GOURMET BURGER KITCHEN

GBK Falafel Burger

GBK Covent Garden

Last weekend my boyfriend and I decided to take our traditional yearly trip to Covent Garden to soak in the Christmas atmosphere. This year I had a little panic wondering where I would eat out then I remembered the Gourmet Burger Kitchen has always had a good range of veggie burgers so hoped there would be something vegan on the menu. 

The staff were really accommodating to my requirements and allowed me to modify the falafel burger to come without the cucumber raita or garlic mayo. Apparently they also cook all the veggie burgers in a separate fryer to the meat which is really good to know. The falafels were fried and smooshy in the middle, my favourite kind! We also ordered a side of chunky fries and some onion rings to share, the whole thing was deelicious! I was super full afterwards which was perfect as it warmed me up and kept me going throughout our busy day, I still couldn't eat a bite come dinnertime (highly unlike me).

If your wondering about the monkey nuts in the pic, they're free and you can help yourself to snack on them before your meal but seeing as it's so filling I wouldn't advise it! I also took a few shots of the interior as it's the prettiest GBK I've seen.

If your planning to visit London in the next couple of months be sure to stop by Covent Garden for the market, live music, chestnuts roasting and those giant baubles! It's guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit. 

Topshop Hat (similar)// Scarf (Urban Outfitters vintage)

SOUTHERN STEW

Southern New Year's Stew (aka hug in a bowl)

I had to recommend this vegan cookbook by Robin Robertson. Even if your not a vegan and just looking for some cheap, healthy and hearty recipes this book is a must! The author is American but once you learn that cilantro is coriander and zucchini is a courgette your pretty much up to speed. I've made a few dishes from this so far and they've all turned out really tasty, with plenty of healthy wholesome ingredients to see you through the winter months. 

Considering the meals are cheap to make (although not when you buy the ingredients organic from Wholefoods - oops) they give you plenty of leftovers for the next day, so it's great if your a lazy cook like me! I've also found the recipes really easy to follow and make, I don't enjoy cooking that much (I'm much more of a baker) so it's nice to know I can just pick up this book and know I'm not going to end up crying into my cilantro (it's rubbing off on me). 

I'm yet to try the sweets and dessert section of the book so I'm a bit excited about that and as soon as I do you'll be the first to know!

Vegan on the Cheap - recipe on pg.76

This recipe for Southern New Year's Stew has been my favourite from the book so far, it's the perfect comfort food dish for winter. The only changes I made were to substitute brown rice for white rice (naughty but that's all we had in the cupboard) and made a full cup of rice instead of 1/2. I also added an extra carrot and an extra stick of celery (to get even more goodness in there). 

Recipe (makes 6 servings):

- 8 ounces of collard greens or dark leafy greens, coarsely chopped 

(about 4 cups)

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

- 1 celery rib, chopped (after much debating I realised that's one of the stalks)

- 1 medium carrot, chopped

- 3 garlic cloves, minced

- 4 cups vegetable stock (I used these)

- 1/2 cup long grain brown rice

- 1 tsp dried thyme

- 1/4 tsp black pepper

- Salt

- 1 russet potato, chopped (I just used an organic potato)

- 1 1/2 cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (I used a can)

- Tabasco sauce/hot sauce for serving

To cook the stew: 

I made this slightly different to the recipe instructions as I was hungry and wanted to speed the process up! 

1. I boiled the greens separately for 20 mins and cooked the carrots, onions, celery and garlic in oil, in a separate pan for 5 mins (just as the recipe states). 

2. I then made the rice in a rice cooker and added the stock and seasonings (thyme, pepper and salt) about half way through. 

3. A few minutes later I added all the vegetables along with the drained boiled potato and the black-eyed peas. It should then simmer till the stock water has evaporated but the stew should still have some moisture and not be dry.

4. To top it all off I used hot sauce instead of Tabasco, if you are using Tabasco make sure it's vegan as the regular one has fish in it!

I'm off to go and enjoy my leftovers, let me know if you purchase the book and make any recipes!

ELF MINERAL LIPSTICK

After binning my whole make-up collection (yep that's right) when I decided to avoid parabens, aluminium and animal ingredients for good (see older post here). I'm still trying to expand my make-up bag and grow my collection of natural vegan lipsticks. So I thought I'd give Elf's mineral lipstick line a go, after hearing only good things about it. 

Their website states the range is 100% mineral based with no parabens, no preservatives and no chemical dyes (hooray!). I really like the application of the lipstick and it certainly lives up to it's description, it really does glide on easily and leave your lips feeling nourished, as though your wearing a balm rather than a lipstick. But make no mistake, although they are natural they're also really pigmented and there's no need for blotting, lining or sealing, this lipstick goes on perfect all by itself! 

 Runway Pink

Cheerful Cherry 

(this actually looks like I lined my lips but it's just the light)

I love the Cheerful Cherry shade but the Runway Pink is a little too bubblegum for my liking, I was actually on the lookout for a more neutral shade but this goes on much pinker than it photographs, making the website photos a little bit deceiving. I've tried to photograph it in different ways so hopefully this post will help you guys decide! I would say the most accurate colour of the pink would be the pic of my lips and for the red it would be the swatch on my hand. 

I would like to try the whole Elf mineral lipstick line eventually, as they feel so nice to wear and will probably order some more shades soon, seeing as they're only £5 a pop and the cheapest vegan line around! 

Have you ever tried the Elf mineral range? Let me know what you think of it and what your favourite product is.

