Easy Homemade Refried Beans (Frijoles Refritos)

I've been meaning to try making my own refried beans for some time now and finally got round to doing so...just in time for National Vegetarian Week!

In case you don't know, the term refried is actually a mis-translation of refritos, which actually means well-fried, not fried twice.

My recipe is for a spicy version, similar in taste to the expensive, small tins you can buy in the UK. Providing you have most of the ingredients to hand, it works out at around £1 to make this recipe, equivalent to around 2-3 large cans. You could, of course, make a larger batch which would be even more economical.

Serves 8-10 as a starter, or side dish

• 2 cups of dried pinto beans (no need to pre-soak)
• 6 cups of boiling water
• 6 tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbsp. pickled jalapeños
• 2 tsp chipotle paste (optional)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt

Place the beans and water in a large pan.

Boil rapidly for 10 minutes (uncovered), then reduce the heat and simmer for a further hour (with the lid on).

Drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid, then mash or blend the beans, adding back some of the reserved cooking liquid until you have the texture and consistency you prefer.

Finely chop or blend the onions and chillies.

Heat the oil on a medium heat and add the onion and chillies  Cook for a few minutes until softened.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

Finally stir in the mashed beans and mix well to combine the ingredients.

Serve warm with tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole or use to stuff burritos.

Top tips: Eat half and freeze half of the mixture. Defrost and heat in the microwave, adding a little extra boiled water if needed.
For a mild, child-friendly version, omit the salt, chillies and chipotle paste from the main mixture. Serve the adult's portion with the above ingredients added to taste.

Pin It

Churro Waffles with Caramel Sauce

These churro-style waffles are cooked in a waffle maker rather than being deep fried like traditional churros. I made mine in my trusty Sage Waffle Maker, however there are cheaper gadgets on the market. You could cook these like drop scones on a large non-stick frying pan, if you don't have a waffle maker.

Makes 4-5 large waffles

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups SR flour
• 1⅓ cups milk  
• ⅓ cup soft brown sugar                   
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
• a pinch of cinnamon

For the cinnamon sugar, mix ingredients together.

• ½ cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

For the caramel dipping sauce, heat ingredients together in a pan or in the microwave and stir thoroughly.

• 1 cup dulche de leche/caramel condensed milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk or double cream

Beat all of the waffle ingredients together to make a smooth, thick batter.

Heat your waffle maker or frying pan on a medium-high heat.

Cook waffles until golden brown.

Whilst warm, dust on both sides with the cinnamon sugar.

Serve drizzled with the hot caramel sauce.

Top tip: Make a chocolate sauce by melting chocolate and mixing with double cream or evaporated milk. Heat gently until you have a smooth, warm sauce.

Pin It

Veganuary 2017

A slightly belated Happy New Year! 

I can't believe all the festivities are over and I'm back at work already!

This year, both Miss K (now aged 15) and I are attempting Veganuary. In case you don't know, Veganuary is a campaign in association with Viva! to encourage people to go vegan for January and "Eat delicious, healthy food, save lives and help the environment."

As a long-time vegetarian (myself) and a lifelong one (Miss K), I reckon we've done our bit to save more than a few farm animals' lives between us, however the dairy and egg industry does, of course, play on our minds from time to time. It's something which I don't often blog about, as I try not to be a 'preachy' type of vegetarian; I am married to an omnivore after all.

After a week of eating a vegan diet, I've only encountered a couple of obstacles. One is that you can't easily buy vegan cakes and I haven't had time for any baking...so guess what I've been craving? The second is eating out as a vegan; this seems to be incredibly difficult if you're a strict vegan but the Veganuary website has this covered for a variety of chain restaurants.

If you've recently discovered my blog, you might like to know that I try to avoid fussy recipes and fashionable 'out-there' ingredients, as I work full time and have a family to feed, who want wholesome, tasty but not weird, vegetarian meals. I don't have time to faff around for hours, or to knit my own quinoa, goji berry and spirulina brownies, but I do enjoy cooking.

Although not all of my recipes below are vegan, they are all budget friendly, relatively low in fat and can all be easily adapted (for example, if the recipe uses Quorn or cheese, simply swap for a vegan alternative.) I hope you enjoy them. Please let me know what you think, by leaving me a comment if you do try any of my recipes.

Veganuary meal plan - week 1

Veganuary meal plan - week 2

A cheap and lower-fat meal plan for Veganuary

For an amazing array of vegan recipes, take a look at the Veganuary recipe index.

