Learning to cook your own food is a very empowering way to release yourself from having to buy expensive plastic-wrapped ready-meals and takeaways, often made with inferior ingredients. Choose your favourite cuisine, and master it yourself at home. Then every night is restaurant night!
The Two Spoons Cookbook is a super book by a Canadian who lived and cooked in France for several years. She went vegan in her early 20s after losing a loved one to cancer, and also struggling with severe IBS.
Don’t eat cooked rice after 24 hours. Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (onions, garlic and spices are not safe near animals).
Bin allium scraps (onion, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives) as acids may harm compost creatures (same with tomato/citrus/rhubarb scraps).
The book offers a show-stopping blend of over 100 dishes including:
- Baked ‘Brie’
- Classic Flaky Croissants
- Buttery Brioche
- Herb Garlic Cheese
- Mushroom Bourguignon with Buttery Mash
- Summer Rainbow Ratatouille
- Pear Tarte Tatin
- Sweet Cherry Frangipane Tart
Vegan Recipes from France includes basic foundation recipes (stock, baguettes, brioche, croissants, béchamel, aioli and cheese. Plus recipes for soup, salad, terrine, gratin, omelettes, quiches, souffles and crepes. Desserts include tarte tatin, clafoutis, gateau, madeleines and mousse au chocolate.
Bake Your Own Vegan French Croissants
These Vegan Croissants(Rainbow Nourishments) makes a lovely breakfast, and are surprisingly simple to make. These are made in a simpler way than traditional yeasted croissants, so don’t have the same texture, but are super-easy to make! Fill with organic raspberry jam.
Keep fresh dough and other ingredients away from young children and pets.
To avoid palm oil, make your own puff pastry (it’s really simple, and you can freeze leftovers for the next batch). All you need is Doves Farm organic plain white flour, salt, cold water and vegan baking block (Flora is free from palm oil).
If you make your own jam, you’ll have to sterilise the jars:
Put jars, lids and rubber seals on hot dishwasher cycle (fill with hot water, while warm). Or wash in hot soapy water, and ‘cook’ in pre-heated oven (to 160 degrees C) for 15 minutes (again fill with hot water, while still warm).
Did you know that croissants are not French, they originated in Austria? The ‘kipferl’ (crescent-shaped pastry) has been around since the 13th century, then Viennese baked goods started to arrive in Paris, only in the 1830s.
Also try Anthea’s Almond Croissant Cookie Bars, with a French Frangipane.
More ambitious chefs may wish to try these vegan croissants from Swiss-Italian chef Carlo Cao. These are made the traditional way, with yeast (they take 2 days to make). He even has created a recipe for vegan chocolate croissants.
Try some Stinky Vegan French Cheeses!
If you like a stinky French cheese, there are good plant-based versions to try these days. One is Bree, a mellow cheese rich in protein thanks to pea and faba beans. Or Shamembert, great for dunking into crusty bread.
Avoid ‘blue and mouldy cheeses’ if you’re pregnant, nursing or have weak immune systems (including children). Keep away from children and pets due to nuts, salt.
French yoghurt company Sojade also makes vegan Camm’vert cheese! (also with sage) made with organic cashew nuts, salt and French soya. Delicious with organic chutney and bread, or stir through pasta, or scatter over a seasonal salad.
Make Your Own Vegan French Cheeses
If you’re a ‘proper chef’, try some authentic vegan French cheeses from Thomas at Full of Plants. His recipes range from vegan blue cheese to camembert.
These are not the simplest as you have to buy a few speciality ingredients. But if you’re a ‘proper cook’, you will find his pages on making vegan cheeses fascinating!
Self-Care Lessons from French Men and Women
Just like French people can sometimes learn from us, we can learn a few things from French people. One is the art of self-care. All French people only eating cakes once a week (it’s fruit for dessert the rest of the time) and enjoying a little wine with meals, but not binge-drinking!
French women don’t buy an artillery of beauty products from Superdrug. They instead choose a few quality natural beauty products, drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep instead.
When asked how they stay so slim, French women simply reply that they walk everywhere, and would never dream of eating a whole bag of chips or American super-sized muffins. They eat three proper meals a day!
And although it’s not ‘fashionable’, in France women dress for their men! They dress well, put on lipstick to go to the shops, and would never dream of walking around town with greased-back hair and a stained tracksuit!
It’s interesting. If you ever have visited France or Italy and gone to a petrol station, you will notice something very different from England. It only sells petrol! Same with newsagents – they sell newspapers. You will never find these shops selling chocolate bars and bags of crisps and fizzy pop. This is a uniquely UK and North American thing.
Mireille’s Tips for French Self-Care
Mireille Guiliano was the woman responsible for telling the world ‘how French women stay slim’. Her tips that work for men or women are simple:
- Portion control (smaller sizes than us!)
- Eat for pleasure (not counting calories)
- Slow down (eat mindfully)
- Avoid constant snacks (three meals a day)
- Cook at home (better relationship with food)
- Walk everywhere (as a daily routine)
- Sneak in movement (take the stairs etc)
- Balance is key (don’t obsess over ‘restrictions’)
