vegan products

Vegan tortilla pizza | 15 minute meal

When i was in the store the previous day i came across some pink tortilla breads – based off of beetroots. The colour caught my eye and the fact that they were made out of 45% vegetables intrigued me. After checking the ingredients i was happy to see that they were vegan. Though i did message the company to make sure that the E471 (mono and diglycerides av fatty acids) was vegan – as it can come from animal products. Though from my understanding, almost all bread that has e471 comes from plant based alternatives.

I don’t know so much about E numbers, i.e which are vegan and which aren’t. And most of the time you need to email the company to find out. Hence why i prefer buying items which have the vegan mark on them because then i don’t need to worry or think about if the E number is vegan or not!

Onto the actual recipe then?

I bought the tortilla breads and i thought… i could make tacos, tortillas or quesadillas… but that is a standard for me, and i wanted to make something different. And then the idea of tortilla pizza popped up into my head.

It would be quick and easy to make and that is exactly what i needed.

I have to say this was AMAZING. And i mean that 200%. Maybe it was just because i was super hungry, but the flavourcombo and the crunch of the tortilla base worked so well!

My meal prep is all eaten, and now it is about using the leftover veggies and foods i have at home before i get a food delivery this weekend.

So i decided to roast some purple carrots, broccoli and chickpeas. C.a 25 minutes at 220 degrees celsius.

And i made a “cheese” sauce from potatoes, sweet potato and had two left over carrots which i added as well. The actual recipe is HERE

And in a frying pan i fried up 1 small red onion, half red paprika and half yellow paprika.

I heated the tortilla bread in the oven c.a 5 minutes

Then when everything was done i lowered the oven heat to about 190 degrees celsius.

I put some of the potato cheese sauce as well as the toppings and placed back into the oven and baked for about 10 minutes (didn’t time exactly). But until it was crunch but not burnt.

Took out of the oven, topped with some sweet corn, avocado, hummus and made a garlic tahini dressing.

And then done! Simple, delicious and filled with nutrients!

The lighting was NOT on my side today, hahah.It has been grey and dark all day, but i guess that is how it will be for the next few months…

November 2, 2018November 2, 2018

Its a healthy lifestyle8 Comments

Vegan staple foods to have at home!

As requested i was asked about some of my vegan stapl foods to have at home – so i decided to film a video and show you some of the vegan staples i always have at home!

To watch the video, you can go to my YouTube channel HERE: Izzy M

My goal is to post videos on Wednesday and Sundays, so don’t forget to subscribe and let me know some video ideas, hahah.

So what are some of the vegan staple foods i recommend people to have at home?

Dried foods: Lentils, Rice/pasta/Quinoa/couscous, oats, flour, dried beans

Fresh foods: Potatoes, different veggies (root vegetables last longer and more nutritient dense as well as cheaper than vegetables such as cucumber and lettuce), fruit, tofu

Canned/tinned: Crushed tomatoes, coconut milk, beans

Frozen: Frozen vegetables, frozen berries

Extras: Nuts and/or seeds, oil, vegetable stock

Foods such as fake meat, vegan yoghurt, vegan cheese, vegan milk aren’t foods you have to have at home. Instead, you can eat nutritious, balanced and healthy with just unprocessed whole foods. But of course, if you enjoy and can afford those foods, they can be a part of a healthy lifestyle. I personally like the fake meats and alternative vegan options, so they are a part of my weekly/daily diet and food budget, but they don’t have to be part of your diet.

If you have the time you can always make your own oat milk or almond milk, make your own peanut butter and home made granola, so you can save money – instead of buying pre made. Also if you have flour and/or oats you can make your own bread/pancakes/crepes easily, as well as working as a good binding agent when making bean burgers.

Also if you can afford it, it can be good to invest in buying things such as cornflour, seasoning, chickpea flour, bread crumbs, soya sauce, liquid smoke, red curry paste etc foods which you may not use alot of (or so often) and therefore last a long time!

