If you need two middle-aged gay vegan men complaining about a film released a decade ago, you’ve come to the right spot.
In the latest episode of Tell Me Where I’m Going (Wrong) podcast Josh and I cover diverse topics, starting with my journey with dentures and their impact on my self-image. Heavy stuff! We explore societal perceptions of body image, especially the stigma around weight, before shifting to Hollywood’s power dynamics and how appearance influences success.
We also delve into the Jurassic Park franchise, with a focus on Jurassic World. Our discussion highlights issues like sexism, the male gaze, and the problematic messages around motherhood and fat characters.
Such a horrible movie!
Additionally, we address themes of racism, toxic masculinity, and the appropriation of the term “woke,” critiquing how these elements shape the film’s messaging.
In addition to watching/streaming on YouTube, you can also listen on Spotify via the link below.
If you think it feels like a long, long time since I’ve posted on the blog you are completely correct.
The reason I’m coming back to speak to you all after all this time is because it’s the end of 2023 and I’m inviting you to a celebration!
To celebrate this blog being alive and well again, I’m thrilled to announce that I’m hosting a vegan mini festive market in conjunction with vegan food charity, Made in Hackney.
Please join us in The Redmond Community Centre on Saturday December 16th, 2023 between 11am and 4pm for festive fun, gift shopping with local traders, tombola, live music, and time to socialise with friends old and new.
Drop in anytime across the day and say hi… we can’t wait to see you! The market is in support of all the crucial work Made in Hackney does around plant-based food security and nutrition.
Independent traders and stalls will include:
VG Coffee– selling hot drinks and hand held nibbles I AM NUT OK– award-winning plant-based cheeses perfect for your festive table Pinkeens Prints – gift ideas including hand-painted mugs in support of London wildlife conservation Ecotricity– chat with Britain’s leading ethically-sourced energy company Made In Hackney– chat with us about or community classes and masterclasses Citizen Cake – homestyle cakes and bakes Con Pasión Perú– cook-at-home Peruvian tamales and snacks Cake Cult– decadent cookies, cakes, and tray bakes Canopy Indoor Plants – plants and pots for you to buy for loved ones… or yourself! Copperhouse Chocolate – handmade artisan chocolates and chocolate drink mixes POH Books – specialist in African and Caribbean books for all ages… including vegan recipes! Singing Santa – the jolly old man will be on the mic singing your favourite pop songs
Extra note: FGV and Made In Hackney would like to thank Ecotricity for financially supporting this event. If you would like to find out more about this ethical energy supplier, click here for a quote. Ecotricity will kindly donate money to Made In Hackney for each new customer signing up via that link.
I am trying to get into more nutritious cooking at home and it’s like learning a new skill from scratch.
Yes, I can cook but I haven’t been very focussed on cooking for health. Ive been more of an instant gratification kind of fellow.
But a recent high cholesterol warning from my doctor has me trying to take control of my carb, salt, and sugar intake. Yes, a vegan can have high cholesterol if their diet is not balanced and does not lean towards whole foods.
If you want to see some of my creations, be sure to follow my Instagram account where I will be sharing some of my homemade recipes.
I’m copying the recipe below in case you are unable to see it above.
Penne with Beluga Lentils, Spinach, and Leeks (serves one)
100g uncooked wholemeal penne pasta (1 cup)
100g frozen spinach (1 cup)
100g fresh leeks, sliced (1 cup)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
100g cooked beluga lentils (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp sesame seeds, for garnish
Method
Cook the penne pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the sliced leeks and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until they begin to soften.
Add the frozen spinach to the pan and continue to sauté until the spinach is heated through and any excess water has evaporated.
Add the garlic powder, cooked beluga lentils, chipotle powder, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and five spice powder to the pan. Stir to combine and cook for another 2-3 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.
Add the cooked penne pasta to the pan and toss to combine with the lentil and spinach mixture.
Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top of the dish as a garnish before serving.
