Cheetahs, the fastest land mammal, agile, elegant and super speedy! So what better way to see them than literally face to face.

The cheetahs were always my favourites when I was working directly with the big cats. Mucking out the cheetah house in the morning was great fun, the boys were really chilled out and Carl would even purr at me. The girls were a little more fiesty, hissing and spitting if you got a little too close for their liking. Each individual had a distinct personality and I really came to love them.

So when I moved into VIP driving I thought I would miss that closeness to them, but instead I now get closer than ever. As the land rover drives alongside them their attention is suddenly spurred, they quickly jump to their feet and come over to investigate, sniffing the tyres, eyeing up the mudflaps... then suddenly... hop up onto the bonnet! Now that really is a close encounter. With just the windscreen between each other we can literally stare eye to eye.

This photo of Longleat is courtesy of TripAdvisor.

Its incredible to see them from such a unique angle, it gives you a great oppotunity to study their beautiful physique. From every hair on their body to the claws on their feet. They have gorgeous piercing eyes that stare right back at you through the glass. Its definitely a big hit with the guests.

But why do they do it? It could be for a number of reasons, firstly it gives a much better viewing point. Cheetahs often sit on higher ground, such as termite mounds, so they can scan their surroundings, and a land rover becomes just that, a great vantage point. It could also be because its a great escape from other predators, you don't see a lion jumping up onto a vehicle, so it could provide them with safety. Perhaps they are just purely interested, they often peer in at the passengers, occasionally hissing, but more often just with curiosity.

And its not just our cheetahs at Longleat that do this, even wild ones do. Its become a common sight to see cheetahs up on top of vehicles, even when its practically roofless. Safari guests often have the fright of their life when a cheetah jumps up right next to them, literally inches away. So close they can feel their breath. The cheetahs seem to pay no attention to the people, and even relax and lay down just centimenters away from the awed guests.




What would you do if you got this close to a cheetah? And why do you think they do it?
 

Cheetah facts

They can reach 60mph in less than 3 seconds, with a maximum speed of 70mph.

They hunt during the day to avoid other predators, hence they have tear marks which act as sunglasses, absorbing the suns rays rather than reflecting them into their eyes.

They are one of the few cats with non-retractable claws, which helps grip the ground whilst running.

Females are solitary, but males will often live in small groups of 2 or 3 known as coalitions.

Cubs are born with a long grey mane, thought to deter predators by giving the appearance of the ferocious honey badger.

It is believed a previous natural disaster reduced cheetah numbers to only a few individuals. This means they are severly inbred, and have extremely poor genetic diversity. This has resulted in low survivorship, poor sperm quality and great susceptibility to diseases.

Its been 2 months now that I have been exploring alternative options in my quest to become completely cruelty free. With dedicating one day a week to eating without dairy and eggs I've learnt how to use tofu, with one hell of an amazing quiche, discovered that delicous pancakes are still possible and even fooled my cheese loving boyfriend, with a brilliant imitation blue cheese and brocolli soup.

I've had a lot of great success, but I've also had a fair few disasters, with a very messy stir fry, one rather dodgy breakfast and even spent one whole day drinking white milky coffee without realising... oops! But now I've come this far I've decided to take it all the way and make it permanent. Not just one day a week, but cruelty free forever. I've been going for over a week now. Hoorah!

Its been an eye opening experience and I've found plenty of options are still available. I thought yoghurts would be off the menu, but walk into any supermarket and you can find a whole variety of tasty dairy free options on the shelves. I thought I'd really miss my quorn, the staple freezer food of my vegetarian ways, but Linda McCartnery has nicely filled that gap, with sausages and pies all proudly displaying a vegan label, and just a short walk down to holland and barrett unveils a whole new territory, with redwood offering fresh 'fish' cakes and fingers and even 'duck' style pieces, and a company called Frys with great alternatives to frozen staples.

Eating out has also been suprisingly easy. On the way home from a long journey we popped into burger king for a quick snack, a tasty veggie burger with no cheese and mayo. Just as yummy with a dollop of heinz ketchup. Plenty of pizza companies actually use vegan dough, so hold the cheese and you have a tasty pizza! I was thrilled to discover my workplace, Longleat, make their pizzas with vegan dough. I know where I'll be having lunch!

Even eating at a friends turned out suprising results. They were serving a steak, chips, onions rings and garlic bread for the meat eaters, so I was just going to make do with a few chippies and onions rings. We then discovered the garlic bread had been made with vegan margarine so that made a home on my plate too. Hidden in the cupboard my host then found a Loyd Grossman balti sauce that had no animal products in, so with a few chopped veggies they rustled me up a quick tasty curry... I ended up with a tastier, bigger meal than the meat eaters!

