vegalishaous

IT'S VEGANUARY 🌱

Pasta is good for many (many) things, and whilst it may appear that I eat very little else except pasta and vegetables, it is quite the opposite

It's just that pasta and vegetables perfectly demonstrate just how easy it is to eat more plants without sacrificing on flavour 🌿

Let's be honest, pasta reigns supreme in the carb kingdom 👑

Simply swapping out bacon, sausage, or chicken for a shop-bought meat alternative (or even better, a tin of beans - butter beans go best with pasta imo) can be a great first step ✅ (and is in fact how I started my vegan journey)

And for an added flavour boosts then consider roasting your veggies with garlic and stirring them through your freshly cooked pasta just before serving - with a splash of olive oil 🫒 (p.s. choose roasted mushroom and leek for a taste game beyond belief 🍄)

And if, like Jonathan and I, life seems dull without cheese on your pasta, you're in luck 👍🏼 UK pals, the new block from is your new best friend 🇬🇧 and although Canada is lagging a little in the vegan cheese game,
do a few solid options if you're on a budget 🧀

And just remember, that Penne Arrabiata that you ordered at your local Italian place?

Probably vegan too.

Just goes to show.

CINNAHOLIC 🧁

You know the food game is good when only a side-profile photo does it justice.

Having seemingly moved to a city obsessed with cinnamon rolls, we couldn't not try out the 100% vegan (?!??) 🍩

Let me tell you - cinnamon rolls (or buns as they're known here) take the more traditional cinnamon swirl, swap the pastry for soft dough and the raisins for creamy frosting and envelop you in some warm and cosy cocoon of comfort.

And at Cinnaholic, they are STACKED.

Both time we've visited I've been forced to choose between my love of chocolate, peanut butter, and cookie dough, and it is TORTURE 🍫🥜🍪 paid off with the 'CinnStack' and 'Moose Tracks' though 👌🏼

So naturally, I'll just be working my way through the menu for the next year 💁🏼‍♀️

Either that, or I'll start doing their build-your-own option and ending up with more toppings than bun 🙃

It rather amused me that a lot of the Google reviews claim they are 'too sweet' but I'm afraid such a concept doesn't exist in my world 😋

ONE-POT PASTA 🍝

I made this beauty for dinner two weeks ago and haven't been able to think about pasta the same way since.

I tell you, cooking the pasta in with the sauce in just one cooking pot revolutionizes the taste game 👅

Not to mention less washing up 🧼

All that saucy flavour being absorbed by the pasta is just ✨

As if that wasn't enough, throwing in some homemade seitan sausage makes it easy to understand why no other meal has compared recently 🤤

Pasta. Is. Life. 🍝

My go-to supermarket here in Calgary is the good old Safeway 🛒

Yep, that one that used to bless our British Shores with their own equivalent of a Go-Kids-Go indoor play arena to keep us scoundrels occupied whilst mum did the shopping 🤸🏼‍♀️

Best thing about it though now is the loyalty scheme that keeps taunting me with deals to buy X and get Y points back 💸

I say best, but it's one of those things where I'm not sure how much I'm saving when they're getting me to buy 3 packs of tortillas at a time 🤔

So what to do with 24 wraps between 2 people?

Enchiladas.

Of course.

It's only the best way to enjoy wraps - that is, if filling them with fruit, yoghurt, and nut butter isn't your style 💁🏼‍♀️

I (roughly followed) recipes from for the filling, and for the for the enchilada sauce and was pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy everything came together 🙌🏼 made the cosiest, most delicious feast even dreamier 😍

And since we're now 16 wraps down, 8 to go, it looks like these babies will make another appearance very soon.

I'd love to tell you I was past my fruit wrap phase 🍌🍎🍇🍑🥝🍓

Actually, no I wouldn't.

They're not now, not soon, not ever going away ♾️

Write it on my gravestone if you must, but I will go to my grave swearing that they're one of my favourite things on the planet 🌍

And no, not even a chilly winter morning in Canada can dampen my spirits with this one.

Not when there's bananas, berries, apple, and almond butter involved 🤤

Which is actually a good point... I haven't tried one of these warmed up/grilled...

