Jessy's Sweet and Spicy Adzuki buddah bowls

I am sorry I haven't been posting for a while (apart from the other day). I have been flat out with work and although I have been cooking - it has been later in the evening and the light in our kitchen isn't that great and so many photos are coming out very blurry. But not this one!!

I love food in a bowl - its just very comforting - and with winter creeping up on us I think I will be making a lot more heavier/bowl friendly meals over the next few months.

I was feeling like something a bit different for dinner - I had some broccoli and kale and then I saw Jessy's recipe for sweet 'n sour adzuki buddah bowls and I knew that it was meant to be.

I love adzuki beans because they don't take that long to cook and they have a really distinctive flavour - now they don't win in my favourite bean contest (that is easily butter beans and chickpeas) but they are pretty good (but aren't all beans good??)

These bowls are awesome - I didn't have any cashews or sriracha but I did put in a little hot sauce. I also couldn't be bothered removing the veggies from the pan and then working with the beans before mixing it all back together - after the veggies were cooked I just shoved in the beans and then heated through.

I served this over buckwheat beause I love it and don't eat it enough. Mmmmmm it was wonderful - but then all of the recipes of Jessy's that I have tried are so it is no surprise. If you haven't seen Jessy's blog Happyveganface you should totally check it out!!!

Easy Falafel Salad

I was in Canberra for work last week and returned quite sick. I think it was a combination of being in air-conditioning all day and night and also sitting next to sick people in my training courses. This week and next week Nat is away for work so don't expect to see to much creation on my blog.

The day I left for Canberra it was quite warm and Nat and I felt like salad for lunch.
We had some leftover falafel from dinner the night before and so we had Tassie Oak Leaf Lettuce, Tassie Tomatoes, Cucumber, red onion and falafel with tahini drizzled over the top. It was so good and refreshing - I think I will make it again as soon as the weather warms up again.

The falafel was from Vegan With a Vengence. This recipe is AWESOME!! I think I know it off by heart now.

Rocket, Walnut and Orange

I have been working at a market stall on Saturdays in return for some organic fruit and veg. Occasionally at the end of the day, if some things haven't sold and will not keep we get given them to take home. This last Saturday I was asked if I wanted to take home a bag of rocket leaves. As I am always needing to increase my leafy green intake I said yes.

I googled rocket salads and, well nothing was really taking my fancy (that and/or I didn't have the ingredients on hand). Eventually I found this recipe. I only had rocket so I couldn't use any other greens. I made a few other changes - I didn't use any oil (I lightly toasted the walnuts in a dry pan). I also only made the recipe for me - so I only used a few walnuts and half an orange. I took this photo before I put on the balsamic vinegar because it didn't look as nice then.

Rocket is sooooo bitter - I know why you need to put sweet fruit with it. It was barely edible. I still had about 3/4 of the package left (and I was still hungry). I made it again except I microwaved the rocket for about 25seconds. then I mixed in the orange pieces, walnuts and balsamic vinegar. I didn't take a photo but the slight cooking of the rocket took the edge off the bitterness and I really enjoyed my second bowl of this salad.

Mum's Zucchini and corn stew

I have for you all another of those 'mum' recipes. There are recipes that my mum used to cook all the time and are tried and true and just yum. This is the first time I have made this since I moved out of home (about 3 years ago) - I don't know why I haven't made it for Nat yet - I guess I have had other things to make - or never had all three main ingredients (kidney beans, zucchini and corn) on hand together. My kidney beans were a little different in colour to what you find in cans (more purple) but they are still wonderful.

I served the stew over some quinoa but it is also wonderful over rice or cous cous. Nat cleaned up his plate and by the time I was home from work the next day he had also devoured all the left overs.

