THE VEGAN NEWSTHE VEGAN NEWSThe Vegan News is written and edited by P M Lloyd.
Do you have a favourite vegan recipe that you would like to share with other vegans? Or perhaps you know of some useful vegan products that we can buy? If so, please e-mail the details to me at: pauline@bury-rd.demon.co.uk or fill in the form provided. I will try to publish some of your contributions in the next issue of The Vegan News.
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Recipe of the Month
Ingredients
* Cognac listed as suitable for vegans can be obtained from: Vintage Roots. Sheeplands Farm, Wargrave Rd, Wargrave, Berks RG10 8DT. Tel: 01734 401222.
Method
December Product ReviewKingfisher Toothpaste
This product is cruelty free and is suitable for vegans. It is made entirely of natural ingredients and contains no artificial colouring, sweeteners, flavourings or preservatives. It is biodegradable. Available in fennel, mint with lemon, baking soda with mint or strawberry flavours. It is approved by the British Dental Health Foundation. Price varies between about £1.20 for 50g size to £2.35 for 125g size. Kingfisher toothpaste can be purchased in Sainsbury's and other big supermarkets. The fennel flavour tastes like aniseed/liquorice and is rather nice!
Recycling TipsBefore you throw anything away think! Can it be reused? Here are some suggestions:
Most local councils now have facilities for recycling any aluminium cans that you absolutely have to use, but aim to reduce the number of cans that you purchase too. (It takes as lot of energy to produce each can and some more to recycle it.) Over four billion of these cans are used each year in the UK and less than 10% are recycled. Aluminium foil, trays and pie plates can also be put into can recycling bins. Many branches of Oxfam will accept donations of aluminium foil and milk bottle tops. Please wash them well before donating!
What's Happening in the Veganic
Garden This Month?
The garden can often seem a little bit too quiet at this time of year. However, it is possible to
liven up a garden enormously during the winter months by installing a bird table or bird feeder. My
bird table can be viewed from the window of a sunny room. Siting of the bird table is important. Try
to place it where it is difficult for cats to attack the visiting birds. A path nearby is also useful in the winter so that your feet don't
get too dirty when putting out food. Hanging bird tables can be purchased. These are usually hung from tree branches and it is now also possible to get feeders which can adhere
to the outside of a window. These are useful if you do not have a garden. Wooden bird tables look
nice and are of course made from natural, biodegradable materials. (Try to make sure that the wood is produced sustainably before purchasing.) In fact why not buy or make, a bird table
or feeder as a Christmas present for someone. Old people who lack companionship will often gain enormous
pleasure from watching the birds outside their window, and of course children do too.
It is important to feed the birds during the winter months when it is cold and frosty and
the ground is too hard for them to be able to find food easily for themselves. A supply of clean water
is also important for the birds at this time of year. Replace the water regularly in order to avoid it freezing up.
Many pet shops stock food which is suitable for wild birds. Tits will readily take peanuts from a feeder
and mixtures of special wild bird seeds and fat balls can also be purchased from pet shops and some
large DIY stores. However, it isn't necessary to spend large amounts of money on special bird food
as household scraps can all be recycled. Bread, crumbs, bacon rinds, suet, raisins, over-ripe fruit
/apple cores and the odd bit of cheese can all be put out for the birds instead of being thrown away.
Aim to offer a variety of foods as different species of birds like to feed in different ways. Some
prefer food which is hanging e.g. blue tits, while others prefer to feed on the ground. The great
spotted woodpecker likes to find fatty morsels in the crevices of a tree trunk.
It is also possible to grow certain plants in the garden which will provide food for the birds. Birds
particularly like many of the plants which bear berries and also of course fruit trees or bushes.
Until recently I had a 'natural' bird table in my garden. This was an old apple tree which produced
fruit which wasn't really much good for human consumption. The birds and the wasps both loved it though.
Unfortunately, the tree developed wood boring beetle and had to come down and now the birds like to eat
my raspberries instead!
Plants which are particularly good for birds to eat include: chickweed, brambles, crab apple,
dandelion, groundsel, holly, ivy, teasel, thistles and sunflower. Sunflowers can easily be grown by children and look very attractive in the garden. Their seed heads can be hung up to dry in an airy shed in the autumn and
can be used to supplement the food on the bird table throughout the winter. The seeds can either be
removed and mixed in with other food or simply hang the dried heads on a fence or bird table where
they will soon be visited by finches.
There are many good books on wildlife gardening. I would particularly recommend 'Creating a Wildlife Garden
by Bob and Liz Gibbons'. If you cannot get a copy of this book from your library, it can usually be
obtained from large bookshops and from: John Chambers, who also offer
a good selection of wild flower seeds, many of which are very good for attracting birds to the garden.
The Organic Garden Catalogue stocks several books on wildlife gardening and the leaflet 'Gardening
for Wildlife' and sells two types of bird feeders, as well as bird seed and peanuts. They also offer a range of wild flower seeds which
are useful as bird food plants and if you have the room you could even grow some wild flower plants to
attract bees and butterflies too. Don't be too keen to pull up that clump of nettles either, as it is the caterpillar food plant for several butterflies!
Why not make a resolution to start to grow some of your own salad plants in 1997?
Shop-bought salad can be expensive and it is in fact very easy and far cheaper to grow some of your own salad.
Even if you do not have a garden it is possible to grow a useful amount of salad on your windowsill!
e.g Mustard and cress and alfalfa sprouts. (Sprouting will be covered in a later issue.)
There are now many varieties of 'cut-and-come-again' lettuces available. These are particularly easy
to grow. Simply sprinkle the seeds on the soil and a few months later pick the leaves off the plant
as you require them. When leaves are picked just before being eaten they are very nutritious. There are of course many other varieties of salad plants that can be grown
in the garden. All the above varieties can be obtained from : The Organic Gardening Catalogue.Seed for Sale
If anyone is interested, I have a small amount of wild flower seed which I am willing to exchange (or sell for a small price
plus a SAE.) These include: Evening Primrose (moth plant), foxglove (bee plant) or honesty (caterpillar food plant).
Please e-mail me at the address at the top of the page for details.
Salad Plants
My favourite salad plants are:
Any Queries?What is Engevita please?
F. Davies. Exeter.
Engevita is a type of nutritional yeast flake which is produced by Marigold. It can be sprinkled on soup, stew, spaghetti sauce, salad or can replace cheese in many recipes. It is a very good source of the B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, folic acid) and minerals and can be obtained from many health food shops. Price about £1.75
December Book ReviewVegan Cookery. By Eva Batt.
A book of simple and economical recipes which can be obtained from The Vegan Society. Price £5.99. (I ordered my copy from the public library!)
The book contains many ideas for main meals such as:
curried tvp (p.55), butterbean roast (p.54), pease pudding (p.67), and paella (p.61). It also contains plenty of bread, pizza and cake recipes and a recipe for making your own vegan cheese too.
(p.121) There are also several recipes for roasts. Why not try out the brazil nut roast with chestnut stuffing this Christmas!(p.56).
The recipe for parkin on (p.134) is also easy to make and tastes very good too.
