THE VEGAN NEWS
AUTUMN 2006
[Previous
issue][Next
issue] [Homepage]
In This Issue:
Carob Smoothie
Source: Own recipe
Ingredients
- 1 banana, peeled & sliced
- 300ml soya milk
- Carob powder (to taste, approx 1-2 tsp)
- Vanilla extract (to taste)
Method
- Place all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until
smooth.
Variation: For a cooler
drink try freezing the banana slices first. However, it
is advisable if using frozen banana slices to allow the ingredients to
stand in the blender for about 15
minutes before blending because if the frozen banana is too hard it
could damage your
blender.
Serves 1
Soy
Bean Dip
Source : Own recipe
Ingredients
- 100g cooked soya beans
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 Tbsp tahini
- Small amount of water
Method
- Place the first four ingredients in a blender. Then add the
water
a little at a time, blending until the right consistency is achieved
- Prepare a selection of vegetables to eat with the dip. Try
cauliflower and broccoli florets, chunks or sticks of cucumber, slices
of
mushroom
and carrot, red pepper and celery sticks.
Serves 1
Top of Page
Yachana Jungle Chocolate With
Pineapple
These
fairly traded cacao beans are mixed with a small amount of sugar cane
syrup and pineapple pieces to produce a tasty ready-to-eat treat, which
unlike most chocolate products doesn't melt. Very compact. Slip
this small box into your bag ready for a quick snack when you're out
and about, or use as extra rations when doing physical activities. Has
a
nice crunchy texture,
although I personally found it slightly too sweet. The sun dried and
roasted
cocoa beans are incidently bought from small family farms and by buying
this
product you can help to protect the Ecuacdorian Amazon Rainforest.
Available from
the Vegan Society for £1.75
Other flavours available include macadamia nut, brazil nut and essence
of coffee and raisin and coconut.
Seven Wives Natural Rosemary & Teatree Essential Oil
Shampoo Bar
I rather liked this environmentally friendly shampoo bar with
its minimal cardboard
box packaging. It has a lovely refreshing rosemary smell, lathers
well and is very compact in size, making it especially suitable for
travelling. Spare, unused bars slip easily into a suitcase pocket
and I packed the bar I was currently using into an empty Natural
Collection shea
butter
cosmetic jar, which made an excellent recycled
soap case. This product is especially suitable for darker
hair. I found it left my hair nice and shiny and clean and what's more
it contains
only natural ingredients such as herbs, vegetable oils and rosemary and
tea tree essential oils. Highly recommended. Visit the Vegan
Society website for more
information on Seven
Wives Shampoo Bars. You can order online, or by calling 0845
458 8244.
Note: There's also a
chamomile and geranium bar for lighter hair types.
Price £2.95 for a 75g
bar.
Next I am going to review some of the wheat and
gluten free products available that are also vegan:
Kallo Organic Thick Slice Rice Cakes
With Sesame
Made only from organically grown, puffed brown rice and
sesame seeds, this vegan product is completely wheat and gluten
free. I tested the thick slice, salt-free product, which was very
light in texture and seemed rather tasteless at first until I got used
to it. Now I'm addicted! At only 28 calories per slice this
product is ideal for anyone
who needs to lose weight. If you aren't calorie counting, then
try spreading them with some
dark tahini. Yum! Note:
These rice cakes really need to be kept in a tin after opening
or they
will go soft. Available from Holland & Barrett and most large
supermarkets. Price approx £1.09.
Glutano Glutenfree & Wheatfree Wholemeal Sliced Bread
Slightly more filling, this longlife wholemeal sliced bread
has a similar texture to ryebread. I can't say I found it
especially tasty, but it was useful for sandwich making and it kept
well. Like many gluten free products it's
rather expensive at £2.95
for a packet of nine slices. Available from Holland and Barretts.
EnerG Pure Rice Bran
A useful source of extra fibre for those on a gluten free
diet. I rather liked this product and thought it had a nice taste
and texture. It can be sprinkled on fruit salads etc. (or on
porridge or other wheatfree cereals, if you are just avoiding wheat
rather than completely avoiding gluten).
It's more expensive than both wheat or oatbran at around £1.99 for a 227g
packet. Look
out for this
product in
Sainsbury's or your local health food shop. For more information
on the possible health benefits of ricebran consult The Overlooked
Cancer Cure from Japan.