The copy of the recipe that I have is handwritten and I don't know where it came from - so apologies for not giving credit where credit is due (that includes if mum is the creator)

Mum's Zucchini and Sweet-corn Stew
1 onion - chopped finely
2 cloves garlic- crushed or minced
3-4 medium zucchini's - sliced (mum had written 450g of zucchini)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cummin
1 cup sweet corn kernels
2 cups (or 1 can) red kidney beans - drained and rinsed
1/2 large or 1 small red capsicum cut into 1cm cubes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 - 1 tsp chili paste (to taste)
sea salt to taste

1. Heat a small amount of oil (or water) in a large saucepan and saute onion 5-10mins until soft and transparent.
2. Add garlic, spices, red capsicum and zucchini and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, sweetcorn, beans and chili paste.
4. Simmer for 10-15mins.
5. Serve over rice, cous cous or quinoa.

Beetroot dip and the removal of my teeth

Well I have survived getting all four of my wisdom teeth out. The night before the operation, I had a bunch of friends come round for dinner. We had an awesome feast of which I will blog about later (when I don't feel more sleepy) but I needed to make a dip for everyone to snack on before dinner.

As I was going through the vegetable box in my fridge I found 2 small beetroot in the bottom that I had forgotten about. What was I going to do with them? They were going a bit soft and were probably not going to last until after my teeth were better - so I decided to boil them up and see what sort of beetroot dip I could make.

While peeling the beetroot (after I cooked them), I vowed I would never buy beetroot again - it squirted all over a tshirt and the bench and everything was tinged pink. Everyone loved the dip so much though (and it wasn't hard to make) that I may have to rethink my "no beetroot" decision.

So here is my version of beetroot hummus - it was devoured by everyone (even the more skeptical omni's that made up my dinner guests). This dip does not require any extra oil. Using warm chickpeas creates a smooth texture without the addition of any extra oil.

Beetroot Hummus
2 small-medium beetroot
2 cloves garlic - peeled
1 1/2 cups cooked WARM chickpeas
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp cumin
reserved chickpea cooking liquid OR warm vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the beetroot in a saucepan of salted water until tender (mine took about 1/2 hour). Allow the beetroot to cool and then peel and chop into largish chunks.
In a food processor, process the garlic. Stop, scrape down the sides and process again. Add the chickpeas, beetroot, lemon juice, tahini, cumin and enough reserved chickpea liquid to allow the mixture to blend easily. Add salt and pepper to taste and add more liquid to achieve desired consistancy. **The dip will firm up a lot when it cools so make it runnier than you think you need to**
Scrape into a serving dish or container and allow to cool completly in the fridge before serving.
Garnish with parsely.

And here is me a few hours after my surgery
with an ice pack on my face.

Tangy Tempeh with Green Beans and Peanut Sauce

Well tomorrow morning (7.30am) I go into hospital to have all 4 wisdom teeth out. Tonight I am having a bunch of friends around to our unit for a sort of "last supper" of sorts. I am going to be doing a bit of an indian feast so I am a little excited.

Anyway - what I really wanted to blog about is an awesome tempeh recipe. Tempeh is quite expensive around here and so I very rarely buy it - and when I do buy it I usually make the same recipe - because I know that it is nice and I don't want to waste good tempeh on a bad recipe.

Anyway I had some tempeh, but none of the other ingredients in my other good tempeh recipe. So I went on a bit of a hunt. I was almost going to make tempeh bacon from VWaV - but I wanted to make a dinner that wasn't too shabby (the amount of potatoes we have consumed in the last week in the form of fries, mashed potatoes and potato salad is quite disgusting).

I found this recipe on the net. I changed it slightly so I will put in my changes - but I am sure that the original recipe would be just as nice. This served 2 very hungry people and it will be something that I will be making again because it was so quick and easy!

Tangy Tempeh and Beans

1 block of tempeh (mine was 250g) - cubed
2 tsp olive oil
4tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp apple juice concentrate
1/4 cup water
1 clove garlic - minced
1 1/2 cups green beans - sliced into 3cm lengths (or any other green vegetable you fancy - broccoli would be particularly good).