Pin It

Our family holiday to Australia - Part 2: Sydney

...So, after two weeks in Victoria, we travelled to New South Wales with Virgin Australia.

I can only imagine how beautiful the bays of Sydney and the surrounding area must have been for James Cook to have (re)named it after Wales. There are very few similarities now, unless you head out of the city. The botanic gardens and beaches are beautiful and the Sydney opera house and bridge make stunning landmarks, but it's not until you travel for over an hour outside the city, that you get any idea of what Australia might have one looked like.

During our stay in Oz, we've learned about the indigenous aboriginal people, culture, art and traditions ...something the British history books and classes seem to miss out. We've seen some amazing indigenous art in the Art Gallery of NSW and an interesting exhibition on aboriginal culture in the Australian Museum. It was uncomfortable at times to read the stories of stolen land and children taken from their families, but something I feel I must mention.

Anyway, back to the review...we stayed in the suburb of Rozelle; around a 20 minute bus-ride from the centre, and within easy reach of a selection of bars, cafes and restaurants, in neighbouring Balmain. Getting around Sydney was easy enough on the buses and ferries. Like Melbourne, you need to buy a travel pass, called an Opal (based on London's Oyster Card apparently). Of course, we had to visit the harbour bridge and opera house, which are in the heart of the city, near the beautiful botanic gardens. I was surprised to find they were so close together, as they don't appear that way on TV. I had hoped to be in awe of these fantastic structures, as so many of my friends and family have been, but alas, they looked like a pointy building and a big, metal bridge to me!

Food-wise, Sydney was pretty similar to Melbourne, except there seemed to be more European/Middle-Eastern influences and slightly less Asian. Vegetarian and vegan food was plentiful in both restaurants and shops, so we had no shortage of good food to eat. Lunches in cafes and restaurants were full-on meals with ubiquitous avocados and salad, not light snacks and sandwiches, so we often look a picnic out with us, which saved money too. We found that Greek and Middle-Eastern restaurants were the best bet for a vegetarian light lunch or dinner, but these were out in the suburbs, not in the city .

On an Aussie Masterchef theme again, we ate at the trendy Wilhemina's restaurant (fronted by last years' forth-placed contestant Jamie Fleming) and tried some delicious cake and pastries from guest chef, Adriano Zumbo's patisserie.
Towards the end of our holiday, we were craving a good (British-Indian) curry and luckily both the Indian Palace and Manjits in Balmain delivered on taste and price. The only thing lacking was a good naan (maybe they don't have tandoor ovens in Australia), as the naans in both places were small, round, pale affairs, not the big, puffy pillows of bread we get in the UK! They also had puny pappadoms...no idea why that is!

As a city, we found Sydney to be big, brash and busy, so a highlight for us all was the tranquil, and small but perfectly formed, Chinese Garden of Friendship in China Town. You really wouldn't believe you were in the city centre, unless you looked up to see the skyscrapers surrounding it. Another must-do was the stunning coastal walk from Coogee beach to Bondi, which took us around and hour and a half with plenty of photo opportunities. Unfortunately, there were no Bondi Rescue life guards on duty when we got there! Talking of beaches, we also took the ferry from Circular Quay to visit Manly and Watson's Bay. Even in the winter, it was warm enough to have a paddle and a picnic on the beach, which was lovely. It was also well worth travelling out to the vast Blue Mountains to get a taste of real, rural Australia.

After four busy weeks down-under, it was time for another mammoth flight back to the UK with Cathay Pacific. I don't know when or if we''ll ever travel back to Oz, but this was a holiday we'll never forgot. Pin It

Our family holiday to Australia - Part 1: Melbourne

If I was an organised blogger, I would have had a couple of posts up my sleeve, scheduled them to publish whilst I was away, and you'd have been none the wiser. As I'm not, I thought I'd better explain where I am ! I don't post many personal anecdotes, so if you're looking for a recipe, feel free to ignore my holiday ramblings ...

My long time followers, if there are any, may remember my rather self-indulgent post about my friend and her family emigrating to Australia. My brother and sister-in-law also emigrated a few years earlier (you see a pattern emerging here?!) so it's been a mission for us to save up enough money for us to visit them all, before the girls left home. As Miss Ony took her GCSEs this year, we thought this summer would be a good time to go; luckily, Mr O's boss was agreeable to him taking an extended holiday.