Kallo Hazelnut & Chocolate Flavour Organic
Rice Cake Bar
These organic bars have a similar
crispy texture to the rice cakes mentioned above, but the brown rice
layers have been sandwiched together by a thin layer of chocolate
nut spread, which adds a slight touch of decadence, whilst still only
providing 97 calories per bar. Priced at around £0.49, these rice cake bars
make an inexpensive and tasty treat. Look out for them in your
local health food shop now.
Top of Page
Autumn Sowing and Planting Schedule
For more information on what to plant throughout September,
October
and November
see the Autumn
2005 issue.
Crops in Season:
- September: Potatoes (maincrop),
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, calabrese, onions, tomatoes, marrows,
celeriac, carrots, spinach beet, apples, blackberries, damsons, plums
and pears.
- October: Globe artichoke, Brussels
sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, parsnip, spinach beet, turnips,
apples, pears and plums.
- November: Brussels sprouts,
red cabbage, celery, leeks, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbage,
chicory, swede
and spinach beet.
Top
of Page
Your Queries
We have returned to the UK
and now
live in North Norfolk about 5 miles inland. We need your advice
please.
We used to grow a variety of beans known as Lazy Housewife in South
Africa. There they did exceptionally well and produced in
abundance. We are busy setting up our vegetable garden but
the
soil isn't the best so we've added loads of rotted horse manure
and compost. Will Lazy Housewife beans grow in the UK or are
there
better varieties to go for? Thanks. Dereck and Sue
Wainwright.
Lazy Housewife should grow well
in the UK. I haven't grown this bean personally, but it is listed in
the Heritage seed library catalogue as an easy crop to grow.
However, seeds of Lazy Housewife are not widely available in the UK,
although this may not be a problem if you have brought your own supply
from South Africa? Otherwise, you may be be able to obtain some
seed by
joining the Hertiage Seed Library, or they may be able to give you the
address of a supplier. If you grow Lazy Housewife
primarily as a source of beans for drying, then you may wish to try
other UK drying bean varieties such as Barlotta Lingua di Fuoco,
Cannellino or Czar, which all grow well in the UK and are available
from the Organic Gardening Catalogue. Tel: 0845 130 1304 (www.OrganicCatalogue.com). The contact details for
HYDRA are: HYDRA, Ryton Organic Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG Tel: 024
7630 3517. See the article in this issue of Vegan News for more
information on growing drying beans in the
UK.
Top of Page
In the Wildlife Garden
Many of our wildflowers and commonly grown garden plants are
beneficial to animals and can be used to attract wildlife into your
garden. Here, I will cover three more plants that are especially
attractive to wildlife. Details of other suitable plants
are given in earlier issues and these are now listed in The
Wildflower Index for easy reference.
Harebell (Campanula
rotundifolia)
Although not exceptionally
attractive to butterflies, harebell's blue
bell-like flowers make it a rather attractive plant to grow. Grow it on
a wall, in a rockery, on a path, in a container, or simply as part of a
meadow.
Poppy (Papaver
rhoeas)
Poppy flowers are very attractive to look at and will supply nectar to
bees. Various flies and beetles will also visit poppy flowers and
birds such as dunnocks, sparrows and finches will eat poppy
seeds.
Poppies are best grown from seed as part of a flowery meadow or in a
border.
Oxeye
Daisy (Leucanthemum
vulgare)
A good butterfly plant with attractive daisy-like flowers. Best grown
in a sunny border or a meadow area.
Top
of Page
An excellent site
and a particularly good source of information for new vegans, or for
anyone who is thinking of going vegan. You can
also shop or become a member
online.
Not strictly speaking a vegan website, but
an interesting site nevertheless! Freecycle is a good way
of recycling your unwanted clutter. Here you can offer anything
that
is still usable,
but no longer needed and you may be able to obtain something that you
do need for free!
Why
not register
at
your local Freecycle now? Well worth a visit.
Find out more about stockfree-organic growing by visiting Jenny
Hall's website. Sow & Grow Organics operates a vegetable bag
scheme in the Wigan area offering home delivery, with three bag sizes
available. Jenny is co author of the book Growing Green: Organic Techniques for a
Sustainable Future (see
Book Reviews below).
Offers books, publications and other mechandise, as well as a
forest
gardening and permaculture design consultancy and permaculture courses.
Why not download a catalogue now? Various articles are also available.