*runs to kitchen***

🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️

DUMPLING DINNER 🍲

Nothing like a steaming bowl of pearl barley stew to warm you through on a 16C day in December... 🌡️

It's going to take a while to get used to Calgary's wild weather patterns. Our proximity to the Rockies (not complaining) means that we get very warm winds - called Chinooks - coming over from the mountains and causing the temperature to rise 🌬️

Yesterday it went from 3°C to 16°C in a matter of hours 🥵

Today it's supposed to reach 7C. And Friday it's back to freezing ❄️

Feels a bit ironic to be getting the winter tires fitted today... 🚗

At least I've got these dumplings sussed. Never tried 'drop' dumplings before - cooked right on top of the stew in the pot. As you can see, there were a few near fatalities and minor sinkages, but for sure a must-try ✅

⏰ Ever feel like busy days are spent frustrated that you don't have enough time to do everything you wanted/needed to do?

But then when you have nothing planned you can't seem to find the motivation to do any of those things?

I feel ya, I really do 🙍🏼‍♀️

I don't start my new job until January and I've been SO excited to spend days upon days skilling up in design, doing art, reading, running, climbing, drawing, watching TV, exploring the beauties and sights of Calgary, and just making the the most of limit-less time 🖌️🧗🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️📺

And believe me, I am BEYOND grateful to be in a position where this is all possible 🙏 thanks to being so incredible and starting such a great new career here, and supporting me with my hobbies day after day. And being in a stable enough position to have the means to do the things I love 💖

The first day is normally great. But after a few days - and especially when I don't have anything in my calendar to structure my day around - I sort of doddle around not sure what to do first, procrastinating on the hobbies I love, and just being a bit of a drag

So I'm starting to mix things up with an afternoon stroll, volunteering opportunities, and most importantly - coffee outings with myself at ☕

Just as long as I sit facing away from the temptation of their cinnamon rolls.

And it's amazing how just a change of scene can do an extrovert like me a world of good 💚

TLDR: Deadlines can be a good thing. And so can solo coffee dates 👌🏻

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? 🤷🏼‍♀️

As adults, we're supposed to get around 30g of fiber per day 🌾

But funnily enough, only around half of Canadians actually reach that recommendation 🇨🇦 And across the pond in the UK, the average consumption is only about 20g fiber daily 🇬🇧

As a vegetable enthusiast, plant obsessive, and whole-food fan, I pride myself on the fact that I probably get my 30g of fiber by lunchtime 🕛 Fruits, veggies, and whole grains are all rich in the stuff, and it's incredible for gut health and those 'good gut bacteria' you've probably heard about, along with promoting regular bowel movements.

That said, after some recent tummy pains I've come to accept that I must control myself around fruit and vegetables.

Too much fiber can actually cause bloating, stomach ache, and weirdly - the opposite of helping bowel movements 😣

It's the second time I've had this cruel lesson from trying to be healthy - as a heads-up, don't ever try to make chia pudding with flax and accidentally eat double portions 😭

⚠️ Anyway, here's your warning so that it doesn't happen to you.

puhLEASE don't let this put you off fiber - research suggests it is beneficial for just about every aspect of health under the sun. From cancer to IBS, to brain aging, to heart health, to fertility - fiber's got it covered 🧠🫀

Believe me, I've been eating plants and more plants for 5 years now and it's the second time this has happened. Probably because colourful raw-veg-tofu salads and wraps have become my favourite thing, plus the fact that apples in Canada are UTTERLY DELICIOUS 😋

Basically as always, everything in moderation.

Corn 🌽 carrot 🥕 cabbage 🥬 coriander 🌿 q(c)uinoa 🌾 8 weeks of Canada 🇨🇦
.. and black beans.

Anyway...

