How to Sprout Your Own Seeds and Pulses

How to sprout your own seeds, grains and pulses

I love sprouts. Not those overcooked slimy green things you were forced to eat at Christmas as a child, but the sprouts you can grow yourself from seeds, grains and pulses, such as alfalfa and chickpea. Not only are they deliciously crispy and crunchy and a great way to liven up a salad, they’re also stupidly good for you. For example, did you know the nutritional value (including the protein, fibre and vitamin content) of a seed, grain or pulse is improved when sprouted?  There are also loads of other benefits to them – read this article at Living and Raw Foods for more information.

So, why not grow your own sprouts – it’s cheap, easy, and, despite what you might think, there’s no need for any special trays or equipment (says she who does indeed have a special sprouting tray).

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Fresh Strawberry & Nectarine Mocktail

glass of nectarine and strawberry mocktail

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I never knew fresh apricots were extinct. I wanted to make the apricot appetiser mocktail from The Virgin Cocktail Garden as it looked simple, with just a few ingredients easily found in the shops. Or so I thought. Could I find fresh apricots? Could I bollocks. I looked online at Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons but I could only find dried and I’d been sure fresh apricots were as easy to find as apples. Google suggested I use peaches or nectarines in place of apricots and so, because I dislike the fuzziness of peaches, I bought nectarines instead. (I have since investigated and found out apricots are in season in the UK from May to September so I’m going to look for them then, even if I don’t want any. It’s become a matter of principle.)

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Raw cacao hot chocolate {dairy-free, refined-sugar-free}

hot chocolate in a glass and a milk frother

I’m addicted to hot chocolate. Utterly, totally, have-to-get-my-fix-of-it-at-least-twice-a-day addicted. At home, I make vegan hot chocolate using a dairy-free drinking chocolate powder such as Cadbury’s or whatever’s cheapest in the supermarket (most non-instant hot chocolate is vegan, unlike the instant hot chocolate such as Options, which contains milk), and plant milk such as almond, soya or coconut. When I’m out, if they have non-dairy milk – yay! If not, I must confess I do drink hot chocolate with moo juice if that’s all they have (I know, I should be stronger, or go somewhere else – especially as there are plenty of places near me that do vegan hot chocolate, and even a place that serves raw cacao hot chocolate). 

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Thai Stir Fry – vegan, quick and easy

Thai stir fried vegetables with rice in a bowl

I love a Thai stir fry. All that lemongrass, ginger and garlic is wonderful. Saying that though, whenever I eat out at a Thai restaurant, I end up ordering a pad Thai but, today for lunch, I made myself a vegan Thai stir fry with rice. The reason I made Thai stir fried vegetables for lunch which involved actual cooking instead of my usual soup which involves something more along the lines of chucking some veg and stock in a pan then blending it, is because HelloFresh asked me to recreate one of their recipes. I didn’t exactly stick to their recipe for the Thai Veggie Rice Bowl because a) HelloFresh don’t show the exact quantities or measurements on their website so I had to guess; and b) I didn’t like some of their ingredients (coriander, bleurgh) so I left them out. Below, though, I’ll go through step-by-step how I made my version of their recipe which makes a really quick and easy tasty lunch or light dinner.

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