Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Sablés de Noël.

Merry very late Christmas everyone!
(Pour la version française descendez ;))

As I am wondering my house (well my dad's) looking for something to eat, I just remembered I had a brilliant recipe, easy and quick, for some christmas shortbread biscuits. Of course they are vegan as always, and you'll need ingredients that you almost always have at home, which is the good point to me! This is the improved version after several attempt at baking them! Hope you will enjoy.

You need:

- 100 gr margarine (any kind would do)
- 150 gr flour
- 50 gr white sugar (I liked both with white and brown, it's up to you!)
- 1/2 cup of raisin (or 4 small hand full, but here again it's up to you)
- cinnamon to taste.

First you'll need to "marinade" the raisins in tea. A christmas tea would be perfect, but when I don't have any I just use regular ceylan tea, right now I am trying out with chai tea! Just make sure the tea is strong so that the flavours do go into the raisin.
In a bowl, mix in the sugar and cinnamon, then add margarine (make sure it's well blended). Finally add flour and use your hands! Then add the raisins (previously drained) and mix. Create a big ball with everything, wrap it and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
Preheat your oven at 160 °C.
You can then spread the dough on your kitchen bench (don't forget to use flour) until it is about 0.5 cm thick. Use some cookie cutter if you want to make nice shapes (but I just use a glass sometimes). Place biscuits on a cooking trail and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes (keep an eye on them).

And tadaaaaa :)

PICTURE TO COME / PHOTO A VENIR

Je vous souhaite à tous un joyeux Noël, super en retard. J'espère que vous avez passé un moment agréable et que vous avez été gâtés :)
Je suis en retard, mais aujourd'hui j'avais envie de quelque chose de sucré et de saison, et ces sablés sont vraiment hyper simples à faire, et vous aurez besoin d'ingrédients que vous trouverez quasiment tout le temps chez vous! C'est parti.

Ingrédients:

- 100 gr de margarine (si vous êtes vegan vérifiez bien les ingrédients, en grande surface les margarines contiennent quasiment toute du lait ou dérivés de lait...)
- 50 gr de sucre
- 150 gr de farine
- 4 poignées de raisins secs environ
- de la cannelle (à votre goût pour la quantité, je pense que j'en mets une cuillère à café environ parce que j'aime vraiment ça)

Tout d'abord mettez les raisins secs à trempez dans du thé. Un thé de Noël serait parfait, comme je n'ai ai pas j'utilise un English Breakfast classique mais c'est moyen pour les saveurs. Aujourd'hui je viens de tester ça avec un chai tea, et c'est vraiment top! Il faut juste que le thé soit bien fort pour qu'il "infuse" bien les raisins (je laisse en général le sachet avec les raisins).
Dans un plat, mélangez le sucre et la cannelle. Puis ajoutez la margarine et mélangez. Il faudra ensuite ajouter la farine, et là mieux vaut y aller avec les mains. Mélangez scrupuleusement puis ajoutez les raisins secs égouttés. Formez une boule avec la pâte, emballez-la dans du cellophane et mettez la au frigo pour au moins 30 min.
Quand vous la ressortez, préchauffez votre four à 160 °. Étalez ensuite la pâte sur un plan de travail (n'oubliez pas de bien le fariner sinon ça va coller). il ne faut pas qu'elle soit trop épaisse (moins d'un centimètre). Utilisez un verre ou des emporte pièces pour former les sablés. Et disposez-les sur une plaque de cuisson. Enfournez pendant 15 minutes, en surveillant toujours parce que ça peut varier d'un four à l'autre (le mien est lent je pense...)

J'espère que vous aimerez :)

Monday, November 4, 2013

Halloween Dessert

Hi there!

 (pour la version française, descendez)

I'm a bit late, but I just tried it today, and I did want to try before puting a recipe up here. Yes I also know it's been ages... but well I'm apparently bad at being constant, hopefully I'll just get better.
So I tried to do a Pumpkin pie, I was a bit scared to be honnest but I quite liked the result, and it is a really simple recipe so why not sharing it!

You'll need:

- 450 gr of pumpkin purée (I bought frozen one, just because I didn't have the time to make some myself, but of course I guess it'd be even better with home made one)
- 350 gr of silken tofu (or soft tofu) (blended until smooth)
- 3/4 cup of sugar 
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pie crust (check the ingredients but it's easy to find vegan one, you could also make one yourself)

you can also put a bit of clove, I'm sure it'd be even better, I just didn't have any so I did put a little more ginger and cinnamon.

