I was thinking this morning how difficult I find it to create exciting new meals in the morning. I for one am not a morning person so anything involving the early hours is tough enough. Yet, I have been craving a proper breakfast recently. One fit for a Gluten Free Vegan Queen.
See the problem is that whenever I go out for breakfast, the options for me are pretty much the sides for everyone else. I end up with a plate of Baked Beans, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and some form of Breakfast Potato. Not what I call a proper fry up and pretty boring for a whole plate of food. At least this is when I have an option other than a bowl of fruit. I wish there was a Mae Deli nearby as they do breakfasts properly.
My quest to find a proper breakfast so far has come to nothing. Even my attempts at pancakes fall flat. (Pun intended.) Below are those attempts, failure is okay although I do long for a hot breakfast or a good pancake recipe that isn't too densely sweet!
Attempt no 1 - Bluegrass BBQ in Reading
This place is by definition not somewhere for me, although Chris and friends adore it so on hangover mornings we end up there. A few times I have opted not to go and instead enjoy the peace & quiet at home with a bowl of cereal. This would be why...
As you can see, fries for breakfast. Not ideal, they are tasty but I really don't see them as a Breakfast food. Their BBQ Beans are pretty nice, the Mushrooms (that were supposed to be Portobello) were okay just not what I expected and the Tomato was nicely browned.
Altogether it is a dish of parts, not well combined and definitely not a proper Breakfast for me. Thought it is okay when I am feeling like a big plate of junk food in the morning. The positive takeaway from this restaurant is that they have a Gluten Free Plate for Breakfast so Intolerance has made it! However asking for a Vegan plate from a BBQ Meat place is taking it a little too far!
Attempt no 2 - Maritimo Lounge in Ocean Village, Southampton
So the first time I saw that they offered both a Vegan menu and a Gluten Free menu, I was impressed. They did Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in both meaning it was a great place to try. I first went there in April last year after my operation, I thought it was a really good plate of food. Sadly since then, they have gone downhill quite a bit.
The menu strangely has stayed the same, though you wouldn't be able to tell from what you receive on the plate. The first time I got a generous helping of Hash Browns, Falafel, Baked Beans, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Spinach and Peppers with a lovely Bread Bun on the side. I thought it to be a great breakfast that was a decent size plate of food with variety and complimenting each other. Not a plate of sides.
I went back there just before New Year and the second picture is what I received. A singular Potato Waffle that was really odd, a lonely Tomato, sadly made Mushrooms, a tiny pot of Baked Beans, some Spinach and Falafel. Oh and a piece of bread that looked too good to be truly allergen free.
All in all, I was disappointed. Not what I had discovered before and the service was terrible. First, I watched my parents eat and then my meal came over lukewarm for their turn to watch me. Bad service. Bad meal. It was sad to see such a drastic change in less than a year, and it wasn't just my food, my parents had noticed their own dishes downsized and lukewarm as well.
Hence the importance to stress how good these places are that serve GFV meals when they are still taking the time to serve great food. Before it is too late and this downhill slide starts to happen.
Attempt no 3 - Homemade Pancakes 1
If you can't find what you want out of the house, then make it right? So that's what I did last year, I found a packet mix from Amisa and naturally it was the easy way so I tried it!
All you need is some oil, and to make it Vegan, some Almond Milk, more if you don't want to use the artificial eggs which I try to avoid. Maybe next time I could try using Flax Eggs.
Anyway, they were unbelievably dense and too much to bare. I made it through about two before giving in. Not only were they sweet but they were too closely combined giving it a squidgy texture that is so hard to compare to anything else. They were so far from the light and fluffy beautiful pancakes that I experienced in America that it just made me feel sad and a bit sick.
Not what you want when you turn to Pancakes for a great start to your day. I have used the mix again, adding Chocolate Chips to try to break it up but that only made it sweeter and more sickly. Fail no 1 at Pancakes.
Attempt no 4 - Homemade Pancakes 2
Not defeated enough the first time, I decided I had to give Pancakes another go. After all there are so many Pinterest recipes for GFV and you would think I could somehow get to that perfect consistency.
To prove that theory, there was a place called Hack the Stack that sold their Pancakes on Deliveroo. Sadly it has since disappeared, but they did the most beautifully fluffy perfect Pancakes that weren't too sweet. I really miss them and I only had them once!
Anyway, I decided it was time that I tried the three ingredient pancakes that were so well promoted online. I thought that I must be onto a winner if everyone was making them! All that I needed were Gluten Free Oats, Almond Milk and Banana, plus a blender.
I combined them all and the mixture was super thick and gloopy, not the best mixture for pancakes yet I stuck with it. They cooked pretty well and looked like pancakes, just maybe a little darker than usual. I stacked them up, put on the maple syrup and tried some. Hmmmm, certainly an interesting flavour and consistency. I just couldn't get past the warm banana taste which was not pleasant and the half cooked cake mixture texture. Again. Fail.
These have been some of my most recent attempts at going out or trying my hand at a homemade proper breakfast. Rather than my usual bowl of cereal or yoghurt with some form of fruit. Sadly I've had a lot of failures, yet I am still undeterred and my search continues. If I can ever get up early enough to put my butt on a train into London to visit a Deliciously Ella deli for breakfast then I will do.
For now, more experimentation at home and I shall try to find a decent place for breakfast nearby! Any local Vegans, or even better Gluten Free Vegans, if you have suggestions then I beg you to please shout about them in the comments!
Happy #Veganuary Day 29! Never let yourself be disheartened by too many failures, they are there to help you get to the best result!