Extra note:
An Instagram follower suggested adding the lime juice and apple cider vinegar after removing the mix from the heat. Apparently heating the acids too much can make them taste bitter.
I’m all for these cooking tips. I’m on this journey to learn, so the more tips the better. Get involved in the comments if you have anything to add!
Your £5 entry goes straight to madeinhackney.org, a local plant based cookery school and food kitchen helping some of East London’s most vulnerable people. It also entitles you to 1 free beer and free pizza all night!
NXT LVL’s master chef will be cooking up a storm in our courtyard, showing us the secrets of making food so good, you don’t notice it’s saving the planet. Come down, try some next level pizza, talk about the future of food and get to know your community.
@ HWK – 29 White Post Ln, London, E9 5EN
Thursday 12th May: 7pm – 11pm
£5 entry – free pizza + 1 beer* – 100% of proceeds go to Made In Hackney
CLICK HERE to buy your ticket now. Numbers are strictly limited.
*Pizza will be served by the slice. Beer tokens will redeem 1 alcoholic or 1 non-alcoholic beer. A soft drink option will also be available. Please check bar listing for more information.
Here is a super rapid Instagram competition where you can win some food and hang out with a bunch of vegans and vegan-friendly peeps.
On the first Wednesday of each month, I host a London’s best party for compassionate people. Get excited for London Vegan Social!
London Vegan Social is the place to meet people, sing karaoke, eat delicious food, and sip refreshing cocktails. Spread across three floors of the Old Crown Pub at 33 New Oxford Street. It’s perfectly located halfway between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn Underground stations.
The monthly party runs between 6pm and 10pm on the first Wednesday and this month I am giving away a food and drink package for two. The event is tomorrow (May 4) so get reading below about how you can win!
This food and drink prize is supplied by resident vegan kitchen Vetomeato and host pub The Old Crown.
Ever since I adopted a vegan lifestyle over 20 years ago, I’ve been searching for the best plant-based pepperoni pizza.
We didn’t have a lot of pepperoni pizza opportunities in Australia when I was younger and by the time I got to the UK where they were more popular, I was vegan!
But hey, guess what, people? I think I’ve found the vegan pepperoni pizza of my dreams… and you can invest in the company responsible for bringing it to the UK capital.
NXT LVL PZA is a fast food concept that was pretty easy to fall in love with.
I stumbled upon the NXT LVL pop up restaurant in Soho just over a month or so back and was swept up by excitement and greed. The brand is all bright colours and video game imagery while the menu is 100% plant-based.
The idea of the concept is to give hungry people (like me) the food they desire while doing good stuff for the planet and animals. I saw so many people getting excited about the pizza before they realised it was plant-based and that excitement didn’t let up when they started eating.
The pizza from NXT LVL is extremely tasty.
I think what NXT LVL PZA has got right is not trying to invent the wheel when it comes to ingredients that other people do incredibly well already.
The brand has created partnerships with leading plant-based companies such as Beyond Meat to create pizzas with toppings that can’t be, er.. topped!
This is why the pepperoni pizza has got me all hot and bothered.
The Spice Invaders pizza (see photo above) features the mouthwatering pepperoni slices of Verdino Foods. This is by far the best plant-based pepperoni I have ever enjoyed. My childhood dreams are coming true!
Following on from a trial delivery kitchen near Battersea over the past few months, NXT LVL PZA is ready to take their delicious vegan menu across London via a series of delivery kitchens. I think they plan on opening ten delivery kitchens as a starting point!
And if you like the sound of getting a slice of the action (get it?), you can invest in their expansion via a crowdfunding campaign. Of course you need to know that any sort of investment opportunity carries risk, no matter how much some chubby Australian blogger loves vegan pepperoni pizza.
Click here if you want to discover more info about investing in a chain of vegan pizza kitchens.
Extra note: keep a close eye on my social media announcements in the coming week. I love NXT LVL so much, there might just be an FGV pizza party sponsored by the brand coming to London and you will definitely want to be a part of it.