Mix together the pumpkin purée and sugar first. Then add the tofu (previously blended until smooth, I don't have a blender so I used a whisk and it turned out pretty good) and the spices. Put everything onto the piecrust (previously unrolled on a baking trail).
Let it cook for 15 mins at 220 °C and then about 40 minutes (I cooked mine around 10 mins more) at 175 °C.
let it chill and serve :)


Tarte au Potiron

Il était temps pour une petite recette d'Halloween, même si je suis un peu en retard! je voulais être sûre que celle-ci valait le coup d'être partagée! et c'est le cas, en plus elle est super facile.

Vous aurez besoin de :

- 450 gr de purée de potiron (j'ai pris la mienne surgelée, car je n'avais pas le temps de la faire, mais bien sûr fait maison c'est encore mieux)
- 350 gr de tofu soyeux (à passer au blender ou mixeur d'abord pour qu'il soit bien lisse)
- 150 gr de sucre
- une demi cuillère à café de sel
- une demi cuillère à café de gingembre en poudre
- une cuillère à café de cannelle en poudre
- une pâte brisée (vérifiez les ingrédients mais il est facile d'en trouver des végétaliennes, je prends la mienne pour essayer d'éviter l'huile de palme, chose parfois difficile)

vous pouvez également mettre quelques clous de girofle, je n'en avais pas donc j'ai juste mis un peu plus de gingembre et de cannelle (mais tout cela, c'est à votre gôut!)

Mélangez la purée de potiron et le sucre. Puis ajoutez le tofu préalablement "lissé" (je n'ai ni batteur ni blender donc je l'ai juste bien battu avec un fouet et ça a fait l'affaire), le sel et les épices.
Mettez le tout sur votre pâte brisée (n'oubliez pas les petits trous à la fourchette avant) et enfournez d'abord à 220 ° pendant 15 minutes, puis à 175 ° pendant environ 40 minutes (j'ai laissé la mienne environ dix minutes de plus)
laissez refroidir et voilà :) 

J'espère que vous aimerez et que vous avez passé un bon week end de la Toussaint.

A bientôt (hopefully)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Paris

I finally got to go for a trip in Paris as a vegan. During my year in Australia I was still following what was going on I. The capital to know how things were evolving in France on this point.
Some places opened while I was away and I was really happy to check them out at last.

First thing I really wanted to visit was Vegan Folie's. I thought it was a cafe but it is more of a vegan patisseries where you can buy sandwiches, cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies and others drinks or sweets. Everything is 100% vegan which is always a great feeling for me (not having to ask about what I can have or not). I tried their chocolate cheesecake but also the blueberry one, their brownie and their cookie (yes I have just been there once but well...). There were 2 of us and all of this with 2 drinks cost us 19€ which I think is pretty cheap for home made vegan delights (and organic drinks). My favorite were the cookie and the brownie, just totally loved them!! The cheesecakes were really nice as well (just have a little preference for the cheesecake I used to have at Invita)

Second place I wanted to try was East Side Burgers, a new vegetarian fast food. Well after a year in Melbourne and some regular visits to (all mighty) Lord Of The Fries, I might say this was not something new. But well, after more than a month back in France, I was starting to miss vegan junk food. and I was not disappointed! Tasty burgers (I'm sad I couldn't try the hot dog, but I'll be back!) and vegan cheese option (which is pretty awesome for France!) and home made fries are always making me fall! Oh and also just totally LOVED the pear and chocolate tartelette and the cookie (might say I still have a preference for the cookie from Vegan Folie's, but you know I love every cookies anyway, no discrimination here). (Yes I tried all of this in a day... no judgements!)


if you just had one thing
to buy for the summer: THIS IS IT
I also had the opportunity to go to the shop Un Monde Vegan (a Vegan Wolrd in English...) that I had already mentioned earlier in here. I don't really like to do my grocery shopping on the internet so that was nice to have time to go "for real" to their shop (and yes the rest of the time I am really grateful that their website exists!). Good other point is that they also have the brand vegetarian shoes that you can try and everything! They have everything they have on the website, and I finally got to buy some vegan croissants and pain au chocolat (that I have yet to try!! I will let you know)





So that's it about Paris. I also did some pic nique by the seine, and I might in summer it's always pretty easy to just have a vegie salad and fruits so no problem about this! this little holidays in Paris showed me that things are starting to change in France (or at least in Paris) and that veganism is coming around here little by little. (again I am not preaching for everyone to become one, I just want my life to be a bit easier by having more choices and options in general!)
have a great day/night wherever you are!

