Roasted Vegetables, Cous Cous Salad and Black Bean Noodles

Today's meal idea is one of my favourites. I love mixing different foods and flavours in a fusion of taste. It allows you to get many different flavours along with the combination of a variety of nutrients. 

This meal is so simple. I roasted some sweet potato which I had cubed, sprayed with fry light and added paprika to. I then roast them in the oven for half an hour or until soft. 

The couscous salad is a simple mix of wholemeal couscous cooked and them mixed with chopped spinach and any spices such as mixed herbs and basil. 

I also roasted some peppers, mushrooms and celery again sprayed with fry light and covered in mixed herbs. 

I also cooked black bean noodles (which are high in protein and a great alternative to pasta) and mixed them with some passata sauce and topped with fried red onion. 

This might seem like a lot of food but it is mainly vegetables with some healthy grains and noodles. However it is a delicious mixture and interesting combination of flavours. Most importantly it is filling, inexpensive and full of protein, vitamins and minerals. This is a great family meal as there is something for everyone and lots of choice. Each part of the meal is also quick to prepare so it is easy to get everything ready at once. 

Hopefully this meal idea will give you some ideas for your next healthy, vegan meal. 

Dairy Free Pizza at Dough

Dough, Manchester is a great place for vegans. The pizza restaurant in Manchester's Northern Quarter is great at catering for vegans. You can add vegan cheese onto any vegetarian pizza to make it vegan, they also add on a dairy free card so you can rest assured it is made with the right cheese. 

This pizza is my favourite it is a wild mushroom pizza with dairy free cheese and it tastes amazing! I don't eat out often so it is nice to go somewhere that has vegan options and delicious food. The vegan cheese is very creamy and filling so you might struggle to finish but they also do takeaways so you can take any left overs home in a box and this pizza was even nicer cold. 

Dough is definitely a place to visit if you are in Manchester. The Northern Quarter is also very vegan friendly with a lot of the places catering for different diets. Check it out if you are in the city. 

How to use Banana as a substitute for butter or eggs in baking

Bananas are a great substitute for dairy items and eggs in baking as the fruit can give the same outcome whilst making your baked good just that bit healthier. Here's how to use bananas as a substitute: 

1. To replace a whole egg in baking use 1/2 a mashed up banana for each egg needed. This works great in chewy recipes like brownies. 
2. Whatever amount of butter is needed in a recipe substitute the same amount of mashed up banana. This works well in chocolate cakes which will cover the banana taste. Or use the banana flavour to your advantage in banana muffins. 
3. Use them for flavour. Instead of syrups and flavourings which can be unnatural and full of sugar and calories use bananas to naturally sweeten cakes, biscuits and breads. Simply add some pureed bananas to your mixture, the amount will depend on how strong you want the flavour. 1 banana will be enough to flavour a cake. 

It is so easy to be healthy, even when baking. These ideas are great for making your sweet treats just that bit healthier and it is one way to increase your fruit intake if you don't like just eating bananas. Hope these ideas help you when you need a baking replacement. 

Quick, healthy meal idea Avocado and Chickpea spread on a Bagel with Couscous and Salad

I love quick and healthy foods it makes evening meals easier especially when you are in a rush. This meal idea combined lots of my favourite foods, I made it when I was home late so didn't want to spend a long time cooking but still wanted something healthy. 

I mashed together an avocado and a tin of chickpeas and added the juice of half a lemon and seasoned this with black pepper and added it to a toasted bagel. I then added chopped tomato and cucumber, fried onion and paired it with wholemeal couscous made with mushrooms and grated carrot. It took less than  30 minutes to prepare and was extremely filling and tasty, I also added tahini as a dressing. Eating healthy is easy and doesn't have to take long to prepare. Plus when you have a meal with many different foods you gain the nutrients from all the different ingredients as well as having array of flavour. I used the New York Co bagels for this meal which are vegan and high in protein making them a great part of a meal or a snack after working out. You also gain protein from the chickpeas and healthy fat from the avocado as well as nutrients from the rest of the vegetables. This meal shows that healthy food can be quick, simple and delicious.  

Unexpected Vegan finds

The last place I thought I'd find vegan products was in TK Maxx. This store is known for its eclectic range of goods but it is mainly known as a clothing store so I was pleased to find some vegan options. They sell food and seasonings in the home wear range and snacks near the tills and I was pleased to see lots of choice. The coconut syrup and chilli sauce are both vegan and both brands I have never heard of so it is nice to discover new things, there are so many sauces available that there will probably be more vegan options, it is the kind of store where there may be different stock each week but it is worth looking to see what products they have available. They also sell crisps near the checkouts and these sweet potato chips were right up my street. I didn't go into the shop looking for food but in future it will be somewhere I look for new and exciting products. See if they have any vegan food in a store near you.   

