Indulgence and then some wholesome goodness!

Well, I've learnt that to have a proper vegan Easter I am going to be better organised next year...did the boys little Easter boxes in the garden with a mixture of milk and vegan chocolates. Slightly disappointed in myself I wasn't organised in time to order some vegan goodies from veganstore UK, or Montezumas. Tesco had had the infamous chocolate Lindt bunnies in in dark chocolate, but close to the Easter holiday, the chocolate aisles were pretty ransacked and I didn't pick some up early enough. Sainsbury's did some lovely vegan chocolate which my parents-in-law gave the boys:


It's been a little whirlwind of a party season; 3 of the boys' friends turned 3 in the last couple of weeks, and Mit's brother is 40. My treasured friend down in Hampshire shares that landmark. A couple of the celebrations were in 'Pizza Express'. I love it in that chain, because they are good with children, and it's easy to be vegan- I had the Giadinera pizza with no cheese- just lots of artichokes, red pepper and olives. Really delicious! They don't do soya milk yet, though. Surely they will cotton on soon!
All the pizzeria dining has led us to make more pizzas at home. Had a hilarious cooking session. The boys helped make the dough in their own unique style after having observed the dough being pounded and thrown about in the restaurant. Mit's much more playful when cooking with the boys than me! Dough eyes:


Celebrations have also necessitated more cake making and eating:

Once again, fluffy white cupcakes from 'vegan lunchbox'. Due to the flux of special occasions occuring, I think I am going to have to find a healthier special occasion fix! But.. then again, no.

On the other hand, have rediscovered those great soup mixes you can buy from most supermarkets; dried bean and pulse mixtures that don't need much else adding to make a great, wholesome and filling soup. I just use onion, garlic and whichever veggies are left in the fridge, but the packets always have recipe suggestions. Made this twice recently. The second time, the boys ate some. It was so great to see them eating pieces of barley! But the second time I made it, I'd added some alphabet pasta pieces, and the barley and other bits just happened to be there as well....

The plan for the next few weeks is to really spend time in our garden, weeding, planning and thinking how to use it. We inherited a really pretty, mature garden with this house. I'll take some pictures over the next few days (when it stops raining so hard, to give the most flattering conditions!) but we just need to work out how much to leave things as they are, and what are where to plant. Because I'm indecisive, I think we will grow some herbs in pots, and look into growing potatoes in bags and making a space for those things with plenty of light.