Ps: better quality pictures next time... this was not really taken to be put on here but well

Sunday, August 4, 2013

I'm back! (well at least I'll try)

Hey there!

so yeah I know... I'm coming back from the deads, and now we can all say that apparently having a blog (where I would keep on posting regurlarly) does not seem to be my thing. But I still want to give it a shot... Who knows ;) I just think I still have things to say and post about travelling as a vegan, where and what to eat and how to stay vegan as well as staying healthy (in some places it seems more challenging to do both).

so lots of things have happen since my last post. I finished my year as an excahnge student in Melbourne University and had to fly back home, to France. I thought I would have to go back to being vegetarian but no, I'm holding up and I find it easier and easier to be vegan here as well! and as time goes by, I might say I don't really imagine eating in a different way or going back to my old diet.

I've had the opportunity to go back to London and to Paris, and that was my first time as a vegan in those cities so I'll have things to share about this! I don't know if there's still any point for me to share my experience about my trip in Asia as it was so long ago? but if it does interest anyone let me know ;)

I will also have some more recipes and ideas hopefully coming soon...

Please excuse me for that long silence, and hope you'll enjoy the new start of this blog!

see you soon on here :)

Ps: is there anyone who would still want the French version?

Ps2: you can follow me on Pinterest or on Tumblr as well

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Asia trip part one: Bali


I feel like being back from the dead on here! I thought I would be able to keep this blog running regularly but apparently I am not getting much better. I'll try to do my best now :)
Here I am back to school in Melbourne for the second semester of my exchange. But before that I was lucky enough to get a (very) big summer break during which I ended up doing a trip to South East Asia with some of my friends. It's really exciting for me to tell you about that first trip in a new continent!!
Monkey Forrest (Ubud)
Our first stop was Bali, one of the isles of Indonesia. We stayed there for 5 days, and I must say that I remember saying how much I liked it but now that I've seen the other countries I'm going to tell you about soon I am not so sure. Don't take me wrong, it was great! Problem is it was really touristy, lots of Australians going on holidays there and acting as "kings of the world" because yeah you have a bit more money in that country than what you have in yours by comparison. And that's the kind of behaviour I don't like to see when I'm on holidays.
Anyway, we had really great time over there, trying watersports that we could not even think to afford in Oz. Parasailing was just incredible, a great memory! and I might say the food was great and (as I was about to discover) being vegan in Asia is pretty easy, way easier than in France or in Europe in general I'd say.
First meal in Kuta
The centre of Bali was also really nice, a different atmosphere and more peaceful than crazy Kuta (but crazy is good sometimes ;)). If you have time in Bali I would definitely recommend Ubud and the Kuntamani (one of the volcano in the centre) for the beauty and peacefulness, and Kuta for the night life and a bit of shopping. Don't forget to bargain, the first price is never the "real" one.
Oh and Balinese massage... What I would give to go back there just for a massage!!!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

"Creamy" Macaroni

Another thing I missed, especially going back home cause it was something my dad used to do for me, a pasta and cream dish. Here I found an alternative that everyone (including meat eaters) loved! Don't be afraid by the list of ingredients or things to do, it is really simple.

What you need:

- 500 gr pasta (I chose elbow pasta)
- 250 gr raw cashews
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- a bit of pepper
- 1 can of diced tomatoes

=> First of all and most important if you don't want to be stuck, soak the cashews in water for at least 4 hours (I  always do it the night before if I'm doing it for lunch, or in the morning if it's for dinner).

In a food processor, put the drained cashews with oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, paprika and pepper. Mix together until the cashews are chopped, then add 3/4 cup of water and mix again until smooth.
Preheat oven to 250°C.
Oil the baking dish and cook the pasta in water as usual.
Once the pastas are cooked, drain them and put them back in the pot. Then add the cashew mixture and the can of diced tomatoes (I kept all the juice, it's a bit up to you if you wanna drain them or not, I prefer not) and stir well.
Put everything in the baking dish and in oven for about 30 minutes until you can see it's heated through and golden on top!



