Vegan Chalk Bomb & Broadway Vegan Market

30/09/201730/09/2017 plumesworldBroadwayveganmarket, Veganchalkbomb, Veganchalkchallenge, veganfood, veganhackney, veganlondon, Veganshoreditch, VegansofeastlondonLeave a comment

Today I took part in the Worldwide Vegan Chalk Bomb with my Sister-in-law and our new friend Meredith from Vegans of East London. People took part in events all across the world to spread the vegan message. You can check out everyone’s work by searching the hashtags #veganchalkbomb and #veganchalkchallenge on Twitter and Instagram. We set up camp outside Shoreditch High Street Overground Station and got to work. A fellow vegan who was working so couldn’t join us brought us cupcakes from Vida Bakery to spur us on!

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After all that chalking we were getting hungry so we decided to head over to Broadway Vegan Market which was holding its first event. We decided to walk and had a lovely time nosing in the cute little shops along the way and even got chatting to another vegan lady who was working in one of the shops.

It’s seems like it’s another day another vegan market at the moment and I’m definitely not complaining! Every Saturday you can choose between Broadway Vegan Market and Hackney Downs Vegan Market (or go to both if you’re being greedy!) and tomorrow (1st October) sees the launch of Walthamstow Vegan Market.

Many of the traders were also at Vegan Nights a couple of days previously (which I wrote about here) so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to try.

I chose a noodle salad from Eat Chay which came with Korean barbecue pieces and chick’n and lemongrass pieces. It was really great and the vegetables made it really fresh tasting.

My Sister-in-law chose to order from Spice Box (after much deliberation!) and got this box of tandoori cauliflower, jackfruit tikka masala and sweet potato curry. I tried a little bit of each (of course!) and it was damn tasty!

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I couldn’t go home without getting something for my Husband so I picked him up a pizza slice and a chocolate walnut brownie from Vegan Sweet Tooth.

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There were loads of other lovely looking stalls and I hope to make my way round a few of them at upcoming events!

Have you taken part in any vegan chalking? Or did you attend a delicious vegan food event this weekend? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Vegan Nights at The Truman Brewery

29/09/201729/09/2017 plumesworldBiffsjackshack, Boilerhouse, Bricklane, Brightzine, Mylkman, Pomodoroebasilico, Trumanbrewery, vegan, Vegandelice, veganfood, Vegannights, Vidabakery2 Comments

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This week I was lucky enough to attend the first Vegan Nights market at The Boiler House, Truman Brewery in Brick Lane.

I had looked up which traders were going to be there and planned which food I definitely wanted to eat!

I started off with the Father Jack burger from Biff’s Jack Shack. It had a jackfruit burger with onion rings, smoked cheese and bourbon barbecue sauce, the container even had a sticker with Father Jack (from Father Ted) on it! This burger was so tasty and I’ll definitely be seeking out Biff’s Jack Shack again!

Next on my hit list were Pomodoro e Basilico where I grabbed a slice of Cisa pizza which came with pesto and chorizo. I’ve tried this before and it was definitely as good as I remember!

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Next I was ready to move on to the sweet stuff and when I saw the Freakshakes Mylkman were producing I knew I had to try one! I went for the Top banana which consisted of frozen banana, peanut butter and loads of goodies on top all served in a hollowed out pineapple!

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I had strict instructions to bring home a treat for Husband so I headed over to Vida Bakery’s stall. I went for this peanut and chocolate for him which I knew wouldn’t disappoint.

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Taking a break from the food I headed over to the Bright Zine stall. I had already read their first zine so I was looking forward to picking up the next couple of issues, I also got this great stickers!

The stall I was most interesting in visiting weren’t there when I first turned up and I was worried they might have had to cancel but I had no need to worry as I soon saw Vegan Delice bringing in their wares. I first tried their cakes when I visited Hackney Downs Vegan Market which I wrote about here. This time I was after their hot donuts which they didn’t have at Hackney and I wasn’t disappointed! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a donut like this and it was very tasty!

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Here’s a selection of the other options available on the night.

There were so many people there and I was lucky to get there as early as I did. When I left I saw the queue to get in which had well over 100 people in it and they were operating a one out, one in policy! I hope this becomes a regular event as there is definitely the demand for it!