COOKIE CAKES

I'm calling these cookie cakes as they're a bit of a spongey/crispy hybrid, perfect for when you can't decide whether you fancy a cookie or a cake, well now you can have both!

The recipe for these can be found here, I used a muffin tin to bake them so it would give me a deep cakey cookie but you can just use a flat baking tray if you'd prefer. Otherwise I kept the recipe pretty much the same, the only addition I made was a 1/2 cup of walnuts (having found these are rich in Omega-3 I'm trying to amp up my intake!) I also opted for soya margarine rather than oil and added an extra 3/4 cup of almond milk to give them a spongey cake texture rather than a crisp cookie one. 

I love that the recipe is measured in cups, it's so simple to follow and means you can't really get it wrong, which means the quicker it's ready and in my belly!

Using a spatula for this part really helps get it all in as the mixture is quite sticky!

They will never come out brown so take them out when they are lightly golden, you don't want to burn them! I cooked my cookies in a preheated oven for 14mins at 180C.

I couldn't wait to tuck in, the perfect partner in crime for a cuppa tea! 

L'OREAL VEGAN?

Apparently so! Now the words L'Oreal and vegan are not usually synonymous with each other but maybe times are 'a changing. I recently discovered L'Oreal's 'Ever' haircare line is 100% vegan, their website states the whole range is not tested on animals and contains no animal by products. Not to mention being sulphate and silicone free - this all seems too good to be true! 

So how did the products fair? Funnily enough I had been using this line for a while but since becoming a vegan I wanted to change my haircare routine asap (automatically assuming these products would be tested on animals and/or contain animal ingredients). Little did I know they were already suitable for vegans! (thanking my intuition for that save).

The fact that I've been using these products for a long time now speaks volumes as I'm very particular about my hair. I used to only use high end hair products as I've always thought they were the best but this L'Oreal Ever line can hold it's own against the pricey crème de la crème brands as far as I'm concerned. The fact that the range is so affordable (even more so when it's on a 3 for 2 offer at Boots) is a huge plus, especially for someone with masses of hair like myself!

So some people will say if your buying this range then your supporting the animal testing/animal ingredients that go into their other product lines, but I say if we the consumer show that we only want to purchase products like this by putting our money into them, then what choice will companies have but to listen to us? 

On another note, in the same shopping trip or 'haul' if you will (but that word makes me gag) I also purchased some more of the Boots botanics range as my skin seems to be agreeing with it quite well and this No7 eyeliner. I'm going to attempt the eyeliner flick again as I love the 60s style look of winged eye but I've never quite got the hang of it in the past. I'm hoping the felt tip nib will make it easier and this was the only drugstore liquid eyeliner I could find that is both paraben and (as far as I can tell) aluminium free! So I'll let you know how that one goes.

CAT & THE CREAM

On this dreary drizzly day, when all you want to do is tuck up at home with a cuppa tea, a good book and something naughty to nibble at I thought I'd share with you my favourite Vegan cake by a company called Cat & The Cream. My life became complete when a Wholefoods recently opened up nearby me, being a vegan it just makes food shopping a whole lot easier (and pricier!) but I've always thought it's important to spend your money where it matters i.e nutrition, health, wellbeing etc.

Ok so the cake isn't nutritious or healthy but it definitely makes me happy so that counts as wellbeing right?! So far I've tried the Banana, Cashew and Peanut Butter which was pretty amazing but my fav flavour has to be the Banana, Walnut & Choc Chip with Butterscotch Icing (drool). They are very rich and highly calorific at a whopping 509(!) cals per cake, so I often share one of these with my other half or save the rest for another time (literally having your cake and eating it too!), so while they retail at around £2.69 - which is quite pricey for a cupcake, you do get a big portion for your pennies. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into this product as they're so perfectly packaged, at halloween my cupcake even had a cute little dark chocolate ghost on top of it!

These cupcakes are: Vegan, Dairy Free, Wheat Free AND Soya Free, which must be quite a task to achieve. I really appreciate when food companies don't automatically use soya, as vegan products are often full of it!

Another great vegan cake company based at the Greenwich Market in London is Ruby Tuesdays, I bought my boyfriend a birthday cake from her stall this year and it tasted just like a real chocolate cake, my non-vegan/vegetarian relatives couldn't even taste the difference! They also offer a variety of completely vegan baked goods such as: banana bread, biscuits, brownies and even donuts(!). Their pretty little stall is worthy of a post in itself, which reminds me I must pay them a visit again soon...

NUTS FOR BROWNIES

I found this recipe for vegan brownies on the internet a while back and have been wanting to make them ever since but somehow never got round to it. Last night I finally pulled all of the ingredients together and gave it a whirl while the boyfriend was out, as me + baking = lot's of mess in our open plan kitchen.

The photographs really don't do these brownies justice (I'm working on upgrading my camera soon) as these were scrum-diddly-umptious if I do say so myself! The consistency was just right, a key component to making the perfect brownies. For me they've got to be gooey in the middle and slightly harder on the outside with plenty of chocolate so they're nice and moist. I even added my own dairy-free chocolate chips (80g), from Wholefoods and 3 big spoonfuls (or 100g) of organic Whole Earth peanut butter to give it some oomph. 

I was shocked by the measurements as it seemed like a lot and it turned out it was! It gave me so many brownies I don't know what I'm going to do with them all. Safe to say I'll be palming them off on to friends and family all week long. The pics show the big ole slabs I first cut them into but I will be cutting them down to halves or even bitesize chunks, after finding out how gooily rich they are!

Although not the healthiest of recipes we all need a sugar fix now and again and these brownies will certainly do the trick! (to be enjoyed in moderation of course...).