For the past few years, Christmas has been tough for me as it is a very food focused time of the year and it is difficult to see everyone enjoy all the foods that I used to love such as Yule Log, all the different types of cheeses with crackers and croissants for Christmas morning. So this year, I made the decision that this wasn't going to happen again, Christmas is for everyone and I was going to enjoy all the food I could think of!
Our Christmas started on the 23rd, we went to visit our family in Essex for a buffet dinner and a catch up with our closest family. As we were travelling early in the morning, I prepared the harder parts the day before in order for it to be easier when I was with my family. I roasted some sweet potatoes with a little ground cumin for a little side dish and I made a tomato and pepper sauce to go inside the mushrooms
On the day, whilst everyone was helping themselves to sausages, part baked rolls, pizza etc, I added the sauce to my mushrooms and topped them with some melting Violife cheese. I cooked them for 10 minutes and then enjoyed them with the pre-prepared cold sweet potato and some salad, I underestimated how good it felt to be enjoying proper food whilst everyone tucked in as well. Myself and my family were pretty impressed by the mushrooms, I did it without a recipe and they turned out really well! Usually I just have to eat the salad or whatever is possible from the selection so being prepared and bringing my own food was a great idea I will be repeating for future family events.
I then enjoyed a bit of the brownie I made the day before using the Tesco Brownie mix whilst everyone tucked into their yule log, mince pies and cheesecake. It was a lovely day spent with family and for once, I wasn't jealous or upset about the food situation, my first win of Christmas!
On Christmas Eve, we decided to have the festive favourite of part baked rolls for lunch. I'm not sure why these are something we as a family enjoy only around the holidays but it is definitely something I have been missing for a few years now. That was until a couple of months ago when I found some part baked baguettes in Asda from Schar.
I enjoyed this baguette with some slices of Violife Cheese, Cucumber and Vegan Mayo with some Nature's Store Tomato Corn Roll crisps. A lunch fit for such a festive time, quick and easy yet simply fresh and delicious. The part baked Baguette is to me just as I remembered them to be, nice and crispy exterior with a gloriously fresh doughy interior.
For dinner, I made one of my childhood favourites which I haven't had for about 10 years now, cheese and pineapple sticks! Then we had another buffet, I didn't fancy making anything major as I'd spent a few hours making the nut roast (more on that later) so I had a picky dinner of cheese and pineapple, crudités and chips! I also had a cheeky Jam Tart for dessert just because it's Christmas you know!
As for the nut roast, Mum and I spent about an hour and a half preparing it for Christmas Day's feast! Never underestimate the level of chopping, dicing and peeling it takes to make vegan food! I had my dad on pistachio duty as I couldn't get any that were already shelled, poor guy peeled 100g worth without eating one! Then myself and mum cut a butternut squash, aubergine, red pepper, garlic and 8 shallots (they are pretty hardcore, poor mum was streaming!). We also had to de-leaf three lots of herbs, which is quite a long process, but it smelt amazing so I'm sure it was worth it!
After cooking the separate components and pulsing them all with a food processor, I hand mixed it and then realised just how much this recipe made! I filled two loaf tins worth, but my parents said they'd try it so I was sure it'd get eaten!
I found this recipe from Tesco on Pinterest... https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/vegan-nut-roast.html?pp=1.
Then it came to the main event, we had a lovely day full of laughs, presents and food! I was very pleased with how everyone reacted to the presents I had made, I did a homemade Christmas this year and it was pretty scary watching everyone open their Becki original!
Chris also came to realise where I got my competitiveness from when we played some games that I grew up with and he quickly joined sides with my parents to try to bring me down! It was a great laugh, haven't laughed that much in ages and really made me grateful for what I have!
Anyway back to the food, for Breakfast I had a simple one of a Part Baked roll with Jam on. I didn't fancy anything big as the rest of the day would be full of food but with everyone having pastries or bread I wanted something similar!
The main food love story of the day was Christmas lunch, the nut roast was put in the oven which made me both nervous and excited as it was probably the most complicated dish I have ever made! Mum did the rest of the cooking, so I cannot take credit for much else but I can say it was one of the best I've had in the recent years. I always struggle to find something to replace the turkey, but where I've been more adventurous recently I was determined to make it a good one this year!
The Nut Roast was a little crumbly when we got it out to cut, but it smelt incredible and looked delicious. It had a crunchy surround with a centre that was packed full of amazing vegetables, nuts and herbs combined to create what I thought was a homemade masterpiece!
A slice of that with my mums incredible roast potatoes, beautifully sweet parsnips, new for me Brussel sprouts (they weren't that bad!) and my all time favourite veg, peas topped with a gloopy gravy from Tesco, it was a combination made in homemade Christmas dinner heaven!
The nut roast was packed full of flavour and each bite was amazing, they were laughing at me while I kept making noises eating. I usually would have put tofu on the plate or something boring, so I'm very glad I challenged myself this year!
As for the dinner snack, after going in for seconds of the nut roast, parsnips, potatoes and well all of it actually... I wasn't really too hungry but a small plate of Becki Friendly version cheese and biscuits was a must. Again this is a tradition we have always had, a little buffet of cheeses and crudités etc for the late Christmas evening snack, something I have missed out on for too many years to count now.
However, not this year. I had my version and it was wonderful! More cheese and pineapple sticks, some Nairn biscuits with cheese slices and some with cream cheese (all from Violife) and I was happy! I even indulged in a Sainsbury's mince pie!
This Christmas has taught me a good lesson, just because you can't eat the normal food that everyone eats, that doesn't mean you can't then enjoy eating like a Queen for a few days. I just need to put a little more effort into pre-preparing food and making sure I have a version that I'll be happy with so I don't feel left out or upset from the memories I have of eating the same thing when I was growing up.
Christmas is all about family for me, this was the best part of the last few days, spending time with them and bringing Chris into it with open arms as it was his first away from his own family. Food is something that brings us all together, my Nan is notorious for feeding about 50 when there is only 5, so to share in this was great.
For those of you who had a tough Christmas this year as it was one of your first with new allergies or intolerances, or simply you struggled to think of exciting food to eat. I have written a full list of what I ate over the past few days below so you can learn for next year or simply try throughout your every day. I know mine wasn't that intricate or overly exciting, but for me, eating similar to my family was something I needed to do to make me feel good and it really worked!
I'll be eating my nut roast for weeks to come!
Merry Christmas everyone and I wish you a very Healthy Happy New Year!
My food list... (all of it is Vegan and Gluten Free)
Mushroom Pizza Recipe (will be released in a recipe blog)
Sweet Potato Cubes baked and sprinkled with a little cumin
Brownie Mix (Tesco)
Schar Part Baked Half Baguettes (Asda)
Violife Normal Cheese Slices (Asda)
Flora Vegan Spreadable (Tesco)
Mayola Vegan Mayo or Chippa Vegan Mayo (Sainsburys or Tesco)
Nature's Store Tomato Corn Rolls (Sainsburys)
Violife Normal Flavour Cheese Block (Asda or Sainsburys)
Tinned Pineapple Chunks
Jam Tarts (Sainsburys)
Finest Strawberry Jam (Tesco)
Nut Roast from Tesco website (I will also write up)
Violife Creamy Original Flavour Cheese (Asda)
Nairns Superseeded Crackers (Sainsburys)
Iced Mince Pies (Sainsburys)