Ways to Eat more Fruit

We all want to be healthy but sometimes you can neglect the foods which are good for you. Eating more fruit is one way to improve your health but many people struggle to hit the five a day target. So here are some tips to help you increase your fruit intake: 

• Make smoothies. You can have your five a day in one delicious drink. Simple. 
• Add chopped banana onto peanut butter on toast. This is the perfect healthy combination of protein and potassium, this is a great pre-workout meal. 
• Eat chopped up fruit alongside your lunch, it makes a meal more interesting and not to mention more colourful. 
• Start eating avocados, this fruit is mainly used in savoury dishes so you can increase your fruit intake whilst eating your evening meal. 
• At the start of the day make up a fruit salad and leave it in a big tub to eat throughout the day. If it is already prepared you are more likely to snack on fruit rather than anything else. 
• Make nice cream for dessert, turning frozen fruit into an ice cream alternative is one delicious way to eat healthier. Simply blend frozen fruit (bananas are commonly used for nice cream) with non dairy milk adding any flavouring you want such as cacao powder for a guilt free dessert. 
• Make jam. Turn your favourite fruit into a homemade jam. There are some simple recipes which can easily be made with blended fruit. This can then be added to toast. 

These are some easy ways to eat more fruit. It can be easy to eat your five a day or more by using more interesting ways of using fruit. 

Taste the Difference Maris Piper Jumbo Wedges

 It's always nice to find food labelled vegan and these taste the difference wedges from Sainsburys are a great find. Of course you expect products like this to be vegan but that is not always the case. For some reason even the simplest foods can have non vegan products added like milk proteins or eggs so it puts your mind at ease to see the vegan label. Sainsburys is one of my favourite stores for vegan food as their own brand range is clearly labelled, there are plenty of options and the prices are good. They cater for vegans well and I am happy to shop there. These wedges are delicious as well, they are obviously made with good quality potatoes and the simple seasoning is just the right amount to add flavour. These are definitely ones to look out for. 

Quorn Vegan Fillets

There's another addition to the Vegan Quorn family in these Fillets. I like to try new products so I was keen to see how these would taste. You have to cook them in a sauce which is a little awkward as you need to make sure they are covered to get cooked. I made them in a curry sauce and served it with rice. They taste nice and are a welcome change but it is not something I will have each week, at the minute I prefer to eat more whole foods but it is always handy to have something in the freezer when you want something quick and easy. Despite the fact that I won't buy these regularly I like that Quorn have more vegan options to choose from and this is another great vegan product. 

Healthy Lunch

After trying and failing to do raw til 4 (What can I say I like cooked food) I am still determined to eat more raw food every day as it is full of nutrients and great for staying well and keeping healthy. I also love training at the gym and need good food to help my muscles recover. 

One way I have been eating more fruit is by eating it for lunch. It is easy to chop up different fruits, they are filling, full of natural flavour and make you feel good. This lunch I prepared was a banana, an apple an a pear eaten with some cashew nuts for a healthy source of fat and a home made ginger biscuit and a vanilla herbal tea. 

I love having a mix of flavours in a meal and fruit is naturally sweet making it a tasty lunch. Try swapping your daily sandwich for something more natural and try a raw lunch. 

Strawberry YoYo Bear

My current favourite on the go snack is YoYo Bears, I just love how simple they are. Made from pure fruit each snack counts as one of your five a day. You can't get much healthier than that. I love keeping one in my bag for when I am out and about and want something to eat. They are small enough to carry around and packaged in paper which is recyclable. I love everything about these snacks and love trying different flavours. This strawberry snack was deliciously sweet and one of my favourite flavours so far. 

Find out more about the range here: http://www.bearnibbles.co.uk/yoyos

Popcorn The healthy vegan snack

I recently dusted off my unused Christmas present and decided to start making my own popcorn as I often buy it in supermarkets so this will save me money. Popcorn is a very healthy snack, it is low in calories and if you make your own you can either have it plain or add a small amount of flavouring to keep it healthy. 

This popcorn maker is so easy to use, it only requires a small amount of popcorn kernels to make a large bowl of popcorn. It means the bag of popcorn kernels which only cost 0.99p will last for a while, making it more cost effective than buying ready made bags of popcorn which can be expensive. 

To flavour the popcorn you can either keep it plain and add spices such as cinnamon or ginger or melt some butter and add sugar and mix it together. The less you add to the popcorn the healthier it will be. A great idea is adding seasoning without butter and mixing it together as it will still flavour the popcorn or eat it plain. This is definitely my new healthy snack of choice. 

Good Stuff- The Vegan Sweet Treat

Good stuff have a range of vegan sweets for those tasty treats. They are free from gelatin which most sweets use making them perfect for vegans. These cola bottles are delicious, they prove that no animal products are needed to make sweets like this. Find them in the free from isle.