How to make vegan Baileys in 4 simple steps this Xmas

Step 1: Buy some Rice Dream Hazelnut and Almond Flavour (as pictured below), available from Holland and Barrett for £1.99 or from any good health shop.

Step 2: Buy a bottle of Irish whiskey (as pictured on the left). Any Irish whiskey will do, but not a Scotch whiskey - Remember Baileys is an Irish cream liqueur!

Step 3: Pour some whiskey into a clean glass and add some hazelnut-almond milk - a good measure is about one fifth whiskey to 4 fifths milk for that real Baileys taste but you can make it weaker or stronger depending on your own preference. Stirring the drink is optional if you want to mix whiskey through but it's not necessary.

Step 4: Drink and enjoy!

If you have anymore recipes you would like to add to the blogspot let me know on Facebook and I'll add them here so we can attach some proper links and pictures.

Cheers!  :)

by Petrina.

2011 Update

Hello to everyone in veggie-land! I haven't updated the blog in a while, mainly because most of our members are on Facebook and so the blog tends to go unnoticed. But I'm aware that some of our members have been checking out the blog recently, and we also have several veg-heads who are not on Facebook, so here is a wee update just for you. :)

Well, first of all, the veg-heads had another pot-luck in April to say a fond farewell to Daniel who was moving back to Derry for a while. It was another veg-tastic night (from what I can remember - it was several months ago and quite a few drinks were had!), and luckily for us Daniel is still a very active member online.

I have mentioned the dreaded 'F' word several times already in this post, but I'm afraid the second point does revolve around Facebook. Most of our group activity is conducted via our Facebook group, The New Belfast Veg-Heads, and recently we have had an influx of brand new members who have reinvigorated the group. Please do check it out if you get a chance - there are numerous discussions underway right now covering everything from raw veganism to the idea of a religious/philosophical basis for veganism.

Thirdly, Belfast's infamous veggie cafe, Giro's is back up and running in its new location in Little Victoria Street, round the corner from both the Europa Hotel and the Moviehouse theatre on Dublin Road. Giro's is a volunteer-led vegan-friendly cafe organised by the Warzone Collective and currently operates on Saturday afternoons between 12-6pm. It is BYOB after 4pm. Come down and sample their famous veggie burgers as well as other delicious vegan meals/snacks.

Finally, the veg-heads have found another Northern Ireland-based veggie group, the V*n NI Lounge Meetup. They recently held a raw vegan potluck in Strangford, which 5 of the veg-heads attended and I have since heard rave reviews about how fantastic the food and the people were. Check out their page and join them at http://www.meetup.com/Northern-Ireland-Vegetarian-Vegan/?a=wm1&rv=wm1&ec=wm1 as they hope to plan more potlucks in the new year.

Well, that's all the news for now. Wishing you all season's greetings, if you're into that kind of thing, and hope you all have a great new year. I shall bring you more news in 2012.
TTFN, Petrina.

Other Vege Belfast news- R.I.P. Oodles and World Peace Cafe

Several months ago I wrote about 2 of my favourite veggie-friendly places in Belfast - Oodles Noodles and World Peace Cafe. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say that both of these lovely cafes have since closed down. Oodles was always a very small and relatively quiet noodle bar because of its size and location. Despite how lovely the food was it was only ever busy at lunchtimes and weekend evenings and even then it was quieter than other local restaurants. Of course, this was part of its charm as it meant the staff were always much friendlier and took the time to chat with their clientele. Since Xmas 2010 it has been closed with a 'To Let' sign outside and it has recently been taken over by the sandwich chain, Doorsteps.

World Peace Cafe was a voluntary-ran cafe below the Buddhist centre in Donegall Pass, Belfast but since June last year it has remained on hiatus and then eventually it permanently closed down.

I have removed these cafes from our veggie-friendly list on the blogspot homepage. But do not despair, as we have found that actually many restaurants in Belfast, even those without explicitly veggie/vegan items on their menus, can be very accommodating and are willing to make substitutions if need be to satisfy our requirements. In addition, bigger chains like Pizza Express and Wagamama have great veggie options and are open around Belfast. I have also added to the list some more places which are very popular with fellow Belfast vege people, like Boojum, and if you have any recommendations for good veggie-friendly food places do please let us know.

