Can you believe that four years have passed since my original vegan Easter eggs post, back in 2015? A lot has changed since then! Never mind my own personal life – the vegan world has gotten much, much bigger. I can buy a vegan sausage roll from Greggs. I can buy a pizza with vegan cheese from Papa Johns. I can buy vegan protein cookies from My Protein. So, are you really surprised that there are more vegan Easter eggs to choose from than ever before?
“Grab and give” is my new version of “grab and go” and these sugar-free apple muffins are perfect for just that. Why have I moved on from ‘grab and go’? Seriously, have you tried ‘just’ going anywhere with two babies? It’s impossible! Everything is a military operation. Going out for a whole day? Practically Marine level! So that means easy, grab and give foods for me, and for the babies.
If a fresh meal can be cooked in about 15 hands-on minutes (or less, preferably less), it’s a winner in my book. As much as I love cooking, I love having time with my husband more. Or just sit quietly with no noise.
Or, more realistically, having time to fold laundry and sort out the latest cloth nappy wash. That’s why I like making this spicy peanut butter sauce for an easy vegan stir fry dinner.
My biggest beauty regime tip for new mums? Stop. Just, stop. Seriously, stop. Stop beating yourself up. Stop thinking you should be doing it better. Stop thinking you’re doing it wrong. Stop thinking you should be able to find the time.
I’ve written before about how we enjoy “Pancake Sunday” at my house. Since the twins were born, we’ve kind of let it slide – but now that they are experimenting with food I really want it to pick it up again. Usually, my pancakes have protein powder, or at the very least some sugar – but to share breakfast with the kids, I needed to strip the pancakes back to far simpler ingredients. For the past few weeks, we’ve all sat down together and enjoyed these vegan, sugar free pancakes instead.
Yep, #MumLife is my life. I get a lot of comments from the general public about how they don’t know how I do it (with twins)/how they couldn’t do it (twins) etc. So I thought, well, why don’t I share! There’s so secret: it’s basically just controlled chaos. Those first sleepy morning grins though, they make it worth it.
I’m now weaning my twins in a largely baby-led manor, but to be honest I’m not against the odd bit of purée. My daughter squeals with delight at spoonfuls of food coming in her direction and I find it very hard to deny myself those squeals. However, most of their food is baby-led and an early favourite has been these easy garlicky mashed potato cakes – perfect for when you have leftover vegetables or mashed potatoes (or both!).
I was hesitant about writing this – and even more so about sharing it. There is so much made of having a positive birth, of the ‘Golden Hour’, of colostrum and birth plans, pain-free/pain-less births, transformative births… that the idea of sharing something less than perfect is really quite intimidating. However, I’ve always found that writing down things like this can be quite cathartic so, I have.
And I think, at nearly four months postpartum, I’m finally ready to share it and, hopefully, open a discussion about less than perfect birth stories.
As a quickly pour homemade muesli into a bowl these days, I have a memory, almost a distant one now, of getting up in the morning, mooching downstairs and dallying over what to have for breakfast. Labouring over vegan pancakes, drizzling over warm, runny, peanut butter or tahini. Artfully placing berries on the plate and serving it up with fresh coffee and juice for my husband and me.