As we're tied to school holidays, flight prices were never going to be cheap. By initially using flight price-checking websites and then comparing fares for individual airlines, I eventually found suitable, affordable flights with Cathay Pacific - the cheapest were with Malaysian Airlines! Cathay Pacific were great to fly with and had pretty comfortable seats, but it's a long flight no matter how far the seats recline and we were all very happy to finally land in Australia after 27 hours.

So far, we've spent 2 weeks in Melbourne. Despite the chilly winter weather (yes it's winter here - which seemed to come as a shock to some of my friends!!), we've had a great time seeing my friend and her family, plus of course, the sights of Melbourne. We've also eaten some great food...see, this is a kind of a foodie post after all!

We initially stayed at the Pegasus Apart'Hotel at the edge of the CBD for our first week, We decided on this accommodation, partly for the location and price (I got a discount by booking through Expedia), plus they offered free WiFi and had an indoor, heated  pool - great for the teenagers. The apartments were near Queen Victoria Market, which had an amazing deli hall and fruit/veg market, where we bought most of our food for our self-catered breakfasts and lunches. We found out that in winter, there's also a weekly night market every Wednesday - with street food, drink, craft stalls and live entertainment - we wrapped up warmly and enjoyed an evening there.

Luckily, the exchange rates were in our favour! Restaurants in the city varied widely from cafes, budget restaurants (mainly East Asian) and pubs, to expensive steak and hotel/casino restaurants. There were plenty of vegetarian and vegan options available, including several exclusively vegetarian places, but basically, the more expensive the restaurant, the less veggie food was on the menu! We mainly stuck to the budget end of the market and ate some delicious food, including a yummy eggplant parma at the famous Mrs Parmas, but we did splash out one night and ate some beautifully presented, and very tasty Greek-inspired food at Gazi (one of Aussie Masterchef presenter George Calombaris' restaurants).

The public transport system was very easy to navigate, cheap and efficient. All the trams in the CBD are free, which is amazing. If venturing further afield, you need to purchase a MYKI card, which you then top up as needed - like an Oyster card, I'm told.

We've done plenty of the usual touristy things, including visiting the brilliant Melbourne Museum, the beautiful Botanic Gardens, seeing some amazing art by indigenous artists at the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia), a Yarra Valley wine tour and of course we've seen some of the unique, native Australian wildlife including koalas, wombats and kangaroos. 

After a week in the city, we moved out to the seaside resort of St Kilda at the Quest St. Kilda Bayside Apartments, again, we chose these apartments for their price and location (5 minutes walk from the beach and central St Kilda). Unfortunately, their free WiFi, was limited to 250mb per day, which basically equated to a few minutes checking social media - the girls were not impressed, so we ended up purchasing unlimited WiFi.

In the summer, St Kilda must be bustling with tourists and back packers, but in winter it was pretty quiet, although almost all of the restaurants, bars and shops were open. None-the-less, we enjoyed visiting the traditional European cake and chocolate shops, Luna Park, going on beach-side walks and seeing the wild colony of fairy penguins at the end of the pier. Our favourite eating place in St Kilda was the tiny 40 Thieves & Co Middle-Eastern restaurant - great food and friendly service. 

I'm not sure if it's on in the UK yet, but we've been watching Restaurant Revolution (one of the few Australian programmes on free-to-air TV). Some of the contestants have been running a pop-up restaurant in St Kilda, and we've enjoyed watching the queues build each day!

I can't believe how fast our first two weeks have gone. We're now packing for our next adventure in Sydney...

Pin It

The best small(ish) music festivals in the Midlands 2015

The sun is shining and the main UK festival season is looming; The Mirror has even predicted a heatwave (surely such a quality paper couldn't get it wrong?!), so I thought I'd post a round of some of the festivals Mr O and I have been pondering over visiting this year, plus some other local (to us) festivals. In case you don't know, we're seasoned festival goers, and having done the big festivals pre-kids, we now prefer a lower-key event where we can actually get some sleep at night and have a hot shower when needed!

Our teenage daughters, Miss O and Miss K, are undecided on whether or not to join in with our festivities this year, as they now have rather more refined musical tastes than us! However, I have picked these festivals for their family-friendly facilities and prices, even if they don't appeal to my kids any more. Although my daughters wouldn't appreciate them now, they used to love festivals with craft activities, circus skills workshops and a place to hang out away from the main stage. 

I have excluded some great-sounding festivals from my line up, as some of the festivals I liked the sound of do not offer family tickets, and/or charge adult prices for teens under 16. If a child under 16 must be accompanied by an adult over 18/21 to enter the festival, then surely they should be charged a child/youth or reduced price?!

