The Little Coffee Company

I was on my way to Boho Gelato with the boyfriend when we spotted a possibly new or previously unnoticed coffee shop, The Little Coffee Company in Brighton. It had a large sign outside saying 'Vegetarian and Vegan Sandwiches'. Who can resist that?

The server said they were closing in 10 minutes which was a surprise at 3.30ish in the afternoon but maybe it was because it is a bank holiday weekend. The opening hours on their website are much longer 10am-5pm on a Sunday, 7am-7pm Mon-Fri and 9am-7pm on Saturdays. It meant that we had to choose what we wanted quickly. Luckily they have clear signs on the food for vegetarian, gluten free and/or vegan. I was in the mood for sugar so went for the Vegan Chocolate ginger Torte and it was lovely. I'm not sure if that was the name they gave it as it was a bit of a rush. It was very gingery, chocolatey, dense and satisfying.

Bad phone photo

I'm excited to go another day to have a sandwich and a cup of coffee. I saw a white bap with peanut butter and jam being advertised but didn't have time to discover more.

We still got boho gelato sorbet. I had chocolate and banana which was yum.

Happy Easter Everyone

Belated Happy Easter!

Easter is getting more and more exciting for Vegans! Sugar high!

This year I got:

Choices White Chocolate Egg and Choices Caramel Egg from Sainsbury's.

The white chocolate egg came with white chocolate buttons. You can see the caramels that came with the other egg. I got a hit of caramel smell when I cracked the Caramel Egg but I found the flavour to not be as strong as the smell. Still tasty.

After Eight bunny from the 99p shop.

After Eights have been vegan in the past but then they added buttermilk. The bunny is vegan though and my mum decided it was better than the creamy After Eights. Lovely mint chocolate.

I'm also tempted to go and try and find this Hotel Chocolat egg today in the sales but it is still expensive!

Yesterday evening the boyfriend's and my uni friends came round to make a vegan roast dinner. :) I had a great time and would happily cook for them all again.

We had:
Roast potatoes (roasted with garlic and rosemary)
Sweet potato and thyme mash
Yorkshire puddings
Roasted onion and parsnips
Broccoli
and Tofu roast with stuffing and gravy but we used shop bought stuffing and gravy

Tofu roast after being taken out of the colander. Ready to coat with Soy sauce and oil.

Tofu roast after cooking.

The tofu roast was a bit too salty for my taste but I don't often add salt to my food. I want to try and think of some new flavours for it. I am really looking forward to my tofu and stuffing sandwiches for lunch :)

Treats for Children

Putting the clocks forward has messed up my daily routine a bit (well as much of a routine as a student can have when they have absolutely no lectures). I was waking up, without an alarm, quite early in the morning and getting things done but not anymore. I had run out of soya milk as well so after some snacks I took myself off to Sainsburys.

I always get distracted by all the food. I try to stick to a list but something new always slips in. Luckily I only really spend money on rent and food at the moment as I have lots of studying to do and less time for partying. It also helps that the boyfriend has no money at the moment so no little trips off to the pub.

So I found these in the free from section and got excited! Small packets of chocolate cookies. Similar to non vegan brands. I don't know if they taste at all similar though. I thought these tasted a little bit like chocolate cereal.

They would be great to give a gluten free, nut free, soy free, wheat free, egg free, yeast free or vegan child a treat at school. As a life long vegan I know what it was like to miss out on treats when it was someone's birthday or a member of staff was leaving. It is not the end of the world not to have something but it is nice to be included. They are not an every day treat though because of the price £2.99.

Chistmas cookies

I made cookies for my friends. Four types: Chocolate chip and Candy Cane, Chocolate, Chocolate Tabasco and Gingerbread cut-out cookies.

Snowman from Asda. It plugs into my laptop.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Banana popsicles

It's snowing!! lots. I don't think I will be able to get the train to uni tomorrow.
Here is the chocolate banana popsicle pic. It has white chocolate fudge icing and mocha beans. I advise taking them out of the freezer and leave in the fridge for at least 10 mins so they can thaw out a bit unless you have brave teeth.
I made the boyfriend one and he approved. He said it tasted like ice cream.

The health benefits of sponge pudding

I'm justifying the fact that I lived off cake today because of the healthy ingredients (blatantly ignoring the 'healthy in much more moderation' ingredients). I made microwave sponge pudding. I made extra for my housemates (extra brownie points, so it was almost angelic of me to make it and eat it).

It is from the book The cake Scoffer by Ronny. I also want to try the very simple cheesecake recipe as I have struggled to find a simple one.

I used wholemeal flour, black treacle and saltanas. So wholegrain, iron and fruit.

I have asked for Return of the Cake Scoffer for Christmas.

I forgot to mention the emotional health benefits of the pudding. Warm, comforting, easy food to get you to a place where you can study.

The Chocolate Banana Rum fun Brownies pictures and sauce recipe

Still haven't found the recipe for the brownies but I do now have pictures and the banana rum sauce recipe.

Here are the pictures:

It has pieces of banana in it which is the bumps and when they are cooked I think they taste a little bit like ice cream

A bit messy but tasty. Tastes good microwaved for 30 odd seconds if you haven''t eaten it all straight away.

To make the banana rum sauce:
one ripe banana
1 or 2 shots of rum
icing sugar to taste
about a teaspoon of ground arrowroot mixed with a little water to form a paste

Equipment
Blender
Small pan

Blend the banana and rum. Add icing sugar. Realise it is too runny. Have a brainwave, put the mixture in a pan and try adding ground arrowroot. Use a low heat and mix until it thickens a bit. Store in the fridge if you want it to last a few days and re-heat if you like. I prefer it warm.

Notes:
When I first added the icing sugar I thought it might thicken it up but it doesn't. More experienced cooks might think that experiment was a bit crazy? It might have worked with less rum?

I'm having the last slice today :)

Chocolate Banana Rum fun

I had brownie cravings and I had bananas and I wanted to continue the alcohol theme.

The result.
Chocolate and banana brownies with banana and rum topping

Sadly I have lost the non-vegan recipe that I found online and veganised. Hopefully I might find it soon and post the recipe as I would like to make them again.

I will also have to add the photo another day as I am not on my computer.

I've gone back to my parents house to see my sis who is down from her uni for the night and to have a shower in a warm house. Student houses get so cold!!