Une des choses qui me manquaient: les gratins de pâtes, surtout parce que mon père m'en faisait souvent avec plein de fromages... Puis j'ai trouvé cette alternative:

Vous avez besoin de:

- 500 gr de pâtes (je prends toujours des coquillettes pour les gratins)
- 250 gr de noix de cajou
- 3 cuillères à soupe d'huile d'olive
- 50 ml de jus de citron
- 2 cuillères à soupe de nutrional yeast (levure nutrionnelle ou alimentaire, je cherche encore pour en trouver en France...)
- 1 gousse d'ail
- sel, poivre et paprika (une pincée, mais après c'est à votre goût comme toujours!)
- 1 boite de tomates pelées en dès


/!\ A ne pas oubliez avant de prévoir de faire ce plat: faire trempez les noix de cajou dans de l'eau pendant au moins 4 heures (en général je le fais la veille au soir si c'est pour le midi ou alors le matin en me levant si c'est pour le soir histoire d'être sûre).

Mettez dans un blender les noix de cajou préalablement égoutée, l'huile d'olive, le jus de citron, le sel, le poivre, le paprika, l'ail, la levure. Mixez le tout jusqu'à ce que les noix de cajou soit broyées, puis ajoutez environ 170ml d'eau et mixez encore jusqu'à ce que l'ensemble soit lisse.
Préchauffez le four à 250 degrés. Huilez le plat à gratin. Cuisez les pâtes comme d'habitude, en suivant les instructions sur le paquet. Egouttez les puis remettez-les dans la casserole. Ajoutez la "crème" de noix de cajou, et la boîte de tomates pelées en dès. J'ajoute également le jus des tomates, c'est à vous de voir, vous pouvez ne pas le mettre mais je préfère avec. Mélangez bien le tout et versez dans le plat.
Mettre au four pendant environ 30 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le tout soit bien cuit, et le dessus bien doré!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

"In Dublin fair city..."



Fleet Street
"...where the girls are so pretty". I have this little song in my head, sung by my friend we visited in Dublin! I was really looking forward to discover Ireland, even if I knew it was "just" Dublin (not the country) and for only 2 days. It was worth it anyway!
I'm really late to tell you about it as I was there around the 18th of December but well never too late to talk about a new city I guess. That might be because I was born and grew up kinda by the sea that I always feel so good when I am near it. Dublin has that special "vibe" that only coastal places can have. As in every other big cities, there are different districts (neighbourhood? don't know how you would call this in English) that all have a different atmosphere. Must dos would (for me) definitely be:
 Grafton Street for the bands that are playing for free outside, whatever the weather apparently. 
O'Connell Street because it is beautiful.
Christchurch Cathedral, you have to pay to enter, which my friend and I didn't do but even seeing it from outside was impressive.

Trinity College, old stone and amazing architecture
Dublin's Castle
Fleet street for all the crazy looking pubs
and of course Temple Bar... And don't forget to go in a Irish Pub! We went to the O'Neills (on Suffolk Street) a classic and famous pub, where there is an Irish band playing every night.
one part of the Castle

Concerning the food, as in the UK, it was not as easy as I expected to find vegan things (I think Melbourne definitely made life too easy for me) but not impossible either! The traditional fish and chips let you just stick to the chips, better than nothing! I think it'd be hard to eat in a pub maybe. But as always Mexican restaurant would do it! and the second day we went to an absolutely amazing place, mixture of a café, tea room an cake shop. It's called "Queen of tarts". There is one on Cows lane and one on Dame Street, if you can go for the first one which is slightly bigger and with a nicer atmosphere I think. Well, I have to say first the big disappointment is they don't have any vegan cakes or sweets.However, even if my choice was limited for lunch, it was absolutely delicious! I had a mexican bean soup (one of the soup of the day was vegan, the other not, so you have to check) with a hummus and vegetable sandwich. The bread is home made and fresh and you can chose the one you prefer. Simple, but good and quality food that makes you want to go back. As a "desert" I had a slice of their home made brown bread with the raspberry jam; home made as well. I hope they'll start making more vegan options soon, but even if not, I'd be happy to go back if I go back to Dublin!
The Liffey by night


French version to come...

Friday, January 11, 2013

La Galette des rois!

(Scroll down for English)
Je suis un peu en retard mais c'est encore de saison, alors voici une petite recette de galette des rois! C'est le dernier truc que j'ai cuisiné avant de partir de chez moi, pour rentrer à Melbourne, et ça m'a fait plaisir de pouvoir moi aussi manger de la galette!
J'ai trouvé la recette ici et je l'ai un peu transformé vous verrez.