If you have younger children, do take a look at my family friendly festival guide, with plenty of tips on how to make a festival fun for all the family.You can also find lots of quick and simple camping meal ideas here.

May 21-24
Bearded Theory, Catton Hall, Walton upon Trent, Derbyshire
We've been to a couple of BTs and enjoyed this friendly, chilled-out festival, the great range of bands and good facilities for families. See my review of Bearded Theory 2012 here (different venue).There are 5 stages hosting an eclectic range of acts, a children's village and teen zone.
Adult weekend ticket inc. camping £94, child weekend tickets age 0-5 free, 6-11 £22, 12-16 £45, family camping area available.
Headliners this year include The Mission, New Model Army, James and Eat Static.

May 22-24
Glastonbudget, Turnpost Farm, Leicestershire
This festival appeals to me, as it would mean that I could see tribute acts of artists who have either disbanded, died or were out of my price range when popular!
Adult weekend ticket inc. camping £76, children aged under 5 £4, 6-15 £39, 16-17 £65, family camping costs an extra £3 per person.
Headliners include a good range of rock, retro, pop and indie tribute bands such as Kazabian, Totally Tina (Turner) and (Freddie) Mercury plus some new and acoustic acts.

June 5-7
Lunar Festival, The Umberslade Estate, Warwickshire (5 miles south of Birmingham)
This one is a serious contender for us, as it's fairly local and offers some great workshops as well as great music; I'd also love to see Julian Cope play live. There are 2 stages, workshops for kids and adults and late night clubs.
Adult weekend ticket inc. camping £94, Family weekend ticket £199.
Headliners this year include Tinariwen, The Fall, Wilko Johnson, The Bootleg Beatles and Julian Cope, as well as a wide variety of other acts.

June 19-21 
Acoustic Festival of GB, Uttoxeter Race Course Staffordshire
Adult weekend ticket £85 + £20 camping, Children under 10 £1, ages 10-15 £15 +£5 camping.
The big plus for this festival is that you can park next to your tent. Believe you me, this is a perk worth paying for, especially when you have younger children with lots of stuff to cart around! Headliners include Big Country, Beautiful South and Show of Hands. 

July 3-5
Godiva Festival, War Memorial Park, Coventry
FREE
We're definitely going to the Godiva Festival, as it's free! There's no camping on site, so if you're willing to take a risk, book your hotel accommodation before the line up is finalised. We've booked a room at the local Premier Inn and are looking forward to the main acts being announced in the next few weeks - UPDATE: The Wombats, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and Embrace are set to headline Coventry Godiva Festival 2015
Godiva is actually quite a big festival; in fact it claims to be the country’s biggest free family music festival, with with 3 stages and a family field for little ones. 

July 24-26
Nozstock The Farm, Rowden Paddocks, Bromyard, Herefordshire
Adult weekend £105, Teens £85, under 12s free.
I love the sound of Nizstock, but sadly won't be able to go as we'll be on holiday. There's a plethora of stages with music, comedy and theatre.Children will love the activities in the Enchanted Glade and there are also baby-friendly facilities. Headliners include The Wu Tang Clan, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Beardyman and DJ Hype. 

July 24-26
Barefoot Festival, Prestwold Hall, Loughborough, Leicestershire
Adult weekened ticket inc. camping £90, child weekend ticket £38, under 5s free
Barefoot Firewalk tickets for over 12s cost an additional £33
No line up has been announced yet, but last years headliners included some talented, but lesser-known artists such as Laurel Canyons and Josephine & The Artizans, plus a range of folk, blues, indie and cabaret acts. There is also a kids' zone and arts workshops running during the weekend.

Aug 14-16
Farmer Phil's, Ratlinghope, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Adult weekend ticket £76, family weekend ticket £239...inc. a full week's camping.
Farmer Phil's started off small and has grown each year. It offers great camping facilities, and children's workshops, craft activities and bouncy castles.
Headliners include Ferocious Dog, 3 Daft Monkeys and Talisman. 

Sept 4-6
Off the Tracks, Donington Park Farmhouse, Castle Donington Derbyshire
Adult weekend ticket inc. camping £80, children under 12s free, aged 12-15 £45. 
Off The Tracks has 4 stages, a proper campsite with well-maintained pitches, hook-ups, hard-standing, real showers and toilets. Children's activities, play areas and workshops. Headliners include Banco di Gaia and Dreadzone

Sept  11-13
Shrewsbury Fields Forever, Shropshire; Venue Not Yet Decided
(Tickets not yet on sale)
This is a bit of a wild card, as it might not go ahead. However, it's the one that my kids would probably be most interested in attending as it has hosted some very well known acts over the last few years.
SFF is Shropshire’s largest multi arena live indie, alternative, electronic, dance and popular music, comedy and arts festival, however due to a fall out over their previous venue (West Mids Showground), this year's festival may or may not be going ahead at an alternative venue. Last year's head liners included Tinie Tempah, The Cribs and Shed Seven. Keep a look out for more information!