Did you attend Vegan Nights? If not which stalls would you be most excited to try? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Quarter 3 2017 Goals Review

28/09/201728/09/2017 plumesworldGoals, Goals2017, goalsreviewLeave a comment

I missed out on my half year update so I thought I better make sure I did my quarter 3 one, so let’s get right in!

1. Continue to jog/run

I have done really well on this one and am currently running 5k three times a week. I have completed 14 parkruns this year including one when I was away visiting family and last weekend I beat my personal best time from when I did parkrun 5 years ago and was two stone lighter!

2. Take up yoga again

I started off well with this one but it has fallen by the wayside in the second half of the year. With running three times a week and swimming once a week there hasn’t been much time for it. Next year our new leisure centre is opening so I’m hoping I’ll be able to fit in a class there.

3. Eat more wholefoods

I have also been doing pretty well with this. I have been getting a UK organic veg box and doing more cooking from scratch. I think I’ll get even more into this as it gets more into Autumn and Winter and I can be making pies and stews.

4. Use less plastic

The way I have been achieving this is by buying less overall. I have also been bringing my own lunch into work and this morning I got my Pumpkin Spice Flat White from Pret in my own bamboo cup. The veg box mentioned above I had also helped. I have struggled to find alternatives to plastics but by consuming less I am contributing less plastic to landfill and the ocean.

5. Be more politically active

I think I have really come into my own in the second half of the year on this one. I attended a few events at the beginning of the year but it was hearing activists talk at the Vegan Camp Out in July that really inspired me to get more involved. I have attended events in London with The Earthlings Experience as well as regularly attending local Earthlings events in my home town. I took part in Surge’s Down with Dairy event and matched with them as part of the Animal Rights March which saw 5,000 vegans take to the streets of London. I have made some fab friends through activism and hope to continue standing up for what I believe in.

6. Support more independent shops and traders

I am very proud to say I haven’t bought myself a coffee from Starbucks this whole year, and if you knew me last year you’d be very surprised by this! When I do occasionally buy lunch at work there are plenty of great independent food places about. I have also been attending vegan markets and finding out about vegan traders I wasn’t previously aware of.

7. Continue “No New Clothes” and expand on this

I am very happy to say I have been taking part in this challenge for 21 months now. I have bought a couple of items I needed, like a new zip up hoody but I am working on fixing the zip on my coat and stitching up are few bits that have come loose in time for winter. I recently had another little clear out for the charity shop of clothes that I still haven’t really worn in that time. In terms of other items I have managed to keep buying new things to a minimum as I don’t have much room in my flat!

8. Attend Church more regularly

This is another one that I was good at at the beginning of the year but I have let slide a bit over the summer. I have decided to start visiting my local church which is a 25 minute walk away rather than the church I grew up in which is 45 minutes away. The early service at my local church is also a solemn service so I will be home earlier as well.

9. Watch less television

With two evening a week (plus Saturday mornings) being dedicated to running and many Friday evenings doing activism this hasn’t been difficult at all! There are a few shows we regularly watch but it is far less than I used to. We even managed to catch up on BBC Hollow Crown second series (Shakespeare’s Henry VI part one and two and Richard III) which had been sitting on our planner for over a year as we had fewer and fewer regular programmes we were watching.

10. Continue to Blog

I did have a few week gap at the beginning of the summer, but apart from that I’ve blogged pretty regularly throughout the year. As long as things continue to inspire me I’ll continue to blog about them!

So that’s it! I don’t think I’ve done too badly, so I’m pretty proud of myself! Are you still working on your 2017 goals or were they forgotten around about February? Have you started thinking about your 2018 goals yet? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

FRIEND Farmed Animal Rescue

10/09/201710/09/2017 plumesworldanimalrescue, animals, Animalsantuary, FRIENDanimalrescue, Friendsnotfood, veganLeave a comment

I first visited FRIEND Animal Rescue last year on one of their open days (which I blogged about here). They have a lovely site near Maidstone in Kent which just happens to be about half way between my house and my relatives on the South Coast, so Mama Plumes and I met up with my Cousins and their 10 week old baby son.

