Bad life choices!

Recently I've gotten into a disgustingly bad sleeping pattern. And what I've found amazing, but not too surprising, is the extent to which it effects my life. It's currently 3am and this is the usual time I've been finding myself awake, after hours of feeling guilty that I probably should be asleep, not in bed but actually asleep. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a rebellion type of thing, and there is no clever and justifiable reason as to why I find myself in this silly situation, it just happens. 

Ironically, today (well yesterday now, another example of it being too late to be awake!) I put up a video about getting clear skin naturally without too much hassle. Now this is a strong piece of evidence of how you should 'do as I say not as I do' because I've found spots slowly creeping up on me these past few days. In the video I mention about sleep being an integral aspect to having clear skin and at the moment it's like every time I look into a mirror my spots are just there subtly reminding me of all my current bad life choices. It always used to annoy me when I was little and felt ill (or was just being a drama queen and hypochondriac) when my dad would always just tell me to go to sleep. There was next to no sympathy, although I know that his advice was perfectly legitimate and from a place of love but it never pleased me at the time but sleep really does fix most things!

I'm not going to sleep late either because I don't enjoy sleeping, my whole body clock just shifts so I wake up mid-afternoon everyday, be rest assured sleeping is one of my all time favourite things to do. But the quality of sleep is much less when you go to sleep later and I've certainly felt this in my over-all well being. I've been beyond lethargic, lazy and un-motivated over these past few days. I've hardly done anything, despite the prior plans I'd set myself to get done before college. As I said, my skin has just been dreadful in comparison to what it was and from the lack of caring I've consequently eaten awfully too. My mentality has shifted to an over-all more negative frame of mind, nothing quite seems so bright and cheery as it did before, haha I really feel like I'm taking you to a deep and dark place but hopefully it will convince you not to follow in my bad footsteps! 

So all in all I'm certainly aware that there are no positives to come from this current arrangement that I've got going on. But, I've got my induction for college early tomorrow (that will be a fair shock to the system) and I start properly next Monday. I know that the best way to get out of these awful habits is to force yourself into a situation that means you have to change it, if you've got bad willpower like myself. I'm hoping that all the plans that I'd made for this blog and for my YouTube will come into place a bit more when college commences and when hopefully all of my motivation returns!

Let me know if you ever find yourself getting into bad habits like this!

love, bean xx

‘Do you want some dahl, darl?’

I’m aware that I can be relatively enthusiastic about some of the products and topics I talk about on here… and this post shall be no different! Dahl and rice is a perfect protein, so all those people with the mis-conception that being a vegan or vegetarian means that you suddenly become protein deficient can be rest assured that this is a prime example of how that’s a myth! I digress, besides its copious health benefits this dish is also wonderfully delicious; a highly requested dinner by me to my Mum. Now, just when you think a meal couldn’t possibly get any better, it’s also incredibly easy and quick to make, something I realised when I thought I’d thrown myself into the deep end when I asked my Mum to teach me how to make it!

Every dahl you make, because trust me once you start you’ll get hooked, will be slightly or dramatically different from your last. For me, this makes it interesting and also offers the room for those who want to experiment a bit more too. Although there are many different recipes out there I personally think my Mums is pretty sublime (not to be bias or anything…) so I shall hopefully get her to write it on here for you all to have (although it changes constantly).

It’s really perfect especially as we are making that transition into autumn (or for some of you ‘fall’) and it really is a meal that does tend to fill a hole as the nights get longer and you generally begin to crave bigger meals (well I do..). The little extra bits and pieces on the side are from ‘Unicorn Grocery’ in Manchester, although you can get these types of extras from anywhere. Let me know if you give this easy dish a go!

Love, bean xx

‘Shall we just have a freezer tea?’

If you’re similar to my family then, especially mid-week, you’ll probably find yourself exhausted and a chore such as cooking being the last thing you feel like doing. This is when the life-saving freezer type dinners come in handy. Now, don’t be misunderstood – I am not implying that all health and wellbeing should be forgotten and that you should resort to some dreaded poison like a ‘pot-noodle’. No, a freezer is a magical thing which can be filled with almost anything you wish and stored until a convenient time. Whilst I remember, they’re also great for putting frozen fruit in and using them for smoothies if you don’t want to risk buying lots of fresh fruit and it going off before you use it.

I think things such as burgers or soup are great for making a big batch of, freezing and just taking out as and when you need them. They're also perfect if you live by yourself and don’t want to waste extra food. Although I keep on mentioning her I think Chloe Coscarelli’s book is pretty good for freezer type foods. If you're not the type who wants to make the big batches of food in the first place then I keep loads of different foods such as various quorn products (careful if you buy quorn in the UK as it isn't vegan) and 'Linda McCartney' veggies foods teamed with chips and beans - now that really is a classic freezer meal! Besides from freezer foods there are also the innocent microwaves pots which are vegan and simply need to be popped into the microwave for a few minutes (not a huge fan of microwaves so if you've got the patience for more washing up then heating them is another alternative).

The pictures are of a meal including some burgers Mum had previously made teamed with some homegrown beans, potatoes and sauces! Was pretty delicious and impeccably easy in all honesty. Now bearing in mind, if it hadn’t been for Mum I most likely wouldn't have gone to quite so much effort regarding the condiments, etc but sauces can be made and kept in the fridge for quite a while too - a great substitute for not always simply having mayo, etc. 

I hope you've found this useful as unless you forget what you've already put in the freezer it's can be a real life saver. Let me know if you’ve got any questions or suggestions!