With some dried beans (which you soak and boil yourself), potatoes and frozen veggies you can go a long way. Not to mention rice & beans = a complete protein source. And if you buy and soak your own chickpeas you can make a whole bunch of different foods (hummus, falafel, roasted chickpeas, chickpea cookie dough etc)

foods at home foods at home2

October 17, 2018October 16, 2018

Its a healthy lifestyle3 Comments

Taste test: The vegan burger that bleeds (Juicy vegan burger)

When i was working i saw that the store i work at had begun selling the “juicy vegan burgers” by Garant.

They are supposed to resemble the beyond meat burger which “bleeds” and is supposedly very similar to meat.

For 65kr (€6,50) you get 4 burgers ala 125g, i.e €1,60 per burger, and kind of expensive. Part of me was thinking… for the same price i could buy 3 blocks of tofu or 2 packages of other fake meat, or i could buy 8 vegan burgers for the same price from another brand. The economical part of my brain was saying, “can i really justify buying this?”. But i love testing new foods, there is something so exciting about it, so after work i treated myself to the burgers and some burger buns!

I haven’t eaten red meat in years so i am not the best person to compare if this burger is meatlike or not. But also i personally like the taste of the fake meats that already exist, i like the taste and texture of them. Not to mention that i love tofu so don’t feel like i need to eat fake meats.

So, after preparing and eating the burgers what do i think?

Well, when you cook them they do “bleed” unlike other fake meats. This is the beetroot juice… personally i did find it a little strange, and i don’t need my food to fake bleed, hahah.

I fried the burgers for several minutes on both sides until cooked all the way through.

Taste and texture?

It was the weirdest texture…. sort of mushy in a very weird way. There was no resistence or chew, and it hard a sort of gummy texture. Very weird and hard to describe. I also read a comment from another person who said that it was similar to medium rare burgers in consistency. As i have never had medium rare burgers i can’t compare… but i feel like that is how it might taste. It also kind of reminded me of failed (undercooked) seitan, which has a sort of gummy texture to it.

Taste wise? It was rather bland and next time i might add some seasoning or sauce when preparing it. Also i might try preparing the last burger in another way to see if maybe it tastes better then.

Nutrition?

Well each burger contains 15g protein which is quite alot, and the burgers are soya free which is great for those who can’t eat soya. They do however contain gluten, so are not gluten free. And c.a 200kcal for each burger which is similar to burgers in the same size. But i guess the pros to this burger is that it doesn’t have saturated fats, trans fats or cholesterol like red meat burgers do.

My final thoughts?

Personally i don’t think i will buy these burgers again as they weren’t to my liking. Instead if i want burgers i’ll use another brand or just make my own burgers! I do still want to try the beyond meat burger that can be bought from certain restaurants in Sweden… maybe it will taste better.

Everyone is different, so just because i don’t like it doesn’t mean that you won’t!

I just don’t feel the need to have my food taste or look like meat products. I don’t miss eating meat and feel no need for my vegan food to be similar to meat. However i do like the consistency and taste of certain fake meat alternatives, and they can be a good go-to when too tired to make my own food or when eating out/with friends!

September 16, 2018September 16, 2018

Its a healthy lifestyle3 Comments

8 new vegan products | Friday Finds! | Quorn, yoghurt, burgers etc

Friday and i had planned to post this blog last week but instead this post ended up sitting in my draft section for the past week! That is unfortunately what happens with the majority of my posts… i begin writing them, or think about an idea but it takes me a while to get round to actually posting them/finishing them!

Sometimes i get hit with an idea/inspiration/thought i want to share and either i write the post and share it directly or it takes me two weeks to finish the post and finally get round to sharing it. There seems to be no inbetween with me, haha.

This week i wanted to share 8 “new” vegan products on the market (or soon to be available). As i live in Sweden i usually post the products i have been made aware will be available in Sweden, but i also sometimes stumble across new foods available in ex. England. So for some people i am sure these posts may be useless as the food isn’t even available in their country, but sometimes i like seeing that new vegan foods are available (even if i can’t get them in Sweden), just because it shows the demand for vegan products is growing!

