About me

Welcome to Nuts and Pumpkin! I’m Mariana and I am the one behind this food blog!

To give you a short introduction, I am from Portugal and am a huge foodie! Ever since I was little, I got used to having absolutely delicious food cooked by my mum.

When I moved out of my parents’ home to go to Scotland, I decided to keep on learning how to cook so that I could create amazing meals just like my mum used to do. The thing is, now I had decided to go vegan! So, I tested a bunch of recipes from other bloggers and learned a lot from different ingredient combinations to different texture combinations!

The mission of my blog is to bring you absolutely mouthwatering vegan recipes (mostly savoury!) with non-processed ingredients (this means no fake meats even though I still enjoy eating them in restaurants from time to time!) that are perfect for any occasion such as:

• Busy weeknights - try this mushroom pasta, this pasta bake, or even this tempeh stir fry.
• Weekend batch cooking - choose 2 to 3 recipes to make in about 3 hours that freeze perfectly and can be defrosted throughout the week! I would suggest meals like this bolognese, this feijoada, this creamy mung bean curry or even this lasagna.
• Special occasions - from a fancy lentil wellington to a creamy lasagna, my recipes for a special occasion are always a crowd-pleaser. Even though it is super simple, my garlic bread recipe is always everyone’s favorite party starter!

I always want to show how vegan cooking doesn't have to be expensive, not at all! But I do still recommend having at home:

• Miso paste - a soy bean paste that is perfect for an umami flavor that meat-based meals usually have.
• Nutritional yeast - this is one of my favorite ingredients! It is perfect for a cheesy flavour and I use it quite a lot in pasta dishes like this mushroom pasta or my lasagna recipe

If you are new here, I recommend checking this vegan pantry guide list! It lets you know all the options you have. Once you stock your pantry with these essentials, you can create all the meals you want easily!

If you have any recipe requests or any questions whatsoever, comment below, send me a message on social media, or email me!

Thank you for reading and enjoy the recipes!