Your Food Diary

Have you ever wondered what other vegans like to eat? We're now featuring your food diaries. If you are vegan and would like to tell us what you eat and drink, write a diary of your vegan weekend, food and drinks-wise, send it to editor@saveascream.com and we'll add it to this page. Please see the very bottom of this page for more info on writing and sending us your food diary for the weekend. Instructions on how to lay it out are at the bottom.

If you'd rather send us a weekday diary, that is fine too. We hope this page is interesting to fellow vegans, vegetarians and even meat eaters. As humans we're all different, we all do different things and like different things. No two vegans are the same - and with more and more vegan food now being produced, our eating habits are varied too.

Send us YOUR vegan food diary. We'd love to add you to this page.

Roi Elam

Portland, OR

Roi Elam of The Material is home from tour this weekend. His band are also in the new issue of Black Velvet Mag - make sure you read the article! 

Friday April 22nd, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Oatmeal, Toast, Grapefruit, Soyrizo and Papas, Red Diamond Cabernet, Garlic Sesame Tofu, Sweet Potato Fries, Ninkasi Tricerahops, Homemade Peanut Butter Cup.

This weekend I was actually home for a change. This is a rare occurrence in my life right now due to touring and my family situation so I do my best to make the most of my time home with my wife and pups. When I am home I always get up with Ashley and make her breakfast before she goes to work. We usually have the same thing every weekday morning - oatmeal with maple syrup for sweetener, half a red grapefruit, a slice of toast with Earth Balance margarine, and French Press coffee for me/tea for her. After Ashley left for work I decided to take advantage of the nice morning and went for a run in the park next to our house. The park isn’t what you would normally imagine with Jungle Jims and Merry-Go-Rounds. No, I live in Oregon so it’s pretty much a forest with a path running through it, which makes for a great scenic exercise route. This time I did notice a sign that said “Warning: A Cougar had been spotted in Minto Brown Park, please beware”…a real Cougar, not Courtney Cox. Ah, nature. After my Cougar free run I had a banana for my post exercise snack and then took a much-needed shower. After my shower I started making lunch. On the menu for lunch that afternoon was Soyrizo and Papas… one of my favorites. This is one of the dishes that was in regular rotation at the restaurant I used to work at so the recipe is still fresh in my head. The dish consisted of Soyrizo that I picked up from Trader Joe’s, russet potatoes, a can of diced tomatoes with jalapeños, red onion, crushed bay leaves, salt, and pepper. While I was cooking, all the memories from working 10-12 hr shifts in the kitchen came back – all the smells and sounds that happen in a bustling restaurant kitchen. Once my Soyrizo and Papas finished cooking I heated up a few corn tortillas, sliced some avocado, and had some delicious tacos. Along with my tacos I had a glass of Red Diamond Cabernet, which is a local wine I had picked up the night before. Wine and tacos you may ask? Yes. After lunch I was feeling creative so I picked up the guitar and went to town. I had no agenda while I was playing but ended up with some great ideas that were worthy of remembering so I quickly recorded them on my iPhone for future reference. Around 5pm it was time for me to pick up Ashley from work and have a dinner date. Tonight we went to Venti’s Cafe, which is one of the few places in Salem, OR that has vegan options.  We shared a plate of Sweet Potato Fries and Garlic Sesame Tofu, which are two of our favorite dishes. Also, at the risk of sounding like a raging alcoholic, I had a pint of Ninkasi Tricerahops, which is one of my favorite local brews from Eugene, OR. When in Rome, right? After dinner there was still plenty of daylight left so we took the dogs to the park for a nice evening stroll. They love the park and they also love to stop every 5 feet to try and leave their mark which makes our walks take longer than desired sometimes. Either way, this is family time for me, all of us together in one place spending precious time together that I don’t get that often. It was heavenly. Once our walk was done we headed back to the house and I surprised Ashley with some homemade peanut butter cups I had made that afternoon (I scored some cool husband points with those) and then started winding down for the evening. Before bed we started Youtube-ing and watched a bunch of old Mitch Hedburg footage for some laughs and then crashed for the night.

Saturday April 23rd, 2011

FOOD CONSUMED: Tofu Scramble, Vegetable Tamal, Sweet Potato Sandwich, Broccolini, Ninkasi Oatis, Veggie Dumpling Soup, Curry Tofu with Vegetables, Ginger Martini, Homemade Peanut Butter Cup

Since it was the weekend I made Tofu Scramble for breakfast as opposed to the normal oatmeal. In my scramble I put tofu (obviously), onions, garlic, shitake mushrooms, purple kale, tomatoes, curry powder, turmeric, Bragg’s, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. This is so easy to make and one of my favorite things to have for breakfast. Along with our scramble I made a French Press of coffee for both Ashley and I to enjoy. After breakfast we jumped on our bikes and headed to the Saturday Farmers Market. Since it is still pretty early in the season there wasn’t a whole lot of produce available yet but what was available is always worth buying. We walked around the market checking out all the booths to see what was available from all the vendors. There isn’t just food here – lots of crafts, clothing, plants, etc as well. From one of the craft vendors we bought two metal decorative hangers - one was a string of hummingbirds for our house (Ashley loves hummingbirds) the other was a string of birds for a gift.  From another vendor we picked up a soy candle that was made locally and smelled exactly like sugar cookies as the label said. There are also plenty of food vendors on site as well. One that caught my eye, was a Peruvian stand that had a vegan Tamal that I just HAD to try. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I had made in awhile. Ashley and I both devoured the Tamal like we hadn’t eaten in days and then headed back over to ask if the vendors had a restaurant or just the stand. Turns out they only have the stand at the Market so we will be regulars there from now on. As I said before, there wasn’t a whole lot of produce available yet since it was pretty early in the season but I still managed to walk away with some great produce. My bounty consisted of broccolini, red onions, a leek, shitake mushrooms, a greens mix that consisted of kale, mustard greens, and collards, and a loaf of locally made seeded bread. I was quite happy with all my findings and couldn’t wait to get home and start cooking up all this fresh produce! I decided that I would make a sandwich with some sweet potatoes that I had already at the house along with sautéed shitake mushrooms and onions on the seeded bread. For a side dish I sautéed the broccolini and leek with some olive oil, lemon juice, and Bragg’s, which blew my mind on how good this simple concoction tasted. Along with my meal I had a Ninkasi Oatis, which is my FAVORITE (or favOUrite for you Brits reading!) Oatmeal Stout and, going along with my local lunch, is locally brewed in Eugene, OR. Check http://veganroi.tumblr.com to see some pics of this lunch and the Farmers Market bounty. To me, there is no better way to enjoy food than getting it fresh from the Farmers Market and immediately having it in a meal. Everything just tasted a bazzilion times better than anything I would buy at the super market. All of this food was local and in season, which increased its freshness and quality far beyond the produce that is shipped thousands of miles to the local grocery store.  I bet you have a Farmers Market in your town and I suggest checking it out sometime. After our lunch it was dog walk time again which was immediately followed by a run to get some extra exercise in. Once we were all cleaned up Ashley and I went out for dinner to Marco Polo, which is the other restaurant in town that we enjoy (they have a separate vegetarian menu that is all pretty tasty). One of my favorite things on the menu is their Veggie Dumpling Soup, which is enough for two people to share and I was feeling adventurous so I ordered my first ever Martini (ginger) and for our main dish I ventured away from what we would normally order and tried their Curry Tofu with Vegetables. I love Curry however; I didn’t necessarily enjoy this dish. It was pretty bland and I could have made it much better at home. A lesson learned. After dinner we did a bit of shopping and then headed back home for the evening. For dessert we had another one of my homemade PB cups and then I started getting prepared for my 6am flight back to St Louis to be with my family once again. 

Sunday April 24th, 2011

FOOD CONSUMED: Voodoo Doughnuts, Primal strip, Tofurky Italian Sausage, Veggie Pizza without Cheese.      

I woke up at 2:45am to get ready for my flight since the Portland airport is a solid hour away from our apartment in Salem. Also, Ashley and I had made a choice to make a pit stop at Voodoo Doughnuts on the way to the airport since we happened to have a $10 gift card available. Every touring musician I know gets giddy within a week of playing Portland simply because they know the awesomeness of Voodoo is right around the corner. Most of them have their order planned out well before they even arrive in town and know exactly when they will be going by to pick them up. They really are that good. So, if Saturday was the epitome of healthy, local, and in season eating Sunday was all about gluttony. We bought two coffees and a dozen vegan doughnuts. Though I am not proud of it, I ate 4. 4!  There was the Chico Stick Doughnut, some sort of chocolate/chocolate chip Metal Doughnut with Pentagram on it, a cream filled doughnut with Fruit Loops on top, and a cinnamon “Blunt” Doughnut. Just thinking of this sugary debauchery makes me feel a little queasy as I write this. In my defense, I didn’t eat them all at once - two were for breakfast before my first flight, one was on my second flight with a second cup of coffee (or was it third…it’s all a bit fuzzy…), and one was after I landed while I waited to be picked up.  Luckily I don’t have these everyday so one day of fried, sugary, doughy goodness is ok every so often. To get to my ride I had to take the Metro Link (St Louis’s light rail system) from the airport to Belleville, IL. While on the train I was talking to Ashley to let her know that I arrived safely when I heard someone yell “Hey! Hey! That guy just robbed me!!!” I looked over my shoulder and saw a guy bolt out the train doors, over the tracks, and into a wooded area on a definite mission to get away with his stolen goods. I felt really bad for the kid that got robbed but there was little anyone could do since it all happened so fast. Needless to say, I stood a little closer guard over all of my belongings for the rest of the ride. A lot of people don’t know this but St. Louis is no joke when it comes to crime. For a few years it was ranked as the #1 dangerous city in America (above Detroit!) and for good reason. In the three years I lived in St Louis city I was mugged, had my car stolen, caught someone trying to steal my neighbors car, had my apartment broken into, and had multiple license plates stolen for the registration stickers since there was a pretty strong black market for those. Travelers and touring bands beware; St Louis can be a dangerous place if you aren’t prepared. After finally arriving at my parent’s house my youngest brother offered me a Tofurky Italian Sausage and I gratefully accepted. I kept it simple and just had it on a bun with some spicy brown mustard and enjoyed every bite as I tried to offset the abundance of sugar in my system. For dinner my middle brother bought us all pizza and graciously ordered me a whole veggie lovers with no cheese so I could have leftovers for a few extra meals. I love my family. Even though you would think I wouldn’t need it, I had a Primal Strip Seitan Jerky as a snack around 9 pm. Officially I need to run for about 3 hours straight to make up for this day. Wish me luck!

