I started off the week on Sunday using up some red pepper risotto from the freezer and topped with some almond feta.

One of my favourite products at this time of year is Bottled Green’s spiced berry cordial. This is lovely to have hot or with sparkling water and on Christmas day we had it topped up with champagne. It’s a lovely non-alcoholic alternative to mulled wine.

I made some leek and potato soup this week with some left over mashed potatoes. I always think its really important to use up leftovers and if you can do it in a different way even better! I paired this with a lovely fresh salad so I didn’t fill up too much on bread.

My husband received a trio of meat rubs as part of his Christmas presents so I marinated some seitan I’d made last week with creole spices. It was very tasty and definitely something I will do again.

I don’t drink many hot drinks at home but I do love a matcha latte. Matcha is the concentrated Japanese green tea powder. When we went to Japan last April for our honeymoon I was in heaven as I love matcha and could get so many different products flavoured with it! I picked up some more powder as its so much cheaper out there so I have a supply for a while. I love to pair it with vanilla soya milk so its slightly sweeter and I use my mini electric whisk for coffee shop style froth!

I’ve been filling my freezer with easy meals this week in anticipation of going back to work on Wednesday. These are oaty sausage patties which are so easy to make, I liken them to a savoury flapjack. I try and have them with mashed beans rather than starchier veg due to the high carb content.

This is a product I’ve seen on social media and I’m so happy to have picked it up in my local Tesco – vegan Vienetta! This is a Jewish product, as it is not Kosher or Parve to eat meat and milk in the same meal there are many dairy free products, which is also great for us vegans! This is pricier than a regular Vienetta at £5.50 although it is also larger. My Husband said he couldn’t taste any difference, but I told him hands off! and I’ll get him a regular cheaper one if he wants any!

I order my shopping online and when I ask for sweet potato I normally end up with a huge monster, but this week it was the smaller one I ever had. so I baked it and paired with a seitan steak and veg.

I used up the last of my almond feta in a toasted sandwich with salad and another matcha latte.

More soup! This time creamy parsnip, with a tin of chickpeas to thicken it.

I made more bread this week, hopefully something I will continue once I go back to work. I didn’t get a chance to have any of this, so sliced and put it in the freezer to use in the week. I find it very therapeutic making bread and its so much cheaper, tastier and none of those nasty additives!

My Mum’s partner made a couple of lovely curries this week, a jalfrezi and a rogan josh. They were served with brown rice, yogurt and pitta as the naan weren’t vegan.

I loved looking through these classic vegetarian cookbooks my Mum had, especially the photographs!

We had my Aunt and Uncle over for dinner on Thursday. My Aunt had requested a tasting menu so I decided to make this Caribbean feast. I made jerk seitan, rice and peas, ackee and tomatoes, fried plantain, boiled green bananas, callaloo and fried dumplings.

For dessert I made a Jamaica ginger cake which was adapted and veganised from a Delia Smith recipe. My guests also brought some gorgeous flowers including my favourite gerburas.

When we went to Berlin in January 2014 my Husband tried some curry wurst but wasn’t very impressed. When I came across a vegan recipe I thought I’d give it a go. To make the sausages you make a dough with vital wheat gluten wrap in foil (as it is quite soft) and bake in the oven, then you slice and fry. I used them in pittas with white bean houmous, salad and the curry ketchup drizzled over the top.

I had some apples I needed to use up so I stewed them and had with custard and crumbled ginger cake one day and coconut cream the next.

I had some more of the white bean houmous I had made with warm pitta and salad for lunch with french dressing.

I made a moussaka which I had the recipe for in my internet bookmarks for a while. I used to bookmark a lot of recipes and then never make them so I try to get round to it a lot quicker nowadays. I really liked this dish although my Husband wasn’t so keen so I have the leftovers in the freezer ready to take to work for lunch.

Lastly on the food front I made this pizza last night using butternut squash rather than tomato in the sauce and topped with red onion, broccoli, chickpeas and cashew cheese. I found the sauce a bit too sweet so I might adapt it next time.

Yesterday we visited my Dad’s grave for the first time since his funeral and then had a long walk around the forest opposite the cemetery. We saw some lovely views looking over London as the sun went down.

Plumes x