog. I started a new job and some other lame excuses... but I'm back with a bang. That bang being the new love of my life that I've been dying to introduce you to, it's the Grandaddy of all blenders - the Vitamix! (can you tell I'm excited).

We've had it for a few weeks now (we being me and the boyf, yes we're one of those couples) and it's truly life changing. We've already made guacamole, curry sauce, California salsa, spicy pasta sauce, frozen juices and countless smoothies with ease!

There's tons of other things the Vitamix can make that we haven't even tried yet like; ice cream (eek), cocktails (double eek) and soup - which is gonna be soo good come Winter, it even heats it up so you don't have to. Clean up is super easy too, you just pop some washing up liquid in, fill it with water to the top, set the 'Smoothie' setting and it will clean itself!

It is an expensive appliance so it's a bit of an investment but believe me it's worth it. It's so incredibly versatile it's like having 10 different machines in one!

A handy recipe folder is included and it even has a raw food section (perfect for all you raw till 4 peeps) it's in here that I found this beauty of a recipe (below) for raw red pepper hummus - which I paired with courgette rounds, for a delicious and surprisingly filling raw meal. As the courgette rounds are so perfectly bite-sized and individually portioned it would also make an excellent starter or canapé to serve at a dinner party.

Spicy Red Pepper Hummus ingredients: 

• Chickpeas (sprouted overnight)
• Tahini
• Red pepper
• Jalapeño
• Lemon juice
• Miso paste
• Olive oil
• Salt

Fancy fiddly garnish is optional but looks pretty for photos.