Kate Brindle

Ann Arbor, MI

Kate is a vegan stand-up comic in Michigan who used to work for PETA. Check her website out at www.katebrindle.com

Friday, April 15, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Oatmeal, orange juice, red peppers, carrots, hummus, cashews, guacamole, tortilla chips, sweet potato burrito, slice of apple pie.

I now work as a stand-up comic, but I used to be employed full-time in the Campaigns department of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).  I used to travel extensively with PETA, and I've often missed my time with them. So I was delighted when I was asked to volunteer with their Animal Liberation Project at the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin. I was excited about sharing information about animal rights with the students there, and I was also quite psyched to eat at the veg-friendly restaurants in Milwaukee. Luckily, our hotel had a free continental breakfast, so in the morning, I grabbed some oatmeal and orange juice before heading out to the campus. I took a quick lunch break to eat some hummus and veggies, and I snacked on cashews in the afternoon. Dinner was the real treat!  I went to Beans and Barley restaurant and had their guacamole & chips and sweet potato/black bean burrito. The burrito was out of this world!  Somehow, by the time dessert rolled around, I managed to make room for some homemade apple pie. That was delicious, too!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Peanut butter and banana bagel sandwich, coffee, split pea soup, vegan rocky road cookie, vegan meatloaf, mashed potatoes with vegan gravy, brussels sprouts.

Again, I took advantage of the hotel's free breakfast and made myself a toasted bagel with peanut butter and banana.  Since we were still leafleting and passing out information at the Animal Liberation Project all day, lunch was quick, so I had some split pea soup that I made in advance. When I first started going on the road (which I still do frequently for comedy), I learned to pack food to take with me. This saves tons of money and comes in quite handy when you're in small towns that aren't very vegan friendly. I have a portable cooler that I pack with granola bars, fruits, veggies and pretzels, and I take it with me everywhere! That way, I never panic if I get the munchies!

The co-president of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee animal rights/vegan student group, Amy Gorski, is an amazing baker (in fact, she plans to open a vegan bakery after she graduates), and she brought us some of her homemade rocky road cookies and brownies. She wrote the recipes herself, and they were fantastic! It was definitely hard to stop at just one! For dinner, we tried another veg-friendly restaurant in town, Comet Cafe. There, I had the vegan meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and Brussels sprouts. I could probably eat mashed potatoes everyday of my life, and after working outside all day, they definitely hit the spot. Comet Cafe had a great atmosphere (it had a lively coffee shop free), and I recommend it to anyone who is passing through the Midwest.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Peanut butter and jelly bagel sandwich, orange juice, Clif bar, vegan nacho salad.

Today was my last day in town, so I took advantage, yet again, of the hotel's free breakfast. I knew we would be hitting the Chicago Diner on the way home from Milwaukee (thank goodness that it's right on the way back to Michigan, where I live), so I only had a Clif bar for lunch. The Chicago Diner has wonderful food, and I wanted to save room in my stomach.

When I got to the Chicago Diner, I had no idea what to get since everything looked so good. I eventually settled on the nachos (which came with beans, soy cheese, soy sour cream, guacamole and faux taco meat), and asked them to add lettuce to make it more like a salad. I was quite pleased with my selection! Overall, I had a wonderful trip!  Eating at new vegan restaurants is one of my favorite parts of traveling, and Milwaukee certainly didn't let me down.

Hannah Southcoast

Southampton, UK

Hannah Southcoast is the owner of Hannah Banana Bakery, a new vegan bakery based in Southampton that sells innovative, pretty and exceedingly tasty treats.

Friday April 8th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Toast with Vitalite and yeast extract, chocolate cupcake, Redwood sausage, mash with mustard, broccoli, sweetcorn and peas, gravy, endless cups of tea.

Friday was a stupidly manic one for me! I’m starting a vegan bakery at the moment and I had a super early start making a raspberry and chocolate cake and 12 chocolate dipped strawberry topped cupcakes for The Art House Cafe’s ChocFest (a night raising awareness about why you should buy fair trade chocolate) and I also had a 5pm deadline for a paper to be submitted to a journal for my day job. I’m normally a big lunch eater but I was just so busy. I skipped it and had to do a run to the post office to post out some home-made Jammie Dodgers so I just grabbed a quick bite of toast. Dinner was cooked by my lovely other half whilst I boxed up the cakes and eaten in about 5 minutes (I don’t even think I chewed!). If you’ve never had whole grain mustard in mash you haven’t lived by the way. It's mind blowing! I also had a leftover chocolate cupcake (I pretty much eat cake daily as I have a VERY sweet tooth!). I drink herbal tea ALL day! I don’t really like cold drinks so I just chain drink tea... Most days I drink chai, chocolate chai, apple and chamomile and vanilla tea... mmmmm....

Saturday April 9th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Alpro raspberry yoghurt x2, raspberries, an apple, a banana, a home-made Jammie Dodger, a Japanese tofu noodle bowl, apple and ginger juice, chips with ketchup, endless cups of tea.

Today I headed off to Devon to see my other half’s parents for the day. I was in a rush as always trying to get the washing out before we went so I threw some chopped fruit and a couple of yoghurts in a pot and ate it in the car on the way there. The fruit was awesome and made me realise how little fruit I’d eaten this week and that I need to eat more of it! I gave my other half’s parents some home-made Jammie Dodgers so I HAD to have one myself! Then we had a wander round Exeter and ended up going to a Wagamama. It was hard to tell what I could eat as the menu isn’t very detailed and I was made to feel like an idiot for asking if the noodles were egg. I was told there was only one thing on the menu I could eat so I had that! It tasted okay but they were so rude I wouldn’t go back! I’ve since heard there’s a vegetarian cafe there so next time I’ll check that out instead! After a day of strolling and drinking more tea we didn’t get home til 10pm so just had some oven chips and crashed out!

Sunday April 10th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Ginger nuts, ginger tea, ginger/garlic/soy sauce/sesame oil marinated tofu and vegetable skewers, corn on the cob, beetroot/watercress/spinach/red onion/cherry tomato/cucumber salad, new potatoes with Plamil mayonnaise, Fry’s chicken burger in a white bread roll with salad and more Plamil mayonnaise, new potatoes with Vitalite and pepper, endless cups of tea.

Sunday was a day of chilling for once (I haven’t had a proper day off for MONTHS and it was great! I went for tea and biscuits with my lovely friend and put the world to rights with our banter then I came home and had a LUSH vegan BBQ! I made tofu and vegetable skewers and they were super tasty! I LOVE tomatoes that have been cooked on the BBQ – yum yum yum! I did some gardening so my lovely new veg plants can go out this week (hooray!) then went for a stroll to buy some cake boxes. By the time we got home it was getting late and after our huge BBQ we decided to eat the fake chicken burgers we couldn’t eat at lunchtime and the leftover potatoes with a home-made Jammie Dodger for pudding.

Roi Elam

Portland, OR

Roi Elam is the guitarist/backing vocalist of The Material (http://www.facebook.com/thematerial). He is also quite the vegan chef! 

Friday April 1st, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Greens with Mushrooms, Black Eyed Peas with Bac’n Bits, Rice Pilaf, Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Chili, Fritos Scoops, Baguette from St Louis Bread Company

This weekend I am in Southern Illinois helping my dad take care of my mom who, as a lot of people know, is dealing with terminal Stage 4 cancer.  I took some time off from being with The Material and our good friend and tech Andre is filling in for me for a couple shows while I am gone. While I am here I have a kitchen at my disposal, which makes me a happy vegan. No wondering if the restaurant cooks are making my food on the same grill as the burgers or using shared fryers.  It’s just me using ingredients I know and trust and cooking the food I want, how I want it. On this particular morning I woke up and wasn’t hungry at all. This was most likely because I still had remnants of the huge dinner I made the night before still digesting. My dad is an avid coffee drinker so by the time I rolled out of bed there was already a pot ready for me to kick start my day. I made a little bit of breakfast for my mom then sat at the table and chit chatted with her about the birds in the backyard and who was coming to visit that afternoon. There were a lot of visitors: the chaplain, the nurse assigned to help my mom bathe, lawyers to help with my mom’s will, the regular nurse who called in prescriptions, and my mom’s old piano teacher all came by. That’s a lot of activity for this sleepy household. Since I skipped breakfast I started getting pretty hungry around lunchtime. Being in a down home kind of mood I started making a very southern inspired meal. This inspiration may have been brought on by the episodes of The Dukes Of Hazzard that had been playing that morning. I cooked up some greens with mushrooms, rice pilaf, and black-eyed peas cooked with vegan bac’n bits…mmmmmhmmmm , good eats, y’all. After lunch the nurse came by so I listened intently to what she had to say about my mom’s medications so I could help my dad keep track. Once 3 o’clock rolled around I had to take off to watch my friend's 2 year old daughter. This ended up being an easy task… I just showed her my iPhone and it kept her entertained for the short period of time until her dad got home. Yay, technology!  After my short stint as a babysitter it was back to my parent’s place. I made a quick stop by St Louis Bread Company to get some soup for my mom (the creamy tomato is favorite) and a French Baguette for me. Once I made it back to the house my dad had to leave to pick up some more medicine. While he was gone I sat down and watched some TV with my mom. I found a show about Ancient Aliens on the History Channel that caught my attention so I left it on and learned about theories of ancient aliens using atomic bombs in biblical times. I am a sucker for conspiracy theories so it was entertaining at least. Once my dad got back I was pretty hungry so I opened up a can of Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Chili. I love this stuff! To me nothing goes better with chili than corn chips so I had some Frito’s Scoops along with a piece of my baguette. After dinner I revisited the song I had started writing the night before. I worked on the melody, rearranged some wording and toyed with different arrangement ideas until I got to a point where I was satisfied…for the time being. Once I finished working on the song it was getting pretty late so it was time for me to slip of into dreamland.

