Sunday, December 3, 2017

In my kitchen - December 2017

I am linking this in to the monthly In My Kitchen round-up, hosted by Sherry of Sherry's Pickings.

I suspect a lot of December IMK posts will start with some reflection, or expression of alarm, about the end of 2017 drawing near. I too have no idea how we're at this point of the year. Winter is upon us and Christmas is on the horizon. Here is what is happening in my kitchen as we hurtle towards 2018. 

In keeping with Christmas, I recently brought home the M&S vegan Christmas chestnut roast wrap. There are quite a few vegan Christmas wraps and sandwiches about, and I have also tried the Pret a Manger and Boot's sandwiches. If I'm honest, I preferred both of those to this wrap, but it was nonetheless pleasant enough. I think the chestnut flavours were just slightly too strong for me. 


More successful was this vegan and gluten free pumpkin pie I found at Whole Foods on a recent journey across London (if I can manage it, any journey across London features a stop at Whole Foods).



I loved this an incredible amount, to the extent that I hope I may be able to buy another one before the season of pumpkin products is over. The filling was a beautiful blend of pumpkin flavours, subtle spices, and just enough sweetness while the crust was a bit crumbly but very tasty.


My kitchen regularly features porridge. Now the weather is colder, I much prefer it to cold oat mixes, although Mini Bite is inclined in the other direction (she adores overnight oats of almonst any variety). Fortunately she does enjoy porridge too. The bowl below was a standard mix with almond milk, mixed spice, and plum and blueberries as toppings.


The vegan / vegetarian Fry's range has recently expanded and I tried these new 'rice protein and chia nuggets' recently. I like to think they are slightly healthier than other vegan nuggets, thanks to the chia seeds, but they are still an occasional treat really. They were very easy to eat.


Also an occasional treat are these Vego bars - but that requires greater willpower now they are available in the Holland and Barrett health food store on my local high street. It was easier to have them occasionally when I could only source them from London!



Luckily there is plenty of day-to-day sweetness to be had from fruit. They aren't in season here, but we are still buying raspberries and grapes. They make a nice change to the local, in season apples, pears and mandarins.



Lastly, in my kitchen are some vegan friendly probiotics. I ended up on antibiotics recently for a chest infection and thought I would try to offset any side effects with these. I'm not sure how effective they are really, but hopefully they offer some benefit.


What is happening in your kitchen this month?

16 comments:

  1. I have yet to try the M&S vegan Christmas chestnut roast wrap, but am pleased to read you honest opinion of it - hopefully I will try Boots offering too. I like Vego and you made me chuckle with your comment. I tried Fry's new vegan pies recently, they were okay as a a back up on days when I can't be bothered to cook.

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    1. I'll have to try the pies too in that case!

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  2. Hi Kari
    Thanks for being part of IMK this year. Always interesting to see what vegan products are around. Have a marvellous Christmas �� and see you next year. Cheers sherry x

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  3. Oooh, I wish we had vegan Christmas wraps where we live. I haven't seen those anywhere in my area, maybe it's a UK thing?

    It's so great you're taking probiotics to get your microbiome back to normal. So many people don't and it really does make a difference in health. We talked about a healthy gut in all of my nutrition classes. I take some every day and more when I am feeling a bit under the weather.

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    1. Maybe! The sandwich / wrap market is really big here :-)

      I think there is so much we don't yet know, and so much we don't appreciate, about gut bacteria. It's great you got taught about it!

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  4. Thanks for the reminder on IN MY KITCHEN! I nearly forgot!

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  5. Loving this glimpse into your kitchen. The chestnut wrap sounded promising even if it didn't quite live up to expectation.

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  6. Sorry to hear you have been ill - I am a little jealous of the Christmas wraps but happy we are in summer fruit season. Sylvia loves those nuggets so they are often in the freezer as a stand by

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    1. Summer fruit is a good consolation for Christmas wraps :-)

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  7. Have you tried the Leon Christmas wrap? It was actually really good! I'm also a big fan of those Fry's nuggets - some of the nicer ones out there. And Vego, obviously, there's always a bar of that somewhere in my house. Hope you're on the mend now.

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    1. I have heard of the Leon wrap but not tried it! I'll have to seek it out.

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  8. Thanks for sharing the eek into your kitchen. Hope the probiotics do a good job.

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  9. Hi Kari, Best wishes for a delicious Christmas and all the best for 2018 xxx

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