Fussy Vegetarian Problems: A Lifelong Issue

I've been a vegetarian all of my days; a fact that some people find it difficult to believe.

'Oh but you must have eaten meat'

Only under duress, let me assure you.

Mince (bleurgh!) Source: www.123rf.com

I have very fond memories of outlasting my mum, nan and various other caregivers who implied that I might not leave the table until I had finished my mince.

Clearly I won that one. More than a few times.

(hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!)

I have no idea why or how I have managed to reject meat at such a young age.  I guess it's something to do with texture more than anything else, plus I have this weird really sensitive palate where I can guess what is in something.

Me, the wee vegetarian baby! My 'I will not eat mince' face.

Good for cocktail hour, not so good when I can taste individual ingredients of something I don't like so much.  For instance, I hate pineapple and find it really difficult to eat or drink anything that has a large amount of pineapple juice in it.

Pineapple is in a lot of nice cocktails :(

I am a self-confessed fussy-ass vegetarian.

• I do not like mushrooms. Nope. No no no. A bit squeaky and a bit earthy and they look like flayed skin. Grim.
• I hate cheese sauce.  It smells awful.  I love cheese.  I love lots of cheese.  Cheese sauce is a bastardization of cheesy goodness. I will not tolerate it. It's fatty and greasy and just odd.
• Aubergine is not a nice texture to have in your mouth. Just no.
• I forced myself to eat a banana recently. It was the worst half hour of my life so far.
• Quorn is the devil's food.  The primary reason I don't eat meat is because I hate the taste of meat. This is soy pretending to be meat.
• Oh, also, Soy.
• It's taken me years to tolerate tomato and I can now...but only very thinly sliced and with the guts removed.
• I vaguely remember being at a friend's house for tea and refusing to eat the middle bit of the cucumber.
• I used to actively avoid going to other people's homes for tea in case I didn't like what was being served.  It actually used to make me sweat.  Now I have mastered my gag reflex to the EXTREME and can actually basically gag down anything (within reason).  Even cheese sauce.  But it's a struggle!

Just coat it all in cheese!

Admittedly, I have gotten a lot better over the years.  I can now eat melted cheese (which is the gateway to hell by the way.  My waistline did not really need chips and cheese, pizza or nachos...but I suppose it increases the variety of a restaurant menu for me) and I am now better at eating strawberries (grainy texture).

I even verge on enjoying blueberries (strange skin), raspberries (bitty) and caught myself having some cereal with milk in it the other day (I had to eat it very very quickly in case the cereal went soggy.  There must have been about 2ml of milk on it, but that counts...)

Life as a fussy vegetarian is tough.

I face massive dilemmas in the supermarket sandwich aisle at lunchtimes (I hate mayonnaise.  You don't realise how much mayo is on EVERYTHING until you are actively trying to avoid it).

I actually more often than not end up ordering sides in restaurants because I honestly can't see anything I actually want to eat on the menu (if I'm out with people who know me well, this is okay, but if this is like, a formal thing or with someone I don't really know I have to use the mastered gag reflex thing to choke down the least offensive meal).

When staying in hospital after my c-sections I virtually ate nothing basically because hospital food is gross and most usually because it was cheese mayo, cheese sauce or something equally horrific.  Oh, or soggy cornflakes.  Very soggy cornflakes.  I subsisted on the goodwill of my visitors, whom I begged for food. Not the best when your body has had a baby and is also recovering from major surgery. 

I suppose there are positives.

My meal choices are usually plain and simple and easy to make; a quick salad, a sandwich, some chips.  I'm easy.  I miss cooking, but in this lull of time where I have a baby plus two other kids to cook for, I'm easy to please.

Hell, I'm just happy to actually get the chance to eat!

What I do eat is relatively healthy.  To a point.  As long as I'm not mainlining chips and cheese or pizza constantly, I'm actually a fairly healthy eater.  One of the quirks of my palate is that I prefer 'clean' tastes, like cucumber, pepper and lettuce, and I'm more than happy (oddly) snacking on spring onions (weird but true).

And hey, I'm discovering new things all the time.

You guys might scoff at my immature tastes, but heck, I have all this to come, suckers!

I might even enjoy mushrooms one day.

Maybe.

Vegetarian Cupboard Staples To Get You Through

Sometimes a wage packet won't stretch as far as you think, for whatever reason.