1/2 cup peanut butter (I used one that is solely made from ground peanuts)
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh ginger - minced
1 cloves garlic - minced
1/4 - 1/2 cup hot water (depending how runny you want your sauce - I used closer to 1/2 cup)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, concentrate, water and garlic together and pour over tempeh cubes that are in a medium sized saucepan and marinate for at least an hour - flip tempeh occasionally.

Put saucepan on the stove and bring the marinade to the boil. Simmer, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes add the green beans and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Uncover and simmer until the tempeh is almost dry.

Place remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy, adjust the amount of water and salt and pepper to taste.

Place tempeh and beans over a bed of rice and then pour peanut sauce over the tempeh. Enjoy!

Easy Pea-zy fried rice

First of all, I want to apologise for the crappy photo - I had a hungry husband and both of us had had a long day and frankly this smelt SO good that it didn't hang around for long on the table getting photographed. I have never made fried rice before, but after having Nat's mum and brother and sister in law over for dinner a few nights ago, Nat and I found ourselves with a lot of leftover rice (I over estimated how hungry people would be!!)

Anyway - I had to go to a staff meeting and end of year party yesterday and Nat was working all day so by the time both of us were home it was late and I didn't have anything prepared. I looked in the fridge and the rice was staring back at me and so I decided to make fried rice.

Fried Rice is SO easy if you have left over rice - and while I don't usually cook with so much oil - it was nice for a treat. Although the ingredient list looks long, this meal was whipped up in under 30 minutes, and I was going slowly - I could have had it on the table in much less time if I had really been bothered. I used a recipe that I was given in grade 7 cooking class - but I modified the amount of oil and the spices and ingredients other than the rice. You can modify the ingredients with what you have on hand. Other veggies could include - cauliflower, corn, broccoli, finely diced cabbage, capsicum, asparagus - just make sure that everything is chopped quite small.

I used little pieces of Kittee's Seitan (which I think is marvelous!!) chopped up - but you could also easily use chickpeas, cashews or re hydrated TVP.

There should have been leftovers for this dish but we were both so hungry (and it was so Delicious) that it only fed the two of us (Nat went back for seconds). So I would say that this dish serves 2 hungry very hungry people, or 2 moderately hungry people with some left-overs for the next day.

Easy Pea-zy Fried Rice

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion - diced
3-4 garlic cloves - minced
1 stalk celery - diced
2-3 medium carrots - chopped
2 spring onions - chopped
2 medium sized mushrooms - chopped (I used the normal white button mushies - any mushroom would do though)
1/2 cup seitan/re hydrated TVP*/chickpeas
4 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 cups of cooked rice (I used medium grain brown - use whatever cooked rice you have on hand)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup water

Pour about 2 tbsp of oil into a large (non-stick) frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough (a piece of onion will cause bubbles in the oil when dropped in), put in the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Stir for 2-3 minutes
Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce and then the spring onions and mushrooms. Continue to stir until the onions are almost done (they will become opaque).
Scrape all the vegetables to one side of the frying pan and then add the cooked rice to the cleared side. Press down on the rice using the back of your wooden spoon (or stirring implement) and then pour 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of soy sauce onto the rice. After a minute stir the rice and then pat down again.
Add the spices and mix rice again.
When rice is heated through - mix it in with the vegetables. Add the peas and then cook until peas are heated through. Serve.

Pot-luck fun and food

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately - I have been pretty vague since the end of exams and through sheer vagueness I have had a few too many kitchen disasters since I last posted - the sheer number of brain-farts I have experienced has been astounding... for example - I made hummus and totally forgot the lemon juice!!! What is hummus without lemon juice??? And that is just the beginning of the disasters - but I don't want to dwell on those because today I went to an awesome potluck for the group Vegetarian Tasmania.

I knew that there were some raw foodies going and so I decided to make a raw dessert and then I complimented it with a fresh (and easy) salad because another brain-fart made me think that I had an extra hour of preparation time up my sleeve and so I wasn't able to make the other raw main dish that I was going to make - so I settled with the simplest quickest salad in the world. Looks fresh and appatising and also is able to be thrown together in 10minutes with minimal effort (shouldn't every meal be like that sometimes??