Vous aurez besoin de:

- 2 pâtes feuilletées (pour qu'elles soient vegan vérifiez les ingrédients, mais les premiers prix le sont quasiment tout le temps)
- 200g de poudre d'amande
-75 gr de sucre + 75 gr de cassonade brune
- 100 gr de margarine (sortez la du frigo en avance pour qu'elle soit ramolie)
- 20gr de maizena + 80 ml de lait végétal (j'ai pris du lait de soja, mais ça reste au choix bien sûr)
- un peu de lait de soja pour dorer

et une fève bien sûr!

Mettez d'abord la première pâte dans un plat à tarte en piquant bien le fond avec une fourchette. Préchauffez le four à 200 degrès. Ensuite dans un plat mélangez la poudre d'amande et le sucre (ou la cassonade, mais mettez bien les 150gr). Ajoutez ensuite la margarine, et le mélange maizena et lait de soja. Mélangez bien le tout. Etalez la préparation sur la pâte feuilletée. Disposez la fève vers le bord plutôt qu'au milieu. Enfin, il suffit de mettre la deuxième pâte feuilletée par dessus. J'avais un peu peur de cette étape mais en fait c'est assez simple. Soudez bien les bords des deux pâtes entre eux avec de l'eau et enlevez l'exédant de pâte. N'oubliez pas de faire quelques trous avec une fourchette dans la pâte du dessus également.
Vous pouvez utiliser du lait de soja (ou tout autre lait végétal) pour dorer le dessus de la pâte (et ça marche aussi bien le jaune d'oeuf!).
Mettez le tout au four pendant au moins 25 min. Comme d'habitude ça dépend des fours. J'ai laissé la mienne environ 35 min il me semble, mais il faut être vigilent.
Bon appétit :)


I don't really know if any English speaking country does this (pardon my ignorance) but in France we always celebrate Epiphany with a "Galette des rois" (Kings' cake). I'm a bit late with this one but there is still time left to do it!

You'll need:

- 2 flaky pastries (check the ingredients to be sure it's vegan, usually the first price one are)
- 200 gr almond meal
- 150 gr brown sugar (I used 75gr white sugar and 75gr "cassonade" which is typical from the North of France and Beligum)
- 100 gr of vegetable oil spread (get it out of the fridge before so that it is soft enough)
- 20gr of cornflour + 80 ml of soy milk (or any other non dairy milk) that is to replace the egg so I'm sure you could try with any other egg replacer
- some soy milk to glaze

Preheat the oven to 200 °C
Put the first pastry in a pie dish and make some holes in it using a fork. Then in a salad bowl mix together the almond meal and the sugar. Add the vegetable oil spread and the cornflour and soy milk mixture. Blend it well together. Put the mixture on the pastry, spreading it evenly. Add the second pastry on top. Don't be afraid it's easier than it seems. Fix the two pastries together using water on the edges. Don't forget to do some holes again on the top. Finally, use some soy milk to glaze the top.
Put it in the oven for at least 25 min, then start to check because time will differ from one oven to another. It took 35 minutes in my oven.
Enjoy :)


Thursday, January 3, 2013

How to be Vegan in France?

Une fois n'est pas coutume, je commence en français parce que c'est plus logique pour cet article. Comment être vegan en France?

Oui grande question! Quand je préparais mon retour pour les fêtes de Noël je me disais que j'allais sans doute retourner au végétarisme pour ce mois à la maison, parce que plus simple (même si déjà un peu compliqué ici!). Puis une discussion avec le chef du café ou je travaillais à Melbourne m'a fait réfléchir. Il me disait que dans la vie il fallait "se battre" et que ça valait pour tout, alors je devais me battre pour continuer à être vegan chez moi. Quand je suis à la maison justement tout se passe bien puisque je cuisine pour moi même. Bon le seul souci c'est que trouver des "simili carnés' (les fausses viandes quoi) en grande distribution c'est impossible. Il faut avoir recours aux sites internet (je tiens d'ailleurs à exprimer mon euphorie à la découverte d'un monde vegan) ou tout bonnement faire sans.