If you know of any other similar festivals in the Midlands, do let me know and I'll add them to the list.

For details and reviews of more family-friendly festivals all over the UK, visit Festival Kidz.

Integrity Statement

I have NOT received any incentives to promote any of these festivals. All views expressed are genuine. However, if anyone want to offer me free tickets to a festival, I am always willing to review!!! Images featured are from various festivals we have been to and not necessarily of the festivals featured.

Pin It

The Big Session Festival 2012 - a review

OK, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a folky. Now, I know that isn't cool or awesome or sick or whatever the correct term is these days, but I don't care; My name is Lisa and I like folk music! 

I like to think that folk is about to have a bit of a revival, due to the rising popularity of acts such as Ed Sheeran and Frank Turner (or maybe not!), but anyway, since I've come out as a folk music fan, I can now tell you about the Big Session Festival...

We've been going to the Big Session for several years now. It used to be held in Leicester city centre, but has now moved to a new rural site in South Derbyshire. We were a little worried about the change in venue, as we weren't sure how it would change the whole festival atmosphere, but despite the deluge of rain and copious quantities of mud, the Big Session remained true to its former identity.

We arrived at the flat, spacious and very scenic camp site on Friday evening. One major luxury with this festival was that we could drive around the camp site, find a pitch and unload everything before having to drive back to the car park (there was also a toilet block, shower block, stand pipe and elsan point).This was particularly advantageous as it was pouring with rain when we arrived. We pitched the tent in record time, before parking the car and then heading off into the arena. 

There were 3 stages (all under cover), which was just right for the amount of people attending. There was a smattering of the usual festival stalls and food outlets too, but not as many as in previous years (maybe due to the inclement weather which has been ongoing since the hose-pipe ban was announced!). There was one totally vegetarian/vegan food stall, plus plenty of other options such as veggie burgers and crepes at the other stalls; these weren't as varied or adventurous as the food at some larger festivals but more than adequate. 

The festival site had plenty of bins/recycling points, a real ale tent and even flushing toilets with running water in the sinks (as opposed to portaloos and anti-bac foam). There was a large, undercover kids area with art, craft and musical activities, circus skills and more besides. There should have been a climbing wall too, but I guess the rain made it too dangerous to use.

Old favourites Chumbawamba and the Oysterband played on Friday night and were as entertaining and tuneful as usual. We also discovered some new acts over the weekend, who we hadn't heard of before, including Abandoman (Irish hip hop comedy!), Jesca Hoop (the slightly loopy former nanny of Tom Waits' children), Dizraeli and the Small Gods (hip hop/folk fusion) and The Leisure Society folk/pop/rock). 

The only down side to the festival was the weather and the resulting muddiness of the site, but that certainly wouldn't put us off going again. 

I would definitely recommend the Big Session to anyone who wants to try out a small, friendly festival with their kids, before venturing on to a larger one...who knows, if you go, you might even get to like folk music too!

The Big Session Festival takes place at Catton Hall, South Derbyshire. For more information, visit Big Session.

More posts on family festivals, camping recipes, kids' camping food ideas here.  Pin It

Bearded Theory Festival 2012 - a review

© Essential festival items!

We went to the Bearded Theory festival last year and to be honest, despite the line up, we weren't that impressed with the lack of space in the camping area and the (un)helpfulness of the stewards. This year, we hesitated before booking...partly due to our previous experience and partly due to the cost...and before we reached a firm decision, it was sold out! Amazingly, we were lucky enough to win tickets thanks to a competition I spotted on Festival Kidz, and before we knew it we were packed up and ready to go, hoping we'd be able to find a space to pitch without too many problems.

Thankfully, the organisation was much better this year, although it did feel slightly odd to cart all of our gear across the main arena to get to the camp-site! We trudged right down to the bottom of the camping area and easily found a flat space to pitch in the quiet family area...this was a big improvement on last year's cramped pitch of mole hills, nettles and thistles! Unfortunately it started raining as we arrived, so we had to pitch quickly before our stuff got wet....but such are the joys of camping in the UK.