Life is never really easy, but the past few years have been a struggle and a half.
We have all been through a lot and some of us have experienced immense pain and hardship, so it is nice to know we can still reach out to help each other in times of trouble.
During the afternoon of February 18, 2022, storm Eunice collapsed a very large chimney stack onto the kitchen roof of vegan cafe The Plant Base in Tunbridge Wells. The sound was reportedly impressive and the damage was definitely extensive.
The vegan business does have insurance but that will only go so far and they really don’t want to be starting from scratch again for the second time in a year, so they are asking very nicely for anything we can do to help.
CLICK HERE to donate to the emergency repair fund for The Plant Base.
As the only 100% plant based restaurant in the area, The Plant Base customers travel from far and wide to eat with them and they want to reopen as soon as possible.
If you know anything about vegan food in London, you’ll be aware that Essential Vegan is one of the best places to get plant-based cuisine in the city.
Vanessa has established her vegan Brazilian food business as a real leader on the food scene over the past few years and now you can celebrate Valentine’s Day 2022 with a special set menu.
Tapioca dice with homemade sweet chili chutney
Palm hearts and plantain moqueca with basmati rice
The 3-course Valentine’s Day dinner is available for one night only at Essential Vegan, inside Dalston Superstore, on Monday February 14, 2022 from 5pm.
The menu is priced at £25 per person and includes:
tapioca dice with homemade sweet chili chutney
palm hearts and plantain moqueca with basmati rice
Brazilian donuts with guava paste
This is an incredible line up of dishes that is going to have you all loved up!
You can choose the time that suits you with bookings starting from 5pm. Click here to make a booking.
The full Essential Vegan menu will also be available on the night, as it is 7-days a week.
If you like the sound of the Valentine’s Day dinner but can’t get along, think about getting along to the Essential Vegan Dalston Superstore drag brunch that takes place every Saturday and Sunday between 12pm and 5pm. You need to book in advance (same link as above) as this event sells out most weeks.
I was recently gifted this salted caramel vegan cheesecake by the kind and talented people behind @wildhealth_los café and cocktail bar in Leigh-on-Sea, Southend.
How on Earth did they get this hefty cheesecake to me in London? Wild Health now has a nationwide delivery service so you can get a dairy free, soy free, and refined sugar free cheesecake delivered to you.
My gifted cheesecake was DELICIOUS and I got a lot of slices from it.
And don’t forget to visit the Wild Health café next time you are in Southend for a huge range of tasty treats including coffee, juices, smoothies, soups, sandwiches, and more!
Oumph! is phasing out plastic in preference for recyclable cardboard packaging. The multi award-winning Swedish plant-based food producer is rolling out the new cardboard packaging into all markets where Oumph! is sold, starting with the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands.
“Our food is a progressive choice and we wanted the packaging to match that. With our new recyclable packaging the aim is to further further limit our environmental impact”, says Linda Arnason, Global Brand Manager at Oumph! which is one of the LIVEKINDLY Collective’s brands.
Arnason, who is leading Oumph!’s packaging project continues:
“There are certain challenges in creating a more sustainable packaging for frozen food, and we are pleased to announce that we’ve found a solution with recyclable cardboard packaging. Not only is it better for the environment, but we’re also receiving positive feedback from retailers because the packaging is easy to stack, and requires less freezer space.”
The new Oumph! packaging is now available in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, and will be rolled out in Sweden, the Nordic countries, Germany, Ireland and South Africa this spring.
The new packaging is designed to match Oumph!’s bold brand attitude, and it has received good feedback from consumers and retailers alike.
“Oumph! has an edge as a brand and we want that to be reflected in the packaging. We believe the new design will stand out in the supermarket freezers for consumers to easily find their favourite Oumph! product”, comments Anders ‘Ankan’ Linden, Co-founder, Corporate Chef and Head of Innovation at Oumph!
“With several new product launches planned for this year, the new cardboard packaging plays an important part as we continue to develop tasty, appealing and innovative plant-based food products.”