Here’s an excerpt from FRIENDS website about what they do (as I couldn’t say it better myself)

WHAT WE DO

Today, FRIEND is a working animal sanctuary with around 100 farm animals and companion animals. Animals find their way here in all sorts of ways. Some are rescued from places of abuse, some arrive following the death of their guardian. Some despicable people abandon their animals by throwing them over the fence. No matter how they get here, they are all welcome to live the rest of their lives as naturally as possible with little human interaction.

We offer a no kill, free roaming (as far as possible and safe) home to cows, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Our 30+ pigs live in their own paddock with wallows. Some of our cats are feral and some are house dwellers. All our dogs love their walks in our meadow.

It was lovely to see these animals roaming free and getting so close to them. Some of the pigs were very friendly and came up for a stroke and a nuzzle. I particularly love cows, so I was glad to be able to go in the field with them as this wasn’t possible last year.

Some of the animals are shyer, like the sheep and the llama so we just let them do their thing and admired them from afar. Some, like the goats, enjoyed very much getting in everybody’s business especially if you had some food on you!

We also enjoyed some fab vegan food, Mum and I had bean stew and potato and I had a piece of gorgeous carrot cake with a mug of tea.

Spending time with animals really re-iterates to me why I’m vegan and inspires me to continue participating in vegan activism events.

FRIEND have open days and volunteer days throughout the year so check out their Facebook page to keep up with events. If you aren’t able to visit you can donate to FRIEND via their website.

Here’s a few photos of our day.

Plumes x

Leon Vegan Milkshakes

08/09/2017 plumesworldleon, milkshakes, vegan, veganfood, veganlondon, veganmilkshakes, veganspitalfieldsLeave a comment

When I saw Fat Gay Vegan’s blog saying Leon were trialling vegan milkshakes in their Spitalfields store I was over the moon as this is practically on my way home from the office!

Unfortunately they were out of salted caramel so I went for the chocolate. It was really rich and chocolatey. The texture reminded me of a Starbucks frappaccino.

I hope the trial goes well and they roll these out to all stores. I look forward to trying the different flavours.

Leon have a few savoury options so I went for a falafel wrap to eat on the way home before I was due to do a couple of hours activism. It was really tasty with peppers, houmous and lovely big pickles. Leon is definitely my go to when I need to get some food on the go.

Have you been to Leon? What did you think of their vegan options? Would you like to try their milkshakes and see them rolled out? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Club Mexicana @ Dinerama

07/09/2017 plumesworldclubmexicana, mexicanfood, texmex, vegan, veganfood, veganlondon, veganmexican, VeganshoreditchLeave a comment

Today I had lunch with my friend Mitsu at Dinerama in Shoreditch. I’ve sampled Club Mexicana at some of their other locations but this was my first time at Dinerama and as it’s only a 15 minute walk from work it definitely won’t be last!

There were a few things on the menu I wanted to try so I decided to go for it and have the leftovers for dinner.

I had a pulled jackfruit tinga taco, chick’n wings and beer battered cheeze fries while Mitsu went for chick’n Caesar burrito.

The pulled jackfruit taco was really tasty but a bit difficult to eat as the filling was so generous! The chick’n wings had a really good texture and the crispy batter was amazing! Now the cheeze fries were just out of this world! Oozy, gooey deliciousness!

Have you been lucky enough to sample the delights of Club Mexicana? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Animal Rights March 2017

03/09/201703/09/2017 plumesworldAnimal rights, Animal rights march, Animal rights march 2017, Friends not food, surge, vegan, Vegan for the animalsLeave a comment

Yesterday I took part in the second annual animal rights march organised by Surge. Events also took place around the world including LA and New York.

There was a great atmosphere of everyone coming together for the animals and it was estimated over 5,000 people were in attendance.

I saw many of my fellow activists who I had previously met at events, although some only from afar as there were so many people. I even managed to introduce myself to Phil and Polly from LDN vegans who had recently mentioned me in one of their videos.

The march was reported in the Evening Standard and the Metro.

Here’s a selection of photos of the day.

Seeing so many people was definitely encouraging and the date has already been set for next year, 25th August 2018. Will you be there?

Plumes x