There have been a few challenges, drinking coffee at work was one of them. I have always drank my coffee milky, and whilst I enjoy it with almond milk, lugging around a carton of it has just proven impossible. I've ordered a soya powder, in hope that it may end this frustration. Another problem has been cheese. I loved cheese and most of the vegan alternatives I've tried have been beyond foul, especially the cheddar style! My only saviour so far is blue sheese by bute island... heaven! However there are still plenty to try, vegusto has great reviews, and Ive just ordered veganics cheese which is new to the UK but with absolutely raving reviews. Fingers crossed!

So cheers to the future, and living in a cruelty free world!

Date attempted: 01/03/2013

Breakfast: Gooey peanut butter and banana oats

 

I cant get enough of the recipes on the chocolate covered katie blog, they all look heavenly, but I don't really have the funds to make desserts at the moment, so for now I thought I'd I'll settle for a yummy breakfast recipe. Peanut butter breakfast pudding.

Ingredients:

Oats

Peanut Butter

Almond Milk

Banana

Vanilla Essence

Sugar to taste 

Method:

Cook oats in almond milk according to pack. 

Once oats are cooked blend together half the oat mixture, with a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter, half the banana, a few drops of vanilla and sugar to taste.

Stir in rest of oats and top with rest of banana.

Verdict:

Very easy to whip it all together.... and it tastes amazing!!!! You really do have to be a lover of peanut butter to enjoy this, as its almost as if you are simply eating warm, gooey, peanut butter. I absolutely loved it! Its quite a filling, heavy breakfast, you don't need much!

Lunch: Lentil curry served with turmeric flavoured rice

 

This is a favourite recipe of mine that I have been making for several years nows, I made this for dinner the night before and had the left overs for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

Oil

Onions

Curry paste

Vegetable stock

Red lentils

Mixed frozen veg

Coconut milk

Salt and Pepper

Rice

Turmeric

Method:

Gently saute chopped onions in oil in a large saucepan. 

After a few mins add one or two tablespoons of curry paste and cook for another minute. 

Add in your made up veg stock and your frozen veggies. 

After 5 minutes add your lentils and leave to simmer.

Cook rice according to pack in water with a spoonful of turmeric.

When lentils are cooked and have absorbed most of the water add your coconut milk, salt and pepper and give it a good stir. Cook for a further couple of minutes and serve!

Verdict:

This is such an easy meal to make, you can disappear off to watch TV while your lentils are simmering. I always enjoy it, and Ive made it for dinner guests in the past who have also really liked it. You can't go wrong. Plus you can make is spicier with hotter paste and chilli, and omit the coconut for those who like their curries a bit stronger.

Dinner: Pancakes with a creamy blue sheese mushroom filling

Ooooh pancakes, something I thought I would miss out on going vegan, so when I found this recipe I really didnt think it would work, surely without eggs the pancakes wouldn't bind? I decided to opt for a filling I knew I'd love, creamy blue sheese and mushrooms.

Ingredients:

Pancakes

Almond milk

Vegan margarine(pure)

Flour

Water

Nutritional yeast

Salt and pepper

Filling

Oil

Onions

Garlic

Mushrooms

Soy cream

Blue sheese

Spring onions

Salt and pepper

Method:

Make pancake mix first, melt margarine then blend together with almond milk, flour, water, a couple of heaped spoons of nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a frying pan heat the oil the gently cook crushed garlic and chopped onions. Add chopped mushrooms and cook untildarkened in colour and soft. 

Pour in cream and cook for a further minute.

Add in grated blue sheese, chopped spring onions, salt and pepper. Cook until sheese has melted.

Whilst waiting for sheese to melt move over to cooking your pancakes.

Heat a tiny blob of butter in a frying pan to coat base on a medium-high heat. Pour in some of your pancake mixture so it coats the bottom of the pan. 

As it starts to solidfy and brown use a fish slice to check under bottom.

When just browned flip onto other side and cook for another minute or so.

Pop onto plate then pour on mushroom mixture and fold in half.

Serve with a lightly dressed baby leaf salad.

Verdict:

You have to get the hang of making pancakes, some people never seem to grasp it, for others its second nature (I used to watch my dad on shrove Tuesdays so I seem to be pancake queen). Its quite simple to put together, and you can alter the amount of flour/milk depending on how thick you like your pancakes. My first pancake got stuck to the pan and ended up a mess, so I canged my pan and then they worked beautifully.