Love, bean xx

Only touched the surface

I want to quickly tell you of an interesting moment I experienced earlier today. I was in a room that had reddish coloured curtains that were drawn shut, allowing the sunlight to shine through, tinting the colour of the room. As I sat in the room I saw some obvious blue veins on my leg which I’d never noticed before, I then shifted my focus and noticed that bright blue veins were showing up all over my body due to the light. Although I’d always known that there were veins all over my body it was the strangest thing actually seeing them, I felt rather like a picture out of my high school biology textbook.

It got me thinking, in a slightly more metaphorical sense, how many other aspects to myself I haven’t yet seen. I wondered how much there really is to me just under the surface that hasn’t yet been able to come to light, but would given a change of circumstance. These veins keep me alive, they never stop working and I’m covered in them, they’re a truly fundamental part of who I am yet I'd never given them a second thought before. It all sounds very silly, but for me it was fairly symbolic and I learnt a lesson; there are so many aspects to ourselves which we haven’t yet discovered or even acknowledged to be there, both physically and I suppose too within our personality. They showed me that there are endless bounds of self-discovery that I have to do and really I’ve only just touched the surface on getting to know who I am.

love, bean xx

Vegan fry-up? Yes please.

If I were to combine the words 'fry-up' and 'healthy' you'd probably think I was mad, but bear with me two minutes and I can open your eyes to this wonderful concept which is in fact a reality...


At the beginning of my vegan conversion a big question for me about alternatives was the classic 'fry-up'. For as long as I can remember my Sunday's have consisted of wearing pyjamas all day and eating the traditional English brunch; sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, mushrooms... Never did I expect to find a scrumptious, healthy and vegan alternative. And what was most surprising for me was how simple the formula is. So please read carefully as I'm about to give you the key to eternal happiness, well as close as you can get through the means of brunch.


* Linda McCartney veggie sausages (the red onion ones are particularly nice although they do contain egg whites sadly)
* Baked Beans (my mum sometimes makes them herself- they redefine perfection!)
* Scrambled tofu (there are no words.. I just can't... it's just so good...)
* Vegan mayonnaise (if you are an addict like me, no meal is complete without mayo)
* Toast (pretty self explanatory.)
* Tomatoes (I hate raw tomatoes, however when cooked well they are an absolute dream)
* Potatoes (my surname is Irish therefore I feel an obligation to eat potatoes at every opportunity)


I hasten to add that I am not a cook, I have zero skills in the culinary department and even I'm capable of making most of this meal (it's a pretty perfect hangover cure too!). You may be wondering whether I'm the most appropriate person to listen to when it comes to food but I make up for my lack of cooking skills in enthusiasm for eating. I am a huge fan of all things edible, and it just so happens that my Mum is a sublime cook. So she makes it and I eat it; it's an ideal arrangement.


Back to the point; find below a couple of pictures as an example of some of the components to the meal. It isn't the entire meal as I was in a rush but they show the integral foundations to the meal. If you think it all sounds fairly ordinary and bland just try it, I'm not sure what it is but the combination of all the foods is always absolutely divine. I'm pretty confident that you'll never look back to the greasy and health-problem provoking meat version, I certainly haven't.

love, bean xx

Are we really the intelligent ones?

When I look around nowadays, irrelevant of where I may be, I see people who are trying to give themselves a purpose. When young we are taught it's a vital thing to do, from being a toddler we're asked ‘what do you want to do when you're older?'. I walked around a city this afternoon for 3 hours just observing; mobiles, suits, rushing around, everything and everyone looked so serious. But if everything were to be stripped back, hypothetically you weren't able to recall anything prior to this moment, what would you be left with? Primarily you are simply left with your body anything else like the makeup, clothes, relationships and jobs are just what you've decided to add to your life. These other additional factors we can survive without, but what about an integral organ such as your lungs? You can survive without your career but lungs are a vital part to your survival. Yet people smoke in hope of maintaining and balancing their stress levels to excel in their career. Effectively, people are willing to literally die for their jobs. Of course, this is only one scenario I could go on forever listing the different harmful things that people do to their bodies in order to keep these impermeable parts of their lives thriving. Fascinating; this is human behaviour.

Our one true responsibility I believe in life is to look after our bodies simply in order to keep on living, I wonder how many people out there sacrifice things to do this job justice? It’s probably a good thing that our heart doesn’t rely on us to consciously keep the blood pumping around our body. Evidence from observing other human decisions would suggest that we’d probably all be dead in days due to our bizarre priority lists. Soon to be mothers tend to be very cautious to not smoke or drink and to take in extra nutrients all in order to care for their growing foetus. Then the baby is born and everything normally goes back to how it was before for the new mother. And as we grow up and have to look after ourselves this care for our ever-growing bodies gets thrown out the window too.

If you were in a house on fire your instinct would probably be to run as far away as fast as possible from the life threatening circumstance. It’s our animal instinct. Actions such as smoking is actively and consciously walking into that burning building. It’s slower but it will inevitably harm your body and ultimately it’s a death sentence. I often think animals are the more intelligent creatures because they listen to their bodies, they're happy to feel what they’re feeling and they do things in their best interest to thrive and stay alive. Animals only eat the food that they were designed to eat. Although humans can digest meat if you look at our teeth, as an example, they aren’t similar to those of a true carnivore, they are blunt and good for nibbling on foods such as vegetables. We can survive on a 100% plant based diet but we cannot survive on a diet composed purely of just meat. Interesting… I hope that you aren’t one of these people I have spoken about in this post, I hope you're somebody who takes care to nourish your body everyday and respect it for all that it does for you.

love, bean xx

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