Five fun ways to be very, very vegan (and romantic) on Valentines Day…
1) Make your favourite person (or yourself) a delish vegan breakfast in bed. Pancakes and Valentines Day just seem to go together. Check out these delectables from one of my fave foodie blogs, VeganYumYum (I like to replace ingredients such as soy milk with freshly made nut milk, sugar with raw agave nectar, and salt with Celtic sea salt etc). Even if you’re your own valentine, it’s still great to whip up a gourmet breakfast and head back to bed to eat it! Also, check out Vegan Yum Yum’s new recipe book: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-free Recipes for Entertaining and Every Day for more romantic brekky and dinner recipes.
SLOW RISE PANCAKES
Makes 8 thick 5″ pancakes
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (one packet)
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 Cup Soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 Tbs Oil
1 Ener-g Egg, prepared (1.5 tsp mixed with 2 Tbs water)
1/3 Cup Soymilk, for thinning the next morning, if desired
Whisk all the dry ingredients together until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the 1/3 cup of soymilk) and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Use batter anytime the next day.
Once you’re ready to make pancakes, remove the batter from the fridge and stir in up to 1/3 cup of soymilk to thin it if needed/desired. Let the batter sit out on the counter for 20-30 minutes. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Spray with spray oil and wipe out the pan.
Using a 1/3 cup measure, begin making pancakes. I added apple slices to the batter before it set:
You can add anything you fancy: blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, strawberries, etc.
Once the top is bubbly and the edges are set, check to make sure the bottom is brown. Flip:
Cook on the other side for another few minutes until browned. Stack pancakes in a low oven to keep warm, serve with earth balance margarine and maple syrup.
2) A card (of course!). Recycling anything from cardboard to fabric can make for a gorgeous love token. See this how-to guide from About.com. For those who love a little graphic design in their Valentines Day, check out this sweet duo from Jeannie and Jewell.
3) Run a soothing, candle-lit bath. First step? Get your hands on some detoxifying bath salts. Who knows what toxic ingredients are in the store-bought kind? Here’s a homemade recipe that will put you right into the Valentine’s mood.
LAVENDER, ROSEMARY & EUCALYPTUS BATH SALTS
560 grams of bicarbonate of soda
15 grams of dried lavender
7 ml of rosemary oil
7 ml of eucalyptus oil
Mix ingredients together well and store in an airtight jar. When you’re ready to use, put two handfuls of the salts in the middle of a muslin square, draw up the sides and tie with string or ribbon. Swirl around in bath water until dissolved. The muslin bag is great to rub over your body when you’re finished soaking.
4) What’s more romantic than donning some stunning vegan lingerie? Enter Stella McCartney. Nothing much else to say really, except click here.
5) Make non-toxic, cruelty-free soy candles to adorn the dinner table and bath tub. Here’s a handy guide from Caringconsumer.com
HOMEMADE SOY CANDLE
What You Will Need
- 1 pound of soy-wax flakes (found on the Internet or in local hobby shops)
- 1 mason jar or another type of decorative jar made with thick, heat-resistant glass
- 1 cotton wick (use a wick that’s attached to a metal disc)
- Scissors
- Superglue
Procedure
- Wash and dry your glass jar completely.
- Put a couple of drops of superglue on the bottom of the wick (metal tab), then place the metal tab at the bottom of the jar.
- Hold the wick in place for about a minute or until the glue dries.
- Slowly heat soy wax in a pan over medium heat until it is completely melted.
- Remove the soy wax from the burner.
- Gently and slowly pour the soy-wax mixture into the jar.
- Position the wick in the center.
- Once the wax turns solid, trim the wick to ½ inch.
- Light your candle and enjoy!
If DIY isn’t your thing. Click here for vegan friendly candle retailers.
Vegan pancakes courtesy of teenytinyturkey
Bath salts courtesy Melissa Ray Davis
Candles courtesy sallyleecandles
