Saturday 26 August 2017

Vegan-Paleo Feast




We're a loving lot us vegans, so I want to show our paleo friends some love by sharing a meal we can all enjoy together, here are some great recipe ideas perfect for vegans and paleos alike.  Lets focus on how we're similar rather than on how we're different and share the love.




                      Sweet Potato Kale Chilli #healthy #vegan #glutenfreeChocolate Orange Chia Pudding | whipped together in a pinch and is perfect for breakfast and dessert alike. | Paleo, Vegan, Low FODMAP

Asian Cucumber Sesame Salad | paleo, vegan & low fodmap     Creamy, spicy cauliflower tikka masala makes the perfect mid week meal. It's easy to put together and something the whole family can enjoy. Vegan, gluten free and full of flavour. Check out our recipe here. Cauliflower Tikka Masala - copyright: www.globa

Colcannon is an Irish side dish, traditionally made with potatoes, kale or cabbage, spring onions, chives, milk and butter. For my version, I’ve replaced potato    Paleo, gluten-free vegan cream cheese recipe with some spice - perfect for all kinds of wraps or with falafels, or to dip vegetables in it

4 Ingredient No Bake Flourless Breakfast Brownies (Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free)  This noodle-less lasagna is #paleo and #vegan. Zucchini stands in for noodles and cashews are pureed for a creamy cheese substitute. The whole dish is bursting with flavor. Even my meat and cheese loving husband loved it!

Carrot and Coriander Soup recipe, a delicious spin on regular old carrot soup, it's perfect for Fall!  Gluten Free  Vegetarian   Vegan   Paleo   Primal    3 Ingredient Sweet Potato Pizza Crusts (Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free)- An easy, 3 ingredient stovetop pizza crust recipe made with NO grains, NO cauliflower and NO eggs! - thebigmansworld.com

Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Curry and Mint. On Healthy Seasonal Recipes by Katie Webster. Vegan, Paleo, Whole30 and Gluten-free.   Roasted red pepper pesto courgetti / zoodles. Healthy pasta! This is grain free, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, vegan and paleo.

These are the most delicious fudgy paleo and vegan brownies that you'll ever make! Raw cacao, unsweetened chocolate and chocolate chunks make them extra chocolatey with rich flavor and chewy fudge-like texture. Kid approved, gluten-free, dairy-free and great when you need a healthy chocolate indulgence!  Cashew satay spiralized vegetable stir fry! Easy and Healthy satay with spicy cashew sauce and spiralized vegetables; all in a stir fry! Paleo and Vegan.

Roasted Cauliflower Tabbouleh | A heart warm salad perfect for the middle of winter. Ready in 25 min. | www.wildeorchard.co.uk  Protein Breakfast Bars (Vegan + Paleo)

Paleo Vegan Meatballs | Vitamix Recipe  Get Free shipping on any #Vitamix with code 06-006499 https://www.vitamix.com/Shop?COUPON=06-006499  Strawberry Milkshake Fudge #raw #vegan #paleo



Saturday 19 August 2017

What's this health kick I've been on?

If you're a subscriber to this blog you will be receiving my monthly newsletters and will know that I've been on a bit of a health kick recently.  (Not a subscriber?  Simply enter your details in the right hand side bar.)



I have been needing to lose weight for years, but the push for me finally came when I agreed to support my husband in cleaning up his diet in the hope it would help heal his Inflammatory Bowel Disease.



We switched to a wholefoods vegan diet (we were already vegan but eating far too much processed food), and I have to say it hasn't hurt one bit. I have lost some weight that I really didn't need to be carrying around and I feel great.


I decided to create a Facebook group called "Happy Healthy Mamas" to get together with other mums to support each other in achieving our own weight loss, fitness and self-care goals.  The group supports a vegan wholefoods diet, if you're interested in joining the group, click HERE

In the group there is a real range of mamas from those transitioning to a vegan diet to those who have been eating wholefoods for some time and are already hitting their goals. 
Some of the mums who are just starting out have asked for a weekly menu that they can follow, so I have spent some time putting one together as a downloadable E-Book.