Sometimes life throws some surprises your way; broken appliances, illness, car trouble.

Don't fret about tough times; why not pick up these staples and keep them in your cupboard to get you through until next pay day.



Baked Beans - So good for adding to a meal, topping on a jacket potato, scooping up with toast or eating on their own.

Frozen Peas - Ah, peas! The bag is good for helping nurse bumped heads and the peas are tasty additions to meals.  Match them with mashed spuds, put them through cream cheese or add them to a pasta dish.  Add a little colour and get some goodness!

Source: BBC Good Food (www.bbcgoodfood.com)

Cornflour - Handy as a thickener for macaroni and excellent to use in recipes like this Fatless Sponge

Tomato Puree/Chopped Tomatoes - Handy for curries, stews, sauces - puree is a must for beefing up the flavour.  Check out these ideas for what else you can do with Tomato Puree.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/add1sun/4183640700/

Hot Sauce - Serious Eats lists 25 things you can do with Hot Sauce right here. It's so versatile.  I realise hot stuff in't everyone's thing, but it can add some serious flavour to a jacket potato and cheese, pasta dishes or, well, anything really!

Vegetable Stock - Needed for all things stew, soup, curry and can perk up rice and cous cous no end.  Here I am recommending www.feastie.com where you can find recipes based on what you have in your cupboard.  Here's their list of recipes you can make with veggie stock!

Pasta - I find it's always prudent to have a very large bag of pasta in the cupboard at all times.  Maybe this is just a lean back to my student days, but I can do a lot of stuff with pasta!

Rice - Great as a main meal or a side. Risotto is my favourite go-to.  It's filling, tasty and you can add pretty much any veg to it too! Check out my recipe for Comfort Risotto here.

Easy Bake Yeast - Pizza dough, bread...yeast is so handy for making a tasty carby meal.  It's funny, I always surprise myself by how often I find it useful.

Butternut Squash - I buy a Butternut Squash and it can sit there for ages!  They keep really well, they are so versatile and can be used in so many ways. Why not try my Butternut Squash Pie recipe here?

Onions - Onions are the base of most stews, soups, curries etc.  It's always a good idea to have some on standby!

Of course, these are just a few things you can have on standby and different people like different things,but these are the things that I always try to keep handy.

What do you always have ready to go?

Do you have any go-to fail-safe recipe?  I'd love to hear what you prepare when times are tough!

Tingling my Tastebuds...a round up of recipes

I'm Veggie and have been all my days.

It was never a massive decision, more of a happening; being a vegetarian is something that happened to me.  I do not like the taste of meat.  I hate the texture of meat.  I therefore hate meat substitutes.

I am also fairly fussy; I'm getting better in my old age, but being a hater of certain textures, like mushroom and aubergine, it kind of narrows down my choices a wee bit.

I am very fortunate however to live in the golden age of internet, where I can make specific searches for recipes I can actually get excited about, which with my self-placed limitations can be difficult.

Here's a wee round up of recipes I've been drooling over this week, along with links to see for yourself.

1.Tomato and harissa stew with cheddar dumplings

Source:bbcgoodfood.com

I'm not going to lie - it's the dumpling bit that's doing it for me - check out the recipe here.

I'm a massive carbohydrate/cheese fan, but I love some spice too, so this ticks a lot of my boxes.  It pretends it's a bit healthy with all the veg and the chickpeas, but it's luring you in with the oh-so-yummy promise of dumpling naughtiness.

I've never tried harissa, and being a busy mum of three who rarely has time to shop alone, let alone search for something new, Id probably substitute in red and yellow peppers instead, which would still sit nicely in amongst the tomatoes and chickpeas.

2. Chickpea and Vegetable Curry

Source: The Vegetarian Society (www.recipes.vegsoc.org)

A veg curry is always my go-to favourite if I can't think of anything else, and it never fails to satisfy.  It's quick, it's easy and it's a really satisfying make, which if you portion up just right,can last a couple of days.

A veg curry is the best - you can pretty much chuck anything in, add some chopped tomatoes or even some coconut milk and you can mix up the flavours no end.  I love a chickpea curry - there's something really satisfying and filling about one, and you can find the recipe for this one from the Vegetarian Society here.

