Last night I attended an event hosted by Viva!, the incredible animal rights campaign charity.
They surprised me by presenting me with the award for Best Vegan Blogger… for 2019! It was a very funny moment.
I apparently won this award six years ago but I mentioned to the charity a few months ago that I didn’t have a memory of the event. So they kindly and humorously went out of their way to reprint the award and frame it for me!
I’d like to send huge love to the Viva! team not only for this kind and funny act, but more importantly for all the incredible work they do for animals.
You can discover more about the work of Viva! online here.
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!
If you come around these parts of the Internet looking for vegan food news but have been finding it all a bit quiet lately, I have a pretty solid excuse.
I have been dealing with COVID… and it has been a massive struggle.
A few weeks back, my husband developed COVID symptoms and I did my my best to look after him and maintain isolation from the outside world. He was ill, but nowhere near the worst I had heard of or seen amongst my friends. I stayed in the other room, delivered him food, and kept the windows open wide for cleansing breezes.
But three days into his COVID, my test came back positive and my symptoms started.
I don’t really want to go into what came next in too much detail because I’m still processing, but I took bad turn. Thankfully my husband recovered quickly, but my health took a nose dive.
After 11 days of at homes symptoms, my oxygen levels were lower than where they should be and I was unwell. Sweating. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep.
After a few phone calls, an ambulance made its way to my place and spirited me off to the hospital where I stayed for the next 5 days.
I will never forget the care and professionalism with which I was was treated by the NHS staff during my stay. I was scared and in pain, but never for a second did I feel as though I didn’t matter.
Patients on the ward improved. Some deteriorated. I saw oxygen levels plummet in real time before my eyes. I heard people crying. I saw people go from thinking they were about to be released to being taken to ICU.
I have been home again now for two nights and I am slowly recovering.
I know that not only did my double vaccination save my life, it also made the job faced by the NHS workers just a little bit easier.
Workers on my ward told me how they haven’t been able to look on their colleagues’ faces for a year and a half due to critical PPE attire. They have been stressed and overworked and alone.
They talked to me about how upsetting it is when they see members of the public laughing about wearing masks or refusing vaccinations. One young worker said he believes COVID will never go away and we must learn to manage our lives around it.
I feel grateful to be home but I have to be honest and say I am emotionally not OK. Not only am I dealing with the trauma of being hospitalised and seeing fellow patients struggle for life, I have been fundamentally challenged by the relentless conditions foisted upon our NHS workers.
Please get vaccinated and do everything you can to encourage your friends and family to get vaccinated. Wear masks when you can in crowded settings.
Use your voice and privilege to stand up for the NHS. Fight for fair wages and working conditions. Stop voting for politicians who are not focussed on saving our NHS.
FGV is slowly making a comeback, but it is only with the support of healthcare professionals. I am eternally grateful.
My mate Phillip gave me these crisps and I was a bit freaked out by the ‘game’ aspect. Don’t like the hunting reference, but the crisps were nice… and of course vegan.
Homethings are the makers of eco-friendly and vegan house cleaning products. You keep the refillable spray bottles and just re-order the dissolvable tablets. It all comes in recyclable packaging.
Stem & Glory invited me to try their menu at their London restaurant. I was VERY satisfied. Take a look through the Instagram post to see all the dishes I devoured.
I’m dropping by to let you know that I am BACK on the podcast airwaves… weekly!
During the first 100 days of lockdown in 2020, I posted daily news roundups via Facebook Live. Those roundups were my way of putting something positive into the world at a very trying time, while also creating a way for our vegan communities to stay connected.
Those daily videos were very DIY but also time consuming. Doesn’t mean I don’t miss them, though!
As the world is still struggling with the global pandemic and things are nowhere near close to how they were before 2020, I am inspired to reach out again and create a weekly show highlighting all the latest news from the world of veganism.
I love connecting and wanted to create a new way of supporting independent vegan business. It also helps that I love the sound of my own voice!
The first episode has just gone live and you will be able to stream across a number of platforms. It is a brief 10 minute listen, so why not give it a try?!
See all about the show and find links for streaming (including Spotify) on my podcast homepage.
This blog has been running for more than 10 years and it is made possible thanks in no small part to the kind support of the people supporting me on Patreon. If you would like to pledge a monthly contribution to help keep the FGV dream alive for a second decade, visit my Patreon page.
It has been over three years since my very first book was published, so I thought it might be a good time to revisit and take stock of where things stand with the paperback. My little baby is all grown up.
Happy 3rd birthday to Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t.
It had been a dream of mine to publish a book ever since I was a child. I grew up in a family with not a lot of money and books were my only escape. It was pre-Internet and pre-cable TV, so most of my education of the world came from books.
