(Even More) Vegan Meal Ideas

 
With only six weeks between my first two 'Easy Vegan Meal Ideas' posts, it's safe to say I lost either interest or motivation in making anything other than the same meals over and over or photographing anything different we did make, seeing as it has been over 4 months since the last post.
As with those other posts, these meals were made over a few weeks and were not consecutive meals. I know we have a chef in the house who is brilliant at bringing vegan adapted meals into our diet, however, everything below was actually made by me and therefore I can class them as 'easy' meal ideas seeing as I am not a chef or even a fan of cooking haha.

Check out my first 'Easy Vegan Meal Ideas' post here. And the following '(More) Easy Vegan Meal Ideas' post here.

[Note: Everything is vegan. It is also mostly Gluten Free but I only have a gluten aversion that sets off other health issues - I am not coeliac. Therefore if you are gluten intolerant, obviously alternatives can be substituted.]

Veggie Paella 
Made with paella rice, red peppers, peas, saffron threads, paprika, fresh garlic, onion, veg stock and fresh parsley.

Crispy Taco Cones
Made with wholewheat wraps, white rice, soy pieces, seasonings.
With oven chips and mushy peas.

Homemade Hash Browns

Made with grated potatoes, salt, herbs and fresh chives.

Mac and Cheeze
Made with gluten-free macaroni pasta, homemade vegan cheese sauce and homegrown chives.

Cheezy Chikin Quesadillas
Made with wholemeal mini tortilla wraps, soy pieces, orange pepper, vegan cheese and cajun seasoning.
With potatoes wedges and homegrown cucumber. 

Leek and Potato Soup with Bacon Sandwiches
Made with leeks, potatoes, onion, garlic, gluten-free vegetable stock cubes and parsley.
With gluten-free bread, dairy-free spread and Cheatin' vegan bacon.

Balti Curry with Nann Bread
Made with brown rice, frozen peas, fried potato cubes and store-bought curry sauce.

Gluten-Free, Giant, Gooey Chocolate Brownies

Homemade by Mr H

Something that I mentioned in the first of these posts was that I'm a pretty fussy eater. I always have been and eating out throughout my life has meant either choosing from the children's menu or eating just plain pasta or a plate of chips. Over the past 2 years of being with Mr H I have actually tried and added new things into my diet that I would never in a million years have thought about eating normally. That being said, there are still things I refuse to eat. A few of these things are very common in most vegan options you see in restaurants or even recipes - Cauliflower, Mushroom and Avocado for a start. Blurgh!! That's why although some of these meals may be a little more than just the basics, they to me are still basic, different, vegan meal ideas that are so easy to prepare and put together.

I will not tolerate the 'but what do vegans even eat?' or 'vegans only eat leaves and rabbit food'. Almost any meal can be made with Vegan alternatives!

Nature Exploring at Newburn Riverside

These photos were taken on the 17th of September. A little while ago, yep.
Right now the only place, other than the rooms of our own house, that I go is in the car. I drive Mr H to work in the morning and then go and pick him up in the afternoon. Because I don't want him waiting around I'm usually pretty early picking him up and use that time to read some of my book but on this day something made me get out of the car.
My anxiety and just general fear of people has been pretty bad lately so I can't even have my car windows open when people are nearby so how I managed to go on this little walk on a sunny day is beyond me. I was going to just step out and grab a photo for my daily photos but my feet kept taking me closer to all the nature! It was only a 1.25mile walk but that short leg stretching session was much needed and did me so much good.

The route I took usually has many cyclists on it, therefore the birds are much more timid and could be heard but not seen so getting the photos of the robin took a lot of stealth haha. Thankfully by some miracle, I was lucky to not have to see too many other people but I did clutch onto my mask at all times ready to stick it on and run as far away as possible as soon as I did spot anyone! And while I'm mentioning that I want to question why people are so offended at that? Why do you care if I put a mask on 'even though I'm outside' or if I move as far away as possible to avoid any human contact? It doesn't affect you, but if I were to get ill because you sneezed while walking past me it would affect me a lot!

An interaction that was wonderful was with the horse, who was the sweetest soul and one of the only animals I've gotten to talk to in months...other than my 10 at home obviously. Aren't they beautiful?

As I said the majority of these photos were taken on the 17th of September, however the final 9 above were taken on the 30th of September when we took a super quick 15-20 minute visit, after Mr H finished work, to get our monthly portrait seeing as it hadn't been done yet and it was our last opportunity, being the last day of the month. With it being on a Wednesday, mid-afternoon and drizzling with rain, we were only passed once by a couple of cyclists...which of course we still moved fully off the path away from them.
Right now my area has one of the highest Covid infection rates in the whole of the UK so we are literally not going anywhere at all now. That means I don't know when I'll get to share any other nature walk photos. Boo :(

Until next time...

So This is 30?

 

Urgh, 30.

Yeah, today, October 12th 1990, I turn 30. 

I am not a fan of birthdays in general and this year I'm definitely not a fan of entering the 3rd decade of my life. Obviously, every single person and their path in life is different, however, it's still difficult not to compare yourself to your younger self or others, especially when reaching milestones in age and the like.

I'm sure if you've read more than a couple posts from me it'll be noticeable that I'm not exactly 'Miss Optimistic' and I tend to have quite a 'Debbie Downer' attitude naturally. I'd like to be different but it's just me and I can't help it. That being said, that is probably my biggest issue with growing older - wanting to be different in many ways and comparing myself to the expected level I should have reached by now.