Saturday April 2, 2011

FOOD CONSUMED: Coffee, Orange, Sourdough Toast with Smart Balance Margarine, Banana, Wheaties with Soymilk, Trader Joe’s Super Seeded Tortilla Chips, Chipotle Salsa, Apple, Road’s End Organic Shells and Chreese, Home Made Chocolate Peanut Butter mixture. 

I woke up at 8 am and went directly to the coffee pot. I made a small breakfast of sourdough toast and an orange so I would have something in my stomach when I went out for a run. After taking care of my mom’s breakfast and catching up on the daily news via The Huffington Post I headed out to get my exercise in. It was a beautiful morning in Southern Illinois so it felt nice to be outside and made my run that much more enjoyable. I am not the fastest runner so I ended up with a little over 3 miles in a half hour, which was fine with me. After running I came in and did a few more exercises and then ate a banana and had a bowl of Wheaties (insert sports cliché here) with soymilk to replenish the small breakfast that I had instantly burned off. Since it was such a nice afternoon I spent a lot of it in the backyard working on song ideas in between making sure my mom was getting her medication at the correct times. For lunch I made a box of Road’s End Organics Shells and Chreese, which to my surprise was actually pretty good. I added some spinach to it to up the nutritional value up a notch along with some needed salt and pepper to make the flavor pop a little bit more. I was pretty excited to see that the cheese sauce contained nutritional yeast since it is a great supplier of B-12. Along with my Shells and Chreese I had some Trader Joe’s Super Seeded Tortilla chips and chipotle salsa. I probably didn’t need these but they were tasty. Today’s visitors were some friends of the family that had come to help my dad fix the sliding glass patio door and the gutters. I didn’t get involved with any of the handy work, which was probably for the better. After our friends left I spent some more time out side working on music and basking in the sun while I could. Once dinner rolled around I didn’t really feel like cooking so I ate the Shells and Chreese that were left over from my lunch and a piece of the baguette from St Louis Bread Co. Carb city. For an evening snack I whipped up a concoction of powdered sugar, cocoa powder, Smart Balance, soymilk, and peanut butter. This made something close to icing and more than satisfied the cravings I was having for something sweet. My activities for the rest of the evening included watching college basketball with my parents and continuing to help my mom stay up to date on her medications. Once the games were over I shut off the TV and searched around unsuccessfully for an open wifi source. This amused my dad since I was walking around the house with my laptop in hand to no avail trying to find “the spot”.  I’ll admit it was quite humorous. 

Sunday April 3rd, 2011

FOOD CONSUMED: Pancakes with Fruit and Maple Syrup, Tempeh Stir Fry, Trader Joe’s Thai Vegetable Gyoza, Brown Rice, Hummus Sandwich

Sunday, SUNday, SUNDAY!  I woke up with a craving for pancakes so I opened up the “How It All Vegan” cookbook on my Kindle app and whipped some up. As with most recipes, I added in a few little extra ingredients to make them my own delicious creation. Once they were all golden brown I topped the pancakes off with organic raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries along with some pure maple syrup and a little Smart Balance margarine. I knew my youngest brother and his wife were coming over so I made enough for everyone to enjoy. Oh yeah, I had coffee too. Surprise! We all sat and visited with my mom and watched Ice Age (first time seeing it) until I started getting hungry again. For lunch I made everyone an Asian inspired meal. Tempeh Stir Fry with Rice and Vegetable Gyoza as an appetizer. In my stir fry I used carrots, onions, garlic, spinach, tamari, ginger, and cayenne (for an extra little kick). I love cooking! Shortly after lunch my brother and his wife had to leave so I cleaned up the kitchen and returned to some song ideas I had floating around in my head. Earlier than expected, my middle brother and his family arrived for their weekly visit. I put down the guitar and came out to visit with him, his wife, and kids. I don’t see my middle brother much so it’s always good to catch up with him and talk about music, phones (he’s and android, I’m and iPhone), and Harley’s. I am pretty knowledgeable on the first two subjects, not so much on the latter. This was a pretty short visit and once they left I decided to make a small dinner since my first two meals were pretty large. On the menu for tonight was a Hummus sandwich on Sourdough bread with spinach, tomatoes, and shredded carrots. Quite tasty. After dinner I sat with my mom some more until my dad got back home and then preceded to look for some Internet again. This time my search was successful but it was a pretty weak signal. I chatted online with my drummer Kevin and bassist Jordan for a little while to see how they were doing.  It was good to catch up with them for a bit since I have been away from everyone for about 2 weeks. I closed my laptop and sat down to watch a movie with my parents, tonight it was Ratatouille. Remy is such a cute little rat. 

Laura Leslie

Birmingham, UK

Laura Leslie is a Biomedical Engineer at Aston University working on blood flow and cell response using non-animal methods. She has been vegan for 10 years and loves being outdoors, walking and running.

Friday April 1st, 2011

FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED: Malted wheat (cranberry flavour) cereals with sweetened soya milk & pint of blackcurrant squash, handful of mixed nuts, noodles with stir-fry vegetables & ‘chicken’ pieces, fruit, bag of Snack-a-Jacks, lentil, chickpea & mixed vegetable curry with brown rice, Swedish Glace ice-cream. Throughout day – drinks of water or squash.

Friday, yay, last day of the working week! I get up at 6.30am and leave the house 20 mins later so it’s always a quick bowl of cereals during the week. I work as a researcher in the Biomedical Engineering group at Aston University and spent most of Friday in the lab. I took in leftovers (stir-fry) for an easy lunch with a box of fruit (plum, banana & apple). I don’t go running on a Friday so basically just spend the day working and eating! The Snack-a-Jacks were for the journey home. This weekend I was staying at my parents with my husband dog-sitting. So after work it was time to feed the horses, foster rabbits & dog. I also popped in to collect an order from Wendy (of Chocolate Wendy House fame) as a Birthday present for a friend. My husband Paul (also vegan) cooked us a lovely curry in the evening with plenty of protein and fresh vegetables and some healthy brown rice. I made sure I wasn’t being too healthy with a bowl of Neapolitan Swedish Glace ice-cream for dessert!

Saturday April 2nd, 2011

FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED: Trim flakes cereals with sweetened soya milk & pint of orange squash, ‘beef’ stew with baguette & garlic bread plus diet pepsi, half a slice of cheesecake & half a chocolate muffin, Linda McCartney pie with pasta & salad, Swedish Glace ice-cream. Throughout day – drinks of water or squash.

8am every Saturday my running club (Bournville Harriers) meet on Cofton Park for some interval training and this week was my least favourite session – 20 x 400m efforts, yuck! By the time we had finished I’d covered around 9 miles and was ready for some breakfast. To my shock the only vegan cereal I could find at my parents was some trim flakes. It was a bit like eating polystyrene, so lunch at the KPL Vegan Café in Kings Heath couldn’t some soon enough! Before I could set off with my tummy rumbling, Paul and I walked the dog on Cofton Park and fed the rabbits over at our house. Then we met up with a bunch of veggie friends at the KPL café for our first ever visit there. I really enjoyed my beefless stew & garlic bread and next time I fancy trying their famous ‘fish’ & chips! I also shared with Paul some cheesecake & muffin, both of which were gorgeous. The rest of the daylight was spent again feeding horses and rabbits & exercising the dog. Paul was playing a gig in Birmingham in the evening so I cooked an easy meal with the McCartney pie & pasta with salad & yet more vegan ice-cream!

Sunday April 3rd, 2011

FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED: Branflakes with sweetened soya milk & 2 crumpets with Pure margarine & pint of orange squash, slice of ‘Mrs Crimbles Dutch Apple Cake’, Home-made potato salad, low-fat houmous & mixed salad, bowl of olives, veggie mince & vegetable chilli with brown rice & crackers. Throughout day – drinks of water or squash.

Up early again, this time for an easy 6 mile run round the beautiful lanes and tracks of Alvechurch. The dog used to come with me but she’s 12 now and finds it a bit too difficult so I left her at home. Found some bran flakes so enjoyed a better breakfast upon my return, especially with the crumpets, mmm. I spent the day with Paul doing a few jobs, dog/horse/rabbit duties so lots of walking again, selling a few things on ebay and watching a bit of tv. Lunch was a collection of random things that needed eating and was quite nice. Paul and I cooked together in the evening and made a home-made curry with Morrisons own brand veggie mince, various veg from the fridge and brown rice. The Dutch apple cake which can be bought from Morrisons is nice for a tasty snack (less than 2% fat). Another weekend over and I’m already thinking about what I can eat tomorrow!

Maria Junko

Cardiff, UK

Maria is the owner/creator of Santa Macabre and frequently puts on Vintage Pretty fairs.

