Vegan Recipe of the Week- Breakfast Ideas

This week is a slightly different version of the VROTW feature. So many people ask me what vegans can eat for breakfast other than porridge or cereal with soy milk, that I thought I'd do a breakfast feature to offer some inspiration.

Monday

Start the week off with a delicious Oat Bagel served with dairy-free butter, jam and a banana.

Tuesday

Bake some delicious fruit muffins with banana, nuts or cranberries and have a muffin and coffee.

Wednesday

Grab some delicious fresh organic fruit and a Nakd bar for breakfast on the run.

Thursday

Keep it simple with fresh granary toast and baked beans with a little brown sauce.

Friday

Make some Jus-Rol Croissants and take them in for your colleagues - Friday treat time!

Saturday

Try a vegan sausage and hash brown roll or VBites Bacon and hash brown roll with a glass of chocolate almond milk.

Sunday

Make it a Sunday Brunch with a full English, vegan sausage and bacon, mushrooms, hash browns, granary toast and baked beans.

Special Days - Anniversaries, Birthdays, Valentine's Day etc.

Treat the loved one in your life to delicious iced cinnamon rolls freshly baked and served in bed with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Perfect!

What are your favourite breakfast ideas? Share in the comments below. For more recipe ideas click here.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Cook & Survive! by The Vegan Zombie

I have been a fan of The Vegan Zombie's YouTube Channel for ages and was so excited when they announced the general release of their fan-funded cookbook/graphic novel - Cook &  Survive!

I ordered my copy from Amazon on the day of release and waited patiently for it to be shipped over from the US. When it finally arrived, I was not disappointed.

It features a graphic novel with Chris, Jon and Indy the dog fighting their way through a zombie apocalypse which is brilliantly illustrated by Rob Kramer and then a full cookbook featuring over 85 recipes.

There are The Vegan Zombie classics such as their legendary Mac'n'Cheese, Corn Dogs and Pizza. There are healthy recipes, salads, soups, pies, raw recipes, desserts, breakfast, side dishes, nut milks, sauces and even vegan dog food!

It is an American book, so a few ingredients are harder to find here in the UK, but mainly they use standard ingredients and obviously the measurements are in cups but they also put weight in brackets so no conversions needed.

So if you love home-cooked vegan variety, American favourites and want to treat your companion animal to some great vegan treats too, this is the vegan cookbook for you!

What is your favourite vegan cookbook and why? Share in comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Meridian Nut Butters

Recently, I was lucky enough to be sent some delicious jars of Meridian nut butters to sample for my blog and I couldn't wait to share them with you. I love the range Meridian have, they do not use any palm oil in their nut and seed butters, they only contain natural ingredients and they have an organic range available as well. I was sent a jar of their Smooth Cashew Butter, Smooth Peanut Butter and Smooth Almond Butter. 

My favourite was the almond butter, it was delicious spread on crackers, bagels and as an ingredient in my homemade almond and oat cookies. It uses roasted almonds and this really brings out the flavour of the nuts.

The peanut butter was salty and smooth, just right for toast and I used some a in stir fry sauce with tahini, soy sauce, chilli and ginger.

And finally the cashew butter, which I used in some flapjacks, on bagels, and in some protein balls. It was lovely. Mild taste and a lovely natural sweetness. Goes really well with coconut flavours in baking.

Meridian's butters only use nuts and seeds and contain no added ingredients, they are high in protein and they never use palm oil. They are suitable for vegans, vegetarians and are gluten-free, soya-free and GMO-free. They come in smooth and crunchy varieties and are perfect on their own or as an ingredient in vegan recipes, savoury and sweet. Meridian nut and seed butters are available at selected Sainsbury's, Ocado, Holland and Barrett, Tesco, Morrisons and independent health food shops and start at around £2.30 a jar. There is a link to stockists on their website.

Have you tried any of the Meridian Foods Nut and Seed Butters? What are your favourites? What recipes do you use them in? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Iced Cinnamon Rolls

I don't know about you but to me nothing beats a warm sugary cinnamon smell of baking on a cold January morning :-) I love cinnamon rolls and wanted to veganise them, so here is my recipe. I tried these out on non-vegans and they couldn't tell! Winner!

Makes 12-16 Rolls

Ingredients:

350ml non dairy milk - I used organic unsweetened soya milk

1 1/2 Tbsp cyder vinegar

60ml tepid water

14g instant dried yeast

2 Tbsp of melted vegan butter

60ml light rapeseed oil

540g plain flour

1 tsp of sea salt

300g light brown sugar

115g vegan butter, softened

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

Frylight

For the icing:

Sieved Icing Sugar

Tepid Water

Method:

In a saucepan, combine the soy milk and cyder vinegar and leave for 15 minutes to sour. This will make your buttermilk.

In a mixing bowl dissolve the dried yeast into the tepid water and also leave for 15 minutes until creamy.

Heat the buttermilk gently and add the melted butter and rapeseed oil, stir and take off the heat when warmed through. Then pour this mixture into your mixing bowl with the yeast/water mixture and stir well.

In another mixing bowl sieve the flour, salt and bicarb, then add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly and combine until the mixture forms a dough. Lightly knead the dough and then leave the dough in the mixing bowl with a clean tea towel over the bowl for 20 minutes to prove.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining vegan butter, then add the sugar, vanilla paste and cinnamon to make your cinnamon filling.

Lightly flour a worktop and turn out your dough. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a large rectangle shape. Spread your cinnamon filling over the top of the dough and then roll into a log, pinching the dough at the end to seal the filling.

Cut the log into 12-16 discs around an inch thick and place onto a greased baking sheet. I just spray mine with Frylight.

Cover the tray with a tea towel and leave to prove for another 40 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C (180C Fan).

Bake the rolls in the oven for around 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove and leave to cool for 10 minutes before icing.

In a small dish sieve icing sugar and add tepid water a little at a time to make a thick, but pourable water icing. Drizzle the icing liberally over the cinnamon rolls and leave to set.

Eat and Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share with friends or on social media. Let me know if you make the rolls in the comments below and click here for more of my tasty vegan recipes.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx