Ditch Dairy

My husband and I watched a documentary called Cowspiracy about this time in 2015. The next day, was the food shop and we came up with the plan of just trying it. Buying things which would replace meat, eggs, dairy etc and see how we got on with it.

I never put any constraints on my self and if I fancied something I would have it....

Well I still from that day have not brought any meat, eggs, dairy or honey. I just haven't wanted it, in fact now the thought of having it makes me feel ill. 

So, dairy. You are not a baby cow! 

I was breastfeeding my baby, the bond together is huge. Then I thought, goodness, humans buy cows breastmilk without even a thought. 

You do not need cows breastmilk, you are not a cow. 

I asked on a vegan fourm for any information to add to this blog, I felt sick reading this:

'Something often overlooked is the industry practice of purposely sending ex-dairy cows to slaughter pregnant, because the unborn calf's blood is "pure" and can be used in medicine so the farmer gets a bit more money. The calf of course suffocates within its dead mother's womb.'

There are so many things I could quote which would make you bin that bottle of milk in your fridge but what am hoping is that you have found this blog for help in replacing that breastmilk, for something much better for your body and the planet and the cows. 

Milk

My first bit of advice is just try it, everyone likes different milks. 

My fav is Almond! 

HUGE tip, milk in first!! 

The closest to cows milk is soya, if am out and about I will have soya. As a lot of places now stock soya. At home though its almond. Its flipping yummy is smoothes too! (Almond milk, tp - protein, tp - peanut butter and a banana. YUM)

Our oldest is also intolerant to cows milk. We found this out by going plant based/vegan and all the problems we had spent years going to the doctor went! We later had it confirmed and now the school is on board too, so no more crazy early mornings and hours in the bathroom.

Most of us are intolerant to cows milk, my tummy and skin is sooooo much better since getting rid of dairy! At the very start of us changing our diet I had a coffee out with dairy, I was so ill after not having it, I now if really want one have a black one ;)

Our little mini people, LOVE this!! Has all the goodness of milk without the horrible stuff. 

A huge treat for the minis is the chocolate one, its very yummy! 

Buy a few and have a taste test. 

I must add that when am making a crazy amount of pancakes, I use 'smart price' tesco own soya, its not to different in goodness to the Soya +1 but cheaper. (Currently 59p.)

Cheese

AKA GARY

When we first changed our diet over, they was a lot less choice but now, the supermarkets are catching on and there is a lot of Gary out there! 

Here are my top too:

Yes I shop a lot in tesco.....

This one is flipping yummy! Now don't get me wrong, Gary is still not quite out stripped dairy but its getting better and better. Remember that all dairy products have hormones in them telling you "YOU NEED MORE" So after three weeks, you wont be needing cheese in crazy amounts and will find these replacements good. ;)

This one melts really well, perfect on pizza, or the top of pasta etc. 

Another one I filpping love! I mix these two together on the top of pizza or pasta. Yum! 

Most replacement cheese, aka Gary, is soya based, so keep that in mind.

Here you go, not only do these two melt well but they taste yummy too! 

Soya....a few of my friends can't have soya and the above (my fav's) contain soya. I have heard good things about Vegusto click here to see their collection of Garys. Another good one to try is Violife, they do a mild cheddar tasting one which is really easy to find in the shops. Click here to see their range of 100% vegan products. I love their mild cheddar one and its perfect with pineapple chunks on cocktail sticks ;)

Butter

Hands down my favorite spreadable butter is Vitalite! Its blinking yummy, tastes amazing with peanut butter and bananas on toast (if you haven't tried it, yummy!) I have been using this spread for more years than I can remember, way before changing our diet, just due to loving the taste. Yes I do miss their old packaging and which they would bring them back....

That's your sandwiches and toast sorted.....what about baking? Making some pastry what are you going to use which is dairy free? 

This is where am crossing over into a grey area, why a grey area I hear you ask? Well, if your thinking about your impact to the planet am sure you think about what companies you buy from. The next product is dairy free, but double check when you pick it up as the spreadable type I believe is not dairy free!

Stork for baking, is the one I pick up for pasty. (As noted above, double check when buying as I think the spreadable is not dairy free.)

The only thing which is worth noting is its made by Unilever, my grey area. There are many companies I will not buy from and I really think about where I buy from too, buying local where ever possible.  

Am a big believer that buying a vegan product from a company which is not all that vegan is a good thing. 

Its showing them there is a demand for the item and being a big company they are sales lead. All that money going behind a vegan product is a good thing! 

Just in the few years I have changed my diet I have noticed huge changes in what is available! Having said that, there are still companies I will avoid! So make up your own mind on that one ;)

What else can you buy?

This is Bear's fav, its yummy, the other two love the chocolate.

***BIG tip, look for the cheaper own brand version of your favorite item, often it will be dairy-free without saying so as its cheaper to leave out milk***

Make sure you check items, you will find milk in alsorts of things, from bread to soups!

Worried about how you will make a cake? Worry no longer, click here for my mega easy birthday cake!

Cheese sauce:

Click here to see how to make amazing dairy free 'cheese' sauce

I worried a little about cheese sauce, but I didn't need too. Not only is it yummy but soooo much better for you! 

You don't need dairy! 

I was going to link to lots of very scary facts about dairy but am going to just say - GO FOR IT, DITCH THAT DAIRY!! 

Any questions please ask, the above is just what I love. Please just go for it and try different things, remember that all the things I make are dairy, meat, eggs and honey free so check out my recipes.

I will be updating this blog and adding more items so keep a look out ;)

Animals are sentient beings!

Am sure you have been reading the papers.......

If you have being following my blog for a while you will know that I have a plant based/vegan diet. That care deeply for the safe and good treatment of animals and our environment. 

So you can imagination how many times I have been tagged, messaged and emailed about what is being currently written about in the papers. Who on earth would say that animals cant feel pain or are not sentient??!! I thought I had better raise this issue with my local MP who was on the list sent to me of MP's who voted on this issue. 

I had heard very harsh things about my local MP Alan Mak, and hadn't spoken with him before. I was a little apprehensive as I waited to talk with him at an open question event. I had a list of questions, from children play parks to if he felt animals where not in fact able to feel pain? 

I meet people from very different walks of life while waiting and it was clear that he would be dealing with a very wide range of topics! 

While I waited I got on with some crocheting and thought about the items on my list I wanted to talk to him about.

In the meantime a few of my friends emailed their local MP and messaged me their responses.  

Caroline Dinenage Conservative MP for Gosport: 

'Thank you for writing to me about the status of animals as sentient beings. As an animal lover myself I fully appreciate the strength of feeling on this subject. However, the issue of animal sentience in relation to the recent vote is being widely misrepresented by the media and certain campaign groups.

Please be assured that MPs did not vote that animals aren’t sentient – self-evidently they are, and this was not up for debate. Rather, a specific amendment was not considered to be right because it didn't offer the animal protection we enjoy in this country. As such, the Government will deliver a better result using a different route.

In the UK we have some of the highest standards of animal welfare in the world – higher than any other country in Europe. I would also emphasise that EU law is no panacea – sadly, you can keep farm animals in unspeakably cruel conditions without breaking EU law, so this should absolutely not be our benchmark. EU law has not stopped Spanish bull fighting, pig pens in Denmark, Dutch veal farms, French fois gras, beak trimming, fur farming or baby quail hunting. The Government has delivered a series of animal welfare reforms in recent months, demonstrating our commitment to sustaining and enhancing animal welfare protections outside of the EU.

Based on the Animal Welfare Act the Animal Protection Index, maintained by World Animal Protection, rates the UK's formal recognition of animal sentience as grade A. Other Lisbon Treaty signatories such as France, Italy and Spain do not enjoy this rating, having each received grade C.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill will convert the existing body of direct EU animal welfare laws to become UK laws. Most of these EU laws relate to farmed animals and many were passed after Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) came into effect.

Article 13 of the TFEU created a qualified obligation on the EU and Member States "to have full regard to the welfare of animals [as they are sentient beings]" when formulating and implementing EU law.   The Government has said that it will consider how the 'animal sentience' principle of Article 13 might be explicitly reflected in the UK when we leave the EU.

I am confident, therefore, that existing UK legislation, which provides necessary and appropriate protection for animals in this country, will not be weakened when we leave the EU.  In Prime Minister’s Questions earlier today, the Prime Minister restated her commitment to enhancing animal welfare standards outside of the EU. 

