Sunday 27 March 2016

Asian Noodle Salad ft. Tenderstem®* [VEGAN]

Here's a new recipe for a tasty, vegan Asian noodle salad featuring some yummuy Tenderstem®. Head on over to find out more...


Salads are something that I don't feel I've really grasped a full appreciation for. They're never something I've put a whole lot of effort in to, but then I see photos of gorgeous looking salads on the likes of Instagram and it makes me feel a bit like I've been living under a rock. Anyway, when Tenderstem® contacted me asking if I could come up with a yummy recipe featuring some delicious Tenderstem® I knew I had to get my salad hat on and see what I could come up with.

Tenderstem® is a bit of a hybrid vegetable. Think of it as the love child of Mrs Chinese kale and Mr broccoli. They came together to produce this wonderful little green machine that you can eat in it's entirety, stem and all. This makes it great for producing quick meals as there is literally no preparation required other than taking it out of the packet and it cooks nice and quickly too, perfect for when you're short on time.

So let's get down to business shall we. Here we have a tasty, vegan friendly, Asian inspired rice noodle salad with roasted Tenderstem® and baked tofu. It's really pretty quick and easy to put together. The lengthiest part of the process is marinating and baking the tofu, however, that's something that could easily be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Just on a side note, I tried a new brand of tofu this time - I used Taifun instead of my usual Cauldron and I have to say the Taifun is so much nicer in both taste and texture (sorry Cauldron!)


VEGAN ASIAN NOODLE SALAD

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
serves 2 with left overs

TOFU:
♥ 1 pack of tofu, drained, pressed and sliced width ways
♥ 2 tbsp soy sauce
♥ 1 inch knob of ginger, finely grated
♥ 2 garlic cloves, crushed
♥ 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
♥ 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil
♥ 1/2 tsp syrup (golden, fruit or other)

SALAD:
♥ 1 pack of Tenderstem®
♥ 100g rice noodles, cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water
♥ 2 small carrots, spiralized or thinly sliced
♥ 1/2 cucumber, spiralized or thinly sliced
♥ 2 large handfuls of spinach leaves


SALAD DRESSING:

♥ 1 tbsp soy sauce
♥ 2 tbsp peanut butter
♥ 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil
♥ water to loosen (optional)


Here's a new recipe for a tasty, vegan Asian noodle salad featuring some yummuy Tenderstem®. Head on over to find out more...


WHAT TO DO:

♥ Start with preparing the tofu marinade, mix all ingredients listed above, except the tofu, in a jug. Lay the sliced tofu in a shallow dish  and pour the marinade over the top, ensuring that the tofu is nicely coated. Leave to marinate for at least a couple of hours or up to 24 hours.
♥ To bake the tofu lay the marinated slices on a lined baking tray, bake at 180°c for approx 30 minutes, flipping half way through and basting with the leftover marinade. Once baked, chop into bitesized chunks (don't be alarmed that it looks black, that's normal!).
♥ To prepare the Tenderstem®, lightly oil in whatever oil you fancy (I went with a combo of olive and sesame for flavour), season with some salt and pepper and roast at 180°c for 8-10 minutes.
♥ Whip up the dressing by adding all of the ingredients to a bowl and giving them a good mix together with a fork or whisk to break up the peanut butter. Make sure to taste test and tweak to your liking.
♥ To assemble the salad, mix the noodles, carrot and cucumber together. Make a nice bed of spinach on the plate and add your noodle mix to the top. Sprinkle a handful of the baked tofu on top of this and drizzle on your dressing. Finish off with the delicious roasted Tenderstem® for a tasty, nutrient packed meal.


I have to say, I was really impressed with how this recipe turned out. Not only was it easy (even for a major salad novice like me), but it tasted so good too! I'll definitely be enjoying more Tenderstem® in the future too, it's so very yummy and made a lovely addition to my salad.

Let's start a conversation:
What's your favourite way to eat a salad? I'd love to hear your thoughts either in the comments below, or drop me a tweet @_hellojordan


*Tenderstem® very kindly supported this post. However, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own*


Tuesday 22 March 2016

Things I've Learnt From Going Vegan.

Today I'm sharing some musings on what I've learnt since switching to a vegan lifestyle. Come on over to find out more!

Since making the switch to veganism I've learnt quite a bit, both about a vegan lifestyle and also about myself and how I've dealt with this change. Before the switch I'd built it up in my head is being such a huge lifestyle change, however, in reality I personally haven't found it that difficult at all, in fact, the impact on my life has really been minimal. Surprising, huh? I thought so. So today I thought I'd share a few little musings about what I've learnt over the last couple of months of my vegan journey.

I don't miss cheese as much as I though I would

One of my reasons for not switching to a vegan diet sooner was because I genuinely believed that I would be unable to live without cheese in my life. Granted I did love cheese a lot, however, I have now proven to myself that there is in fact life after cheese. Result. The vegan cheeses I've tried so far haven't been too brilliant but do you know what? I'm OK with that. Life goes on.

I have more willpower than I give myself credit for

I'm really proud that I've been able to give up a habit of a lifetime and stick with it without any problems. I think having a moral and ethical reason behind my choice has helped, but I've done it and I feel great for it. I've had moments when I've thought 'oh my that baked camembert looks good' but I don't want or need it, so I've been happy to just leave it.

You can make most dishes vegan

What I eat in a day really hasn't changed much since I became vegan, because I now just make vegan versions of the foods that I like. And I'll tell you what, it's been surprisingly easy! It's just a case of switching a few ingredients and boom you have a vegan dinner. Simple as peas. I can still enjoy eating all the tasty food.

