Along with a few extra pounds in weight I gained through the extra consumption of dairy and carbs while attempting to be vegetarian, I picked up a few other things last month. Thanks to the Meatfree March Recipe swap I also accumulated a few new friends and some fantastic vegan and vegetarian recipe ideas. The swap saw bloggers and non-bloggers alike swap meat-free recipes and a few ingredients and then dive into the kitchen for a cook and blog off.
To make this extra interesting, up for grabs for the best blog post about the recipe swap was a month of veg boxes from Abel and Cole and a meal for two at Handmade Burger Company. The original plan was to present these prizes to one overall winner, but after much salivating and deliberating, Becs and I decided to award the prizes separately to two swappers who were actually partners. So, drum roll, please…..!
In first place, and the worthy recipient of the Abel and Cole prize, is Susie. We found her post over at susiestummytales informative and engaging. She made it very easy for anyone wanting to recreate the recipe she was sent to do so and got extra brownie points for linking to the buttery biscuit base video. These points are awarded for 1)innovative use of multimedia and 2)because Becs has a not-so-secret thing for Greg Wallace. Here’s a photo of the drool-inducing lime and coconut cheesecake she made.
Photo courtesy of Susiestummytales
This fantastic concoction was sent to Susie courtesy of Sharon, who is our second prize winner and will receive a free meal for two at Handmade Burger Company (there’s one in the metro centre so you can pop in on your next shopping trip and there are lots of vegetarian choices that can be made vegan). We decided to award Sharon this prize because of the massive effort she went to in order to put her post up – it was the first ever post on her blog Virtually Vegan and featured the chilli recipe Susie sent her, along with an extra side of guacamole, which as an avocado addict, I couldn’t resist!
Photo courtesy of Virtually Vegan
Not only is it a cracking post, but we were super impressed that the recipe swap had inspired Sharon to make her leap into the world of blogging and we can’t wait to read more posts from her. The ladies will now need to contact Becs with their details to arrange prize delivery.
I really enjoyed reading all of the posts and have transferred many a recipe over to my to-make list as a result of reading about them. Some of them were visually stunning (like Amy Liz’s post on spinach and filo pie here). Some of them were witty like Ewan’s efforts with quinoa over at tonights-menu, some demonstrated how good cooks innovate in the face of adversity like Rebeca’s version of vegetarian Sloppy Joe’s at bigspoonmylittlespoon. Then there was Hannah’s double whammy of recipe swap fun (Warm pumpkin and chickpea salad and squash and puy lentil salad with flatbreads) at girleatsvegan here and here, which takes the reader on a heart-warming and chuckle-inducing journey to the supermarket, through Hannah’s mind and finely articulates the experience of her tastebuds. The cornbread complete with chilli drizzle sauce made by Rebecca looked Really Nice, which is unsurprising considering her blog name and the other fabulous things on there.
And of course, there’s Bec’s post over at Bitsandbobsbecs, which gets just a little sidetracked by the accompanying mini eggs that wouldn’t look out of place alongside orange segments amongst your cheese and chocolate raisins, but is actually about Amy Liz’s rather tasty-looking penne alla vodka recipe.
Apologies to anyone I have missed off the list, please do leave a link on the bottom and I’ll add them in. Congratulations again to Susie and Sharon, I hope you enjoy your prizes – perhaps we’ll get to read a post or two about them? Becs and I have a few foodie ideas in the pipeline, so do stay in touch and hopefully we can all have some more kitchen adventures together!
