As I have been a vegetarian for several years now I thought how hard could it be to go the extra step and basically cut out eggs and dairy – if only for a month.  Plus there are prizes to win!

Well it has been  seven days, and I don’t think I’ve yet managed a full  vegan day.  Firstly I felt I needed to use up the remaining milk and yoghurt in the fridge – as I’m sure being a vegan doesn’t mean wasting food.  Then there are the days when I totally forgot I put milk in my coffee at work until I had drunk 1/2 cup; I’ve also realised too late that while I omitted  the cream, the underlying scone was likely to be made with butter.   Birthday cakes tend not to be vegan friendly, neither is eating at someone else’s place over the weekend.

Still I have managed nearly all my main meals as vegan.  Last night was a lovely bean dish, with soy cream cheese (see picture).  Tonight I had West African Chickpea Cakes, served with vegies and a tasty peanut coconut sauce.

tasty & vegan

I might just make a full vegan day (or two) before the month is out.

Secondly, I am no longer (nearly) fifty – but actually 50, and  I’m also having one of my best years in ages.

Thirdly, I found this fantastic blog “Advanced Style” today and just had to share it.

Stylish at 98

It is a very positive view of women and style and ageing.  As the tagline says  “Proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age”.  Full marks for showing a non youth centric view of fashion and fun.

The pumpkin and pecan salad is very simple to make, but does take some time to prepare.  The nice sticky roasty bits make it worth the wait.

Brown rice and roast pumpkin salad (with pecan nuts)

Brown Rice & Roast Pumpkin Salad

Cook

• 1 cup (dry) brown rice

Mix together, and then put in a baking dish lined with baking paper

• 750g pumpkin (cut into 3cm cubes)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs honey (recipe says maple syrup – but honey was still delicious)

Roast for about 35 min

Combine

• rice
• 2 sticks celery , sliced
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 tsp lemon rind
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• salt & pepper

Top with roast pumpkin, and any of the marinade left in the baking tray.

Serves 4

This is a simple couscous and lemony salad.  I had hoped the addition of ‘preserved’ lemon would lift the salad from plain to interesting, but that is probably asking too much of a pickled fruit.

note:  I now have a jar of preserved lemons.

Couscous salad with jar of lemons

Couscous Salad

Mix

• 1 cup of instant couscous with
• 1 cup of water, stand for 10 min

Stir in

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander
• 1 thinly sliced red capsicum

Make the dressing by combining well

• 1/2 tbs finely chopped preserved lemon rind
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Serves 4

Best of all, because it is called a ‘salad’  it must be healthy, regardless of the saturated fat content of the macadamias.

Mango and Macadamia Salad

Mango & macadamia salad with sweet chilli dressing

Arrange on a plate

• baby lettuce leaves
• 1 lebanese cucumber – sliced
• 1 mango- sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts (go on – add a few more – it’s a salad!)

Then drizzle over

• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce and
• 2 tbs lime juice

Meant to serve 4 – but I reckon serves 2

Barley salad with feta and pine nuts

Barley salad with feta and pine nuts

• 1 cup pearl barley

Boil with 6 cups of water for 25 min, or until just tender.  Rinse with cold water and drain

Assemble

• 1/3 cup toasted pine-nuts (yum)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
• punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
• several big handfuls of rocket
• 100g feta
• drained barley

Make a lemon basil dressing by mixing the following ingredients

• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tbs white wine vinegar
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely cut basil leaves

Add dressing to salad ingredients

Serves 4

This blog will be my attempt to keep this commitment (& perhaps some kind reader/s will supply me with a recipe or two – hint, hint).

I have gotten off to a good start this week with this very yummy salad.  I think it is the tahini dressing that makes it special.

Moroccan chickpea, carrot & spinach salad

Moroccan chickpea, carrot & spinach salad

In a non stick fry pan heat for about 3 minutes

• 1 tbs oil
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, and
• 400g can of chickpeas (drained & rinsed)

[this light frying  adds a nice toasty & nutty flavour to the salad]

Heat in microwave for 1 minute

• 1/3 cup currants
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Drain currants and use the juice for mixing/stirring with

• 1/4 cup tahini

[This is the yummy dressing]

In a big bowl put

• chickpea mixture, currants, 2 grated carrots, handful of baby spinach leaves

Drizzle over tahini dressing, and top with

• 2 tbs salad seeds (I used  1 tbs sunflower, & 1 tbs pumpkin)

Serves 4

The range of data presented can be quirky and fun eg Common Break-up Times on Facebook (avoid Mondays).  Or more traditional information eg Causes of Death in the 20th Century.

However, the real value McCandless’s work is when you are presented with something that so clearly encapsulates significant, and complex ethical/political issues eg climate change figures.  My personal favourite is “The Billion-Dollar-o-Gram” where you finally appreciate how the billions spent on this, compare with the billions spent on that.

The Billion Dollar-o-Gram

You don’t have to borrow or buy the book (although it is great book to dip in and out of), you can view David McCandless’s work at his website   www.informationisbeautiful.net.  Or watch David on YouTube give a presentation of his work (including the billion dollar-o-gram)

New & Old

Honey Spice Cake

Sift together the following in a medium bowl

• 1 1/2 cups plain white flour
• 1 tsp baking powder & 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon & 3/4 tsp allspice

In a larger bowl beat together until pale yellow

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup castor sugar
• 6 tsp oil
• 1/2 cup of honey

Then stir in

• 1/4 cup apple sauce

and slowly beat in the sifted flour mixture

Put into a loaf tin and top with approx

• 1/4 cup flaked almonds

and bake at 180 for 45-50 minutes.

Took the cake to my neighbours (who mow my lawn & do my weeding!)  Cake had a lovely subtle taste, but was a bit dry – I might have left in the oven a bit too long.  So perhaps test at 40 min.

Honey spice cake left overs

beauty in a bottle?

Good News is that the process was/is actually quite enjoyable.  There is that sense of pampering and pleasure attached to the routine.  The Bad News of course is that there is not an iota of difference in appearance of fine lines, texture, elasticity, yada yada.

Which is hardly surprising given that if there was scientific evidence the cosmetic companies would be quoting validated studies in big bold letters.  When what they are left with is having to state in small print “improvements as self-reported by 12 users”.

I went looking for evidence and found this intriguing study that examined both self report and clinical measurement of improvement in facial wrinkles based on one of three options: a plain moisturiser in a luxury jar, or the high price cream put in both plain and luxury  jars.  Result was that the formal trial”could not verify a claim of anti-wrinkle effect”.  The luxury jar however did impact on compliance in using the product.