Tuesday 9 November 2010

Minority and majority



All the important things in my life have been shifting lately. Almost veganism is no less important but I seem to be churning out the same repertoire of recipes, the ones which work for the boys- Luca will eat lots of fruits and veggies now, and is adventurous, Rohan is a bit hesitant to try new foods and whole fruits etc, unless a banana! So the blender churns out the smoothies and he eats a variety in this form. Smoothies are quite useful though as I've been adding the seeds mixtures you can buy at health food stores to add some omegas. Also, the boys have started school. Luca likes to have school lunch a couple of times a week, which he likes (vegetarian). Rohan has his packed lunch which is vegan. The main challenge for his lunch is to put nutritious fillings in sandwiches because peanut butter isn't allowed because of allergies. I mostly put grounds almonds in with the pure marg, for some protein and he has a carton of smoothie, soya yogurt, banana, some type of rice cake or cereal bar etc.

One vegetable the boys aren't keen on is mushrooms. Hard to present prettily, really! But I've craved them lately and made separate dinners for us so we can savour a creamy mushroom risotto and similar. So good!

So school is interesting. It's a good one, and all seems well so far. The vegetarian lunch options seem good- there is definitely room to raise some vegan ideas though. As for me, I suddenly feel in the minority. Maybe because the mums night out, first one arranged is to be at a seafood restaurant, a serious one at that, so I'm not going, but hopefully the next one will be somewhere that caters for wider tastes. We don't eat out a lot, but when we do 'Pizza Express' ticks all our boxes- the boys love the children's courses, and I pick a veggie option and ask for the cheese to be omitted but extra olive oil added. Excitingly, on a competition on the Pizza Express website, where customers can vote for their favourite pizza topping out of 5, one is vegan, and it is doing very well. It would be amazing if it won, as it would then be on the regular menu!

I have taken up my fourth year of OU study towards my degree and trying to get some study done inbetween other things. I love the course; I haven't worked out the juggle yet but will... last Monday when I should have been home swotting away I took the books and got a train to Brighton! Time for a coffee with a family friend and a mooch around the wonderful lanes, americano and vegan tart at the Infinity wholefoods cafe (yum!) then back on the train in time for school pick up! Very sneaky! A real treat, something I mustn't do too often, I did feel a bit unseasy being miles away from the boys should anything come up.... but oh it was bliss to be in Brighton and I stocked up at Infinity Wholefoods. It was also world vegan day! Someone had taken the trouble to make some delcious mini cupcakes (chocolate and peanut butter and blueberry and lemon) which were absolutely gorgeous and available to try free in the shop. Gave me renewed determination to make the oncoming 5th birthday party of the boys as vegan as I possibly can! I will report back on that soon. I'll make lots of little cakes but have ordered Rohan and Luca a cake each from Blue Lotus. I know they will be DIVINE (we ordered the boys first birthday cakes from there!) and I won't be staying up all night making the them and then be too tired to enjoy their day with them!

Brighton was bliss. Somewhere where you can just enjoy feeling in the majority if you're on the vegetarian spectrum!