I have decided to charge for this weekly meal plan E-Book so you know that I believe this is a really good plan that is worth paying money for.  

But because I want to share the love around and help others achieve their goals I am offering it for a limited time as a "pay what you want" price.  This means you choose how much you think a weekly wholefoods vegan menu is worth to you.  You pay the amount you want by typing it into the box below and clicking "Pay Now" and I will email you the weekly meal plan. 

The meal plan includes;
  • Seven different breakfast option,
  • Seven different lunch option,
  • Seven different dinner options with desserts,
  • Different snack options for each day,
  • Photo illustrations of many of the dishes,
  • Ingredients for each meal,
  • Cooking instructions for each meal,
  • A guide on how to use the meal plan day to day and for the future,
  • Other suggestions on healthy living. 


Enter the amount you would like to pay in the box below and click "Buy Now".



I will email you the menu within 24 hours.

Wednesday 9 August 2017

Uber Frugal Month Update



So we're into August now and Uber Frugal Month is officially over.  We also dedicated this month as "No Spend Month".  So let me tell you how it went.

We began the month really well, no spending at all.

We immediately switched out my youngest child' disposable nappies at night for cloth which was a super easy swap and I can't believe we didn't do it sooner.  We also took nappies off my 3 year old at night as we felt he was ready to go dry through the night.  This all went well.  I also started using cloths for going to the toilet.  This also went well thought there was a small increase in washing.

We cancelled our Netflix membership so that's a small monthly saving. Then we were invited to a party one of my children's friend's.  I thought at first I would make a gift, but completely left it too late and ran out of time so had to buy something.  I felt ok about this as you could argue it was an essential purchase, but I  was disappointed with my lack of preparation.  We were planning on cancelling our Ancestry.com membership but needed to download to family tree so that ended up not happening. (Still planning on cancelling this as soon as we have figured out how to download the thing.)  Things carried on well after this, just buying our weekly food and other consumables.  Then we got ready for our holiday.

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We did have one sunny day!

We saved a lot of money on our holiday by camping (probably half the amount we would usually spend on a weeks holiday).  Unfortunately things went a bit downhill from here.  I had to buy some footwear for us all that we could use in the showers, so we ended up buying myself a paid of cheapy crocs and some jelly shoes for the boys and some sliders for my husband. On holiday things went even more wrong. We bought snorkels and goggles for the boys and a selection of brightly coloured buckets and spades.  I also made some purchases at a Museum for both myself and the boys (though my purchase was educational so somehow feels justified?!) We also ended up spending quite a bit of money on the camp site washing machines and dryers, and on reflection using cloth over the holiday was probably not cost effective compared to disposables because of the expense of the machines and dryers (it rained so no chance of line drying.) We also spent more on food by eating out and a fair bit was wasted due to not having a fridge. I think this could have been solved with better planning, and now we have done it once, I think we could be more efficient with meals in the future.

When we got back from our holiday my husband bought some new trainers which were on sale and I ordered some too, though sent mine back because, although they were cheap they weren't quite right so decided it was better to get pricier ones that fit perfectly for running in the future when I really need them, than cheaper ones that might bother me (and were also not essential). He also bought some trousers and I bought a new set of paints, (again justified by saying it's for my art business?!)

Unfortunately, because of eating out and other bits and bobs on our holiday we have ended up with both our bank accounts over drawn, but I am hoping that we are less overdrawn than we might have been had we not been "Uber Frugal" this month.

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This in my sold painting, but more paintings available HERE

On the whole it has been a positive experience and I am still taking what I have learnt through August.  I am questioning every purchase rather than just buying things without thought, and looking at things with an is-it-value-for-money mindset rather than thinking "it's too expensive" or "I can't afford it" which are not abundance ways of thinking.



On a positive note, I sold a painting this month!!  And I launched another mama's retreat day, this time an all day art fest!


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