I don't mind having less choice

I'm a person that can find decision making quite hard at times. Ever spent far too long deliberating on what you want to eat at a restaurant? I know I have in the past. But not anymore, because now I'm happy to eat what's available. And that's OK, I'm totally fine with having less choice. In fact being vegan has encouraged me to go for the option I would never have even considered before. Lot's of places are now gathering more and more vegan dishes on their menus which is wonderful and I'm hopeful there'll come a day where I have to deliberate for too long about what to eat, but for now, I'm happy with just taking what I can have.

Let's start a conversation:
If you've made the switch to a vegan diet, what kind of things have you learnt? I'd love for you to share your thoughts either in the comments below, or drop me a tweet @_hellojordan
Today I'm sharing some musings on what I've learnt since switching to a vegan lifestyle. Come on over to find out more!





Sunday 20 March 2016

Recipe | Orange and Turmeric Loaf Cake ft. Indigo Herbs*.

I love cake. There's no denying this. So when Indigo Herbs got in touch with me and asked me if I could put together some recipes with some of their products, I just knew cake would have to be in there somewhere. Cue my latest creation - a vegan friendly orange and turmeric loaf cake.

My General Life - Orange and Turmeric Loaf Cake - Indigo Herbs - Vegan

Friday 18 March 2016

Ways To Manage Stress.

Feeling stressed, in my opinion, far from enjoyable. But with the pressures of modern life, I think that stress is something that people are experiencing more and more. And if you ask me, that's not cool. So today I just wanted to share a few quick ideas of how one might go about managing their stress levels in order to promote positive health and wellbeing. 

My General Life - Ways To Manage Stress - Health - Wellbeing

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Bullet Journal Supplies.

I thought today I'd share with you some of the supplies that I've been using to put together my bullet journal. I think my supplies are reasonably minimal, but I'm pretty happy with the stationary that I'm using and I think they work pretty well in my little Leuchtturm 1917. 

My General Life - Bullet Journal Supplies

Sunday 13 March 2016

Let's Talk | Decluttering.

If you follow me on Instagram then you may have noted that I recently purchased 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying' by Marie Kondo. By nature I'm quite an untidy person and I've also been noticing recently that I have a shit tonne of clutter that I really don't need. Hence the book purchase, in the hope that it would inspire and teach me to be a tidier, more organised being. 

My General Life - Let's Talk Decluttering

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Easy Vegan Dinners.

Since switching to a vegan diet about 2 months ago, I've been really surprised at how easy it's been to whip up some of my favourite meals and make them vegan friendly. I think it's so important that a vegan diet is seen as easy and accessible to people, because actually your diet doesn't have to be that much different and you really don't have to miss out. So today I thought I'd share five really quick vegan dinner ideas to see you though the week that are all about making vegan easy (and delicious!).

My General Life - Easy Vegan Dinners - Making Vegan Easy

Sunday 6 March 2016

Ways To Build Resilience.

Today I wanted to have a little chat about resilience. Along with discussing what resilience actually is, I also have five suggestions you can utilise to work towards becoming more resilient.



So what is resilience? Well according to Google:

resilience
noun
  1. 1.
    the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.

  2. 2.
    the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.


I think both of the above definitions of resilience are applicable to a person, even though we're not a mere substance or object. But it really is about the ability to bounce back. To bounce back from a tough time, from failure, from stress or ill health. To fall down 9 times and stand up 10. To have the wind knocked out of your sails but you somehow find the energy to keep paddling. It's about adapting and being open to change and development even in our most difficult periods. And actually it's quite an ordinary concept, because the majority of us are resilient in our own little way. 

So how can you work towards being more resilient? Here's five quick tips to help you on your way:
As hard as it can sometimes be, spending some time reflecting on past experiences and what got you through them can be really helpful. What were your strengths, how did you cope, what did you learn, what might you do differently if a similar experience happened in the future. Resilience is about self-discovery, so knowing yourself and how you deal with situations can help you on your journey to greater resilience.
There are lots of things in life that we don't have any control over. Stressful and hard experiences happen and sometimes this can't be helped. And sometimes things change, for better or worse, and that's part of life too. Part of being resilient is learning to accept this and be OK with the lack of control we sometimes have over things. Look at what you can control, for example, how you act in a situation. Taking ownership of your own behaviour can in itself can evoke change.
If you want things to be different, set yourself achievable goals to make it happen. It's important to keep a realistic perspective of what's happening and what you might want to change. It's important to be decisive in your decision making rather than detaching yourself from problems due to feeling they're too hard to deal with.
Nurture yourself. Develop confidence in your ability to make decisions and know what works and doesn't work for you. Pay attention to what you need and make time for things that are important to you. Caring for yourself means you're in a prime position to be resilient when needed.
A positive outlook goes a long way in a tough situation. And also in a not-tough situation. Visualise the positives you want in life instead of worrying or ruminating on fears or things that you have no control over.

What are your thoughts on resilience? Do you have an tips to add to the suggestions above? I'd love to hear your thoughts either in the comments below, or drop me a tweet @mygenerallife.

While you're here, why not check out my previous post: Bullet Journal Update - March.

Did you know that you can follow My General Life on all these platforms? ↓↓↓↓↓






Friday 4 March 2016

Bullet Journal Update | March.

I've now been bullet journaling for a little over a month, so I thought it was time to share how I've been getting on and how I feel about the ol' bujo now I've been using it for a little while. If you haven't read my original bullet journal post, then it may be worth you spending a minute or two catching up here (but don't forget to come back!)

My General Life - Bullet Journal Update March