Eating Out Vegan Style: Wholefoods Food Haul

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Sunday 31 January 2016
I'm still working on some other posts about life, but I wanted to try and get back into the swing of posting every Sunday, so I have a little food haul post below.


I went to Wholefoods on Saturday to see if I could find some nice vegan food. It's a bit of a trek from Edinburgh, but it was worth it to get hold of some good things to eat that I can't always find in Edinburgh.

I found a few things I'd eaten before like the Tofurky slices and the Fry Family nuggets, but most of the things I bought were new. I got a little too excited about finding frozen acai for my smoothies, and I also found my favourite nut butter too. The only thing I couldn't find was purple sweet potatoes which I thought I might have been able to find.

I stupidly forgot to take a picture of my lunch which was a roasted vegetable Turkish flatbread and Ms Cupcake cupcakes. The food counters alone are worth a trip to Wholefoods, and there's some many vegan options on offer.

So yeah, that's my little food haul while I focus on some other writing which I'll be posting soon.

A little break

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Monday 25 January 2016
So I'm going to be taking a little break from this blog for the next week or so. I guess you could say life has thrown some unexpected bricks in my plans and things aren't exactly great right now. I'm working away on a bit of a life update post that I've actually written and never finished several times over the past couple of years, but this time I'm actually going to press the publish button and will explain a lot.

I'm also launching a YouTube channel soon which is taking up some time. There's not definite date on when I will start posting, but it's the kind of scary distraction that I need right now.

Over and Out!

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 3

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Wednesday 20 January 2016
It's time for another What I Ate Wednesday update, although I did forget to take photos of all the fruit I snacked on during the day which ended up being two oranges, two tangerine and a pear.

Breakfast
I had two oranges when I woke up, and then a wholemeal seeded bagel topped with banana, cinnamon, agave syrup and seeds.

Lunch
I had my new favourite soup for lunch which is a tomato, pepper and lentil soup from Sainsbury's. It's one of the only ones I've found in there that doesn't contain milk or cream, which is really annoying, but I guess it'll encourage me to start making my own.

Dinner
I was craving chips for dinner tonight, so I made my own oven baked chips and had them with a fake chicken burger and some vegetables. Then I tried my first slice of raw cheesecake from Grams. It's a great new Scottish company who have just started selling their cakes in Real Foods which just happens to be right across from my work.




SourcedBox - January Box

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Sunday 17 January 2016

My very first SourcedBox arrived at my work on Tuesday, and look what great snacks were inside.

SourcedBox is a brand new healthy snack delivery service by Marcus Butler and Niomi Smart. I've been watching their YouTube videos for a while now, especially those by Niomi since she also follows a vegan diet. I'm also constantly looking for new healthy snacks to try since it's not like I can just walk into any food shop and pick up things I can eat.

The monthly box contains 12 individual snacks and comes with a menu describing each one. There were only two products I had tried before (Rude Health Rice Thins and Ombar Milk Chocolate Buttons) which meant I got to try lots of things for the first time.

My favourite item in the box is the Pip & Nut Coconut and Almond Butter which I've been eating on my oats for breakfast all week. I've been trying to find a nut butter that I like for months now, so it was good finally find one that I want to eat. They also sell it in my gym which means I can go and buy a big tub of it next week.

I also loved the The Giving Tree Broccoli Crisps that actually look like tiny broccoli florets and the Science Kitchen Pizza Seed Toasts that taste just like pizza. The Pulsin' Maca Bliss Raw Choc Brownie made a great alterative to chocolate and cakes, and I liked being able to finally try a Naturally Sassy product as one of her flapjacks was also in the box.

I didn't want to eat the whole box within a week, so I've still to try the LoveRaw Rosehip and Lemon Bar, Rebel Kitchen Chocolate Mylk, Bluebird Tea Co Dozy Girl Tea, Wyldsson Organic Persian Mulberry Promix, and the Snact Fruit Jerky.

For £18.95 a month, SourcedBox is completely worth the money if you want to try some new healthy snacks on the market. If you're interested and want to find out more, then you can visit the website here.

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 2

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Wednesday 13 January 2016
It's time for another What I Ate Wednesday post. I've become a little obsessed with watching these videos on YouTube lately, and I think I have watched all Bonny Rebecca's videos in the past week. If you haven't seen any of her videos before, then you can check them out here. She's really inspiring me to improve my diet at the moment and include a lot more fresh fruit and vegetables, instead of opting for the vegan processed food options.

Breakfast
I had a banana before I went to the gym, and then came home and made my actual breakfast. I had oats made with almond milk and cinnamon which I topped with raspberries, apple, sultanas, mixed seeds and a little bit of agave syrup.

Lunch
I picked up a wholemeal loaf of bread on my way home from the gym this morning for lunch. I had
a couple of slices toasted with organic sundried tomato tapenade, avocado and garlic salt. And then I ate about a third of a watermelon chopped up.
Dinner
i had a really simple dinner tonight of baked sweet potatoes topped with houmous on top of some spinach, lettuce and cucumber.
Snacks
I didn't really snack much throughout the day, but I did have a slice of the lemon and coconut birthday cake my mum made me.

Eating Out - Nova Pizza Vegetarian Kitchen

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Monday 11 January 2016
One of the things I want to do more this year is post reviews of vegan food, so I thought I would start with my birthday lunch last weekend.