© Family camping area

Although the weather was pretty cold and dismal for the whole weekend, the mornings were dry enough for me to get out the camp stove and make a cup of tea and a cooked breakfast for us all.

Portaloos and water taps were spaced out well throughout the camping areas and arena and were kept fairly clean (that's if you're used to festival toilets!). There were showers available too (for a fee), but we didn't use them due to the queues.

There was a good range of different genres of music during the festival, from folk and acoustic to dance and rock - so something to suit all the family. The Angel Gardens kids area looked better than last year too, and offered music workshops, craft activities, theatre and puppet shows plus a baby-care area and even two dedicated kids-only toilets! At 11 and 13 years old, my kids felt they were too grown up to go in though.

© Angel Gardens kids area

There was a decent variety of food outlets, including many which provided vegetarian and vegan options. The onsite shop sold essential groceries such as bread, milk and snacks too. Bar prices were reasonable, although most people (us included) chose to bring our own alcoholic drinks, which we were allowed to bring into the main arena area.

We saw some great bands over the weekend including headliners Adam Ant (replacing the Levellers, who were absent due a fiddle-related injury!) and The Damned. Other notable acts that we particularly enjoyed were Ferocious Dog, Terrorvision, Chumbawamba and Mark Chadwick (from the sadly missing Levellers!). We heard Wheatus (of Teenage Dirtbag fame) from outside the Tornado Town big top, as we didn't get there early enough to get a decent spot after decamping and lugging everything back to the car. My only criticism of the festival this year is that Wheatus and Mark Chadwick should have been on the main stage, as both drew large crowds which spilt out of the tent.

© Mud!

We had to leave before Dreadzone - the Sunday night headliners, but of course before we left, we had to take part in the hilarious fake beard record breaking attempt, donning our Poundland stick-on beards and moustaches and looking pretty suave. A beard-wearing baby scooped the prize for best beard and won tickets to next year's festival...aawww!

Bearded Theory Festival takes place at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. For more information, visit Bearded Theory.

More posts on family festivals, camping recipes, kids' camping food ideas.  Pin It

Vegetarian dining in Albufeira, Portugal

As always, I did a bit of foodie research before my recent trip to Portugal, to see what sort of choice we would have when eating out. I found a very helpful website called Algarve Uncovered which has loads of useful information including shopping tips and useful phrases for vegetarians and vegans.

As expected, on our first evening out, we found that meat and fish featured heavily on the Portuguese menus and traditional vegetarian dishes seemed non-existent, in the bustling tourist resort of Albufeira. The ubiquitous chicken piri piri seemed to be the most popular dish - it's a shame that vegetable or mushroom piri piri weren't available! 

Having said that, there were so many different cuisines on offer that vegetarians were fairly well catered for and vegans wouldn't go hungry. Vegetarian pizza and pasta seemed to be on many menus, but if you fancied something more exotic, you could find veggie options in the many Chinese, Indian, British and even Mexican restaurants in the area.

For our first meal out we thought we'd play it safe and try a restaurant with a decent veggie selection on its menu. The girls went for pizza, I ordered spaghetti with Algarve sauce (after checking that the sauce was 'safe'), and Mr O plumped for chicken piri piri, of course.

When my dish arrived, it looked decidedly meaty...yes, you guessed it, they'd put chicken in my pasta sauce! I sent it back, but was rather suspicious about the returning plate minus chicken! Needless to say we didn't leave a tip and didn't return there!

One restaurant that deserves a special mention is Eurasia, which is a mainly vegetarian/vegan buffet restaurant just off the main Albufeira strip.  For E6.50 you could choose from a wide range of starters, salads, main courses and a soup of the day. The menu seems to change daily and updates are posted on their Facebook page.  They also offer one meat and one fish dish each day, to attract the hardened carnivores; These dishes were kept separate and covered, so it really didn't have an impact on the veggie-vibe of the place!

The lady who runs the restaurant asked Miss Kahonie if she was vegetarian, and when she confirmed that she was, the lady told her that she would grow up to be more beautiful than the girls who eat meat! I thought that was really sweet, as the girls don't often hear positive comments about being veggie.

We definitely prefer Greece for the range of fresh vegetable-based veggie food available on almost every menu, but Albufeira, Portugal really wasn't too bad! Pin It

Green People's sun lotion - a review

I've just come back from a lovely week away with the family in Albufeira, Portugal. Not being one to miss an opportunity to thoroughly test any product I review, I took a tube of Green People's Organic Children  sun lotion to try out on my sensitive-skinned children, plus myself and the less sensitive Mr O!