We are eight weeks old today! 🎁

What a whirlwind it's been, but after two months we both have jobs, have (a bit) more furniture to our name than just a free desk, and have started to make a name for ourselves as the newest adventuring-vegan-boardgaming brits on the block 🇬🇧

And I can ACTUALLY say that because the roads ACTUALLY work in blocks here 🏘️

Settling in also means that we're not just eating pasta anymore 🍝

Although groceries are a bit more expensive here, I don't mind so much when petrol is the equivalent of 60p per litre 🚗 and our monthly electricity is equivalent to £15💡

So it's back to bursting plates (we don't have enough pasta bowls) of colour, fresh veg, and beany goodness 🌱

And since I've discovered sweetcorn fritters don't make nearly enough of an appearance in my life, it's my mission to make a thing 🌽

I've also promised myself that I will never burden myself with plain houmous ever again after experiencing the endless joy of garlic houmous and wondering why it's taken me this long 🧄

But for now, back to eating the rainbow has never felt soooo good 🌈

IT'S STILL AUTUMN IN ALBERTA 🍁

Well that's what I'm telling myself.

Which means that it's not too late to have my first autumnal (or should I be saying 'Fall' now?!) bagel of the season.

As always, there's only one way to have it.

🍎 Apple

🥜 Crunchy PB

🥛 Plain yoghurt

✨ and a dusting of cinnamon and milled

We might have already had a week of snow and -10 C, and I might be looking to buy winter car tires for our inevitable snowy mountain explorations...
.. but that doesn't mean I have to skip the best time of the year to cover everything in cinnamon.

Even if I can't look out on the beautiful reds and oranges of autumn leaves since the only red maple leaf left after the cold snap is on the Canadian flag 🇨🇦

Turns out Calgary has possibly more hormonal weather than the UK - but this time it's between snow and sun (rather than rain and dull greyness) so I am REALLY not complaining.

Not complaining at all... ❄️⛷️🌨️🏔️

Instalment #2 of Alisha learns how to properly store fruits and vegetables after 5 years of eating nothing except (apparently incorrectly stored) plants.

The fridge was due a clean. But what's this? LABELLED FRIDGE DRAWERS?! A novelty.

The idea of a 'crisper' drawer isn't new to me (although it certainly seems more of a thing in North America) but a high-humidity crisper?

Yep, those drawers in your fridge aren't just there to stop your mushrooms invading the carrots' personal space 🍄

They actually have a pretty important role in preserving the shelf life of fruits and veg. 

Fridges remove moisture from the air, and certain fruits and veggies really need a bit of moisture to keep them fresh. I'm talking things like lettuce, leafy greens, cucumbers but honestly most other things like carrots, broccoli, beans and peppers. 💧

🌿The High-Humidity crisper is a sealed drawer (no air flow in and out) and retains the moisture naturally emitted by produce, keeping them crisp - the perfect place for moisture-seeking foods.

***What you don't want to do is seal food INSIDE the drawer (ie plastic bags inside the High-Humidity crisper). Moisture trapped in the bags = moisture touching surface of food = wet produce = rot.***

🍎The Low-Humidy Crisper, on the other hand, isn't sealed - air flows freely between it and the rest of the fridge. Its great for certain foods that emit ethylene (a gas that speeds up ripening) - apples, peaches, avocados, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. - because the ethylene can escape, preventing spoilage. Fruit also prefers a drier environment (generally) so doesn't need the moisture of the High-Humidity drawer.

🌟 SO:

⬆️ In your High-Humidity Crisper: leafy veg (e.g. lettuce, spinach, kale), carrots, squash, zucchini, beans, peppers, broccoli, sprouts, herbs, strawberries.... honestly most things/things that wilt easily

⬇️ In your Low-Humidy Crisper: apples, pears, plums, apricots, mushrooms, avocado, tomatoes etc.

P.S. If your drawers aren't labelled, chances are they are high-humidity. If you're super fancy you might even have a sliding vent to change the flow between low-high humidity.

P.P.S I never (EVER) put bananas in the fridge ❌

Happy (Belated) World Vegan Day !! 🌱

Celebrating in style by embracing the fact that I'm never on time for because I'm too busy spending time with my favourite people doing my favourite things in my favourite places 🏔️🥾

Not to mention celebrating veganism in the best way - great vegan foodz.

This year marks 5️⃣ years of being vegan - feeling happier, more energized, more confident, and more food-loving than ever.

And every day remembering why I'm here, and why I chose this life.

For the planet 🌎

For the animals 🐮

For myself 🙏

And of course, for the vegan sandwich from and the cheesecake from 🎂