Nova Pizza Vegetarian Kitchen is a great little vegetarian café in Edinburgh which has a separate vegan menu filled with great choices of Italian food including pizza, pasta and calzones which are all made with vegan cheeses and meat.

I didn't have a starter, but choose the lasagne which was made with vegan béchamel, vegan mozzarella and soya mince. I haven't eat lasagne for about two years, so it was great to finally have some, especially since it was really delicious.


For desert, I went for a slice of the chocolate cheesecake which I ended up sharing with my mum because we were way too full from our main course to eat a slice for each.


If you're looking for some vegan Italian food in Edinburgh, then it's definitely worth checking out especially since they use vegan meat substitutes rather than you just having vegetables on our pizza or pasta.

Happy Birthday!!

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Sunday 10 January 2016

I can't quite believe that I'm 29, and that this time next year I'll be the 30 years old. For as long as I can remember, my birthday comes hand in hand with some awful weather that usually makes it impossible for people to get into whatever city I'm in to celebrate. However, this year everything fell into place and I had one of the best birthday nights out I've had in a really long time.

The celebrations started a day early since my sister was working on my actual birthday. She bought me lots of gorgeous lush products and The Book of You, and then we went out for some food and cocktails. Then in the evening, I met up with my friend Anna for more drinks to see out my last day being 28.


My mum and brother came through to Edinburgh on Saturday so we could spend the day together. I was showered with presents including a NUTRIBULLET (Can you tell I'm excited about it?), shopping vouchers, books, accessories and some amazing vegan clothes and jewellery.

If that wasn't enough, my mum made me the best vegan birthday cake I have ever seen.


We all went to Nova Pizza Vegetarian Kitchen for some food where I had lasagne and huge slice of chocolate cheesecake. I'll be doing a blog post tomorrow on it - so keep your eyes peeled for that. I have a feeling it's going to become my new favourite vegan place to eat in Edinburgh this year.

I spent last night surrounded by some of the best friends I could ask for. My favourite people from The Playhouse were there, as well as my two best friends, Cara and Jenn. There was vodka, coconut cocktails, and some really nice presents including a hula hoop.

I have a feeling that 29 is going to be a really good year!

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 1

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Wednesday 6 January 2016
In a bid to try and eat cleaner this year, I'm going to start doing What I Ate Wednesday on a regular basis starting this week. I'll try and mix things up a bit and do it on days I'm eating out too, so hopefully I'll be a bit different every time.

Breakfast
Whoever said you can't make vegan waffles has clearly never tried these. I got my waffle maker last year, and it's one of my favourite items in my kitchen, even if I don't use it that much. I topped my cinnamon waffle with banana, agave syrup and mixed seeds. I also had half a litre of water with lemon as I'm attempting to try and drink at least two litres of water each day, so it helps if I can start it first thing.

Lunch
I was still pretty full from breakfast, so I only had a seeded bagel and fruit for lunch. I topped the bagel with my favourite vegan cream cheese from Bute Island.

Dinner
I got the Deliciously Ella book for Christmas, so I thought I would try out her coconut Thai curry which I made with sweet potato, chickpeas and cauliflower. I tired to be healthy by having it with wholegrain rice and not too many popadoms.

Snacks
I got these for Christmas and they're delicious. I first discovered them in a shop in London last year, but my mum managed to pick up this tin and Vegfest Scotland in December.


Happy New Year!

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Sunday 3 January 2016
It's that time of year again when I make my New Year resolutions. This year is a bit of a big year because it's my last year before I turn 30, which I may or may not be in compete denial about. So in the spirit of starting fresh, I've listed a few things that I want to work on this year.

1. Positive Thinking
This is probably the one that I will struggle with the most because I general worry and overthink EVERY single situation. I also found my anxiety reached some new levels last year, and that's something I want to try and attempt to get under control a bit more. I know some of the things that trigger it, so I feel like I'm halfway there, but it's still something I really need to work on. I find that exercise helps to clear my mind which leads me onto the next point.

2. Get Fit
I joined the gym in October, but I haven't really been going on a regular basis. Sure there's been some 7am classes and lunch time workouts on the rowing machine, but then there has been weeks where I haven't went at all. So yeah, the plan is to go at least 3 times a week starting tomorrow.

3. Eat Cleaner
I feel a lot healthier than I did a few years ago, even though a lot of people still seem to think I'm not getting enough nutrients by following a vegan diet. Most of the time, I eat over 5 pieces of fruit and veg a day, but that only works if I really plan what I'm eating. If there's no plan, then it's easy to slip into eating junk food again.

4. Write More
I've decided to give blogging a proper shot this year. I go through stages where I write all the time, and other times I don't upload for weeks. The plan is to focus my blog more on my plant-based diet, restaurant reviews, my work at the Edinburgh Playhouse, and general adventures. I figured I would start with two posts a week, as well as monthly blogs on Huffington Post. If I can stick to it for a month or two, then I'll try increase the number of posts I'm writing.

5. Read More
I always set myself unrealistic reading goals which usually give up on after a few months. So this year, I'm just going to try and read more without trying to get through a certain number of books. I've already read one book this year though, so at least this resolution is off to a good start.

6. ???
I've also made a couple of private resolutions that I might share in time, but for now are between me and my journal. There's something things that I've found really dragged me down last year, and it's time to erase those parts out my life for good.