Of course, all Green People products are vegetarian and not tested on animals and many of their products are also vegan (which is clearly marked), including a factor 15 vegan sun cream.

"Our natural sunscreens contain antioxidants and anti inflammatory ingredients with skin vitamins A, C and E (Green Tea, Olive, Avocado and Rosemary extract) to help support the skin's immune system and protect against cell damage." 

The SPF 25 sun lotion we tried out was unscented, as Miss Ony has been known to come out in a nasty all-over skin rash when she uses scented sun creams and the eczema-prone Miss Kahonie says that most sun creams (even unscented ones) make her face sting. The Green People lotion was thick, rich and easy to apply, although it did take more rubbing in than a spray-on sun lotion would; It felt very moisturising too.

© Albufeira old town beach

I'd normally buy a factor 50 cream if we were going abroad in the summer, but thought that a factor 25 would be fine for this time of year in the Algarve or on a rare sunny British summer day. Interestingly though, Green People say that the frequency of application is more important that the factor you use:

"SPF25 sunscreen offers 96% protection from rays while SPF50 offers 98%. SPF 30 sun lotions do not offer twice the protection of SP15. Applied properly , SP15 filters out 93% of UVB rays, while SPF 30 filters out 97%. Even the highest SPF100 offers 99% protection against UVB rays. It is far more important to apply sun lotions regularly and liberally."

The cream protected us all well, even on hot sunny days (with several applications) and neither of the girls suffered any reaction to it. Miss Kahonie's dry skin actually looked better after using the cream for a few days.

At £15.95 for a 150ml tube, the cream is not cheap, but worth the money if you can't use cheaper lotions. As we generally go through 4-5 bottles of sun lotion between us on a summer 2 week holiday in the sun,  I reckon that buying a tube of Green People for us all to use on our faces and then getting a cheaper store's-own unscented product to use on our bodies is a good compromise between cost and sensitivity!

Green People stock a wide variety of skin, body and hair care products, which can all be purchased from their online shop. 

Integrity Statement
I received a 150ml tube of Green People children's sun lotion to review. I did not receive payment, and the views expressed are genuinely those of myself and my family.  Pin It

Happy New Year!

As my first post of the year, I thought I'd revisit my resolutions post from last year and see how well I've done. My blog had only been going for about 6 weeks at that time, so one thing I'm proud of is that I've actually stuck to this blogging lark, and 'met' lots of other lovely bloggers along the way.

One of my resolutions last year was to walk more...we've enjoyed some lovely days out walking with friends and family; It's amazing how quickly you can cover a couple of miles, when you're chatting away! We had a fantastic time at Disney World and must have walked for miles each day in the 30C+ heat! Although this year's holiday will be a more relaxing one (in Greece), I hope to continue our weekend walks, and will certainly be getting our money's worth from our National Trust membership.

I think I've managed to cut down slightly on the amount of cheese I cook with, and have also veered away from using as many meat substitutes as I did, and swapped them for extra vegetables and pulses. I'll be using my new River Cottage Veg Every Day! cookbook to continue on this quest this year.

The girls have definitely improved in the amount of jobs they do around the house, and were a fantastic help just before Christmas when I was ill with a stinking cold. Let's hope they keep this up during 2012.

Mr O hasn't done too well on his DIY resolution, but he has promised that he'll be getting someone in to do the jobs that he doesn't have the time or inclination to complete!

My main resolution this year, is to do more gardening and improve on my fruit/vegetable/herb plot; I wonder how well I'll stick to that one? So what are your resolutions this year? 
Join in the Britmums bloghop...
Pin It

Vegetarian & vegan buffet ideas

Here are some of our favourite vegetarian and vegan buffet/meze/canape ideas which are ideal for parties and picnics (for mums who don't shop at Iceland!)
If catering for large numbers, I generally make up some batches of buffet foods in advance and freeze them. I also make various fresh salads and dips as needed, either the day before or on the day.

All recipes are, of course, vegetarian, so I have marked vegan recipes with (v) and those which can have a vegan option as (vo).