Friday March 25th, 2011

FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED: 2 Sainsburys crumpets with Vitalite spread, chips and curry sauce ready meal, Pasta with Cauldron Tofu, tomato and chunky vegetable pasta sauce and a load of Dairy Free Cheddareese on top. Blackcurrant High Juice

The Friday evening before one of my craft and vintage markets is usually busy with me getting last minute things sorted, like making sure the flyers are ready for our lovely flyer girl to hand out, or checking that all my Santa Macabre stock is ready. As I organise and sell at my Vintage Pretty markets it means I have both the organising and selling side of things to get sorted. It's a lot of fun though and I love doing it! I had never organised anything like this until a year or so ago. It was after my first selling event (which was actually at the awesome Wolverhampton Vegan Festival in 2009!) that I decided to try my hand at making and selling jewellery (and other bits and bobs).

Eventually I started up my own fairs, as originally there wasn't a huge amount going on in Cardiff (though now there are loads of fairs and markets, which I think can only be a good thing!). I didn't think it would do as well as it has and now Vintage Pretty fair is over a year old! I have met so many amazing people through the fairs, it's refreshing to meet people from all walks of life who all have a passion for their art.
As usual I went to bed pretty late (after 1am) as once I've started on my jewellery I tend to get in 'the zone' and don't like to leave things half finished. Besides, I'd rather a late night and more of a lie in, than having to get up early to finish stuff I started the night before! For breakfast I ate 2 Sainsburys crumpets with Vitalite spread. At lunch time I had an Asda ready meal - chips and curry sauce - amazing! Dinner was pasta with Cauldron Tofu, tomato and chunky vegetable pasta sauce with Dairy Free Cheddareese on top (amazing stuff, even better than the Parmazano!). I drank blackcurrant high juice from Sainsburys.

Saturday March 26th, 2011

FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED: Doves Farm Chocolate and Crispy Rice Bar Holland and Barrett's Steakless Bake, Indian takeaway of Tarka Daal (lentil soup/sauce), Vegetable Biryani, Saag Aloo (Potato and spinach), Chips and Poppadoms. Cola, Soya Hot Chocolate, Blackcurrant juice

I got up around 9am, as I had to leave the flat around 10am to pick my friend Tanaz up for Vintage Pretty. She sells some lovely jewellery, and is one of the lovely friends I have made through the handmade crafts and vintage world!

As usual, I didn't have time for breakfast so took a Doves Farm Chocolate and Crispy Rice Bar with me for when I got a spare minute. I love these bars so much and only tried them for the first time when I visited Brighton last year! They were my favourite purchases from the amazing Infinity Foods, but unfortunately were really hard to get hold of back in Cardiff. Luckily the local health food shop here called Bean Freaks now regularly stocks these little delights, it broke my heart whenever I went in and they still hadn't restocked! You really would not be able to tell that these bars were vegan friendly, the chocolate has such a lovely taste to it and isn't too rich (I'm not a fan of dark chocolate at all so love it when I find vegan friendly chocolate that isn't bitter like dark chocolate!).

I don't often get chance to relax when it's the day of Vintage Pretty. As well as needing to be on hand if the sellers need any help, and making sure the banners are put up in the venue etc, I also need to set up the Santa Macabre stall. It takes longer than you would think to put some jewellery out! Around 3pm I had chance to run out and get something to eat. As town was packed due to it being the England vs. Wales football match I decided to go for the quickest and easiest choice, Holland and Barrett. There I brought a Steakless Bake. These are so tasty and not dry at all, I would really recommend them as a snack to anyone. I also like the Italiano bake and occasionally a Sos Roll, though they're a bit bland and dry. Unfortunately the fair was quiet this time, but at least this meant Tanaz and I could pop out and get a hot drink. I love the Soya Hot Chocolate at Caffe Nero. I'm really not a coffee person, I've never drunk more than a sip of it, but I do like a really nice hot chocolate! I always tend to check if any of the little wafer snacks at the counter are vegan, even though I know they're not from the last time I checked. You just never know if they changed the ingredients hehe. I did notice however that they sell dark chocolate covered coffee beans, which are suitable for vegans. But totally not my thing unfortunately, I couldn't imagine two worse ingredients put together! Good for the coffee loving vegans I guess though!

I'm always pretty tired after a fair, so we decided to order Indian food! I only got into Indian food when I turned vegan, though that can be said for so many foods. I definitely have a more varied and exotic diet than I did before! I'm not into spicy or hot food at all though, and physically can't stand to eat it, but I do love the non-spicy Indian food! I always tell them I am allergic to dairy and eggs, just to make sure! I had the Tarka Daal (lentil soup/sauce, my favourite!), Vegetable Biryani, Saag Aloo (Potato and spinach), Chips and Poppadoms. The food was as tasty as always and arrived surprisingly fast, nothing like good company and good food!

Sunday March 27th, 2011

FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED: 2 Sainsburys crumpets with Vitalite, cereal with soya milk Oven chips and vegetables Chips and mushy pea fritter (batter: water and flour) Sandwiches with Redwood Garlic Sausage style slices, Asda's Pringle style crisps ('Pop Snax') Jalapeno flavour (almost too hot for me to eat, but so nice!), Doves Farm Chocolate Chip Cookies. Tea with soya milk and two sugars, Sainsburys Hot Chocolate with soya milk, blackcurrant juice

I was planning to sell at an awesome tattoo art exhibition in Birmingham called Forever, but unfortunately could not make it, which I was very disappointed about! At least I got to have a lazy day though which was much appreciated.

With Saturday being a busy day, it was nice just to chill out and relax a little. Which to me meant eating breakfast (2 Sainsburys crumpets with Vitalite and cereal with soya milk) in bed watching Peep Show, and then popping out for a drive a little later on. I had oven chips and vegetables for lunch, chips and mushy pea fritters for dinner and snacked on sandwiches with Redwood Garlic Sausage style slices, Asda's Pringles and Doves Farm Chocolate chip cookies. During the day I drank tea with soya milk, Sainsburys Hot Chocolate with soya milk and blackcurrant juice.

Roi Elam

Portland, OR

Roi Says: Recently I attended South By Southwest in Austin, TX with my band, The Material (http://www.facebook.com/thematerial).  For those of you who aren’t familiar with SXSW, it’s a yearly event that showcases the newest in technology and music by shutting down an entire street and turning Austin into a week long party.  I think that about sums it up.  This was the first year I had ever had the chance to go to or play SXSW so I was very excited to get down there.  This festival is all about hustling.  When we came down we had 3 showcases booked but we ended up playing 5 times in 3 days (twice in one day!).  It was one of the most tiring but fun weeks in recent memory.  I got to reconnect with a lot of friends I haven’t seen in years, see bands I never thought I would get the chance to see, and meet face to face with people I have only had email correspondence with. Oh yea, I ate too. 

Wednesday March 16, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Qdoba Burrito Bowl, Falafel from Kebabalicious

Wednesday was the first day we got down to the festival and the first show that we would be playing was for Taylor Guitars and Hello Music for the Artist To Watch Showcase at The Rusty Spurs. We had loaded in to The Rusty Spurs at 9:30 am and were just hanging around for some interviews when we learned of a free iPhone app called Livetapp. This app directed us to all the free food and drink specials that were going on during SXSW, which came it quite handy. After finishing our interviews and loading up on free coffee I headed out with Jon and Colleen in search of the free burritos and beer that were being offered at a venue named The Stage. The burritos were provided by Qdoba, which is to Chipotle what Mr Pibb is to Dr Pepper… they are close but the original is always better.  But hey, they were free so I did not complain. I had a veggie burrito bowl with rice, black beans, pico de gallo, tomato salsa, and green salsa along with a free IPA from Magic Hat brewery. While in line Jon overheard a conversation about the band that was going to be playing next at The Stage and did a double take when he found out that one of our favorite groups, The Civil Wars, were on in just 5 short minutes! We took our free burritos and beer over to be front and center for what turned out to be one of the most amazing performances I have seen in years. 2 people, a guitar, a piano, and some of the best harmonies you will hear were bestowed upon my happy ears. This was the definition of being in the right place at the right time. Check them out at www.thecivilwars.com and download 'Live At Eddie’s Attic' for free!  After the performance we headed back to the Rusty Spurs to get ready for our showcase. The show was amazingly fun and broadcast live on Ustream for those who weren’t able to make it to SXSW. After the show it was time to do some more exploring. We headed over to the Purevolume house and caught an acoustic set by Anthony Greene and then over to The Blind Pig to do an acoustic performance for Balcony TV. With all the running around my burrito bowl had long worn off so I was on the hunt for some food.  Food trucks were everywhere at SXSW. Sausage, Thai/Mexican fusion (not sure what that is…), Philly Cheese Steaks, Tacos, and pretty much everything else you could imagine. Kebabalicious was a Turkish Kebab Truck that was in the parking lot that we usually used and their Falafel without sauce was Vegan, relatively cheap ($5 for a small $7 for a large), and absolutely delicious. I wasn’t the only person that knew this place was good…there was always a seriously long line in front of the truck at all times of the day. After eating I met back up with my band and explored more of the evenings festivities until we were all too tired to stand anymore. 