3.Easy Pizza Dip with Cream Cheese

Source www.tinnedtomatoes.com

Oh holy monkeys, this really tickles my tastebuds and makes me drool a wee bit.  This is ridiculous - a dip which tastes like pizza, but one which you can dip vegetable crudites into and thus feel a little bit less guilty (just try to forget about the cheese!)

Have a look at this glorious recipe from my good friend Jac at Tinned Tomatoes.  This is definitely a good one to pull out when you have visitors or if you want to settle down to a good movie with some tortilla chips and beer; why no go all out? Heaven in a dish!

4. Greek salad with Feta

Source: Oh, sweet Basil (www.ohsweetbasil.com)

I LOVE a Greek salad.  I've been to Greece a few times now, and it's definitely my best and most favourite part about going there - you cannot beat the absolute freshness of the food and the zing of all the different fresh flavours hitting your tastebuds. Delicious!

Coupled with tzatziki and some frsh bread, this has to be my ultimate dish.  Simple, quick, but totally flavoursome - and healthy too. Have a gander at Oh, Sweet Basil's take on this classic, here.


5. Battered Halloumi

Source: www.planetveggie.com

Dear good god. Battered Halloumi for the win!

I did say I hate meat substitutes, but I think this is the closest I will ever come.  The texture of halloumi is odd.  It's squeaky.  It's a bit rubbery.

But boy, does it taste good in batter!

I've had battered halloumi a few times - it seems to be quite fashionable at the moment as the vegetarian opton of choice for bar and restaurants, but I am so very glad when I see it n the menu instead of bloody macaroni or stupid stuffed aubergine. Again.

Planet Veggie is right when she proclaims she now wants to 'batter all the things'. Check out her recipe here.

Long live battered halloumi!


Right, now I am very extremely hungry.  I'm off to do some cooking!

Zizzi Loving! A Great Family Meal In The Heart Of St. Andrews

Zizzi's!  Love the colour scheme!

I have been a very lucky lady lately.  Not only have I been invited to review the very yummy fare at Pizza Express,and have spent a whole day sampling goodies at The Edinburgh Foodies Festival, but I was also invited along to Zizzi's in St.Andrews to try out their amazing family-friendly menu.

I am also extremely lucky to be very good friends with the lovely Jac at Tinned Tomatoes and we were extremely fortunate to be invited along all together, our other halves and children included, to try out some of the spectacular food in this Italian delight.

Zizzi's is a deceptively large restaurant in the heart of St Andrew's and offers a spacious, atmospheric space, suitable for the whole family.  The atmosphere is fabulous - very busy and quite noisy, so I didn't feel like I had to keep the kids and their loud voices in check too much, which for me, made a more relaxing experience.

The huge mallow shaped pizza oven is situated at the rear of the space, with an open kitchen, where you can watch the extremely busy and quick chefs at work.  It was all very impressive.

The furnishings were of a very high quality; nice sturdy wooden tables, large enough to carry the weight of the food and to deal with squirming, ants-in-your-pants children (Thomas never sits still!), so I didn't have to worry about them tipping the table and soaking us all with juice. Always a bonus!

Some pretty artwork on the walls made for some lovely scenery

Zizzi's has a very nice new children's menu - The Bambini Menu - and for £6.75 your little bambini will be a very well-fed bambini indeed!

The menu is a set as 3 courses, with a chocacino to finish (a mini glass of chocolate milkshake - very cute!) and it's vegetarian friendly to boot, which is great for our kids.

There's no need to worry that the fare is going to be too fancy for wee palates either - the food is all very fresh and healthy, while catering to the somewhat plainer tastes of children. AND they provide some pretty fancy Crayola crayons while you wait!

To start, they are served with carrot, cucumber and dough sticks, which Tom absolutely loved.  It's not too filling for him and also, he loved feeling grown-up with his own wee dish, rather than picking from my own starter, as he usually does if we go out.

Ethan wasn't so keen on the carrot or the cucumber.  Trying to get that boy to eat any fruit or veg is a nightmare at the best of times, but he was happy with the dough sticks, and I ate the veg for him.  I thought he might at least have a go, as Cooper and Thomas were having theirs with gusto, but no!  He's pretty set in his ways.

For the kids, the main was a bit of a no-brainer; they were given the choice between Mini Pasta or Mini Pizza , but with all the pretty damn fine pizza smells wafting around and after sitting watching all of these gorgeous pizzas making their way from the kitchen, they opted for the Mini Marguerita.

