Hurrah for the health food store!

Pic: Heidi & Sooty the cat (At Grandads House during our trip)


Thank you Storsteinnes Health and Play store. Yesterday they received their newest order - probably made to make me shut up but I am so grateful - it is not a lot but it will mean I can get some lovely things without driving an hour following the desire of a bar of dark chocolate! So, what is now in the store? From memory they had dark orange fairtrade chocolate, vegetarian and vegan pates, vegetarian sausages (still in tins as no refrigerator but I am certainly not complaining, I know they are not so healthy but I quite like them), earl grey tea (yes I know tea is vegan anyway but I believe it was ordered for the English folk in the village - all 4 of us), organic salsa (yes I can make my own but 2 children, 2 dogs and freelance jobs do sometimes leave me with time lacking), brown pasta, rice pasta, ecological brown rice, chick peas and I think on the way more lentils, vegetarian gravy powder to compliment the small array that way already there such as linseed (flax) oil, red kidney beans, organic apple puree, soya flakes and the biggest selection of fruit teas you can find in the area! So, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Back to us, Matthew has his first day back at work after his illness and he has recovered well. He is tired and run down but as long as he takes it easy he should have a full recovery. Heidi is really beginning to use her languages now, some phrases are in Norwegian, some in English. It is great to see she is having no trouble understanding Norwegian. She is very musical and sings all the time. If she is not singing she is dancing. She is home with me today and plan to make a bit playdo mess when Miller goes for a sleep. Miller is growing so fast, he has been on the verge of walking for a few weeks but still won't let go! Maybe one day soon he will be attacked by a surge of bravery and go for it!

More vegan news and info in the next entry!

Have a productive day x

Back in the UK and the vegan class struggle!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all enjoyed seeing in 2008. We are in Wales visiting Matthew's mum and it is the first time I have had time to write a post. It has been a hectic trip with mixed experiences and emotions. It is dificult coming from a slow pace of life to an accelerated one and daiy tensions here are high compared to what we are used to. However, the children are loving spending time with their grandparents and it has been great to catch up with friends here.

Since turning vegan I believed Norway offered limited food choices for us and I was convinced that the UK would have a better selection of vegan options. However, our experience has not backed up this view. The supermarkets we have visited here have little choice for us, especially considering thier size. I called in to one the other day, bearing in mind with two young childen you are on limited time on a supermarket visit, and could not find anything to have with bread as we were on the run and needed convenience, so I asked a shop assistant if they had a vegetarian section (this store was huge) and he said 'no, things are just scattered about'. We eventually found a bruschetta topping we could eat and that was that. I looked around the local town centre twice for a health food shop and all I found were two stores selling a range of alternative medicines and vitamins etc with not a food item in sight. In Norway, there is a heath food shop in every town I have visited and although the selection is limited, you can at least get what you need.

One highlight to our visit so far was a trip to see Manchester United on New Years Day. The football match was a little boring but the experience was fabulous. Matthew's uncle has executive seats and we were treated to lunch in the bar. Out of four dishes available at the buffet, two were vegetarian and one was vegan. We were so pleased that this was now considered normal. It sparked a conversation between Matthew and I on the way out as we were walking back to the car. We were walking past row on row of cheap mobile food outlets selling all sorts of disgusting meat produce. Burgers, hot dogs (one boasting a 2 foot long hot dog), nuggets, pies, lamb pittas, chicken curry, steak and kidney puddings...... The stench of cooked animals was so foul it nearly made me sick at one point yet there people were, stuffing their faces with this rubbish. We on the other hand had enjoyed a lovely vegan lunch in the executive box. We felt there was a class difference here somewhere. I'm not very good at wording arguments but I will try and phrase this in a way I know...