Thursday March 17, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Rice Chex without Soy Milk, BBQ Seitan Sandwich, Potato Salad, Roasted Corn, Falafel from Kebabalicious

Thursday was a hang out day at SXSW. We didn’t have any showcases so that meant a late start getting down to 6th St from Jon’s mom’s place in Pflugerville, TX.  For breakfast I had a bowl of Rice Chex without Soy Milk, which was not by choice but because I poured the bowl before I realized the Soy Milk was gone. I had heard via Twitter that Moby was holding an all day Vegan BBQ and that a portion of the proceeds would be given to Compassion Over Killing (www.cok.net).  This was something I could not pass up. After driving around downtown Austin for about an hour and a half we finally found parking… in a private driveway. I happened to see a person holding up a sign that said “$15 all day parking” so I stopped to check it out.  Being an independent band I can appreciate a little entrepreneurism so after making sure I could fit the van in the driveway we gladly took advantage of the deal. Once we were parked I had to meet up with our rep from Taylor Guitars (www.taylorguitars.com) to return a guitar we borrowed for the acoustic set we did the night before and then, it was off to the BBQ. Once I made my way through the line I headed straight to the food. $10 got me a plate with a BBQ Seitan Sandwich, Potato Salad, and Roasted Corn On The Cob.  I added some pickles to my sandwich (really, what’s a BBQ sandwich without dill pickles?) and proceeded to scarf it all down. It felt like a summer day in Austin so the BBQ was perfect for the weather. I took a minute to talk to the woman working the Compassion Over Killing table, watched Skrillex pump up the crowd, and bought some locally made vegan peanut butter cups from a vendor on my way out. All in all it was a well put together event. After the BBQ I met back up with my band mates and checked out the band Beta State at a bar named The Dizzy Rooster.  Since it was St Patrick’s Day I decided to have a brew along with all the green clad patrons at the bar. I went for the Sessions Lager from Full Sail Brewery. This is one of my favorite beers from the State of Oregon so I was really surprised to see it all the way down in Austin, TX.  Dinner brought me back to Kebabalicious for another of the delicious Falafels. After I ate I went and checked out a few more bands and then headed back to go to sleep.

Friday March 18, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Banana, Salt and Vinegar Pop Chips, Lara Bar, Kind Bar, Veggie Dog

We headed back down to SXSW early on Friday to make an 11am load in at The Stage for our performance at the Sennheiser (www.sennheiserusa.com) Showcase later that evening so, I grabbed a quick breakfast of coffee and a banana. Loading in to any venue at SXSW is always a challenge and this was no exception. We had to park about a block away from the venue and haul all of our gear through a crowded alleyway to the back door of the venue. Luckily I had the foresight to bring our dolly with us to cut down on the back and forth trips.  Our performance at The Stage was one of two shows we were doing that evening so after loading in I scoped out the best way to get our gear to the next venue since we wouldn’t be able to drive it down. This would end up being an adventure for sure. We all spread out to plaster the town with posters and stickers for our two shows and then met back up and went on the hunt for more free food. Today we ended up well past 6th St at a venue named Antone’s for free pizza and other goodies. Obviously I did not partake in the pizza but I did find a basket full of Lara Bars, Kind Bars, and Pop Chips. I read a few labels and begun stuffing my face and jacket with as much free food as I could. Don’t judge, I’m poor!  After mooching off the free food we went back to The Purevolume House to catch Eisley’s set and then I headed over to The Hot Dog King, which was situated in front of Emo’s on Red River Rd. They had a veggie dog that I am pretty sure was a Tofurky Italian Sausage.  Since the Tofurky sausages are some of my favorites I was not disappointed and gladly handed over my $5. I garnished it with a little spicy brown mustard and some sauerkraut and had a tasty lunch. After lunch it was back to The Stage to get ready for our show. Our rep from Sennhieser gave us all some free drink tickets so we had a few adult beverages and relaxed before the oncoming storm of back-to-back sets. Our show at The Stage ended up being amazing. When we started our set the room was sparsely populated but by the second song people were flooding in from the street to see who we were. We ended up playing to a pretty packed house and made a bunch of new fans that ended up following us down to our next show. As soon as we got done playing we packed up our gear and started the walk to the next show at Darwin’s Pub. My previous scouting ended up being useless because the alley I wanted to use ended up being blocked by street performers. We ended up walking down 6th street through a dense Friday night crowd of people who were oblivious to the fact that we had a dolly full of gear that we were trying to carry through. We made it just in time for load in with a few minutes to catch our breath before we had to start setting up. The show at Darwin’s Pub was another good one. A lot of our friends that were in bands came out to see our set and then hang afterwards. It was a tiring but absolutely worth it night.

Saturday March 19, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Bonzai Burrito from Wahoo’s Fish Taco’s, Lara Bar, Rice and Beans

This was our last day at SXSW and we were all beat from the night before.  We all knew parking would be horrendous so we headed down early so we could find a spot close enough to the venue we were playing that night. Luckily we found the perfect spot! The AP Tour was in town for a showcase at Emo’s so we headed over there to promote for our final SXSW showcase. While we were promoting we were handed coupons for free burritos (always burritos huh?) from Wahoo’s and we gladly accepted. Little did we know it was a 14 block hike to the restaurant but we made the trek with free food on our mind. We were all familiar with Wahoo’s from San Diego so we knew the trip would be worth it and we weren’t disappointed when we got there. I had a Bonsai Burrito, which is Vegan with out the cheese and sour cream. It was full of sautéd veggies in a teriyaki sauce, rice, beans and guacamole, which hit the spot. After Wahoo’s we all headed back to the Purevolume House for free drinks and then I went over to catch some bands playing the AP Tour. My friend Phil (Story Of The Year/Greek Fire) was able to get me backstage to catch Craig Owen's new project, D.R.U.G.S. and then I stuck around to watch The Almost. I headed back to the van to grab a Lara Bar from my stash for lunch and then headed back to the Purevolume House for more free drinks and then to meet with the head of Substream Magazine at a restaurant named The Iron Cactus. After our meeting it was off to our show at The Dorm Room. This venue was a technical nightmare but we had some fans that drove 2 hours to see us so we powered through and put on the best show we could for them. Once the show was over it was time to let loose and have some fun. We all headed down to a bar named Shakespeare’s Pub and had a rooftop dance party to cap off an amazing week. We left downtown Austin around 2am and were surprised when we got back to Jon’s mom’s place that she was there waiting for us with food!  I had a huge bowl of rice and beans and then crashed out. 

This was a great week and a culinary scavenger hunt for Vegan goodies. I am pretty sure I won the game since I found everything I needed!

Shari Black Velvet

Redditch, Worcs. UK

SaveAScream.com (& Black Velvet Magazine) owner/editor. Had a busy weekend filled with gigs and interviews so thought I'd do a food diary to go with it.

Friday March 18th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Energy drink, Tofutti cream cheese on toast, soya hot chocolate, veggie burger, 2x hash browns, 2x meat free fingers, 1 veggie hash brown, baked beans, smoothie, cola, Ricola throat sweets.

Thursday night saw me at Birmingham Academy 2 reviewing/photographing The Maine and Never Shout Never (Christofer Drew is a vegetarian and PETA supporter!) - I ended up editing photos until 3am so was quite tired on Friday morning. A friend was coming to stay for the weekend so I had to get up earlier than usual in order to meet him in Birmingham (thus needed an energy drink to kickstart the day along with my Tofutti cream cheese on toast). He arrived at 3.30pm which only gave us half an hour to walk down to Birmingham HMV Institute (as his train was half an hour late) as I was interviewing There For Tomorrow at 4pm for issue 68 of Black Velvet. After the interview we had two hours before doors so my friend (Steve) and I went to Canalside Cafe, a pub/cafe that sells quite a bit of vegan and vegetarian food. Steve, who isn't veggie/vegan, opted for the vegan cottage pie with chips, peas and carrots. I decided to go for the veggie burger and had a soya hot chocolate. I hate spending loads of food when I'm out so usually look for something that's cheap but good! I was given three sachets of sugar to go with the hot chocolate - I ended up putting all three sachets in and the chocolate still wasn't that sweet. It had quite a dark, unsugared taste.

We headed back to the venue for the gig and enjoyed There For Tomorrow. Getting home at midnight we were a little hungry so I put some hash browns, meat free fingers, baked beans in the oven and gave Steve a Linda McCartney veggie sausage with his to try. I like him trying different vegan food when he comes to visit - and he enjoyed it all. :-)

Saturday March 19th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Energy drink x2, Tofutti cream cheese on toast, Frank Roast Dinner crisps, veg sausage and mash, Ginger & ginseng drink, Ricola cough sweets, hash browns, meat free fingers, veggie sausage, Trek cherryflapjack, Whole Earth cola

Friday night turned out to be another late one - after Steve went to bed I ended up staying up till nearly 4am to go through my There For Tomorrow photos and get a few small pix on the Black Velvet website - hence next morning I felt the need for not one but two cans of energy drink with my Tofutti cream cheese on toast. We left the house at 1.10pm to get the train to Birmingham for my third gig in a row. I had a packet of Frank Roast Dinner crisps while sat on the train. Once in Birmingham we headed to the Warehouse Cafe for today's meal. I couldn't resist the children's portion of veggie sausage and mash. I've had this the last three times I've been to the Warehouse Cafe. Although I could easily eat the adult portion, I do prefer the £3.95 price tag of the children's size. I had a bottle of Ginger & Ginseng to go with it - I like Free Natural's Ginger & Ginseng a lot. Steve chose the Warehouse smoked cheddar and BBQ burger (vegan version) with chunky wedges, salad and had a Ginger Beer to go with it. After this we walked down to the Custard Factory as I'd told Steve how Rooty Frooty's used to do an amazing soya hot chocolate. Unfortunately we discovered that Rooty Frooty is no longer there! When did that close down? We did discover a cafe with had lots of Linda McCartney products on the menu. We didn't go in - just checked out the menu at the window.

At 5pm I went to interview Toploader at Birmingham HMV Institute before their headline show. I ate a Trek flapjack while at the gig as I was starting to feel a little peckish. Getting home at midnight again, I was in the mood again for some hash browns, meat free fingers and another veggie sausage (I know, my diet is pretty bad!). Had a Whole Earth Cola while editing Toploader photos until 3.15am.