There is a fab wee option with the mini pizza where you can order toppings in little dishes so that you can 'make your own', which is a lovely touch for the wee ones - making them feel like they are little pizza chefs, which is really cute.  I thought that was a really nice touch.

Unfortunately, my two boys have a fussy taste like their mother, (who? me?) so they simply wanted the plain Marguerita, which meant we didn't get to see this in action.  The boys really loved their pizza though, and I have to say, considering the size of them, and the fact that they had already had a starter, I was fairly surprised to see that they both ate the whole thing!

If your kids like their veg, there's an option here to add some Broccoli or Beans, but it does cost 50p extra.

After we'd visited the toilets and us adults had finished our enormous meals, we got ready for dessert.

Ethan was really chuffed with his cones!

Tom opted for the Ice Cream (2 scoops of flavoured ice cream, from a wide choice of flavours), while Ethan went for the fabulous looking Zizzi Bambini Cones, which was served as two scoops of ice cream, two mini cones and popping candy.

Ethan negated to make his own cones as suggested (ever his own man), but instead decided to do it his way, taking a bit off the end of each cone and slurping the ice cream while scooping popping candy into his mouth and laughing.

He really enjoyed this dessert!  I think Tom was a bit jealous - it did look really cool.  Plus Ethan was having a great time, shaking his head after eating the popping candy.  I asked him what he was doing and he said 'It's like maracas in my mouth, Mummy!', which did make us all laugh.  He is too cute sometimes.

The kids all had a great time, but us adults did too!

While everyone got stuck into some rather tasty Peroni Italian lager, Prosecco by the glass, cocktails and juice which were all readily on offer, I happily ordered myself a virgin cocktail, which came decorated with a fresh strawberry and was a lovely wee treat for the designated driver!

The food was amazing too.  Hot on the heels of the kids' starters, came our very own.

Dave and I ordered the Arancini breaded risotto balls, which were absolutely delicious, consisting of risotto, mozzarella and peas, fried in golden breadcrumbs.  They came with a wee tomato peperonata dip, and to be honest, I could have eaten these all night.  I reckon I'll try to recreate these at home!

Next up, Dave ordered Zizzi Spiedini Pollo, which was presented on a stand, making it extra impressive. This came with Tuscan potatoes and a white wine and lemon sauce.  It looked awesome - even if I don't eat meat.  Dave certainly enjoyed it!

 

Meanwhile, what did the fussy vegetarian order?

Well, I even surprised myself when I ended up with this particular main course.

Now presenting, a delicious mish-mash of awesomeness:

To the left of the pizza is mozzarella, new potato, riserva cheese, red onion and thyme.  To the right, a contrasting flavour amalgamation of half-roasted peppers, roquito chilli, mushrooms and rocket.

On the left, salty, cheesy, savoury goodness.  On the right, sweet, hot and slightly peppery.

Fantastico!

And the best bit?  I couldn't finish it all, so they boxed it up for me and I went through the same amazing taste sensation the next day. Perfecto!

Of course, you aren't simply limited to Pizza at Zizzi's.  They also serve up a mean selection of Risottos, some amazing Calzones, some beautiful Linguines and traditional Lasagne.

There is a massive choice - and they do take-away too!

Of course, despite being very full, we had to try dessert and this did not disappoint.  I enjoyed a rather moreish Chocolate Melt pudding, which had a gooey warm middle, and some lovely vanilla ice-cream.

Dave however tried out the new and very delicious sweet pizza.  What a fab idea!  

Melting marshmallows, fresh strawberries,drizzled with warm chocolate and hazelnut sauce!  MMM!

The kids were also served with their chocacinos while we finished up, which was such a nice end to the meal and made them feel very grown up, as well as loading them with even more energy, which they then used up outside, racing up and down the street outside!

After having a wee run around St.Andrews, playing tig and chasing the kids around the street (it's okay, they were pretty much deserted!), laughing and giggling, we all piled into the car for home, just as the sun began to set.  We'd all had a really lovely time, and are sure to return soon!

The best nights end like this!

It's worth it for full, knackered children!

*Disclaimer - I was asked to attend Zizzis to try out their new menu and review the Bambini menu.  I did not pay for my meal, nor was I expected to give a positive review.  All opinions are completely my own.