They tasted absolutely delicous, definitely the best vegan meal Ive made by far! My boyfriend said he wouldnt be able to tell it was vegan, and tasted great. Ive since cooked it for my mum and Auntie who also loved it. This will definitely fo among my favourites now to make! Plus any leftover pancakes are great as a dessert smothered in syrup... yum!

11th of March will be a day to remember. A day that will go down in history for animal welfare. It was the day that any cosmetics that have been, or had their ingredients tested on animals, were banned from being sold in the EU. Hip hip hooray! Since 2004 the EU were banned from using animal tests for cosmetics, however they were still allowed to sell them if they had been animal tested abroad. So now we have real resaon to celebrate!

I have always only ever used non-animal tested cosmetics and spent hours sifting through websites to find out their policies. This could mark the end of that struggle. No longer will I have to scrutinize the back of the bottle when I pick it up from the shelf, it can go straight in the basket!

However the change may not be immediately noticeable, products may still be sold on our shelves if they were tested before the ban, so it may still be best to steer clear of some of those old favourites. At least we know any new products on our shelves are cruelty free, right? Wrong! Companies may still test products elsewhere in the world for sale in other countries, so if we buy a product from that company, even though the product we are buying may be cruelty free, the company may not be, so we would still effectively be giving our money to a company that endorses animal testing. L'oreal is one of these companies, who have said they will stop selling cosmetics that have animal tested ingredients in the EU, but this will not stop them from sellling them elsewhere in the world.

Photo by Hijukal

Another problem is also staring at us in the face, ingredients that have been animal tested for other products, may still be used in cosmetics. A serious loophole that really needs to be addressed! So effectively we could be buying a 'cruelty-free' cosmetic, that still contains an ingredient tested on animals because it is used in a different product!

Lush also highlights issues with REACH, the chemical legislation policy, which has passed a new law stating all ingredients must undergo a strict set of tests. Some of these have no non-animal testing alternative, and so many companies may be forced into third party animal testing. Surely this is a serious contradiction of statements?

So is the whole thing a waste of time? Definitely not. Europe is making a statement, its a start for the entire world to go cruelty free. We are setting the standards, and this will be the turning point for the rest of the world to ban animal testing. It has given us a glimmer of hope of what could lay ahead in the future. A cruelty free world. But for now, I will still only be buying products with the leaping bunny logo.

Read more FAQs here.

Date attempted: 22/2/13.

Breakfast: Strawberry and banana smoothie

The idea came from this site (strawberry banana blast), Ive never made a smoothie before, only ever had them from a carton or made by a shop, so I was unsure what to expect.

Ingredients:

Frozen strawberries

Banana

Apple Juice

Almond Milk

Just blitz together with a hand blender.

Verdict:

So easy to make, just thrown it all in a jug and blend! Easy enough to do before bed the night before and eat in the morning, or even quickly whizz together when you get up. It tastes amazing too, especially if you love strawberries like me. I didnt think a drink could be filling, but this is more than a drink, very thick and satisfying!

Lunch: Creamy potato salad served alongside carrots and homous

Ive never really had much success when making potato salad, but I still wanted to give the vegan style a go anyway. I didnt think it would make a great meal on its own, so I served it with carrots and homous for nibbles.

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Peas

Spring onions

Vegan Mayo

Soya Cream

Nutmeg

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Chop and boil potatoes in salted water. Add peas 5 minutes before end.

Drain and leave to cool.

Once cooled mix in chooped spring onions, mayo, cream and a pinch of nutmeg.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Verdict:

Not dis-similar to previous potato salads Ive made before. Perhaps a little cooked red onion next time, and I added a little too much cream so it was a touch runny and was a little heavy handed with the nutmeg. It was rather boring as a lunch meal, would work better as a side salad for dinner. Next time I may find a dedicated recipe that will hopefully make it a bit more exciting.

Dinner: Mac n cheeze served with crusty bread

I remember those wonderful luch time meals my grandad use to make me, traditional macaroni cheese. Oh I will miss them, but I found this recipe claiming to be very similar in taste, so I had to give it a go.

Ingredients:

Pasta
Almond Milk
Nutritional yeast
Oil
Tofu
Garlic Powder
Turmeric
Mustard
Tinned peas

Onions

Brocolli

Salt and Pepper

Bread crumbs

Method:

Cook pasta according to pack, drain and set aside.

Blend together cheeze mix, milk, nutritional yeast, oil, tofu, garlic powder, turmeric and mustard and set aside.

In a frying pan heat some oil and gently saute onions, after 5 mins add brocolli and cook for a couple more minutes. Add peas and cook for a further minute then mix in cheeze mix. Cook for a further couple of minutes.

Mix with pasta in oven proof dish, salt and pepper to taste. Top with bread crumbs and nutritional yeast.

