National Vegetarian Week - Vegan Food Bloggers

It's National Vegetarian Week here in the UK and what better time to celebrate the best vegetarian and vegan food bloggers.

Yesterday I talked about my Top 7 Vegetarian Food Bloggers and today I would like to introduce you to some of my favourite vegan food bloggers.

This post is dedicated to my lovely hubby (well lovely when he isn't being grumpy, especially in the mornings), who became vegan last year. 

I am so proud of him. He made the decision, stuck with it and never wavered. He doesn't ever try to make Cooper and I feel bad for still eating dairy either. For that I love him even more.

1. Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Zucchini Noodles with Sesame Peanut Sauce

I discovered Susan's blog way before I had any interest in vegan cooking, but I fell in love with it anyway!

I defy you to go there and not drool over the food. Forget it being vegan. Susan's food is what you will want to eat. Yes you! Just look at it!

Susan became a vegetarian in 1988, at about the same time as me, but 6 years later she decided to eliminate dairy from her diet too. She also made the decision to try and cook fat free too and the weight just dropped off her. She says some has piled back on, but I think she looks pretty gorgeous!

Susan lives in Mississippi with her husband and teenage daughter.

Featured recipe:

photo: Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Savoury Lentil Mushroom Burgers 

 

2. Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Tex-Mex Black Bean Burgers

Ricki was one of my first blogger friends and she has remained a loyal friend ever since. As you can see as well as cooking and baking Ricki loves her does and they are sweethearts. She calls them The Girls! They have quite a lot to say about Ricki's cooking and baking.

Ricki is college teacher who also teaches cookery classes and writes cookbooks alongside her blog. Yes, I know, how does she fit it all in. She also always makes time for other bloggers too as well as her readers.

Ricki eats and cooks a vegan diet but she also cooks and bakes sugar-free, gluten-free, allergy-friendly. She is one top gal all around!

Featured recipe:

photo: Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Chocolate Caramel Slice

3. Andrea's Easy Vegan Cooking

Roasted Sweet Potato Pate

Andrea calls herself a reluctant cook, but I don't believe that for a minute.

After a shoulder injury made it too painful for Andrea to cook, her husband took over in the kitchen, but Andrea's interest never waned. She poured over cookbooks and magazines and eventually she got back into the kitchen.

Andrea cooks comfort food for her extended family and takes her grandchildren into the kitchen to cook and bake now too.

Somehow Andrea managed to delete all the photos on her blog, but she's a fighter and were the lesser among us would have given up in defeat, Andrea is working her way through and adding new photos. She has brought a good few years up to date now.

Featured recipe:

photo: Andrea's Easy Vegan Cooking

Chewy Ginger-Molasses Cookies

Well that's my top three. I only have another small selections of vegan blogs to visit, but I don't know them well enough to swipe photos to show you without causing offence.

Here are a few others to visit:

1. The Taste Space
2. Holy Cow!
3. Chocolate-Covered Katie
4. Oh She Glows
5. The Vegan Stoner
6. Chow Vegan
7. Urban Vegan

And here are a few of my vegan recipes:

Burgers

1. Cajun Spiced Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers
2. Easy Chickpea and Coriander Patties
3. Lentil, Courgette and Thyme Burgers

Curries

1. Aloo Gobhi
2. Roasted Veg Vindaloo
3. Spinach and Potato Curry

Pasta

1. Peanutty Vegetable Noodles
2. Penne Arrabiata
3. Roast Vegetable Sauce for Pasta
4. Bolognaise

Main Meals (Various)

1. Cottage Garden Pie 
2. Rich Mushroom and Neep Pie 
3. One-Pot Southern Style Rice
4. Richly Braised Lentils
5. Vegetabel and Lentil Stew

Sweet Treats

1. Carrot Cake
2. Vanilla Cake
3. Chocolate and Banana Flapjacks
4. Cinnamon Apple Crisps
5. Peanut Butter and Coconut Cookies
6. Sweet Basil and Lemon Shortbread

Happy Vegetarian Week!

National Vegetarian Week - Vegetarian Food Bloggers

I thought it would be nice to celebrate some of the best veggie and vegan food bloggers this week. I won't be able to include all of the wonderful veggie and vegan blogs I visit, but I would like to introduce you to a few of my favourites. Today I would like to introduce you to some of the best vegetarian food blogs.

1. Allotment 2 Kitchen

Vegan Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

Shaheen started her blog to highlight the meals she made with vegetables grown in her allotment.

Shaheen has been blogging since January 2009 and I've never known a more committed cook and blogger.

In the last four years Shaheen has blogged the most mouth watering meals on almost a daily basis.

Her food is the type that I want to eat. Hearty, honest food with big flavours that make the most of seasonal vegetables.

Shaheen may have started in her allotment just feeding her family, but now she feeds the lucky inhabitants of Newport, Wales from her cafe - Hunky Dorys.

If you're nearby, be sure to stop in and say hi, then tuck in. As well as vegetarian food, Shaheen now makes an exciting range of vegan food and cakes too.

Featured recipe:

photo: Allotment 2 Kitchen

Smoked Paprika Bean Stew with Orzo Pasta

2. Lisa's Kitchen

Kashmiri Chickpeas with Mushrooms

Lisa has to be one of my best buddies in blogland. We've been friends for years now and our biggest regret is that we live so far apart. I'm in Scotland and Lisa lives in London, Ontario.

Lisa has been writing her blog since 2007 and her speciality is spice. If you are looking for some tasty and authentic vegetarian Indian dishes, then Lisa is the woman to see.

Lisa has over a thousand appetising and healthy recipes to choose from. Mostly savoury dishes, but a also some exceptional sweet treats, so why not pop over there and have a look. You won't be disappointed!

