New Discovery – Kallo Soya Milk

I remember a time, only a few years ago, when there was only two choices of non-dairy milk in supermarkets, sweetened and unsweetened soya milk. Nowadays, ‘free-from’ aisles are big money, and are literally getting bigger. It’s great that we have so much choice now, but one downside is that it takes longer to do your shopping. Instead of just finding the one product you can use, you now have to actually choose from the array on offer. I don’t know how omnivores do it on a daily basis J

I usually buy my soya milk (unsweetened) from the health food shop, but due to supplier issues with Provamel I found myself in front of the non-dairy section at my local Tesco. I was lost. I had no idea which one to choose from the many brands with varying degrees of sweetness and added vitamins that were in front of me. Did I want soya, rice, oat or almond? Then something new caught my eye – Kallo soya milk. As a regular user of Kallo stock cubes, rice cakes and corn cakes, I know they are a reliable and quality brand. So I decided to give their new soya milk a try.

Kallo are the UK arm of Wessanen, a company with a 250 year history of producing natural and organic food throughout Europe. They also produce breadsticks and gluten-free cereals. Other brands under the Wessanen umbrella include Whole Earth, So Good and Rice Dream.

After buying the soya milk, I popped in to the health food shop to pick up some other bits. The sales advisor told me that she’d tried Kallo soya milk and didn’t like it, so when I first opened the carton my expectations weren’t very high. I have to say, though, it’s really nice. It’s a slightly different taste to Provamel, but the consistency is about the same so it’s perfect for adding to hot drinks or making porridge/oatbran etc.

Although I still stick to my Provamel unsweetened soya milk, I’d definitely sub it with the Kallo alternative again.

The more scientific answer to why soya milk 'flocks'

Whilst doing some research for another post, I got a bit distracted online and came across the answer to a question that I asked last year. When I first switched from dairy to soya milk I found that the milk always looked like it was curdling in my coffee. Through experimentation I discovered that this doesn't happen if you allow the coffee to cool a little before you add the milk. According to the So Good Soya Milk website, this is because coffee is acidic. The two main factors that will cause the milk to separate are the temperature of the water and the strength of the coffee. They do also warn that some percolated and filter coffees are so strong that they will always cause the soya milk to separate. My top tip is to try The Co-operative own brand organic fairtrade filter coffee. It's the only one I've found (so far) that you can add soya milk to straight away, you don't even have to let the coffee cool down. It makes my life a lot easy when I'm in a rush to get my flask ready for work. My morning routine is now: Get up at 5am(ish), put the oatbran on a low heat, fill up the coffee machine, go get ready for work, and when I'm done breakfast is all done and I can fill my flask up straight away.

The Plant-Based Traveller

   Before I go any further, apologies for being absent for so long. Unfortunately, it wasn't so easy to find internet access on my trip to Germany, and since I've been back I've fallen victim to the dreaded flu that has been making its way round Cardiff. I must point out, though, that this is the first time I've been ill since converting to a plant-based diet, and there's not many people in the UK who can say they've gone almost a whole winter illness-free.
   During my absence I have been doing lots of reading and learning, and I have so much I want to share with you. First, though, a bit about my adventures in Germany. If you want to read more about my adventures, there will be a full blog on http://thetravelbug.blog.co.uk/ soon.
   OK, I'm not going to pretend that on my 4 day skiing trip to Garmisch I stuck to a completely plant-based, organic, wholefood diet. I did, however, as always, do my best to be conscious of what I was eating and made small changes wherever I could. It surprised me how little effort it took. The excellent continental buffet that my hostel provided made it very easy for me to choose a suitable breakfast. I was happy to drink black coffee, although I know from my experience working in the Alps that hotels and guesthouses will provide soya milk if you request it. Along with my coffee, I had a fresh semmel with jam, no butter. For those who haven't visited the Alps, a semmel is a small, round bread roll and is present at pretty much every meal. Believe me, when you work there you soon get sick of eating semmels everyday, but I'd had long enough away for them to be tasty again.
   Lunchtime up the mountain is generally spent in a self-service restaurant, most of which offer spaghetti and tomato sauce as an option. Remember to ask for no parmesan, though, Austrians and Germans seem to like putting cheese on top of everything. One thing that self-service restaurants in the Alps do very well are salad bars. So there's no excuse not to fill up on the fresh, tasty food available. You can also have yet another semmel to go with it if you choose.
   Most restaurants have at least one vegan option on the menu, you just have to ask. The range of dishes available might not leave you spoilt for choice, and in ski resorts will most probably revolve around pasta, but at least the options are there.