Ensuite vient le problème épineux de manger dehors... Bien sûr quand on vit à Paris je pense que tout est possible. Sauf que moi j'habite dans la Flandres profonde, paumée entre Dunkerque, Calais et Saint-Omer (les "villes" ou en gros je me rends quand je ne veux pas me taper 45min de route pour Lille). Même Lille m'a un peu déçue. C'est la ville où j'ai commencé mes études, j'y ai donc vécu deux ans, quand je n'étais pas encore végétarienne. C'est un peu "ma" ville dans mon coeur, celle où j'aimerais peut être m'installer quand je me poserais (enfin) et je l'ai toujours trouvé géniale en tous points.Pour une fois je dois dire que ce n'était pas si génial. Les brasseries typiques du Nord déjà c'est sûr que c'est hors jeu... Ensuite je suis allée dans une petite sandwicherie bio (grains de Nature) pensant pouvoir m'arranger... Et raté! Sandwichs déjà préparés (tous avec au moins du fromage) et impossible d'en avoir un "sur demande". Les soupes, quant à elles, contenaient toutes de la crème... (je tiens à préciser que si je n'ai pas le choix je passe en végétarienne, je ne vais pas non plus arrêter de manger... mais la je tenais vraiment à chercher). Je commençais à me dire que j'allais finir avec le sub végétarien de chez Subway (sans fromage c'est vegan!) quand mon amie m'a proposée Sushi Shop! Dieu bénisse Sushi shop! Choix pas mal de sushi végétarien, dont quelques vegan, et franchement je me suis régalée, pour moins cher que la version poisson. Sinon vous pouvez aussi aller chez "So good" (une chaine également, qui se trouve elle aussi Faubourg de Béthune) où il y a des salades vegan (j'ai pris une salade de lentilles, pommes, carottes et oignons rouges, délicieuse!). Ils ont également un choix de soupes et de pâtes végétariennes mais je n'ai pas demandé si c'était vegan (oui j'avais déjà mangé quand même...). Ah et enfin petit bonus: les cafés Notting Hill, que les Lillois connaissent bien (Grand Place et 2 dans le vieux Lille) proposent du lait de soja! ouf! (Contrairement à Méo, où en plus d'être irrespectueux, le personnel était grossier). Malheureusement pour ce qui est des "sucreries" à part les salades de fruits... aucune offres nul part.

Enfin, pour l'instant j'ai essayé de manger sur Dunkerque une seule fois.
Et ce n'était pas une réussite, j'ai du "redevenir" végétarienne... Mais je compte bien revenir avec un nouvel article plein de solutions! Je n'arrête pas les recherches :)
Les conseils que je pourrais donner en règles générales: Les pizzerias (une pizza végétarienne de laquelle on enlève le fromage sera vegan!), les resto de cuisine du monde (Indien, Mexicain, Asiatique) vous donnerons toujours plus de choix ou de liberté pour changer quelque chose dans un plat pour le rendre vegan.
Et puis n'oublions pas, plus nous serons nombreux à en faire la demande, plus les resto s'adapterons et nous proposerons des choses.


How to be vegan in France? That sounds like a good question to ask... Not so easy to answer! well easy to answer... It's hard to be vegan in France, nation of cheese and meat, where being vegetarian is already hard and often means eating a lot of cheese. I thought I would go back to vegetarian when I'd be back here but I decided to try hard to stay vegan (after someone told me I should "fight" and convince me to do so). Well at home everything is great because I can cook for myself, and I'm happy to cook for my family and show them I can have fun and eat tasty food! Going out to eat is a bit harder.

I think in Paris everything would be easier but I live in the North of France, in a small village lost between Dunkirk and Calais. And even Lille (the biggest city in the North) got me disappointed. I went to a little organic café... and had to leave without anytinng (cheese everywhere, and cream in the soups). I didn't even try the typical brasseries from the North (maybe I should who knows...) because I knew they would not have anything for me. Thankfully, my friend had an idea: Sushi Shop (faubourg de Béthune)! They have a good range of vegetarian and vegan sushi and they tasted really good :) I was happy with my lunch (a salad as well as rice, and then a fruit salad) that was cheaper than the fish option. Of course if you can't find anything there is always a subway with its vegetarian patty sub (without the cheese) but I was trying to avoid it. I also discovered that "So good" (same street as Sushi shop) had really good vegan salad. I tried one with lentils, apples, carrots and red onions. They also have soups and pasta but I still need to check if any of those are vegan. Oh and the little thing that made my day: Notthing Hill café has Soy milk! youhouuu (yeah I have simple pleasures I know... haha). There are 3 of them one on the main square (Grand' Place) and 2 in the "vieux Lille" area. And the staff is always nice. Unfortunatelly for the sweet things there is only fruit salad.
Concerning Dunkerque... I went for dinner out there for lunch just once for the moment and I had to go back to vegetarian... But I'm not giving up, I'm sure I'll find something!!

Some pieces of advice I could give coming here: try the pizzeria (vegetarian pizza without the cheese becomes vegan) and world restaurant: Indian, Mexican and Asian. They are always easier to find at least vegetarian options and then try to ask to change a little thing to turn them into vegan dishes.