Make in advance and freeze:
Halloumi and double potato cakes
Halloumi tarts
Courgette and potato quiches
Falafels (vo)
Spinach and cheese pies
Cheese scones
Glamorgan sausages (or use this mixture in puff pastry to make sausage rolls)
Chorizo-type sausages (as above)
Nut roast sausage rolls (v)
Scone-base pizzas
Cheese muffins
Garlic bread/dough balls/pizza (vo)
Spinach, pepper and Goat's cheese quiche
Savoury puff pastry tartlets (vo)
Quorn kebabs (vo)

Make  fresh:
Hummus (v)
Tzatziki
Aubergine and feta dip (vo)
Pasta salad (vo)
Pesto and antipasti tart (vo)
Squash, lentil and sweet potato salad (vo)
Vegan salads (v)
Bulghar wheat salad (vo)
Marinated olives (v)
Guacamole (v)
Mushroom bruschetta (v)
Dakos (vo)
Veggie frittata/tortilla
Roasted vegetable salad
Green salad
Rice salad
Greek salad on a stick - a chunk of cucumber, a piece of feta, half a cherry tomato and an olive on a cocktail stick
Potato salad
Jacket potatoes/Potato wedges/Home made chips

Add a few store cupboard standbys:
Veggie cocktail sausages on sticks 
Cheese and pineapple on sticks
Crisps
Crackers
Bread sticks
Bread/wraps

Dessert ideas:
Oreo truffles
Tiffin (v)
Chocolate hazelnut truffles (v)
Mini whoopie pies
Mini desserts
Fresh fruit salad

Drinks:
Cider Punch
Champagne cocktails

Pin It

Child-Friendly Vegetarian Enchiladas

© 

I was wondering what to cook for dinner the other night, so I had a delve in the freezer and pulled out a pack of wraps and some home made tomato sauce. I had various vegetables to use up in the fridge and plenty of store-cupboard ingredients, so I decided upon making vegetarian enchiladas.

These enchiladas have a mild child-friendly, baked-bean chilli filling. You could, of course add some extra chopped jalapenos if you want to spice things up! You can use the same mixture to fill burritos, top jacket potatoes, or to stuff peppers with.

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 carrots/1 small sweet potato/1 courgette/zucchini, grated
• 6-8 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn or 150g frozen sweetcorn
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tin of baked beans (or mixed beans in mild chilli sauce)
• 2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 6 tortilla wraps
• 1 portion of tomato & chilli pasta sauce
• 100g/4oz grated cheese or vegan cheese

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan.
Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the herbs and spices, the mushrooms, pepper and carrots/sweet potato/courgette and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until softened slightly.
Stir in the tomato puree, garlic, sweetcorn and baked beans.
Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.


© 

Pour about ¼ of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven proof dish.
Divide the chilli mixture between the wraps. Roll them up and place (seam side down) in a row in the dish.
Pour the remaining sauce over the wraps and top with the grated cheese.
Cook for 20-30 minutes at 160C/150C Fan/Gas 3.

Serve with a green salad, soured cream/guacamole/salsa etc.

Alternative: Use frozen mixed vegetables and a jar of ready-made pasta sauce for an even speedier dinner.

Pin It

Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Goats Cheese Pasta Bake

This vegetarian pasta bake makes a good family meal, and as it includes lots of sweet-tasting veggies in bite-sized pieces, it's great for toddlers and young children.

I adapted this recipe from Good to Know, but as I don't use ready-made pasta sauces and rarely use pre-prepared fresh vegetables I reduced the cost of the ingredients considerably. I thought I'd work out the difference in price to show how much money you can save...Good to Know recipe using bought pasta sauce and prepared vegetables: £5.60;  My recipe using home made pasta sauce and peel-them-yourself vegetables £3.40

• 500g combined weight of peeled and diced butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots,  red bell pepper
• 250g dried fusilli pasta
• 100g grated firm goats cheese
• 1 tbsp pine nuts (optional) 

Roast the vegetables in 1 tbsp olive oil at 190C/180C fan/Gas 5 for 20-30 minutes, until soft. Meanwhile cook the pasta until slightly underdone (8-10 minutes), drain and make the pasta sauce:

Tomato & chilli pasta sauce

• 1 onion diced finely
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 500ml passata
• ½ tsp dried or 1 tsp chopped fresh herbs
• dash of hot chilli sauce or a pinch of cayenne (optional)

Fry the onion in a drop of olive oil for a couple of  minutes, until soft.
Add the tomato puree, herbs and chilli and stir well.
Add the passata, stir and then put the lid on the pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes.   

Combine the pasta, tomato sauce and roasted vegetables and stir well.
Top with grated cheese (and pine nuts, if using) and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Alternatives: Save even more money by swapping the cheese for budget mozzarella/cheddar or leave it out completely to make a vegan meal.
Omit the chilli if serving to toddlers/young children.

More sweet potato recipes. Pin It