A co-operative of ethical freelance programmers, designers and
illustrators. These computer whiz kids produce web sites, CD
Roms,
graphics and logos and also design flash based e flyers. Could this be
just what you are looking for?
Downbound.com
An
American company selling over 200 organic hemp clothing and footwear
products as well as vegan cat and dog food, bags & wallets, things
for the home & garden and music and videos. Well worth a visit!
Top
of Page
Autumn
Book Reviews
The Cause by
Jane Mann (Vinca Press, 2005)
Kate is a temporary
teacher who is looking for a permanent teaching job without much
success. She is gradually drawn into the animal rights movement after
attending a talk given by the charismatic Mark Stanton who persuades
her to work undercover for him as an animal technician at
Draco Life Sciences. This griping tale reveals the full horrors
of animal experimention, the often misleading and harmful results
produced by
animal testing and the determination, the underlying motivation and the
methods used by a group of animal rights
activists whose main aim is to disable and close down Draco Life
Sciences. Kate naturally soon falls in love with the risk
taking and often
endangered
Mark, who despite professing his love for her nevertheless manages to
remain
dedicated to the cause
right until the bitter end.
As DLS starts to crumble under the pressure, the group is
increasingly portrayed by the press as a bunch of terrorists. Then,
Kate is sacked after being accused of being involved.
The tension continues to mount as the activists first of all target the
Greenacres cat
farm supplying
DLS, then carry out DLS's final and violent destruction. I
must confess that I was unable to put this book down. It's not
ideal bed time reading
though, as it is more likely to awaken you from your slumber rather
than put you to sleep.
It's available from Amazon.
Price
£8.99. ISBN:
0-9549093-0-5. However, if you don't wish to purchase a
copy
why not request a copy from your local public library?
Animal testing still continues to rise. To
find
out more about the
alternative and effective non-animal techniques available, visit the Dr Hadwen Trust website.
Growing Green: Organic
Techniques for a
Sustainable Future by
Jenny Hall and Ian Tolhurst (The Vegan Organic Network, 2006)
I, incidently,
helped
with the proof reading of this book, so I have to say it's good don't
I! Seriously though, this is an excellent and
comprehensive reference book
for anyone who wants to have a go at stockfree organic growing
themselves and would also be useful to anyone who
simply wants to find out more about the subject. This clearly written,
step-by-step guide covers the following topics, all set out logically
in the form of organic standards:
- Stockfree-organic systems.
- Methods of soil
protection.
- Ways of increasing
soil fertility.
- Composting procedures.
- Propagation.
- Rotation.
- Weed control.
- Disease control and non-harmful ways of
controlling competitors.
- Ways of attracting wildlife and beneficial insects.
- Clear instructions on how to produce the most commonly grown
UK vegetables.
- Season extension and crop storage techniques.
- How to market stockfree-organic produce.
It's now available
online from both October
Books
and Eco-logic Books. Price £18.99. ISBN: 9 780955 222504.
Easy Juicing
by
Nicola Graimes (Duncan Baird Publishers, 2006)
The stylish guide to the art of liquid
refreshment - from energising breakfast blends to hot, tangy
pick-me-ups. Easy Juicing is the essential guide to the art of liquid
refreshment. Featuring 100 sensational recipes for both the juice
enthusiast and the absolute beginner, here you’ll find classic juice
blends rubbing shoulders with more exotic concoctions. Armed with just
a blender or food processor (and ideally a juice extractor) it’s
possible to produce a dazzling array of juice-based drinks in a flash!
A helpful guide to the basics (Let’s Get Juicing!) is followed by a
recipe collection organised into the following helpful sections: Juices
and Crushes; Smoothies and Blends; Coolers and Quenchers; Pick-me-ups
and Revivers; and Tipples (juices with a little extra something...).
Whether you’re in need of a breakfast drink that packs a nutritional
punch, a speedy lunch in a glass, a mid-afternoon battery recharge or
even a naughty-but-nice evening treat to enjoy with friends, then Easy
Juicing has exactly the recipe you’ve been looking for. Price £7.99. ISBN: 1 84483 235 X.
Nicola Graimes is an award-winning cookery editor and writer and a
former editor of Vegetarian Living
magazine. She is the author of 12
food and drink related books.
Top
of Page
Homepage
Copyright © Pauline Lloyd
1996-2007
Autumn
Recipes
Autumn
Product
Reviews 
Other Interesting Websites