Wendy Attwood

Birmingham, UK

Wendy is the founder of The Chocolate Wendy House. She makes and sells vegan chocolate eggs and other vegan chocolate items.

Friday March 11th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Cereal muesli, a piece of toast- vitalite spread and marmite, cup of tea, salad baguette with onion sauce, bottle of water, home-made pizza, 2 glasses of wine, tea.

Friday I was up at 5.30am as I started work at 7am, so after my breakfast of muesli and toast with Vitalite and marmite spread I was on the road! Care work can be rewarding but can also sometimes be draining so by lunch time I found myself in Subway ordering a salad baguette covered in onion sauce, very nice it was too but gone all too quickly! Washed down by a bottle of still water. After work it was on to my parents house as I was dog/rabbit sitting for the weekend whilst they were away. I had a nice stroll in the park with a pithering jack russell (sorry Charlie - who is 14 and half bling/deaf) and a loopy retriever (friend's dog) whom is 10 but acts 10 months : D. As it neared dark I fed Fred the rabbit and put him to bed in the shed and retired to the house where I was to make 2 vegan pizzas. I fried the onions, mushrooms, garlic and stirred in spinach, poured over the top of the pizza bases (organic, bought from the One Earth Shop in Alison street, Birmingham - all vegan shop) after spreading on tomato puree and finally grating the Cheezly and sliced tomatoes over the top : D My mate Rose who I hadnt seen properly for years (also vegan) popped over and we scoffed pizza over a good ole gossip, I had some Fairtrade co-op vegan wine but Rose was driving : ( and not forgetting a cup of tea : )

Saturday March 12th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: beans and mushrooms on toast, tea, onion rings chicken nuggets, a vegan cup-cake, tea a, chocolate milk-shake and more tea! chicken and mushroom pie with salad and sweet potato, alpro soya yoghurt, tea, orange juice

After letting Fred out in the garden and giving him a nibble of veg and Charlie some cereal, I sat down with a cup of tea : ) Ahhh, I then decided to use up the rest of the mushrooms as they were nearing their sell-by date so I fried them and added them to some beans on toast with yet another cuppa! After another stroll in the park with good old Charlie farly, I headed into Kings Heath to a newly-opened vegan cafe called KPL to meet some friends and my big sis to natter over some good nosh! I wasnt hungry at first so I sat with some tea and watched the world go by with my lovely sister Jo. Eventually after smelling all the lovely food and not being able to resist such fantasticly low prices I ordered some side dishes so I could sit and nibble. I ordered a portion of onion rings, portion of chicken nuggets (fab) a cupcake, tea and a chocolate milkshake, jon and Dean eventually joined us so I stayed a bit longer (well it had to be done!) and no, I didnt eat anymore, i just drank tea! It was back to the house to do some chocolate orders of Easter eggs (it can put you off chocolate when you work with it so no worries there :) ). After finishing the chocolate and another stroll with Charles farles, Fred was fed and put into bed. I had bought a chicken and mushroom pie earlier from KPL (which I highly recommend, guys!) so I heated that up and boiled some sweet potato which I mashed up with a small nob of Vitalite spread. Added some salad and Granovita mayo - was delish I must say!

Sunday March 13th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: cereal - muesli and toast, again vitalite spread and marmite, tea. roast potatoes, cauliflower, peas, lentil bake, veggie fingers, gravy, tea, fruit smoothie. salad sandwich with humous, orange juice, tea.

Got up earlyish, Fred was waiting to come out and for his breakfast, Charly was moaning for a walk! I decided to have a light breakfast as I dont always like eating early but I know I should so I settled for some cereal muesli and a piece of toast to start the day with Vitalite and marmite spread, and a cuppa. After checking my emails and answering queries regarding my vegan chocolate products, I went for a walk with the dog.
Later on I felt like a cooked dinner so I decided to cook, after checking what was available in my mom's freezer, I rooted through the vegetables and picked out cauliflower, peas, and veggie fingers along with some roast potatoes, a lentil bake which I made and added yeast flakes and marmite to and finally the gravy poured over. Later I popped home to see if I'd had any mail. After a good chat with my housemate I returned back to ma's. Charly and Fred had tea and after putting Fred to bed, I prepared salad and humous with mayo which was nice and light after a dinner earlier, washed down with orange juice and tea!

Weekend complete and here's to another week!

Roi Elam

Portland, OR

This week Roi of The Material tells us about his Tuesday as well as Friday and Saturday. Check out The Material at www.myspace.com/thematerial - the band are at SXSW in Texas this week, so if you're in the area, go see them.

Tuesday March 8th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee and a Bagel w/ Hummus from Einstein’s Bagels, Sea Vegetable Salad from HyVee, Sweet Potato Quesadilla and Chipotle Chili from Chicago Diner, and a Mediterranean Plate from Brownstone Pub.

Today was the day I had been waiting for which I why I am writing about a random Tuesday and not just the weekend.  Chicago was on our horizon and that meant the glorious Chicago Diner was a short 3 hrs away.  Chicago Diner is by far one of my favorite veggie restaurants in the country even though I have only eaten there once before.  It’s that good!

The night before we had played a show in La Crosse, WI.  For all intents and purposes this would have been a fairly unmemorable show if it hadn’t been for the 72 STAIRS (3 separate flights) that we had to carry all of our gear up.  I realize this isn’t food related but, it was not pleasant and I thought I would share.  After the show we drove 2.5 hrs to Madison, WI to beat a winter storm that was coming (the billionth of this tour…).  In the morning we had some errands to run which involved hanging out at a Fed Ex/Kinkos to make some fliers for our trip to SXSW in Austin.  Next to the Fed Ex was an Einstein’s Bagels so I went over and got a coffee and a bagel with Hummus to start the day.  Next we went across the street to a grocery store named HyVee to grab a few things for our journey.  There happened to be a sushi bar in the grocery store so I grabbed a pre packaged sea vegetable salad for a nice addition to my breakfast.  It was chewy and not visually stunning in the least but I knew I was getting some much-needed nutrition. 

Next, it was on to Chicago so I routed us directly to Chicago Diner. After fighting a surprisingly minimal amount of Chicago traffic and paying far too many tolls we finally made it to our destination.  Even though I spent the whole drive thinking about what I was going to order it still took me a good amount of time to make a decision…there are just too many delicious sounding choices that can all be made Vegan!  I decided on the Sweet Potato Quesadilla with Daiya Cheez (Hayley Williams of Paramore had mentioned ordering one of these last time she visited CD so I went for it) and a side of the Chipotle Seitan Chili.  After a relatively short wait, our food had arrived! I sat and admired my plate for a solid minute or so before I dug in.  The presentation was wonderful and once I took my first bite I soon realized that it tasted just a good as it looked.  The sweetness of the sweet potatoes mixed with the Daiya Cheez, seitan, black beans, salsa, and guacamole was heavenly.  I savored every bite until the inevitable last one.  After the quesadilla I had a small bowl of the Chipotle Chili, which was perfect for the balmy Chicago weather.  The spiciness warmed me all the way to the bone.  As I looked around the table I could see that everyone, meat eaters and non-meat eaters alike, had enjoyed their experience and were completely satisfied.  Well done Chicago Diner, well done. 

After our meal we all headed over to our good friend and former bassist's apartment to prepare for the evening.  We had the night off so we tagged along to watch college basketball at a neighborhood Irish Pub.  Around 9pm or so the Chicago Diner meal had digested and I was ready for some more food.  I studied the bar menu and found a tasty Mediterranean plate that would satisfy my late night hunger.  The plate was piled high with pita bread, fresh made chips, hummus with kalmata olives on top, guacamole, carrots, and cucumber.  It was perfect for sharing with everyone while we watched the end of the game and socialized with friends we hadn’t seen in awhile.  After the game it was back to where we were staying for the night to watch Anchorman and crash for the night. 

p.s.  I love Chicago.

Friday March 11th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, rice with cooked spinach, coconut pound cake, edamame, and vegan chocolate chip cookies.

After Chicago we were in the St Louis, MO area for a show and a few days off to visit with my family.  My brother was nice enough to let us crash in his nice new house that had plenty of room for all of us to sleep comfortably. 

As usual, I woke up earlier than everyone else so I grabbed my coffee and headed over to my Mom’s place to spend some time with her (and do some much needed laundry). For lunch I rummaged through my mom’s fridge and found some leftover rice and a bag of fresh spinach.  I cooked the spinach in a skillet with a little olive oil and tamari and put it over the rice.  It was a nice, simple, healthy, and delicious lunch.  It was getting close to load in for our show so I headed back out to meet up with the band who was hanging at a local coffee shop.  Across the street from where they were was another coffee shop named Sacred Grounds that had some Vegan pastries.  I headed over and got the coconut pound cake with a bottle of Fitz’s Root Beer, which is only available in the St Louis area and is delicious.  Sweet tooth, satisfied. 

St Louis, MO is my old hometown so I absolutely love playing there.  Tonight’s show was at Pop’s, which is a venue I had played several times when I was part of the STL local scene.  Walking in the doors was like a blast from the past… It still reeked of cigarettes and alcohol and looking at the stage I could remember every show I had ever played or seen there.  Throughout the night I got to see a lot of great friends from high school, people I used to play music with, family, and met a lot of new and old fans of The Material.  This show ended up being one of the best of the tour for us.  We sold a ton of merch and made fans out of just about everyone in the room.  Thank you, St Louis.

After the show we headed back to my brothers place and he was nice enough to fix us a little late night snack.  I had a bowl of Edamame while everyone else snacked on cheese pizza rolls.  I think I win in the healthy snack department on this one.  Before we knew it, it was 2am and we were all beat.  Sleep beckoned and we all listened.