   I know I repeat this all the time, but I've learnt that the best way with a plant-based diet is to be prepared. Health food shops are really popular in Austria and Germany, so stock up on things to snack on. Most supermarkets now stock a 'bio' range, and they will highlight what is organic and what has been grown in the local region. In German speaking countries, look out for the 'bio' sign and 'aus unsere region' (from our region).

The Engine 2 Diet

   Rip Esselstyn, triathlete and firefighter, started The Engine 2 Diet to help one of his colleagues in Austin, Texas who had a dangerously high cholesterol level. Rip had adopted a plant-based diet at the advice of his father, Dr Caldwell B Esselstyn, and he motivated the entire Engine 2 firehouse team to lose weight, lower their cholestoerol and improve their overall health. You can read more about Rip and The Engine 2 Diet at www.engine2diet.com.
   One of the comments that Rip makes on his website really struck a chord with me. He talks about how our tastes can change. So many people tell me they could not follow a plant-based diet because they don't like the food, but if your body is only used to processed, high fat food that is filled with sugar, healthier alternatives are going to taste a bit strange. It's worth sticking to it for the sake of your health. Rip is totally right in what he says. When I first started to eat a more plant-based diet, soy milk tasted odd. Now, though, I love soy milk and the thought of drinking cow's milk does not sound appealing at all.

Scavenging for food at Heathrow Airport

The travelbug is in Austria this week, so I apologise for any spelling errors. I'm having to use a German keyboard, and the spell check is trying to correct me in German so everything is coming up in red!
Admittedly, Heathrow Airport is not on my top 50 list of favourite places on planet Earth. It is, however, a useful place to pass through if you need to get to an awkward destnation quickly. Which is how I found myself there on Saturday morning. The awkward destination being Innsbruck, where I was headed to visit family.
I thought this would be a good opportunity to see how difficult, or easy, it is to stick to a plant-based diet whilst in transit. I appreciate there are thousands of vegans out there who do this on a regular basis, and are probably telling me to shut up right now. But for me it was an interesting experience. It actually reminded me of when I first turned vegetarian, before the days of labelling foods for dietry requirements and before most people really understood what vegetarianism was. I remember many a trip where my staple diet would be fries, salad and bread, and I would constantly have to tell people that no, I don't eat fish, and I can't just pick the chicken out or eat around the beef.
So there I was in Heathrow airport, having to read every single ingredient again. I must point out here that, unfortunately, I was flying from Terminal 1. The larger terminals at Heathrow do have some excellent fresh food outlets, and I can't wait for them to make it onto the UK high street. I settled on a carrot, houmous and salad leaves on wholemeal sandwich from Boots, a fresh pear and filling my water bottle up from the water fountain. The sandwich is made by a company called fresh! (I believe the exclamation mark is an essential part of the name). The blurb on the box (which is recyclable by the way) promises 'no gunk and no junk', and I have to say it was a really tasty sandwich. The only downfall is that the houmous did contain tahini. On that note, does anyone know the correct spelling for houmous? I've come across a few different variations so far.
Extra brownie points go to Caffe Nero, where the lovely barista was more than happy to make me a latte with Alpro Soya, which I might add was one of the tastiest lattes I've ever had.
For the benefit of anyone else who is travelling through Frankfurt airport in the near future, they have a lovely fresh food outlet. The vegetarian options are still quite dairy-based, but there's a lot of fresh fruit and juices.

Soya Milk Success!

Had a minor breakthrough the past couple of days. Through some controlled experimentation, well, through trying different things in my kitchen at least, I think I've solved the issue of my soya milk looking like it's gone off when mixed into hot drinks. If you leave the drink to cool slightly first before adding the soya milk, it seems to be fine.

The first step is always the hardest, and sometimes tastes a bit funny

Aaaarrrrggggh! It's Ok saying that you're going to make a conscious effort to eat a plant-based diet and be more environmentally friendly, but where do you start? My biggest dairy crime is probably skimmed milk, so I decided to start there.
In the past I have made quite a few attempts to switch from cows milk to soya milk. As I was born with eczema, I've always been aware that dairy isn't good for me as it makes my skin break out and blocks my throat up. But, as a vegetarian, I've always been told that I should have more dairy. My most successful attempt was for a few months whilst I was living in Austria, where due to my vegetarianism I was fed so much cheese that I almost couldn't breathe.
Admittedly, though, the taste of soya milk does take a bit of getting used to if you usually drink cows milk. You can buy sweetened soya milk if you prefer, and you can also choose to buy organic. And if anyone can tell my why the soya milk sometimes looks like it's gone off when I put it in coffee, I'll be eternally grateful.