If you’re a dedicated meat eater, it’s worth trying a week of vegetarianism, your colon will thank you for it!

Why not spend the morning investigating recipes and ideas using the websites below, or get started with our delicious Cauliflower & Asparagus Tart, which includes Quaker Oats for an even healthier veggie meal.   

Ingredients

For the pastry:
300g self-raising wholemeal flour
1 tsp vegan bouillon powder
125ml rapeseed oil
125ml rice milk or Soya milk

For the filling:
olive oil, for oiling and frying
1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets
125g asparagus, trimmed and washed
2 red onions, chopped
50g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
125g frozen sweet corn, mashed
250ml sweetened Soya milk
250ml rapeseed oil
1 lime, juice only
2 tbsp Quaker Porridge Oats
2 dessertspoons vegan bouillon powder
2 tbsp vegan tomato sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
smoked paprika
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Oil a 30cm/12in flan or pie dish. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
2. To make the pastry, place the flour and bouillon powder in a bowl and rub in the oil, then mix in the milk. Knead the pastry gently for a few moments, then roll out on a floured surface and use it to line the prepared dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until just cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, steam the cauliflower and asparagus until hot but not cooked – about 4-5 minutes.
4. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and mushrooms until soft. Add the mashed sweet corn and stir until hot.
5. Heat the soya milk in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Transfer to a food processor or liquidiser, add the rapeseed oil, season with pepper and mix well. With the machine still running, add the lime juice and mix thoroughly to prevent curdling.
6. Add the oats, bouillon powder, tomato sauce and mustard to the milk mixture and blend again.
7. Oil the inner base of the pie crust, then spread a thin layer of the oat mixture over it. Place a layer of the mushroom mixture on top, then a layer of the cauliflower, followed by the remaining oat mixture.
8. Arrange the asparagus spears on top and sprinkle with smoked paprika. Return the tart to the oven and cook for a further 20 minutes. Serve with a green salad.

Enjoy!!

Round up some friends or neighbours and have a good old natter over a pot of coffee and these delicious chewy cherry and sultana flapjacks.

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter
200g Demerara sugar
200g honey
400g Quaker oats
50g glacé cherries
50g sultanas

You will also need a 20cm x 30cm (8in x 12in) cake tin, greased.

Method

1. Put the butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Add the oats, cherries and sultanas and mix well.

2. Transfer the oat mixture to the prepared cake tin and spread to about 2cm (¾in) thick. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges, but still slightly soft in the middle.

3. Let cool in the tin, then turn out and cut into squares.

4. Enjoy!!

Take the kids to the zoo or public farm.

A quick and easy healthy snack idea to take along is Toasted Oat & Yoghurt Layer.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

50g Quaker oats
6 tbsp fat free Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp honey
100g blueberries

(Serves 2)

Toast the oats by dry frying them in a frying pan for 1-2 minutes until golden.

Mix together the yoghurt and honey and place half in the base 2 sundae glasses (or plastic cups with lids if heading out).

Then sprinkle half the toasted oats into the glasses.

Top with half the blueberries then repeat the layers.

Delicious – but no feeding the animals!

Places to visit:

Marwell Zoo

London Zoo

Colchester Zoo

Bristol Zoo

Chester Zoo

Longleat

With the swing towards locally grown produce and other eco thinking, how about dipping your toes in the Good Life and growing some of your own fruit and veg?

You don’t have to own acres of land to get started; in fact you can grow some things in a window box, or even indoors. And it can be surprisingly gratifying to eat things you’ve planted and nurtured yourself.

Grab a note pad and start planning your vegetable patch plan this morning.

You can share your produce with friends and neighbours and, if you really get the bug, you could even take over an allotment – if they’re available in your area.

Some things you can grow indoors: carrots, mushrooms, peppers and culinary herbs, potatoes

Some things suitable for a window box: herbs, lettuces, cress, tomatoes

Love this book: ‘The Window-box Allotment – A Beginners Guide to Container Gardening’, Penelope Bennett (Ebury Press)

Websites worth a look:

Growfruitandveg.co.uk

Gardenorganic.org.uk

Check out allotments in your area:

Allotment.org.uk

Use whatever you have in the store cupboard and get creative with the kids.

Dried peas, lentils, pasta shells, rice, beans, Quaker Oats and many other things can be used to make a picture that children of all ages can get involved in.

Start by drawing out a very basic template. It could be fields with sky, clouds and perhaps a little house, a bowl of fruit or a face. You really don’t need any artistic skills for this.

Then gather as many different dried foods as you have in the cupboard. Get the children to help – they may spot ideas that you miss.

Shop bought glue such as a ‘sticky stick’ is ideal but a good alternative is flour and water with a pinch of salt. Mix to a consistency that is spreadable with a pastry brush but not too runny.

Then get the children to paste sections of the picture and stick on the food. Try to cover all the paper and leave to dry. That’s it. Fun and simple. Why not give it a go now?

Some ideas to try:

• Malted cereal squares make great fences and roofs
• Pasta shells make a great choppy sea
• Rice is a good general filler and ideal for clouds
• Bright yellow and orange lentils make interesting sunsets
• Spinach pasta is ideal for grassy areas
• Pasta spirals are great for frizzy hair