The day I opened my email account as a chubby, hairy adult pushing middle age to find an invitation to meet with Nourish Books was a wonderful day.
The months after I signed my contract were a whirl. I was writing so much. Daily word count targets kept me on my toes and I loved the journey of mapping chapters and filling in the framework of the book.
I think the writing process took more or less six months and then there was a few ‘colourful’ discussions with my copy editor in order to beat the text into a presentable final product.
I loved seeing the cover take shape ( I asked for the colours to be gayer) and when the book was finally in the world, I took it on a mini book tour which included a reading in Los Angeles.
The UK mini tour was fabulous fun and I was blown away by how many people showed up to the Coventry stop. We even had the BBC on hand to interview me and some of the attendees for a radio show on veganism.
One memory that will stay with me always is getting to present the book and take questions at the event at Stories bookstore and cafe in Echo Park, Los Angeles. Standing up in front of a few dozen people in a courtyard in California to chat about a book with my name on the cover really happened!
Another highlight of my book experience was being asked to record the audio book version in my own voice.
Two full days in a Central London recording studio left me with a sore throat and plenty of unforgettable memories. My producer regaled me with stories of famous people he had recorded in the past and I was chuffed to discover insider tips, gossip, and secrets.
And what about all the money I made? That wasn’t really the case, but I’m happy enough with that part of the process. The desire to spread my message of compassion was my main drive.
I was paid a small (but typical) advance to write the book. It wasn’t a lot of money (let’s just say my understanding is that first time authors get paid an advance between £1,500 and £2,500 usually and mine was within that range) and my contract stipulated I couldn’t earn any further royalties until my advance was recouped.
Recouping that investment doesn’t sound too tough, right?
The tricky part is that my advance needed to be repaid from MY share of profits on each copy sold. This amounts to a few pennies per book.
Three years later and I just got word that my advance has been paid back in full! If for any reason my book climbs to the top of the best sellers list, I’m going to get some cash. I won’t plan my future around it but it’s nice to think it COULD happen. Maybe! LOL
The audio version of my book is currently number 670,364 in the Audible chart and 496,762 on the regular Amazon book chart. If you want to help me inch a little higher to celebrate finally settling my advance debt, Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t is available for less than £5.00 in both paperback and audiobook at time of writing this blog post.
If Amazon is not your cup of tea, many independent bookstores around the planet would be so very happy if you ordered my book via them. HIVE is a UK web shop that fulfils book orders via independent retailers. Click here to see my book and ebook on their platform. Or shop with your fave local bookstore. They will order the title in for you.
Three and a bit years after my book was published is a strange time to reflect. I don’t owe any money to the publisher, veganism is EVERYWHERE, and the world is still in the midst of a global emergency. It feels like a million years since my book hit the shelves but it was only three years.
So much has happened since my childhood dream came true. Maybe it’s time to start putting another dream into action.
Somehow, 2020 felt like a blur I completely missed AND a gruelling marathon that never wanted to end at the same time.
It has been tough for every single person I know and excruciating for some.
The financial downturn caused by the pandemic meant that I had to relocate from Mexico to the UK in search of work. I am now in Sheffield, working and waiting out the pandemic.
I have given up trying to predict the future, so I wanted to take some time out of my day to look back on the most popular posts of mine from Instagram in 2020.
Most of them are happy and carefree, but a few are more serious.
Join me in taking a break from our collective unpredictable monotony by looking back.
They might be a tad difficult to see in that grid, so let me give you a closer look at my top nine Instagram posts of 2020 below.
The Vegan Society included a same-sex wedding on the cover of their magazine and when I posted a photo on my Instagram feed, it garnered more than 1,700 likes!
The fifth most-popular post from Instagram feed during 2020 was another supermarket haul share.
This time it was all about ten products I bought from Waitrose in Sheffield. You can click through all the photos in the post to make sure you don’t miss out on this popular post.
One of my favourite vegan brands on the planet made it to the number four spot on this list.
I shared news of a Vegenaise sighting in Tesco and I had a few lovely things to say about the groundbreaking product. It also attracted almost 100 comments!
Will’s Vegan Shoes sent me a pair of their WV Freedom Trainers and I am completely thrilled with them. Super comfy shoes! Will’s also have just launched a range of vegan-friendly suits and of course they have their wonderful grocery lines for online food shopping.
It is turning into a real one stop vegan shop. Visit their website.
I’m not a coffee drinker so I took this gift box into work to share with all the caffeine heads… and the bottles went down a storm.
Little’s sent me six of their instant coffees with flavours ranging from Havana Rum to French Vanilla. I heard nothing but rave reviews from my colleagues.
Super fancy London restaurant Pied a Terre sent me their vegan feast for two box. It wasn’t exactly the five star experience I was expecting but it was tasty, especially the French onion soup.
