Ooosha (Amy Levin) Raw Chocolate Class- Edinburgh

Today I attended "Amy Levin's" (Ooosha), Raw chocolate class in Edinburgh. These are some pics of the choccies that were made.
It was a really great day and very interesting. Amy is a great teacher!!
My fav choco was deffo the one filled with mango jam - it blew me away, absolutely delicious!
There was also some animal shaped chocolates, but sadly they didn't make the camera - the culprit pictured above!
Thanks for a great day Amy!  :)

HoPE everyone is enjoying zee sunshine!!

ps. sorry about the teeth-marked chocolate ha! ha!

Organic Radishes & Lucy

These are some of the things I have been busy with lately. I have spent quite a lot of time making 2 roman blinds for our newly decorated living room. It was quite hard, I made loads of mistakes, but I got there in the end. They aren't perfect, but i suppose you learn from your mistakes and my next one I make will be perfect - I hope ;)

I have also been busy building a veg patch and sowing lots of seeds. I pulled my first radishes the other day and I got sooo excited. Was such a rewarding feeling to know I grew them from seed.

I made a delicious and healthy lunch with them - 2 Pieces of toast, one with gucamole and one with smoked aubergine pate. Both topped with chopped radish (from my patch) :))), inc. radish leaves, sprouts and spring onion. Topped with himalayan salt and some freshly ground organic pepper.

Vegan Brownies & Champagne Cake

I have been dying to make these brownies for ages, the recipe comes from my fav blog "Maple Spice".
I was so chuffed that these turned out so well. It's actually hard to believe they are vegan!

I also thought I would have a bash at the Champagne celebration cake with peach bellini buttercream for John's Aunt Evelyne's Birthday. Everyone really enjoyed it, but there was a couple of things that annoyed me and that being I applied the icing too runny and the colour?? what happened? It didn't turn out a nice yellow colour like Debbies (Maple Spice) :(. Any suggestions why this happened?

This has deffo got me in the mood for baking and will be trying out a few more recipes soon.

Other picture is off my weekly raw chocolate box - Ha! I wish! No it was just another wee order from the Raw chocolate Shop. I'm addicted!

And the last picture is of my first born, Kumal :).

ps. I'm having some probs adding in the links for recipes, I will try again tomorrow, in the meantimes please click the link for "Maple Spice" to the right in my blog list.

Happy Robert Burns Day & Raw Vegan Chocolate

Well i only lasted 5days with my raw diet. To be honest i did find it hard. The breakfast part was fine and so was the
the chocolate, actually, the raw chocolate is amazing! There are so many fantastic bars out there and to think they
are good for you is wonderful!
The actual main meals i found hard. I think before i do it again i will have to better research it. It felt good though.
I did feel i had extra energy.

I have started up yoga again recently, and wow is it amazing. I love the blissfully floaty feeling you have after it.
That with no alchol and no sugar, i feel lots better.

Anyways, here i have some delicious raw chocolate i got the other day, nummeee num nums. I purchased it from the Raw chocolate
shop and it came in a nice wee package and more importantly it came soooper quick!

And i forgot to say Hapieee Robert Burns day. I live right next to Robert Burn's cottage in Alloway. We celebrated
with a nice vegan haggis, served with mashed carrot and turnip, roast tatties, greens and garlic mushrooms. Was
really tasty.

And the last picture is of my porridge with baby figs, banana, agave nectar, a sprinkle of cinnamon and almond milk. A simple and healthy breakfast.

It's actually really easy to omit sugar from the diet, there is plenty of substitutes you can get nowadays.

Oh well off to bed for an early nite.

Sleep tite x

Happy 2012!! & Raw Vegan Food

New year - new me, ha! ha!
That's what everyone says eh?, let's see how long it lasts!

I'm going on a vegan "raw" mission for a while. I was already quite "raw", but now I'm completely "raw" and I'm on my third day. It's going well, but not easy. I am still able eat my fav "Conscious" chocolate, which is a relief, I really can't live with out it!!

I have been spending loads of time researching and obsessing. It's really exciting, but I don't think it will be a long term thing.

It all started because John bought me a dehydrator for Christmas, I was so happy when I opened it and I had no idea that's what it would be. It's pictured above filled with some stuffed mushrooms, that actually turned out to be surprisingly yum - my first proper "raw" meal on the dehydrator! Even the carnivore devoured and loved!

I have also arranged a weekly delivery of organic fruit and veggies, which will really help. Shops around this area don't have a great selection of organic produce.

Well.. I thought I would round up 2011 - what a year! So many changes and I can't believe how fast it went!

1. My first major change was buying our first house. It's a complete dream! I still can't quite believe we are here. It was probably the most stressful time in our lives! But glad we are here and i'm really looking forward to growing my own veggies this year and i've already planted an apple tree :). The things that float my boat ha! ha!

2. Launch of my wee organic dress business. I now just need to dedicate more time to developing it. I had a few set backs in 2011, but now i am ready to go!


3. Emily starting Nursery, which was quite a big step - first day she was there, I didn't know what to do with myself. Best thing ever now and love the free time, she is such an energetic wee girl and she really enjoys it.

Here's to a great 2012 and I have loads of plans ;)

Happy Christmas & Home Grown Chillies

Hope everyone is enjoying the run up to Christmas, i honestly don't know where the time has gone.
I have been busy making chilli relish with the chillis from my garden. I stole the top secret recipe from organic Annie. It turned out lovely and really nippy, just the way i like it.
I have potted lots of it in to jars for Christmas prezzies and i have also been making lots of little hearts for presents.

Well i hope everyone has a lovely time and i am especially excited this year because it's the first year Emily has been excited and the first time she understands that Santa Claus will be coming down the chimney with presents.

Merry Christmas! xx

Edinburgh and David Bann's Vegetarian Restaurant

We had a fantastic time in Edinburgh, i relished every moment and it felt great to have some time off from being "Mum"'! We stayed in a luxury suite (Fraser Suites), not what i would normally go for, but it was a deal on Groupon, that was too good to miss and a fraction of the normal price. If only i could afford this luxury all the time......

The highlight had to be our visit to "David Bann's" vegetarian restaurant - what a place and i can honestly say it's the best veggie/vegan grub i have had in agezz!!

For starters we shared a dish of pan fried smoked tofu served with mango chutney and also the most amazing olives with fresh organic bread and an olive oil dip - totally delicious!

I think the menu had two or three main dishes that could be veganised, and we went for the Chilli filo tart with mash and parsnip sauce and it was glorious!! We also had a side of chunky chips. It looks as though my main dish was served with chips, but it was actually roast turnip.
If you want to see the menu at David Bann's, click here.

I was too full for dessert, but there was a vegan option that i sadly can't remember :(

The next day i made up for my lost dessert by visiting "Hendersons" for my fav, vegan cherry pie and cream and it was yummilicious as always.

We also managed to visit our favourite haunt, Harvey Niks for rosé champers.

Thanks for a great time Mum and i hope your Birthday was special! My best friend forever :))))))) xxxxxxxxx