And of course… most of the foods are processed considering that there aren’t so many new local fruits and vegetables available that i have never seen or heard about before!

As i mentioned in my previous “New vegan products” post, Quorn aren’t just releasing sandwich toppings they are also releasing new frozen items! Sausages, burgers and vegan “fish fingers”. Typically Quorn isn’t vegan as it contains egg whites, but their new vegan range has the vegan marking! So if there is no vegan symbol on it, then it’s most likely not vegan (read the ingredients incase!)

A new alpro soya yoghurt in the flavour apple kiwi which i really hope will be made available in Sweden! Alpro yoghurts are my FAVOURITE. And i eat several of their “on the go quark” yoghurts a week, but i also love their natural and mango flavour yoghurt!

The chocolate bar VEGO (which makes one of the best vegan chocolates) has made a chocolate spread, and even if i don’t miss or crave nutella or chocolate spread i still want to try it if i find it.

The vegan magnum isn’t a “new” product as i posted it in my previous post. However, i have now tried it and my opinion….Not my favourite ice cream. Sure i would eat it again, but i wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it and would personally spend the money on something else… like vegan chocolate or buy another vegan ice cream. But i think it is great that it is available and i have heard many who like it. I just personally found that the ice cream had this weird taste and texture which wasn’t to my liking. But good thing that people can have different likes and preferences, hahaha.

“New” vegan milkshakes from the fastfood restaurant MAX. And i write new in quotation marks because the milkshakes have been available in Sweden for some time, but they were only available in one (or two) of the fast food restaurants. But now they should be available in more of the MAX restaurants. Once again, i don’t feel the need or desire to drink milkshakes so for me it doesn’t really matter. HOWEVER i am a sucker for trying new vegan foods and i feel like i HAVE TO try them if i am ever at a MAX restuarant [which isn’t often]. But i know that many vegans have wanted and missed a milkshake so i think it is awesome that it is available for those who like milkshakes.

A burger, similar to the beyond meat burger which “bleeds” will be available in frozen package. From what i have seen, it will be PRICY. But i am excited to try and see how it tastes. Like mentioned above, i feel the need to try new vegan products just because….

The brand Hälsans kök which already makes delicious vegan products is releasing a new product – pulled beans. (Not sure if it is based on beans or soya with beans added, hahah). But looking forward to trying nonetheless!

And vegan mayonnaise from Hellmans. I can’t actually remember the last time i ate mayonnaise vegan or none vegan because i truly dislike mayonnaise. So this is infact a new vegan product i am not planning on buying or testing, hahaha. But it shows that if a company like Hellmans can make a vegan option, then the vegan demand is truly showing and putting pressure on companies to change and offer vegan options!

I’m excited to try the new products and to see what new releases there will be in the future!!!

September 14, 2018

Its a healthy lifestyle1 Comment

Vegan banana bread with chocolate chips | Vegan recipe

Instagram is overflowing with pictures of banana bread and it has got me craving some!!

For a few weeks now i have been meaning to try make banana bread again but just never gotten around to it. I have been meaning to make foccacia bread as well (recipe HERE), but i just haven’t had the time or ingredients at home to make it.

I have made banana bread in the past, HERE, and i adapted it a little because the last time it didn’t really rise as i wanted.

This time it turned out a lot more moist than before – however the flour also makes it sort of dense, so just once slice is rather filling. (I mean, i still ate 3 slices at once… hahah).

I am sure you can use oats or oat flour and use sweetener instead of sugar, and using coconut oil instead of regular oil will add a coconutty flavour. So adapt the recipe according to your own preferances, but i used regular flour and sugar because that is what i had at home!!

And the best topping on banana bread? Of course peanut butter!! I have also made peanut butter and banana bread pudding (recipe HERE) which is an amazing dessert or snack 🙂

If you try this recipe – or an adaption of it, let me know!! 🙂

July 26, 2018July 26, 2018

Its a healthy lifestyle5 Comments