Helen's blog

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of running a table of food tastings at one of Viva!'s popular talks, Why You Don't Need Dairy, delivered by founder & director Juliet Gellatley, in Cardiff. 

For me, a large part of learning to cook vegan, was mastering how to use tofu in its various forms as a repla

Over the last year or so, Viva! & VVF founder & director, Juliet Gellatley and I, have got together to present talks and cookery demonstrations across the country, to help people improve their mood through what they eat.

Jane and I were delighted to go for lunch at a local Italian pizza restaurant and takeaway in Bristol this week, to celebrate the fact they had introduced vegan pizza and vegan panino to their menu.

It was snowing for the first time here in Bristol this weekend. So after a chilly walk into town, I decided I wanted to make something warming for supper. 

A few years ago I used to buy a dumpling mix that was vegetarian - and thought it would be lovely to make dumplings and home made gravy for the first time in years.

I was delighted to find that Co-Op sell a vegetable suet dumpling mix that is vegan! All you do is add water, then form the dough into balls. 

This morning I uploaded my best vegan Toad in the Hole recipe to the Vegetarian Recipe Club. The recipe took much practice, but the end result got me glowing feedback during an audition for ITV's Britain’s Best Dish last year.

I think mastering vegan Toad in the Hole is something every proud vegan should try sometime. It's a real winner with meat-eaters and makes for a cracking roast dinner with a nice rich gravy.

Happy New Year everyone - from Helen and Jane at the Vegetarian Recipe Club.

So here's a happy new blog topic from the VRC - I'm expecting my first baby - and have been going through a strange transition with my food & cookery which I thought I’d share with you.

Christmas now just a few days away - and I'm really hoping many more people than ever before will be opting for a veggie or vegan Christmas dinner this year.

I've really enjoyed putting together a whole range of new festive recipes for the Vegetarian Recipe Club in the last couple months. The endless possibilites for vegan food and how wonderful it looks and tastes never fails to amaze me...

I fancied making pancakes the other day, but wanted to include a couple of vegetables in the process. Whilst I'm a fan of our exisiting savoury pancake recipe, I wanted to see how things would turn out if I added shredded spinach into the batter before cooking, instead of stuffing a cooked pancake with veg such as spinach and mushroom (similar to a paratha idea I suppose).

The lovely people at Vegusto have been kind enough to send us some more of their products to sample and review - so I thought I'd make something for lunch with their marjoram veggie sausages and Veganaise (vegan mayo).

I had brought some homemade bread to work with me, so I decided to try an open sausage sandiwich, served with a spoon of the Veganaise.

The sausages had a really substantial wheaty texture and were moist and flavoursome. The Veganaise was really creamy, with a slight spiced kick.