This simple bean salad has frozen green beans and corn that have been lightly steamed and then rinsed. A can of 4bean mix, about a can of chickpeas (I had some that I had cooked and left in the fridge), some celery, cucumber, red capsicum and spring onion or red onion. I just sprinkled the salad with a little salt water but it is also really good with any of your favourite french or italian dressing.

For dessert I made raw bliss balls. They were so good - I really had to stop myself from eating the mixture while making the balls because it was SO good. They were a hit with the poeple at the lunch and the lady who gave the raw food demonstration and her husband were really impressed and wanted the recipe. That is a sucess in my book :)

Lady's Raw Bliss Surprise

5 dates - soaked in water for a few hours or overnight
110g dessicated coconut (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 1/2 tbsp raw cacao powder
enough raw agave syrup to bind the mixture into balls (between 1/4 and 1/2 cup)
almonds (optional)

Drain the dates and blend in a food processor with the oil, coconut and cacao powder. When processed quite finely, add 1/4 cup agave syrup and process for about 30 seconds. Stop and grab a ball of mixture and squeeze gently to see if it sicks together. If it holds together well the mixture is ready. If not, add a little more agave, process and then test the mixture again.

Once the mixture is ready you can either roll the mix into balls or you can use an almond as the centre of the ball and form the mix around the almond. I was able to take these straight to the potluck and they held together well, but the 3 that I kept for Nat in the fridge were much firmer and really nice.

Nat after he bit through his bliss ball.

It makes 20-24 balls - depending on wether you use almonds or not.

The "I have to make biscuits and be out the door in half an hour" recipe

Sorry for the long title. It sets the scene beautifully though. Apart from my US friends might need biscuits to be translated to cookies.

There I was last night happily thinking that I was going to spend the evening just chilling and watch a movie with Nat, when I get a txt from a friend saying that she was picking me up in 1/2 an hour to go to dinner at another friend's house... I TOTALLY forgot about the dinner and I had said I would bring some post dinner munchies.

Well - with there being nothing in our cupboards that was able to be taken (well there were plain crackers but I didn't have any dip) - I realised that I was going to have to bake something... and something really easy. One of the people going to the party has an intolerance to sugar - so I also had to make it sugar free.

I did a quick search and found this recipe here. It was so simple. I made a few substitutions - I used agave instead of sugar and I also used coconut oil and white spelt flour.

They came out really well. This is the second batch (that I made so that nat would have some for lunches at work) and they got a little burnt because I was running around getting ready and not paying too much attention.

I couldn't believe how good they were for how simple the recipe was. It was a little too sweet for me but everyone else thought it was just right.

asparagus, chickpeas and pesto

Nat was away for work last night. He had an overnight trip to Cradle Mountain. I hadn't really thought of organising anything to do for the night because my mind was focused on exams and by the time I got round to thinking about it - all my friends were busy. Oh well - its nice to have a quiet relaxing evening sometimes.

Because I was tired and feeling lazy I whipped up the easiest thing I could find in the fridge. I found some chickpeas that I was going to use for a hummus that I never got round to making, some yummy organic asparagus that was never going to see itself in a proper meal if I didn't use it up soon (I was nibbling on one stalk at a time and it was slowly depleting), some fresh basil pesto that I made which was loosely based on this recipe, and some left over quinoa.

I just sautéed the asparagus and chickpeas in the chickpea water. The asparagus was pretty young and so it didn't need much at all. I threw that on top of the quinoa and put the pesto on top (once the photo was taken, the pesto was mixed in with the other stuff - but it didn't look quite as appetising then.

It was yummy and hit the spot perfectly (you can't really go wrong with asparagus though).
mmmm....

I have decided that it would be really hard to find the motivation to cook healthy meals if you were only cooking for yourself every night. I am glad that I hardly ever have to do it.

It is a wonderfully sunny day today and the weather forecast says that it is going to get to 28degrees (yay!!)

