How to make more Eco-Friendly Coffee

Avid coffee addict that I am, I love learning anything about the black gold. This is how you can make your coffee more eco-friendly!

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How to Make More Eco-Friendly Coffee
Infographic by CustomMade

I Love Doughnuts But...

I have been a little absent from my blog of late, but I haven't been any less obsessed with food. I have begun to make one change however, and that is a promise to myself and my body that I will try my very best to eat cleanly and heathily wherever possible - as well as cutting my meat intake by half.

So I still love doughnuts, but I've just been eating a little less of them and have been getting interested in healthy alternatives to my favourite sugary snacks. The clean eating promise comes from my want and need to nuture my body as there is nothing more important than looking after ourselves. There is a definite awareness that comes with clean eating, and in taking up this challenge, it has really highlighted for me how little I think about what I'm putting into my body - things that would before seem like a normal snack or a drink are things that I no longer want to consume.

This new lifestyle started after I watched the BBC2 Horizon documentary series - 'Should I Eat Meat?', and I was shocked by the effect that meat production is having on the planet. One third of the world's land is used for arable farming, just so we can feed the animals that we eat. Our current meat intake in the UK averages at 220g of meat per day and in order for meat production to be sustainable in our current environment, we need to half that intake. This is a change I thought I could easily make - it would save me money and improve my health. It's been a month or so now and I have definitely decreased my meat intake - some days I don't eat meat or dairy at all. It's made me realise that I don't really miss them.

However being a big foodie and with food being a part of my career as well as my personal passion, I wanted to give myself the freedom to eat animal products if and when I wanted to, as long as I was adhering to my reduction rule. As I cut down on my intake, I started to cook more vegan meals - ones that were piled high with the most delicious vegetables, eating dried fruit for snacks, drinking cold pressed juices and getting really obsessed with avocados. My eating was becoming cleaner, so why not make that a permanent change in my life?

I have also been spending a lot of time on Instagram (you can find my account here: http://instagram.com/skye2612 ), where I post a lot of pictures without writing blog posts to go alongside them. In exploring this, I have found a lot of other accounts that are passionate about clean eating and alternatives to what we are so used to eating. 

Although I still love eating out and am thoroughly obsessed with Crosstown Doughnuts, you will notice a change in some of the things I am cooking and writing about. I hope to share my finds with you - particularly if I find any new good and healthy snacks, as well as my usual food porn.

A Winter Salad

Let's face it, we've all over indulged during the Christmas period. The warm fuzzy feeling has worn off and we're all left feeling a little regretful and wobbly. Or is it just me? But winter doesn't have to mean stews and roast dinners, there are some beautiful vegetables in season and it's time we remembered them.

Winter Beetroot Salad with a Wholegrain Mustard Dressing and Fresh Spinach

Serves 2

3 Different Beetroot varieties (try to get hold of a Golden Beetroot for its delicate sweetness)

1 Small Packet of Fresh Baby Spinach

1 Small Red Onion

1 tbsp Whole Grain Mustard

1 Garlic Clove, thinly sliced

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Cider Vinegar

Method

Roast your beetroots and red onion in the oven for 1 hour at 160C.

Let them cool slightly before thinly slicing your beetroots and red onion. 

Mix together in a bowl with the baby spinach.

In a jug or small container, mix your mustard, garlic, cider vinegar. 

Slowly add the olive oil, whilst whisking the mixture.

Pour over your salad and use tongs (or your well washed hands!) to ensure the dressing covers every little leaf.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Who says vegan baking can't be awesome? This is a great chocolate cupcake recipe with no dairy products and a little fruit surprise in the middle. This recipe is converted from a US version so apologies for the strangely accurate measurements. You can also use the recipe for a normal vegan chocolate cake rather than cupcakes. Just use sandwich tins or a spring-form cake tin.

Cake Ingredients

384g Plain Flour

6 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (I recommend Green and Blacks)

2 tsp Baking Powder

400g Caster Sugar

1 tsp Salt

10 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 Tbsp White Vinegar

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

473ml Water

1 Fresh Raspberry for each cake you bake

Chocolate Frosting

6 Tbsp Pure Vegan Spread

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

100g Icing Sugar

Preheat your oven to 170C. 

