Going for a picnic

I wanted you to know how easy it is to have a vegan picnic. :)

Here's what we took: -

• Ryvita Sesame Crisp Bread

• Hummus

• Peanuts

• Chocolate

• Tikha Gathiya

• Nacho crisps

• Fruit

• Provamel Organic Forest Fruits Yofu

• A bottle of juice

It was effortless and delicious!

Goodies for a spontaneous picnic

Let me know what you take when you have a vegan picnic. :)

Recipe: A nutty, fruity and cooling snack within 5 minutes

This recipe makes a quick, delicious, healthy, cooling snack.

Ingredients for a vegan, nutty, fruity, cooling snack

•    5 tablespoons of vegan yoghurt also known as yofu
•    1 chopped mango
•    10 blueberries – you can use a different fruit
•    10 almonds – you can use different nuts

How to make a vegan, nutty, fruity, cooling snack

1.    Put the vegan yoghurt in a bowl
2.    Add the fruit
3.    Add the nuts
4.    Serve in a bowl and enjoy

How can we enjoy a more diverse range of fruits and nuts without the problems of pest and disease?

Like many others, I believed that we can only enjoy a more diverse range of fruits and nuts by importing them in to the country. I hadn't really thought about the problems of pest and disease, because my thought stopped at 'we couldn't grow them here.' This video explains that the usage of land has become monotonous and we are being forced to import items which we could grow ourselves!

Some of the positive impacts caused by going plant-based would be:-

• more diversity of fruit, nuts and shrubs
• there would be LESS pest and disease problems
• more tree habitats
• a positive effect on climate change

What other points did you grasp from this video?

More about this film...

The entire film lasts 30 minutes. It explores the benefits of being vegan. Some of these are: -

• an exciting lifestyle
• eating delicious food
• consuming healthy food
• tackling the ethics behind making this shift
• global challenges that we face now and in the future.

It was produced by The Vegan Society.

Will you make the connection and become part of the solution?

"The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world." Michael Pollan

Recipe: A quick cooling dessert within 5 minutes

The bonus to this dessert is it includes fresh fruit. Thus giving it a 'healthy' aspect! 

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for a vegan cooling dessert

• 4 scoops of Vanilla Swedish Glace
• 2 handfuls of fruit - we used raspberries but you could use other fruits, such as, strawberries, pineapple and blueberries

How to make a vegan cooling dessert

1. Put some scoops of vegan ice cream in a bowl
2. Put the fruit in a small blender
3. Blend the fruit
4. Pour the blended fruit over the ice cream
5. Serve and enjoy

What does the National Health Service say about vegan diets?

This post is connected to the previous one. It felt like everyone became a health expert when I told them that I was going to follow a vegan diet. It's not their fault because the media is riddled with information about how much our health depends on dairy and that it is our main source of Calcium etc. Of course this is not true, but at the time, I felt attacked, defensive, insulted and irritated. This was compounded by the fact that I hadn't researched the pros and cons of a plant-based diet, so the seed of doubt was planted and I was speechless and cross with myself at the same time. Not a good combination!

I didn't want to feel like that again, so I did some research to make the decision fact-based, rather than, the solely emotional. I felt better and more certain that this was the right shift for me.

Here's what the National Health Service (NHS) says:-

One can get most of the nutrients that are needed from eating a varied and balanced vegan diet.

The website states that a healthy vegan diet contains:

• plenty of fruit and vegetables

• plenty of starchy foods

• some non-dairy sources of protein such as beans and pulses

• some dairy alternatives such as fortified soya drink

• just a small amount of fatty and sugary foods

Do you have to convince others that your choices are right for you?
When others want to explore the choices you've made, do you have to answer?
It took me a long time to come to the decision that I don't always need to give a reply.

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"You don’t always have to say something. Let your life be your message "
- Rev Run