Cook in oven until golden brown on top.

Verdict:

This smelt so good as it was cooking, its pretty easy to put together as well, espeically for a rubbish cook like me! The colour was a dark, golden yellow, and looked absolutely heavenly. I was a little disappointed there wasnt much goey sauce, Soya cream would definitely be a great addition here. On first bite I was unsure, it definitely wasn't like traditional macaroni cheese, but after a few more bites I realised it was exceptionally tasty if you didnt expect it to be like the normal version. A unique tasty dish of it own. 

I served it with crusty bread, hoping to mop up the sauce but there didnt seem to be any sauce left at all, it had pretty much dried up and been absorbed into the main pasta. I had plenty of left overs, which I mixed with vegan mayo the next day....oh this tasted even better than the night before! A great lunch time meal!

Next time if I attempt to make a macaroni cheese I may attempt the traditional method with the vegan alternatives, melt vegan butter, mix in flour, slowly add almond milk, then melt in a vegan cheddar style cheese. It may work better for a copy of the original. I will still make this version though, as it was just as tasty if you dont go expecting it to be cheese like.

Date attempted: 15/02/2013.

Breakfast: Soya yoghurt and fruit

Simply top soya yoghurt over your favourite fresh fruit.

Verdict:

Throughly disappointed with this style of yoghurt, I really did not like it at all compared to others I have tried. It had a distinct soya taste, that I never like, as well as leaving a strange residue in your mouth. I regularly eat soya yoghurts now and my favourite has been the provamel forest fruits. Next time I'll go back to having this over my fresh fruit.

Lunch: Roasted vegetables and homous salad wrap

 

Cheese and coleslaw wraps have always been a favourite for a quick lunch box meal, so I wanted to attempt a typical vegan wrap to replace this with... homous of course!

Ingredients:

Oil

Mushrooms

Peppers

Spring onions

Baby leaf salad

Onion homous

Tortilla wraps

Method:

Chop mushrooms and peppers and place on baking tray, drizzle with oil and pop in oven to roast.

Once cooked remove from oven and leave to cool.

Spread a thin layer of homous onto wrap and top with chopped spring onions, salad leaves and roasted veg.

Wrap up and enjoy.

Verdict:

The nice thing about this is its so versatile, you can easily swap around your veg as you please, perhaps add onions, tomatoes or even asparagus (one of my favs). The downside is its not easy just to throw together in the morning before work. I roasted the veg the night before then left them in the fridge to pop in my wrap in the morning. I think the best bet would be to make a large batch of roasted veg to use over a couple of days.

The wrap was really tasty though, and the roasted veg was delicous alongside the homous. Would also work great in a sandwich, baguette or pitta.

Dinner: Blue sheese mushroom tartlet served with cripsy roast potatoes, roast carrots and crunchy green beans

Ive made this plenty of times before, and has always been popular when made with normal blue cheese. So far blue sheese has been an absolute godsend, so I really hoped it would work just as well with this.

Ingredients:

Oil

Salt

Pepper

Tartlet:

Red Onions

Mushrooms

Puff pastry

Blue sheese

Side veg:

Potatoes

Carrots

Green beans

Method:

Mushroom Tartlet: 

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions and mushrooms over a low heat. Mix in a small amount of blue sheese to taste, salt and pepper.

Roll out puff pastry and cut into rectangles.

Top with mushroom mix, a little more grated blue sheese and bake in oven until pastry has risen and turns golden brown.

Veggies:

Peel and par-boil potatoes, carrots and green beans. Gently fluff up potatoes, then place carrots and potatoes on a roasting tray. Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper then place in oven until crispy and brown. Place green beans in oil in a frying pan and gently fry until slightly browned.

Serve with gravy.

Verdict:

Yup blue sheese does it again. Very very tasty indeed. This is so easy to make, and it looks great too, especially if you use a mix of wild mushrooms, although using chesnut mushrooms works just as well. The only downside was the blue sheese on top didnt really melt or go gooey, just browned, but it wasnt a major issue. You could easily add a mix of herbs to this as well to make it even tastier. I made two of these, one I ate with my veggies covered in gravy, the other I saved and ate cold the next day for lunch. Both were just as yummy.

 

Once again blue sheese has wowed me, I really can't see myself cooking without this now! It works so well in every recipe. It would have been great in my quiche from my first 'cruelty free friday' attempt, or even over a baked potato. Next time I go to the health food shop I think I'll buy multiple packs to pop in the fridge. I really hope I can find a cheddar style vegan cheese thats just as good. I may give bute islands medium cheddar sheese a go if I can find it.