Saturday March 12th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Bagel with Smart Balance Margarine, bowl of fruit, Boca Chipotle Veggie Burger, Tings, Green Beans, Chips and Salsa, popcorn, and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Today was a planned day off to spend with my family.  I had my usual caffeinated start to the day along with a bagel lightly covered with Smart Balance Margarine and a bowl of fresh fruit.  This breakfast was a good kick start to the day.  After breakfast we headed to Belleville, IL to meet up with some friends and watch the St Patrick’s Day Parade.  This was a great introduction to small town Midwest life for my band who are all from Southern California.  Everyone took in a few Guinness’s except for me since they aren’t vegan.  I had a Schlafly Extra Stout, which is a local beer bottled and brewed in St Louis. MO.  It was quite tasty and made me feel festive along with the other “Irish for a day” people. 

After the parade it was off to my parents place for a home cooked meal.  We made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some veggie burgers and a few other things for the non-meat eaters since I knew that there wouldn’t be much on the menu for us.  My Grandma was today’s cook.  She is well versed in country cooking, which involves meat, potatoes, and A LOT of butter.  As a kid I loved it but as an adult who has decided to remove all animal products from my diet it’s not so appetizing.  I don’t try to make her change her cooking style for me; I just bring a few things to make for myself and leave it be.  She did however bring a lot of vegetables from her home garden so I helped myself to some fresh green beans.  So good! I fired up my dad’s BBQ grill and made the veggie burgers for everyone for that nice char-grilled taste.  I had also brought some Tings, which are the vegan equivalent to Cheetos and one billion times better.  After lunch we pulled out the guitars and played a few songs for my family since they couldn’t make it out to the show the night before. 

We made it back to my brother’s place and had a movie night.  Also, everyone decided that I needed to make chocolate chip cookies so, I obliged.  We pulled out the chips and salsa, made popcorn, and I started on making the cookies while everyone watched Harry Potter. 

Rob Jackson

Birmingham, UK

Rob was Education Officer with the Vegan Society for four years, visiting schools giving young people the chance to explore veganism. Now he's moving on to new projects, such as music (www.youtube.com/veganjackson) comedy, acting and also considering his own business.

Friday March 12th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Dorset cereals muesli and homemade cashew nut milk, beans on toast, packet of Redwood chicken pieces, smoothie (cashew milk, Thrive meal replacement powder, banana and frozen blueberries).

Friday I go in to work, so grab a breakfast of muesli and homemade cashew nut milk quick while I'm getting ready. Lunch was also a quick one, couple of pieces of toast and a tin of beans. I was hungry on the way home, so grabbed something convenient - a packet of Redwood chicken pieces (yes I ate them straight from the packet!). I go climbing in the evening, can't much be bothered to cook afterwards so have a smoothie (cashew milk, Thrive meal replacement powder, banana and frozen blueberries). The Thrive meal replacement stuff is an easy way to make sure I'm getting quality nutrition.

Saturday March 13th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Dorset cereals muesli and homemade cashew nut milk, Sainsbury's bean burgers, boiled new potatoes, broccoli, gravy, Tin of mushy peas.

Saturday morning I worked on some writing projects, practised some songs, lazed around a bit and didn't really think about food too much. In the afternoon we started work on my friends garden, tidying up, digging all the big roots out and getting up turf, so I thought I better get some food in before the graft - Dorset cereals muesli and homemade cashew nut milk. After that I was pretty hungry so had a massive plate of burgers and veg including a whole head of broccoli. By the evening I was peckish, but working on some writing again so just went for the easy option of a cold tin of mushy peas! I ate these straight from the tin!

Sunday March 13th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Olive bread, homemade hummus, tomatoes, sauerkraut, ginger pickle and gherkins, Three bean soup and olive bread.

Sunday morning I went shopping, I'd intended to have beans on toast at the cafe there, but when I arrived they'd stopped serving breakfasts and didn't even have any jacket potatoes - so I stayed hungry till I got home and put a nice lunch together of olive bread, homemade hummus, tomatoes, sauerkraut, ginger pickle and gherkins. In the afternoon I caught up on some emails and YouTube vids then had a little nap. When I woke up I was hungry so had a big bowl of soup and finished off the tasty Kalamata olive bread I'd started earlier.

Roi Elam

Portland, OR

Roi of The Material is back on tour for a couple of weeks so here's his weekend diary for Thursday March 3rd - Saturday March 6th (his weekend begins and ends early!). Check out The Material's tour dates at www.myspace.com/thematerial

Thursday March 3rd, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Crunchy Peanut Butter Cliff Bar, Apple, Sourdough Pretzels from Trader Joes, 2 Fresco Bean Burritos from Taco Bell, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, Vegan Chili Dog and Chicago Style Dog from Primo’s.

On the road again…

Today it was off to Flagstaff, AZ to play the first show on the Midwest portion of our tour. I got the day started with my usual cup of coffee along with a Crunchy Peanut Butter Cliff Bar and an apple. Then, it was off to the van to fight the LA traffic. While in the van you tend to get the munchies so, I made a stop at Trader Joe's the day before we left to buy some snacks instead of doing the normal walk of shame out of the gas station. I loaded up on Cliff Bars, Trail Mix, and a box of Sourdough Pretzels. Today my snack of choice was the Pretzels and they were delicious. Our lunch stop today was at Taco Bell. For a small band with limited funds Taco Bell is a place where we can get full for cheap. It’s not the best food but a Fresco Bean burrito is vegan, two of them fill me up, and only cost me $2. We were running late to the show and there was no time for dinner so I had another Cliff Bar, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut this time, to get some energy before we hit the stage. After the show we went to one of our favorite little stops in Flagstaff called Primo’s. They sell Hot Dogs and that’s about it. Luckily for me they have vegan options and they are amazing. I had the Vegan Chili Dog and a Vegan Chicago Style Dog… so good! Now, it was time to hit the road for our overnight 12 hr drive to Denver, CO. Another cup of coffee to fuel me for the drive and we were on our way…

Friday 4th March

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Americano, Apple, Mixed Nuts, Veggie Sandwich from Lenny’s Deli, Vegan Cupcakes from Lovely Confections

This wasn’t the healthiest of days. We made it to Denver, CO around 1pm and headed to a coffee shop that Colleen’s cousin works at named Espressole Caffe. I had an Americano (water and 2 shots of espresso for those who aren’t familiar) and some of the mixed nuts that I brought with me for breakfast since the café didn’t have any vegan food options. Next it was over to the venue, which was a concert hall, BBQ restaurant, and bowling alley all in one. I opted to walk around the corner to a sandwich shop named Lenny’s to get a veggie sandwich since I didn’t trust any food from the BBQ joint. My good friend brought 2 boxes of chocolate and vanilla vegan cupcakes for the band from a local bakery named Lovely Confections. Needless to say, we were all stoked! I spent most of my time before and after we played catching up with some friends that I hadn’t seen since High School, a friend that had just moved to Denver from Oregon (where I live now), and a another friend from Illinois that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Lots of Colorado transplants. The show was great. People are genuinely stoked to see live music in Denver so it makes for an enjoyable experience for us while we are on stage.

We stayed with our good friend Toledo who grew up in LA and recently relocated to Denver (another transplant). He just recently decided to go vegan so I rewarded him with one of the Lovely Confections cupcakes. Toledo is also a DJ so he showed us his set up and let us learn how to use it for a little bit. It’s harder than it looks for sure! At this point my 1 hr of sleep had long worn off so I crawled into my sleeping bag and drifted of into dreamland. Up next…Lincoln, NE. I don’t like my chances for vegan options in Nebraska but we shall see.

Saturday March 5th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED: Coffee, Crunchy Peanut Butter Cliff Bar, Fresco Bean Burrito from Taco Bell, Boca Burger from Buffalo Wild Wings.

This was another long drive so stopping for a good meal wasn’t in our time schedule. We lost an hour due to crossing Time Zones between Denver, CO and Lincoln, NE so our 7hr drive quickly turned into 8, which put us behind schedule. I brought some instant coffee with me so getting my caffeine fix wasn’t a problem and breakfast was another Cliff Bar. We made a quick stop for lunch, which was unfortunately Taco Bell again. I went with just one burrito today hoping that once I got to the venue I would be able to find a better option. Upon arriving to the venue I quickly realized that there was no food available so I had Whisky instead. Not the best choice but, after 3 long drives in a row and a less than desirable load in situation which involved parking in a closed off alley, walking our gear a block to the venue in below freezing temperature, and then having to back our van and trailer out onto the busiest street in Lincoln, I felt that it was needed. After the show we went to a restaurant named Buffalo Wild Wings. This is not the most veg friendly place in the world but they did have a Boca Burger on the menu. Score! The promoter had worked it out with one of his friends to have us stay the night at her house. Along with letting us crash for the night she was gracious enough to buy our food too! After eating we headed over to our new friends house and I slept like a rock. 

Kim Jett

Hollywood, CA

Kim is a rock fan living in California who works at FYE.

Friday Feb 25th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Chai Tea Latte with soy, banana, peanuts, garlic soup, potatoes in vegan butter and garlic salt

This was the day I was still pretty sick, so for breakfast I just had a Chai Tea Latte with soy & a banana from Starbucks. Lunch: some peanuts & garlic soup from Trader Joes. Love this soup cuz it's Vegan, garlic & only $0.99! Dinner: Just fried up some potatoes in vegan butter & garlic salt (still sick, so that was it for dinner).

Saturday Feb 26th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Plain bagel with hummus, tomato, lettuce and cucumber, potato soup, seal salt & pepper crisps, olive hummus, Annie Chum's teriyaki noodle bowl, vegan chicken strips, rice pilaf.