Those people living in what would have previously been called the lower class are likely to be less well educated about a variety of things including food choices. People who may not be aware of what is in their food quite happily consume cheap meat options like those mentioned above. These folk may not be aware that they could be eating a selecton of things that no butcher wants, that are the dregs of the meat processing industry, may not be aware that the slab of meat might contain a whole host of bacteria, might lead to their life being shortened if this eating pattern is repeated day after day. I believe that food choice and knowledge about it is a class struggle and I would like to see more education about food and lifestyle across the board.


Not the most profound thing ever said but worth mentioning I think. So back to the trip. We found a small health shop in Pwllheli where we are staying now, funnily enough a small place like this has the options the large town we just came from did not, and we have a selection of new items to try. I am looking forward to tasting 'sheeese' which I have read is excellent, we chose a mozzerella alternative so might try pizza and we also picked up some organic dark chocolate and some firm favourites like tofutti spread. Matthews mum has a cupboard full of vegan options for us and the children and my mum did well with a few things but got lost in labelling with other things which means they now have a lot to eat in the fridge!

Heidi and Miller have coped well with the change of pace, better than we have actually, and I fear they will be bored on our return to the Arctic. Still, nothing could keep me from returning to the home we love!

I don't know when I will next get time to post but wishing you all the best for 2008!

Quiet Days!

Life is very different in Northern Norway compared to what life was like living in England. It took me a while to get used to the slow pace here, sometimes I even got frustrated with it. People take time to respond to emails and telephone calls, people are not interested in work outside working hours and life grinds to a halt at weekends and holiday times. Of course, there are many benefits to this lifestyle. Family is valued above anything else and sitting with friends over coffee is a huge past-time. When we first moved here I often forgot that the shops mainly close at 1400 on a saturday (I was used to taking a full shopping day on a Saturday back in the UK), I forgot that you cannot buy beer after 2000 hours. I forgot you can only buy wine at a governmnet outlet which closes at 1600 weekdays and 1500 on a Saturday. I forgot that nowhere except the odd petrol station is open on a Sunday. Compared to the UK where food stores are open 24 hours, Sunday is a day to travel to outlet villages for shopping trips or to go the the garden centre or DIY store. I wonder how much more frustrated I would have been in those early days as a vegan! I need to travel to a health store to get necessary items and if I forget I'm just stuck! So with a family it is important I know what I need, when I need it!

I have a local health food store now who I can use for limited items. I can get dried beans, organic rice, pasta, tinned veggie meatballs, veggie hot dogs and soya milk. I request things but it is so difficult for them as they tell me how much they throw away because people just don't buy it! They have kindly got in just for us, tofu and rice pasta and I'm trying to make a case for vegan sandwich spreads ('Tartex' and 'Tofutti' I can get if I travel for an hour and a half) and soya milk with B12. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

So, I find it is best for me to have plenty of raw ingredients at home so I don't find myself in a situation without food! Saying that I have noticed the huge benefits of a vegan diet is most things go into your cupboard and not your fridge and although I spend more on certain items, my food bill has come down.

Yesterday I spent some time in the kitchen. I have started to cook more and am really enjoying it. Heidi chips in too, she loves helping to kneed bread and stir casseroles. I had 2 new vegan cookbooks to hand and thought I'd try some new things. As you can't buy anything on a Sunday I was forced to adapt some of the recipes but thankfully things turned out really well. I'll not write down the recipes yet as I think I need to tweak them a bit to get them perfect but for a first attempt I was over the moon. The results were the most delicious soup I'd ever made (a Mediterranean tomato and veg soup), a variety of bread and a carrot, banana and walnut cake with orange topping. Heidi had a bit of everything and Miller had some bread and I made him some mashed potatoes with carrot and spinach. My husband Matthew commented on how impressed he was with both my cooking and my desire to do it!

So, now I am enjoying the quiet days here in Norway. I cook, I practice some yoga, I read or listen to podcasts - and yes I do actually have 2 children under 2 but when you are relaxed, so are your children...most of the time!

Signing off now as Miller wants to play!