I am going to go for a walk in the sunshine.

Cooling cucumber and corn salad

Before I get onto talking about my yummy lunch I just want to proclaim to the world that as of 10.15am this morning I FINISHED MY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE!!! I had my last exam (survey research and statistics) this morning and now I am done. It is also a beautiful day outside. Nat is working and rode his bike to work (he left at 6am this morning) and so he won't be home till about 8 tonight I would imagine - so I am going out for a coffee with one friend and then a few drinks with a few others and then come home and have a late dinner and crack open a bottle of wine and watch a movie or something.

So... the long and the short of it is that... pending passing all my exams - I will have a month of holidays before starting work in my graduate position at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Anyway - onto my awesome raw lunch that I am munching on right as we speak.

Cucumber, corn and celery salad

I am really trying to make an effort to include a lot more raw foods in my diet. I am eating a lot more fruit - especially the fruits with higher concentrations of water - and I am trying to eat raw food right up until dinner. It is not a big effort as my body is craving simpler, lighter and cooler foods. (I do sometimes miss my occasional bowl of muesli, but I really want to give this a crack to see whether I notice any difference in my health, energy, mood and skin condition. I am expecting my body to go through a period of detox first though. I don't want to give up on cooked food altogether - I love preparing food and having people over for dinner and going out for dinner with other people. I am going to try and keep my cooked meals simpler but I will still cook food for Nat and when people come over. This is really just a trial.

Anyway - onto my new favourite salad. I am able to eat this salad without any dressing, but if you wanted to it would be nice with some balsamic or cider vinegar or braggs amino acids. Nat doesn't like the idea of raw corn - so when I make him some I usually steam it for a little bit and then dunk it in some cold water before throwing it in.

Cool corn and cucumber salad
Serves 1

1 fresh cob of corn - kernels removed from the cob
1/3 continental cucumber - cubed
1/2 stalk celery - sliced finely
1/2 spring onion or a small amount of red onion diced finely
any other fresh herbs or vegetables you feel like - I like parsley and basil.

Yummy raw food demonstration

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go to a raw food preparation demonstration/workshop. It was put on through the organisation Vegetarian Tasmania. We had two demonstrators, Gosia and Heather. I have only briefly met gosia once before, but I know Heather quite well. She has been "raw" for about a year and ahe has a 10month old baby. The baby is 100% raw and I have never seen a healthier or happier mother and child. They are just incredible. The baby LOVES tomatoes and mangoes... but he eats just about any raw food that he is given.

Gosia looked at raw food that could be used during the transition to raw and also food that could be used for dinner parties or potluck dinners. Heather's recipes were more about simplicity and she showed us some simple salad dressings so that we could add a bit of variety into the raw diet.

Over the next few weeks I plan to make a lot of the food myself and when I do that I will share the recipes. In the meantime you can check out Gosia's website or youtube videos.

I was really REALLY annoyed when my camera battery died early on in the demonstration. But one of my friends will hopefully send me her photos.

With Gosia we made smoothies, ice cream, fruit jelly, chewies, the most amazing carob cake, cinnamon rolls and pizza. My favourites were the ice cream and the pizza. It was just divine! I will share the ice-cream recipe with you today as it is SO simple!!

I will be posting photos of the cake and the pizza - but for now I will leave you with the one decent picture that I got before my battery died:

Raw Banana and Raspberry Ice-cream
topped with raw cacao powder

Raw Ice-cream
recipe: Gosia

Peel bananas and freeze them. Process them in a food processor with optional ingredients until creamy. Serve immediately.

Variations:
Add some dates/nuts/carob/cacao during processing
Use some frozen raspberries or blueberries, or both.
Decorate the ice-cream with fresh strawberries.
Top the ice-cream with some carob/cacao powder and agave.