In the meantime, we will miss you Oodles and World Peace Cafe, and we hope you may be reincarnated elsewhere in the city soon. R.I.P.

Petrina.

Latest Veg-Head update

Hi there, lovely people. This is just a quick post to update any of our non-facebook followers. Since our last post in November we have had two more successful potlucks. The first of these was hosted by Adrienne in November and the latest one was hosted by Daniel in February. We also had our annual veg-heads Xmas night out in December at the Limelight, Belfast where much alcohol and drunken antics were partaken of.

We are hoping to have another potluck in April and we will be organising other events like veggie picnics and so on once the warmer summer weather returns. In addition, we are trying to organise a charity event for August called 'Bike 4 Bears', which aims to raise money for the WSPA's work to help rescue bears from cruel practices like bear-baiting.

The number of members in the group is still growing all the time and it's great to get the opportunity to meet so many new people. As Belfast is such a small city, and nowhere near as veggie-friendly as (the relatively) nearby cities like Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester, it can sometimes feel like you are a complete outcast and a weirdo living here, especially when you hear ignorant comments to that effect from other people. But rest-assured that you can be a very happy and healthy vegetarian or vegan living in Northern Ireland, and the Belfast veg-heads are here to make life that little bit easier for you.  Our main source of news and information is still facebook so please request to join us there if  you have not already done so. 

That's all for now.

Vege Hugs.
Petrina.

November Veggie Pot-luck!

Hey all. The Belfast Veg-Heads will be having its next veggie potluck on November 20th and is kindly being hosted by Adrienne (the event is also to celebrate the big move to her new abode!)

To find out more about the time and location of the event if you're interested in attending please check out the facebook page. Hope to see you there for yummy veggie food.

Vegan hugs!

All the latest Veg-Heads news!

Hey all, if any of you have checked out our blogspot in the past you may remember that I wrote a wee piece on thrifty vegan spending for things like skincare products, cosmetics etc. So, just to update you on a few of those things. Firstly, see Michelle's post on facebook about how Simple shampoo/conditioner is now available in Poundland in Belfast. A pound I tells ya!!! You can't beat it. In addition, Poundland occasionally provide Original Source showergel, which is vegan and a few other products from Simple so keep your eyes peeled for vegan bargains.

Secondly, Lush have made even more of its products vegan and the range is expanding all the time. Not only that but they support animal rights causes like their current xmas campaign to ban greyhound racing, so please do try to support them in their efforts whilst also smelling like you fell into a bathtub of beautiful fragrances!! :p

And lastly, Superdrug have also expanded their vegan range. I actually get giddy with excitement when I go into Superdrug and find the latest thing they've brought out that's all vegan-friendly. Like recently I discovered some lovely face-masks - a cucumber one and a chocolate one - all vegan! So pop in for a wee nosey and join me in this mild vegan giddiness! Lol.

In other veg-heads news, we are hoping to have a potluck in November, which is world vegan month, so watch out for an invite. Also, the Queens Vegetarian and Vegan Society is up and running again this semester and they are hoping to have a stall in the students union before xmas and they have asked for our help with leaflets and volunteers so if anyone is up for that just let Donna or me know.

That's all for now folks.
(Vegan Hugs)
Petrina.

Vegan Potluck Success- 3rd July

In our last update we mentioned that there was some discussion within the group about having a cookery club as a more informal way of getting our members together on a regular basis, but after some consideration this idea proved to be difficult to arrange in practice as we couldn't find a space big enough for everyone to cook in! So, as a compromise we decided to arrange our first vegan potluck, and lucky for us we managed to coincide this with a housewarming for one of our newest members, Daniel. Last Saturday (July 3rd), a bunch of us made some delicious vegan food and congregated in Daniel's new pad for a lovely evening of drinking, sampling vegan culinary delights and chatting, and with the success of this first potluck we have decided to make it a monthly affair.

The date for the next potluck will be Saturday August 14th 2010, with the time and venue yet to be confirmed. Details will be updated as and when we get them on the facebook page so keep checking it regularly. And don't forget to spread the word to any fellow veg-heads about joining the group. It really is a great way to make new friends. :)

That's all for now, folks!

Cheers and vegan hugs!

Donna and Petrina.