Take a bix mixing bowl and add all of your dry ingredients. Mix them all together.

Make a well and add the liquid ingredients.

Whizz together with an electric whisk.

Pour the mixture into your cupcake cases and into the middle of each cake, place your fresh raspberry.

Bake for 25 minutes. 

To test if they are done, skewer the middle and it should come out clean.

Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack.

Take another mixing bowl and add the vegan spread. Whisk until light and fluffy.

Add the cocoa and icing sugar (adding more if not thick enough) and whisk until combined.

Once the cakes have cooled, pipe or spread the buttercream on top and enjoy!

Wilcox Wedding Cakes

On a side note: Puddings and Pies is now on Facebook! Please take a moment to like this page here.

Last month I undertook my first ever wedding order. 60 cupcakes, half of which were to be vegan, alongside appropriate decoration and cake toppers.

We opted for Stem Ginger cakes with Lemon and Honey Buttercream and Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and a Fresh Raspberry Center.

I will be posting the recipes for these later on, but for now let me just leave you with some pictures of the display.

I'm available for any function or party, just send me an email at georgie.wishart@gmail.com

One for the Vegans

One of the things I love most about being a meat eater is a good burger. Granted, I'm pretty picky about my burgers now, especially when eating out. But when people get it right, there's nothing better. This is why I sometimes feel a bit sorry for vegetarians and vegans. One of my closest friends is a vegan, and trying to find something for him to eat when we go out always proves to be a bit of a challenge. If it's a vegetarian meal, people tend to slap a load of cheese on it. So I found this recipe by Healthy Happy Life - a vegan food blog by Kathy Patalsky. 

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers with Avocado. 

To accompany these, because Rob can't stand too much healthiness in one go, we had shoestring onion rings that were to die for. 

Find the recipe here: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/02/easy-sweet-potato-veggie-burgers-with.html

Go out and try a delicious vegan burger! It was nearly as good as a normal one. Nearly.

Little Pick Me Ups

I thought that I would share a few of the food related things that have made me smile this week. 

This is the first one. It's a cookie sandwich. I spotted these whilst wandering around Camden Market and I couldn't leave until I'd nabbed one. It's from 'Cookies and Scream', a vegan and gluten free baketastic stall. I was extremely happy that I'd bought this. Two incredibly delicious and meaty cookies and a smooth, rich buttercream gluing them together. I could barely get my mouth around it, but it was so good.

Thursday morning I was having a quick bit of breakfast and 4 cups of tea in 'Caravan', when I spotted Thomasina Miers, the restaurateur, chef and host of 'Mexican Food Made Easy'. I am severely coveting her Mexican book and spotting her just a few tables across from me made my whole day a lot brighter, and I was a whole lot giddier. Alongside this, Caravan's crumpets were so incredibly buttery that I felt very naughty indeed.

Rob's Chilli Chicken Stir Fry. I am so chuffed that I bagged myself a man that can cook. I was having a bit of a poorly, yucky day and Rob's cure is to sweat it out. With lots of chilli, ginger and garlic. This dish will always hold a special place in my heart, as it features in one of our 'falling in love' events. I demanded cheekily that he cook me dinner, and this is what I got. Om nom.

There's nothing like a special afternoon tea. Especially with your best friend. Last week, my best girlie friend Celine came to visit... so we did what girls do best, browsed through Selfridges wishing we were rich and indulged in a delicate tea time. We ventured to 'Drink, Shop, Do', somewhere I had been anxious to try for a while. For just over a tenner each, we had a pot of tea (or a milkshake in Celine's case), a selection of cute little sarnies (salmon and cream cheese, cheese and pickle, ham and mustard and cucumber), a selection of decadent looking cakes (brownies, lemon slices and macaroons) and topped off with pick and mix. We didn't finish most of the sweets, but foraged them away into one of our bags for later nibbling. We then went on to a fun fair... a warning to others - do not eat a delicious, rich afternoon tea and then go on 7 extreme fairground rides. It will not end well.