Chocoloate Thumbprint Cookies

Thanks for all your well wishes yesterday - Nat is feeling a lot better. However now I am the poorly one. Yesterday I got my first exam out of the way - this afternoon I have my second one (which makes me annoyed because Nat has the day off and will be sitting at home watching the election coverage and I will be slaving unknowingly in my own little world for a few hours). Yesterday's exam was ok - but after I walked home (about 40mins) I was hot and fairly dehydrated and felt really ill - so instead of studying or going to a farewell party for a fellow committee member of Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania, I was lying on the couch with the most excruciating stomach pain ever. When Nathan came home he covered me with a blanket and went to the chemist and got this herbal stomach relaxant. Then, because I was not able to study on the computer - he got my notes and tested me and read through them with me - I hope some of it stuck - I am rather nervous and will be studying pretty hard for the next few hours.

Anyway, for the farewell party that I didn't end up going to, I needed to take something that was very quick and easy to make - as I was also trying to study. I found the Chocolate Thumbprint Cookie recipe in VWaV and decided to make that.

I didn't make many changes (as I was going to be serving them to other people) but I did replace the peanut oil with tasteless coconut oil and used a little bit less sugar.

They turned out really well. They were soft but not fudgy. I will be making these again - however I will start to experiment with agave syrup and spelt flour. I will let you know how it goes when I ever get round to it.

Now off to study *groan*

Simple Dinners - baked tofu with spinach

Nat has been fighting some stomach bug over the past few days and so he hasn't really been feeling like eating. Consequentially, I have been living off frozen leftovers from all the cooking I did during Mofo.

Last night Nat felt like something simple. I ran through all simple things to see if anything sounded like it would agree with his stomach. We settled on tofu and greens. I have been wanting to try a breaded tofu - but I was happy that Nat was feeling like eating at all and so I settled on using this simple baked tofu recipe from vegweb.

I omitted the oil from the marinade and marinated the tofu for about 2 hours. Then I baked the tofu. I then stir fried some spinach in the marinade and served it atop the spinach.

It was really good (for a really simple meal). I will make it again but when nat is feeling better I will bulk it up by boiling some potatoes, sweet potatoes or pumpkin and mixing it in with the spinach when stir frying.

I have my first exam at 1pm today -Social Problems and Social Policy - wish me luck!!!

Feeling like raw - and this hits the spot!

Carrot salad with grated apple, celery,
sunflower seeds, walnuts, pepitas and sultanas.

Well summer is defiantly approaching and my body is starting to crave a lot more fresh alive foods and meals. I am going to have to look into finding some nice simple raw recipes for summer.

At the moment I can't get enough of my grated carrot salad... I make it differently every time depending on how I am feeling. So I will give you a run down of basic ingredients. In the photo I put most of them in just to show you - usually I use a little less of the "toppings".

Basically I grate a medium-large carrot.
I grate some apple as well (how much apple depends on how sweet I feel like - today I used less than half an apple, some days I use a whole apple).
Any other vegetable I desire: celery (chopped finely), ginger (finely minced)
Then I add desired toppings: nuts (chopped almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, coconut flakes or shreds), seeds (pumpkin and sunflower), dried fruits (sultanas, raisins, chopped up dates)

Then I devour!! It is raw heaven - believe me!!!

When I was a kid an after school treat that mum used to make was grated apple and sultanas... that is another dish if your body is craving sweet things.

**Edited November 4th - I was thinking about other yummies that would rock in this salad I came up with: grated beetroot, grated parsnip, chopped pineapple, orange segments or orange juice... the list goes on... mmmmm***

Tried and True Mexican Chili Beans

Home again. Nat and I drove down a day earlier than expected so that he could catch up with a friend today. Once we arrived home and I had unpacked and put away everything from our trip it was quite late in the day. My parents own a organic wholesaler business and so I always home home with all the staples that I am running low on. This time I returned with Agave, red lentils, brown rice, dried red kidney beans and chickpeas, quinoa, dried dates, nutritional yeast, spelt spaghetti, kamut tubes, flax seeds, raw sugar, a box of soymilk, some chocolate samples that they had been sent (yummy) and probably lots of other things that I can't remember.

