All quiet on the Vegan Front

After the excitement and over-planned foodshopping of the first week, this week has been distinctly lacking in any kind of enthusiasm. It's been a little bit of a fail, to be honest. Not that I've broken vegan, but many of the reasons I decided to do this in the first place have been sidelined. A lack of time (and, if I'm honest, planning) has caused me to fall back on the quick and easy evening meals and relying on pretty boring stuff to get through the week. No new recipes, really. There was some mild experimentation with....no, scratch that. I made a chilli. Like I have done most weeks for the past 7 years. Except, this time, I didn't grate any cheese on to it. The one important discovery I did make, though, was the wonder of couscous. I'm sure this is already very common knowledge, but I didn't realise how easy it was to cook! I made a whole tupperware box-ful by frying red and white onions with cumin and coriander, and then adding the couscous and vegetable stock. This then became the basis of my work lunches - a little box of couscous, topped with cold roast vegetables, hummus and olives. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but it was exciting to realise that I CAN do this packed-lunch thing, very cheaply, if I just wake up a teensy bit earlier.

This has also been the week that I've learned that the internet is definitely a limited resource when it comes to vegan cooking. This is not only because there isn't much out there, but the stuff that's worth cooking is mainly American. And I'm sorry, but the 'cup' just isn't a real measurement. As someone who's grown up on weight-based measures, the cup challenges everything I believed and thought good and right in the world. And it's also really fiddly to do accurately. So, onwards to published tomes of wonderful recipes, sporting good old grams and ounces. However, all the cookbooks I own consist of a budget student one, and the egg-obsessed Delia's How to Cook series (a fine and important culinary work. But pretty much useless to the vegan world). A workmate, Peter, was kind enough to offer me a perusal of his and his girlfriend's extensive recipe book collection. I am now equipped with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg, Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian and 'Dr' Gillian McKeith's You Are What You Eat Cookbook. I know. I know. The woman is ridiculous. But she hates dairy with a deep intensity that's highly convenient for me right now.

Mama Hibbs is visiting this weekend. I have already picked out the recipes that I'll be treating her to. Tomorrow brunch will be Hugh's bubble and squeak, dinner is a black bean chilli (the beans are soaking now), followed by a vegan chocolate cake with swedish glacé (a kind of vegan ice cream. It's impressive, really impressive). The cake is currently sitting on the side in the kitchen. Looking GORGEOUS. 'What's that', I hear you cry, 'you managed some vegan baking?'. Why yes, but more on that later....