Featured recipe:

photo: Lisa's Kitchen

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

3. Amuse Your Bouche

Veggie Pot Pie Soup

Becca is a relatively new blogger, but you wouldn't know it from her blog and her gorgeous food photography. It all looks very professional and she reached that stage so very quickly. It just makes the rest of us, that have built up those skills over many years feel very old and slow, well me anyway!

Becca is in her twenties and lives in Liverpool. I don't know what to say about her food other than I love every single thing this girl blogs! Her food rocks and she seems to be really lovely girl too!

Featured recipe:

photo: Amuse Your Bouche

Black Bean Enchiladas with Avocado Sauce

4. Green Gourmet Giraffe

Australia Day Fudge

I was lucky enough to meet Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe recently. Cooper and I had a lovely day out in Edinburgh with Johanna and her little girl Sylvia. We had great fun exploring the Natural History Museum of Scotland, then in the evening we met up with Johanna's husband and Chele from The Chocolate.Teapot.

Johanna and her family live in Melbourne, Australia and she has been blogging since 2007.

Johanna blogs her family meals, which are real vegetarian comfort food. The kind that puts a smile on your face and leaves you feeling full and content. Oh and she has mastered many kinds of vegan cheese!

Her posts all include snippets of her day and the little amusing things her toddler does and says. Her posts are as comforting as her food and she is a delightful friend to have.

Featured recipe:  

photo: Green Gourmet Giraffe

Weekend Samosas

5. We Don't Eat Anything With A Face

Vegan Hot Cross Buns

Lisa is the vegetarian mum of two teenage daughters. She used to be the food editor for a major parenting site, but once the girls went to school, she decided she needed a new job with a bit more real life company and channelled her passion for food into her blog.

Lisa has been writing her blog since 2010 and is another vegetarian blogger that cooks very down-to-earth vegetarian family meals that would please even the meatiest of meat eaters. 

Colourful, satisfying food that makes you want to tuck in. Oh to be able to dip a fork into the screen and have a taste.

Featured recipe:

photo: We Don't Eat Anything With A Face

 Stuffed Butternut Squash

6. Chez Cayenne

Kung Pao Spaghetti

I don't know much about Claire form Chez Cayenne. I know she's from Texas and she's married, but that's about it. She really doesn't give much away.

What I do know is I love visiting her blog.

Waffles, burritos, spaghetti, focaccia, wraps, fritters........ Mmmmmm!

Her photos are clear, crisp and exciting! As Val over at More Than Burnt Toast would say, they are very droolworthy!

Quick! Go visit Claire!

Featured recipe:

photo: Chez Cayenne

Burmese Yellow Split Pea Fritters

7. The Garden Grazer

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

I only came across The Garden Grazer recently. I can only think I must have found the blog through Tastespotting or on Pinterest because the photos are stunning.

The Garden Grazer is written by Kaitlin. She and her husband are both vegetarian and her "goal is to make vegetarian cooking fun, simple, affordable, approachable, and of course delicious (to please both carnivores and herbivores alike)!" I can state categorically say that she does this 100%.

Kaitlin has only been blogging since early 2012, but her blog is very professional and a treat to visit.

Featured recipe:

photo: The Garden Grazer

 Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Dressing

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to some of my favourite vegetarian food bloggers and I do hope you'll take the time to visit each of them this week to celebrate National Vegetarian Week.

Tune in each day this week for another veggie week post.

Tomorrow I will be talking about some of my favourite Vegan bloggers.

Happy National Vegetarian Week!

Meal Planning Monday (Week beginning 20 May 2013)

Here is my quickly put together meal plan for National Vegetarian Week.

I would have liked to have made a more exciting plan, but sometimes life is just too busy.

This had to be an easy plan for a week where I work four days and two late nights.

A week where Cooper has two martial arts classes. A week where Graham won't get home until after Cooper is in bed and a week where I will be taking lots of buses and everything will take so much longer. Oh and another trip to the hospital *sigh*.

Monday: Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognaise

We had my brother-in-law around for dinner on Sunday night and I made a pot of bolognaise. We had a bit of a help yourself on the table. Spaghetti, garlic bread, a mixed salad, pickled onions, beetroot and potato salad, so there is leftover bolognaise to have tonight as well as some salad. I'm on 5:2 Diet today, so even though I'll have about 400 calories left, that will equate to more salad and less spaghetti.

Tuesday: Spinach and Coconut Dal

An easy one for Tuesday. Cooper and I won't get home until after 7pm. We'll eat it with toasted pitta bread and I can heat some up for Graham coming home.

Wednesday: Lentil Soup

I bet you've guessed where this is going? I'll add more stock to the leftover dal to make us a satisfying soup.

Thursday: Baked Potato and Salad

I'm on a 5:2 Diet fast day again, so I will be having cottage cheese on a potato, Cooper will have cheddar and Graham, when he gets home will have hummus.

Friday: Homemade Pizza & Salad

I have some homemade pizza dough in the freezer, so I'll just need to pop it in the fridge Thursday night, then make a quick sauce on Friday. A few veggies and voila! No mozzarella for Graham, but Cooper and I will have it on ours.


I am linking my Meal Planning post up with At Home with Mrs M who hosts this event.

How is your week looking? Is it busy? Will you be trying to incorporate some veggie meals into your week?

Here are 10 tasty ideas for vegetarian meal planning:

1. Vegetable and Lentil Stew
2. Cottage Garden Pie
3. Richly Braised Lentils
4. Spinach and Onion Puff Tart
5. Chilli Bake
6. Tagliatelle al Pesto e Yoghurt
7. Peanutty Vegetable Noodles
8. Cajun Black Bean & Sweet Potato Burger
9. Broccoli and Cheese Soup
10. Fig, Beetroot & Feta Salad