I'm 30 but I am unemployed.

I have no specific career.

I have no formal training/education.

I have no extended family.

I have no friends.

BUT

I do have a roof over my head.

I do have things to keep me busy.

I do have a wonderful husband.

I do have fantastic parents.

I do have 10 fur/scale babies.

It makes me feel like a failure to not have a degree or a certain field I have trained in, to not work in that field or not even have career goals. It seems shunned, especially these days, where all women seem to be constantly told they should be making their own money, being a 'girl boss' and not relying on a man. But I didn't want to go to university. I had a terrible time in my school years as it was, so to voluntarily enter another educational setting was not on my radar. I worked from age 15, making money and paying my own way. I've done a few different jobs, always giving my all, but to me, work should pay the bills not take over your whole life. As long as the main things in life are taken care of the rest of it should be spent with and doing what you love, not wasting years of an already short life in a place and around people that don't matter. Being 'unemployed' or a housewife would be fine for me if I had some sort of income or another way to feel as if I contribute to my household other than just cleaning and being home all day with 10 animals.

Seeing people my age buying homes, renovating homes they bought years ago, expanding their family and having kids all makes me feel like a child myself. A failure that I'm still renting. That I have lived in 6 different rentals. All I want is to have my own space, in the middle of the countryside away from all people, to grow our food and rescue as many animals as we can house, but it feels like it will never happen.

We aren't social people either. Each other's company is more than enough but sometimes not having any friends hits you. I've never been popular, had a large group of friends or even a regular handful of friends, but you definitely find out what people really think of you when those you've known since you were a child no longer talk to you because you got married or moved away.

I've also really been struggling for the past year or so with not feeling comfortable in my own skin. Another controversial thing these days is to talk about weight or call yourself fat because we must yield to the 'body positivity' movement and love ourselves but I can't, because I don't. I hate myself. I'm the fattest I have ever been and although some people might not see it that way, when you have had issues with body dysmorphia, disordered eating and everything in between it is very, very hard every single day. It is physically uncomfortable as well as mentally draining. Almost all of my clothes don't fit me so I'm living between 2 pairs of joggers and a couple t-shirts which is not fun in the slightest. 
On top of all of that I still have super thin, fine hair that falls out and has huge very thin/bald spots and my awful wonky teeth that have plagued my confidence since they grew in. 

You may wonder why I'm not doing anything to rectify the shit show that my life has become. And to that, I now bring up my health. Chronic illness from arthritis to asthma, OCD, anxiety and other undetermined physical health conditions that mean I'm in pain the majority of the time all add up to wipe out any motivation or energy I do actually get. Oh and Covid? Hello! Thanks for ruining the opportunity I had to get into an animal care field back in February/March. 

Today we should have also been on our honeymoon. Our first holiday together. And my chance to share my home of Disneyland with Mr H. Having things like that to look forward to really help you forget about other things that may be going on in life and that was sadly taken away from us too.


So yeah. This is me at 30. 

I can't say I'm the most unhappy I have ever been because although all of the things mentioned above do get me extremely sad, I now live with the best human I have ever met. I get to spend life with my best friend and am incredibly thankful to have finally met someone who is so much on my level. It's sad that I am always complaining and down. I want so badly to feel like me again. I guess we'll see what 30 brings...

A Peek into Our World // Baker's Bedroom

It's been a month since the 'Meet the Pets' series ended and obviously due to the fact of not having any more pets to introduce you to, I thought I'd show you their stomping grounds, bedrooms and just generally our house in another mini-series. 
We moved into this house in June 2019, so while we have been here 16 months now, we are still working our way through all the rooms to transform them into our rooms. Being a rental and us not exactly having the most expendable income, we have done just basics things, taken our time and on a budget!
I have a specific taste that isn't for everyone but somehow I managed to meet a husband who likes 99.99% of the same styles as me and we have had fun turning this house into our home. That all being said, the first room I am showing you isn't exactly 'us'. First and foremost it is our dog, Baker's bedroom but it also serves a function as a spare room with a bed that my parents will use when they visit...therefore I wanted to make it lighter, brighter and 'happier' than the rest of the house haha.

Here is a little peek into our world...

As you can see, this room has become somewhat of a hub for many of my Disney collections. All of my Disney DVDs are stored here (not just the ones seen on the shelves, the rest are in the tall boy cupboard and drawers), the majority of my soft toys are at home here, as well as a couple of other pieces. 
The main other tiny touch is the felt wildlife garland. I bought a kit from Etsy which came with all the materials and I put it together over a little while...maybe longer than I hoped haha.
The thing with moving to a house with multiple pieces of furniture and different shaped rooms is it can be difficult to find new placements for everything. So obviously these pieces don't all fit but it's the best that can be done without buying all new specific furniture - something we won't do out of principle eco-friendly wise and money wise.  
We chose yellow because it's a colour I love but would never necessarily wear or otherwise decorate with. Yellow fits the bill of being bright and happy and as we had a burgundy (red), green and teal (almost blue-y) rooms, it seemed a good fitting for a dark rainbow home. When we moved in this room had two walls that were an extremely pale pink and the other two were an equally pale mint green. Other than Baker's cage and an old vintage wardrobe (since sold boohoo), it sadly ended up being used as a dumping ground for extras that weren't in their specific place yet and piles of things destined for the charity shop or gumtree. It was extra special to finally get around to washing it all with a coat of white, papering the feature wall, organizing everything and adding some little touches so that Baker space was comfortable and nice for not only him but my parents too. 

Until next time!