Thank you again for taking the time to write to me, and I hope this reply will help to assure you of the Government’s continued commitment to animal welfare.'

So in with my list I went, he was polite and replied to every question I put before him. Giving full time to each question. I was impressed as he not only gave me full responses but also contact details of people who would be able to help with each area in more detail. 

I left feeling positive.

What he had to say about what the papers had been reporting: 

He believes that animals have feelings, that it would be silly not to think that. That they are sentient beings and can feel pain. This was very good to hear, as it would be a very worrying line of thought to go down that they couldn't. 

After talking with him, it looked a lot like the papers had got this matter very wrong. That the government is not trying to remove protection of animal rights but that the UK will bring in its own stronger laws than that of the EU. 

He mentioned that things like Bull Fighting as still going on, that that would not happen in the UK. As we have stronger and stricter laws in the UK. 

He also talked about how the UK is bring about other such important matters like banning microbeads, and CCTV in abattoirs to insure better treatment of animals at point of slaughter. 



I do trust in the UK that it will hold its environmental and animal rights in high regard once we have left the EU. Until we get to that point we wont know for sure. These headlines in the last few days have provoked real fear in the British people, am glad to see so many people fighting for animal rights. I also hope that they think about when they sit down to dinner or what they pick out on the food shop. 

I have never gone to an open question event like this before. Even though I had heard and read mixed reviews I do feel like he took his time to reply to each of my questions. I left feeling hopeful. I would recommended that you all take a moment from your day to contact your local MP. You may, like me be pleasantly surprised. We am sure, will all be keeping a close eye on what happens next. 

Am sure we will all band together to endure to support stronger laws to protect our wonderful animals here in the UK.

Thank you Alan Mak for your time today.

A link to a very interesting article on this subject by Plant Based News

Click here for the official statement from the Government

Click here for the amendment in question

How to contact your local MP

I will update this when I have received more responses from other MP's, if you have contacted yours please comment. 

Daisy has sprung a leak!! :(

When I replaced Daisy's awning rail, I was pretty sure that I may get a leak. Due to a few screws being a little loose when replacing. I had used some sealant but after quite a few months and some crazy heavy rain she sprung a leak! 

Shes almost 50, she was rebuilt by me, so it wasn't a shock she got a little leak. 

Whats wonderful about old vans, is its all fixable. DON'T PANIC!

Poor girl had sat with a small leak for much longer than I would have liked, but at last I had some time to address it! 

When I replaced the awning rail, I used wood glue and matchsticks to fill the gap. So it was time to try something different on the few screws which where still loose. 

After a chat with my amazing Grandpa, I had a plan. 

The plan is to first unscrew the awning screws (once found which ones are loose) Then using the cooking injector squirt in the wet rot harder, leave for two hours to set. Then squirt in the PVA glue. Why my Grandpa said to use PVA not a harder more permanent glue, is the awning rail will need to come back off at some point in a few years to reseal. The last thing you would want to do is permanently set a few screws into the awning rail. 

It started out as a nice day, but when working outdoors in England it soon turned to wind and rain! 

We will see if this method fixes the leak! Fingers crossed and I will let you know if it works! 

Watch my funny windswept video of me trying to fix it! 

Products I used (Amazon affiliated links)

Captain Creeping Crack Cure - http://amzn.to/2B3tQKL

Ronseal Wood Harder - http://amzn.to/2hUrrhS

Kitchen Craft Injector - http://amzn.to/2je2cnc

PVA Bons - http://amzn.to/2B3gY7J

Click here to see more about Doing up Daisy.

If you want to read all about replacing her awning rail, click here.

Charlie

Cheltenham Sable

Found unloved in a field, the owner was getting fed up of watching him rot away and had even lost the keys. 

How she was found, unloved in a field.

After a price was agreed with the owner, lots of hard work was started to get her back on her wheels...

Wheel back on! 

Back on her wheel and heading out of the field! 

She was full!! 

They hadn't fixed anything in the caravan but painted the inside of the caravan. 

Lots of rot, leaks, and work to do! 

James and Natasha have a heck of a lot of work to do.......but it will be worth it! 

Here is my first video, a little tour and chat with James about what work he has to do.

New oven going in and doors fixed! 

Looking much better with *new* oven! 

I will be following along and back to film how they get on. Make sure you bookmark this page for an update.