Breakfast: I had a plain bagel toasted with hummus, tomato, lettuce & cucumber. YUMMY! Also some potato soup from a local bagel place by my work that has all vegan soups. Lunch: (at work) Sea salt & pepper crisps with olive hummus & Annie Chun's teriyaki noodle bowl (all from Trader Joe's). Dinner: made some vegan chicken strips & rice pilaf, both from Trader Joe's. This is the first time I have tried the Trader Joe's Chicken strips. WAY better than the "smart" chicken strips!

Sunday Feb 27th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Chai tea, banana, seal salt & pepper crisps, hummus, Pad Thai noodles, toasted baguettes with vegan butter and garlic, daiya mozzarella, basil leaves and tomato.

Breakfast: Late for work, so only a chai tea & banana from starbucks again. Lunch: (at work) more of the sea salt & pepper crisps with hummus and some Pad Thai noodles from Trader Joe's (I shop there a lot for my food for work so I stay away from fast food!) Dinner: This was Oscar night, so my roommate & I roasted some garlic (drools) then toasted some baguettes, spread with butter & the garlic, topped with Daiya mozzarella, basil leaves & tomato. Super easy to make & really really yummy!

Roi Elam

Portland, OR

Roi is the guitarist/backing vocalist in the San Diego-based band, The Material. He sent us the following Friday and Saturday food diary since The Material's final show of their tour was on Saturday...

Friday Feb 25th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Coffee and Multigrain Bagel from Starbucks, Veggie Supreme Burrito from Casa De Pico in San Diego, Kettle Jalapeno Chips, Homemade Vegan Peppermint Patties, Bar food.

This weekend The Material's West Coast Tour came to an end in Southern California. Being on tour means eating out all the time so everyday is an adventure in food land. I always start my morning off with coffee (if I don't I get VERY grumpy) and the Starbucks in Chatsworth, CA happened to be the closest option.  Through my handy Vegan xPress app on my iPhone I know that the Multigrain Bagel is vegan and only $1!  Next it was off to San Diego for our Hometown show. On the way down we made a stop at a gas station and I grabbed one of my favorite snacks, Kettle Jalapeno Chips.  YUM. 

We had a lunch meeting with our artist rep at Taylor Guitars and he graciously took us out for mexican food at Casa De Pico. As a band from Southern California we LOVE mexican food and luckily for me most places are accommodating to vegans. I had the veggie burrito stuffed with sautéed veggies which was amazing. Now with my belly full, it was on to the show. One of our fans made us all homemade vegan peppermint patties which were amazing! Another group of fans brought us a bag full of goodies from Trader Joe's. We have a lot of fans and friends that bring us food and they always bring some vegan goodies for me. We have the best fans! After the show we went for some drinks with some good friends and dined on french fries and beer. It was a good day.

Saturday Feb 26th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Coffee and Banana from a gas station, Veggie Pizza from Pizza Port, full spread of Greek Food catered at our show, Trader Joe's Carmel Corn.

After our show in San Diego it was off to Northridge, CA for the last show of our West Coast Tour.  I grabbed some disappointing (as expected) coffee from a gas station and a banana for my breakfast. On our way up the coast we stopped at one of our favorite places to get pizza in So Cal called Pizza Port. Their Garlic Veggie Pizza without the Cheese is so amazing! Now, stuffed with pizza goodness, it was on to load in for our show. We were all excited to hear that the venue was providing greek food for dinner and had made special arrangements for me and the other herbivores in my band. I stuffed myself full of Stuffed Grape Leaves, Hummus and Pita, and Tabouli which was all quite tasty. After the show I dug into the bag of goodies from Trader Joe's and had some Carmel Corn to satisfy my sweet tooth and then, being tired from our month long excursion, I crashed out for some much needed post tour sleep.

Natasha Scharf

London. UK

Natasha is a London-based DJ and music journalist who is currently writing a book entitled 'Worldwide Gothic'.

Saturday Feb 19th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Supermarket-brand malted wheat with dried fruit, handful of blueberries and fortified soya milk. No added sugar blackcurrant squash (several glasses of!). Banana. Two plain rice cakes. Cup of rooibus tea with fortified soya milk and half a teaspoon of brown sugar. Two cubes of 74% chocolate. Glass of lychee juice. Risotto made with garlic, onion, quarter of a squash roasted with olive oil, chopped asparagus, sweet red peppers, dried rosemary and sliced tofu weiners. Pieces of baguette with Pure margarine. Bowl of: fresh raspberries, physalis, pomegranate, kiwi fruit plus scoops of soya iced dessert in raspberry and vanilla with broken biscuits made from plain flour, Pure margarine, brown sugar and oats.

I'm coming to the end of writing my first book but took the afternoon off to go to my boyfriend's. He was feeling creative and decided to purchase a plethora of exotic fruits from the supermarket which I had to turn into a pudding. Because of my writing, I've not had time to cook from scratch recently so I made a risotto and attempted to make a fruit tart but left the biscuit base in the oven so long it attached itself to the baking dish and broke upon removal, hence broken biscuits! I did have some soya squirty cream but made the mistake of leaving that at my boyfriend's last week and the cheeky (omni) beggar consumed the entire can in my absence so no squirty cream this time :(

Sunday Feb 20th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - 3 weetabix with dried fruit, handful of raspberries and fortified soya milk. No added sugar squash. Four plain rice cakes. Handful of mixed seeds. Several cubes of 74% chocolate and more physalis. Cinamon and raison bagel. Three coconut-coated dates. Piece of baguette with ketchup and tofu weiners, left-over cold roasted squash, asparagus, mange tout, red peppers, tinned new potatoes with lots of black pepper. De-caffeinated green tea.

Breakfast at my boyfriend's before heading back to mine to graze while writing and then finish off the left-overs from the night before's risotto. I try to force myself to make time for a proper lunch when I'm writing but I got a bit distracted by words today so made up for it with a bigger dinner. I am currently addicted to coconut-coated dates, which some friends brought me from the States - I have to be careful not to eat too many in one go as they're very high in fibre!

Shari Black Velvet

Redditch, Worcs. UK

SaveAScream.com (& Black Velvet Magazine) owner/editor.

Saturday Feb 18th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Banana Soya Milkshake, Herb & Chives Cream Cheese on Toast, Hash Browns, Meat Free Fingers, Baked Beans & Veggie Sausage, Wild Rocket, Violet Buds Sweets, Pomegranate, protein & banana smoothie.

This weekend I was happy to have a lie-in - as my previous weekend was a hectic two gig and two interview weekend. After late nights all week (which included not going to bed till about 4am on three nights) I needed sleep. So I didn't get up until nearly 4pm on Saturday afternoon! Breakfast at weekends starts off in the form of Provamel banana flavour milkshake. I used to drink a full carton but have lately tried to only have about half a carton. I need to lose a bit of weight! I then ate a slice of herb & chives cream cheese on brown breaded toast (I am addicted to herb & chives cream cheese!). At around 5.30pm it was time for a bigger meal so I grabbed 3 hash browns, 3 meat-free fingers and a Linda McCartney veggie sausage and put them in the oven. I added some baked beans and a bit of wild rocket to the plate and ate it all.

When I'm working on Black Velvet at home I have a tendency to bite my lip. I've started eating boiled sweets in a bid to try and stop biting my lip (as it gives me horrible lines either side of my mouth!). So I always have a carton of Chelsea Sweets Violet Buds to hand (you can buy these from http://www.ethical-treats.co.uk). These are delicious and I get through quite a few! I drank some water and around 10pm made a smoothie with the aid of my new blender. I'm currently loving my mixture of pomegranate juice, soya protein and a banana. I also added a peach that looked like it needed to be eaten! I also couldn't resist another herb & chives cream cheese on toast. My thighs no doubt hate me for it, but never mind!

Sunday Feb 19th, 2011

FOOD & DRINK CONSUMED - Banana Soya Milkshake, Walkers crisps - Jimmy Con Carrne & Frank Roast Dinner Flavour (lots of them!), Violet Buds, Pomegranate, protein & banana smoothie.

After not getting to bed again until 4.30am (I was working on Black Velvet!) I slept in until about 3.30pm (next weekend I have ushering so will have to get up early, ugh!). I did the usual frothie banana soya milkshake (I bought a Kenwood Frothie the other year so froth my milkshake up before drinking it!). I'd asked my mother if she could look for the new vegan-friendly Walkers crisps for me while shopping at Tescos - so she brought me a 6 pack of Frank Roast Dinner and Jimmy Con Carrne flavours to try. I tried one packet of each - and decided that Frank Roast Dinner was the best - and then proceeded to eat three more packets! Washed them all down with some tap water. When I discover new food I do have a tendency to eat loads of it, if I like it. I think I will be eating quite a few Frank Roast Dinner packers of Walkers - until they unfortunately stop selling them. At 9pm I started eating a few violet buds and I had a Whole Earth Cola... before making my smoothie of the day... and having another couple of packets of Frank Roast Dinner packet of crisps (that's that 6 pack gone then!)! Dear diet - I will start you next week. Or maybe not. Someone told me to drink protein smoothies in a bid to stop eating such bad food and lose some weight - but it's not really working! I eat as much food while drinking the smoothies as I did before!

Send YOUR weekend vegan food and drink diary to editor@saveascream.com and we'll add you to this page!

If you'd like to send us your food diary to put on this page, please follow these instructions:

Set the diary out a day at a time. ie. Friday March 18th, 2011. Saturday March 19th, 2011. Sunday March 20th, 2011. One below the other.

For each day write a full list of all the food and drink that you have consumed on that day.

Underneath this list, write a paragraph about that day - including the food - what you ate, when you ate it, why you decided to eat it, how it was.

Send us a photo to go with it.

If in any doubt check the ones on this page and lay it out the same. :-)