So - I was too tired to go to the shops to stock up on vegetables. On the way home we briefly called into a grocer and I picked up some celery and capsicum as being at home had reminded me of another of those recipes I grew up on: mum's mexican chili beans.

Mum and Dad decided to become vegan when my brother and I were very little. This was before the internet, and so mum's recipes were based on her cookbooks. For a little rural community in Tasmania, for mum to be cooking the weird and wonderful stuff she did was just awesome considering all of my friends parents cooked meat and three veg every night for dinner.

So - I consider myself very lucky - its funny now though - "mum's recipes' as my brother and I call them were so weird when we were growing up - we loved them. But now times are a changing and they are not so different to all the other recipes that you can find on the web. Each of those recipes still holds a special place in my heart (and tastebuds).

This recipe is DEAD simple. It takes no time and mostly uses staple kitchen ingredients (in my kitchen anyway).

Note to all parents reading this blog: I grew up on these recipes so they are pretty kid friendly (if the kid likes vegetables) - ie. they are not overly spicy.

This recipe one based on a recipe from a book that one of mum's friends made called Tried and True. I highly doubt you will be able to get a copy (as I can't even get one and I rely on photocopies of scribbled on cooking stained recipes) I feel that I should be able to share it.

Nat had these wrapped up in tortillas. I served mine over rice. I whipped up some vegan sour cream using this recipe I found on Tara's blog. My cream didn't come out as firm as I would have liked - my silken tofu may not have been the right type - I am not too sure. It was still really tasty!


Mexican Chilli Beans

2 cloves of garlic
1 onion - diced
1/2 green capsicum - diced
1 stalk celery - chopped
2 cups (or 1 can) kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
1 tsp chilli paste (optional)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 veggie bouillon cube (optional)

Brown garlic, onions, celery and capsicum in oil or saute in water. Add other ingredients, including a little liquid if necessary. Simmer until vegetables are cooked.

Vegan Gluten Free Almond Macaroons

Yesterday was Nat and my nephew's first birthday/naming ceremony celebration.

I really wanted to help with the catering but as we were driving up that morning (they live in the north of the state) and I don't have any big containers for transporting things like cakes, muffins or cupcakes I thought I would make some cookies.

Just before Nat left for work the day before yesterday (when I planned to do my baking) he reminded me that I should make sure that the cookies are Gluten Free. I had forgotten that two of his siblings have a gluten intolerance (and I don't think nat appreciates the difficulty I have had cooking gluten free sweets and breads). So off to the net I went and I searched and searched - my biggest limitation being that the only gf flour I had was buckwheat and I wasn't able to get to the shops to get any more flours or gf ingredients.

Just before I gave up and resorted back to my original plan of pumpkin oatmeal cookies, I saw this recipe for Almond Macaroons. Of course it wasn't vegan, but it wasn't hard to veganize either. They are SO simple and took hardly any time - well they wouldn't have taken much time but I did have to blanch my own almonds.

These were really good!!! They were a hit for all who tried them. I made two batches (just to make sure the first ones worked before making the second lot. Nat tried one and it was difficult to convince him that he couldn't have any more before the party. The second batch I made, I didn't pulse the almonds quite as much as the first lot - they still held together but they didn't look as nice (so almond flour is the consistency that I want in the future).

***Beware, these are VERY soft when they come out of the oven - and they fall apart. But I let them cool a little on the tray and then transferred them to the rack after they started to firm up - best thing about them initially being so soft was that I could squeeze them back together if they fell apart!!

Everyone who tried them at the party loved them so through sheer easiness and taste I will be making these a lot in the future.

