Things I Loved This Month, August 2014.

This month I've loved, 

* Chocolate brownies * My nieces first birthday, she is getting so big and clever, she can say 'Susie' now, but has only done it once in front of me! * overtime at work * booking tickets to go to Legoland next month * takeaway curry * watching Primeval, Doctor Who, Great British Bake Off, Melissa and Joey * tidying my little house * taking part in Make do and Mend hour on Twitter - fun! * bargain dresses * baths with lush bath bombs * crochet skulls * my boyfriend getting a new job * seeing Guardians of the Galaxy at the new big Imax cinema by me, I love Groot * new house plants * my heating breaking but only costing £45 to fix * sleep * gardening * my mum helping me put a new shower curtain up, after the old one fell down and hit me on the head repeatedly about 10 months ago! * my mum buying me a tiny pink eraser in the shape of a hamster * coming home to a bunch of flowers and my tea being made for me (vegan wellington, roast potatoes and peas), the croissants the next morning, I have a very nice boyfriend! * having a good appraisal thingy at work * making vegan cheese and onion crisps * meeting up with my Rainbow Guides ladies * finding a conker * seeing The Wind Rises at the cinema * really good homemade flatbreads! * Bank holiday * spicy bean burgers and chips at the pub * payday * books I requested coming in at work * seeing Wicked at the theatre, it was amazing, amazing, amazing!  I have listened to the soundtrack about 30 times since seeing it last Thursday! (which I'm sure my neighbours love!) * 

What have you loved this month? 

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Home Grown Harvest, August 2014.

Can you see a pattern emerging this month!!??

I have had more courgettes I just haven't photographed them all.  I've also had some home grown chives.  That's about it this month.

What have you been harvesting?

Street Art, Birmingham.

I was in Birmingham this afternoon (to see Wicked, which was so so good!) and snapped a few photos of some street art I spotted around the China Town/ Gay Village area of the city.

I love street art, do you?

Simple Pleasures #15.

The first conker I've seen this year.

Charity Shop Treasure, Knitting Bag and Pomander Piglets.

My recent second hand finds, 

The middle pomander piglet was my mums, the 2 either side are new to me.  I love their eyelashes!  10p each, car boot sale.

I love this knitting bag!  £2, charity shop.

Have you found any treasure lately?

Linking up with Nifty Thrifty and Thriftasaurus 

Easy, Cheap, Vegan Meal Ideas. Vegan Fry up, Summer Greens Stir Fry, Black Pepper and Pine Nut Pasta.

Here are some more of my easy, cheap, vegan meal ideas,

I like the occasional vegan fry up, for breakfast, lunch or tea.  This one has a Linda Mcartney sausage, mushrooms, potato slices and fried bread.  I like baked beans and hash browns too (Morrisons own brand frozen ones are lovely), but I didn't have any in the cupboards this time.  

I make this with whatever greens I currently have growing in my garden, chard, spinach or kale all work equally well.  Fry some garlic (I do about 4 cloves in this to make it Really Garlicky), add the greens and fry until wilted, sprinkle on some nutritional yeast flakes, add some cooked brown rice, fry a little more and you're done.  This tastes healthy and yummy.  It's perfect comfort food for when you're poorly too.

Black pepper and pine nut pasta is one of my new favourites.  Cook some pasta and lightly toast some pine nuts in a pan.  Once the pasta is cooked and drained pop in a little vegan margarine, salt, black pepper and the pine nuts, mix together until all the vegan margarine has melted and it's done.  

What easy, cheap, vegan meals do you make?

Linking up with Flaunt it Friday and Making, Making Do and Mending Linky.

Simple Pleasures #14.

Funny, fluffy flowers (and having a mum to give said flowers to as a thank you for waiting in for the man to fix my boiler while I was at work!).

August Garden.

It's been a while since I last showed you my garden plot at my mums house.  It's fair to say it's grown a bit since then! 

This is my little plot, my courgette is huge and the sweetcorn is taller than me!  The broad beans are nearly over, I'm just waiting for the last few pods to embiggen.

I'm trying to get to the courgettes before they get too big, they're nicer to eat when they're small and the plant keeps producing more courgettes for longer when you pick them more often.  I picked 3 small ones today and can see loads more coming.

I love the fluffy bits on sweetcorn!  These have shot up in the last couple of weeks!

 My rainbow chard has grown well, but has been eaten to pieces by slugs and snails.  I've cut it all back in the hopes it'll grow again and I can get to it before the insects/gastropods!  My spinach and curly kale have been rubbish this year, no joy at all.

I was kept company in the garden by this little squirrel, who had a spectacular chasing round and round the tree fight with another squirrel.  He then sat in the tree barking to keep the other squirrel off his property!

How are your gardens doing?

How to Make Vegan Cheese and Onion Crisps. Cheap, Easy, Homemade Vegan Crisps!!

The thing I miss most from my pre-vegan days is cheese and onion crisps.  In the last couple of years there have been a few vegan versions launched, but they're expensive and looking at the ingredients I figured I could make my own.  And I can! I feel very clever about this!  Really it's the cheese and onion flavouring I'm making, not the crisps, but I'm sure you can do this method with home made crisps if you wish.  

You will need...

1 bag of ready salted crisps.

Nutritional yeast flakes.

Onion granules.

a tea spoon.

Open your bag of crisps and put half a teaspoon of onion granules and a whole teaspoon of nutritional yeast flakes in (although, this is to taste, you might need to experiment).

Hold the bag at the top and shake!

The end.  Your crisps are now covered in a fine coating of onion and nooch and taste delicious, just like cheese and onion crisps but vegan.

So simple and cheap and yummy! 

Do you make any genius vegan foods?

Linking up with Flaunt it Friday.

from here

My Frugal, Penny Jar Savings Challenge. Update.

A while ago I posted about my frugal, penny jar savings challenge.  I want to save about £70 in my savings jar, to take to the change machine in the supermarket, to exchange for vouchers to pay for food in December and January.

The jar's been looking quite full for a while now, and last night I counted it all out.

I have £31.21!  And I still have the dime and the googly eyes.

I'm almost half way there!  

Are you saving up for something?

Charity Shopping, Avon Owl, Plant Pot and Pillow Cases.

I had a day off work today so I treated myself to a wander 'round the charity shops.  This is what I bought.

Avon owl jar, 75p, charity shop.

Tiny floral plant pot, 50p, charity shop.  

Fabric in the background, retro pillowcases, 50p each, charity shop.

Have you bought any treasures lately?

Easy Green Actions, August 2014.

Here's this months round up of easy, green actions,

Join in with CPRE's pledge to refuse single use plastic bags.

Use Oxfam's online form to petition David Cameron, asking to prevent climate change related food shortages. 

Take part in the Climate Coalition's campaign, share what you love in the name of preventing climate change.  

Don't forget to sign up for Zero Waste Week next month.

If you have any causes or actions to add then let me know in the comments and if I like it I'll add it in.  And feel free to share any of this info (or the whole post) wherever and with whoever you like - if you sign any of the petitions and use social media then please consider using the share on facebook or twitter options that pop up, it increases the reach of these actions and awareness of these issues even further.