Vegan Almond Macaroons
Makes approx 16
Time: less than 45mins (incl. blanching almonds)

1 cup blanched whole almonds
1/2 cup raw sugar (or other granulated sugar)
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer (I use Organ no-egg)
1 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
icing sugar for dusting (optional - I didn't use it)
approx 16 almonds

1. Preheat oven to 180degrees celsius
2. Blend almonds in a food processor (I pulse them to a flour as the cookies look better). When they are processed add the sugar and pulse to mix it through.
3. Add the egg replacer, water and vanilla extract and blend (I thought that the mixture would not stick together but when I grabed a small handful and pressed it together it did - if it doesn't add a little more water)
4. Roll mixture into 16 balls and place on lightly greased baking tray. Press the ball down and place an almond on the top.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 mins. Remove and allow to cook slightly on the tray (so that they harden up a bit) and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completly.
6. Keeps at least 4 days in an airtight container.

Parsnip and pear soup on a cooler spring evening

One thing I love about spring is that you get lovely days that provide hope that summer is on the way - but you also get the cooler weather so that you can occasionally have your favourite winter dish.

Last night was one of the chillier nights and so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try out another parsnip soup. (Actually I had a parsnip to use up before going up to see the parents today). Nat and I really enjoyed the parsnip and pumpkin soup - but we didn't have any pumpkin - so I went looking for inspiration and I found this recipe created by Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs.

I didn't have any leeks but I had everything else (really simple easy recipe so there wasn't much else to need which is good because our fridge is pretty empty of vegetables). I altered the recipe a little so, while staying faithful to Ricki's recipe mine is a little different. It was lovely - sweet but with the lovely parsnip flavour (you could taste it but it was not overpowering which was good). It reminded me a bit of applesauce in consistancy (not in a bad way) and I can now understand how parsnips can be used in desserts, like in this recipe at the Vegan Feast Kitchen.

Thanks Ricki for a great recipe.

Pear and Parsnip Soup
1 onion - diced
1 large parsnip - cubed
1 stick celery - chopped
4 small pears - peeled and cubed
1 litre vegetable stock (I cheated and used bullion)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in a little water or broth for about 5 mins. Over medium heat, add celery, parsnip and pear and saute for about 15 mins, stirring constantly. Add vegetable broth and simmer over low heat for a further 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool a little before pureeing it using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.
Serve hot - we served ours with crusty bread.


I am baking some gluten free goodies for our nephew's naming ceremony/birthday celebration. Stay tuned people as I just realised I have no gluten free flour... this could be interesting!!!

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Saag with garlic naan

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Saag

Well tomorrow Nat and I are driving up to our parent's homes for a little under a week. It is our nephews naming ceremony tomorrow and as I am studying for exams nat asked if he could do a few tours to Cradle Mountain for his tour guiding company. So I am busy trying to clean out the fridge of veggies so we don't have too many nasty surprises when we get back.

The thing that I was worried about the most was the pumpkin, because I had been saving it to make some cookies to take tomorrow - but now have to find something gluten free to cook. Although it has been a little chilly lately, I still didn't feel like making pumpkin soup so I flipped through Veganomican and found the recipe for pumpkin saag. I didn't have any fresh spinach but I did have some frozen so I thought that this would be the dish of the night. I remember Jessy from happyveganface making some garlic naan a few days back and I thought that it would be a nice surprise for nat when he got home from work (he is a bread lover).

For the saag I pretty much followed the recipe - with a few additions. The dish was good - but not as flavourful as I would have liked.

I roasted and added some sweet potato with the pumpkin. I also used frozen rather than fresh spinach. I also added a little chili paste. The dish wasn't as moist as I would have liked - I think next time I will add a little vegetable stock and maybe some canned tomatoes or tomato paste. Also - if you want a spicey dish (and I think this would be good spicey) add more chili paste.
But I will definatly be making this again with those few more alterations.

Garlic Naan

What I am most excited about are these little beauties!!! Garlic Naan. I am not going to post the recipe because it is exactly like Jessy's which can be found here. It is WONDERFUL and easy though so I think you should try making it. From first bite nat commented on the wonderful garlic flavour and that it would rival indian naan (now he may have been stretching the truth a little there).

Lunch time and Jessy's AWESOME pickled cuc and onions

Today's lunch wrap - Spicy Pumpkin Dip with alfalfa,
capsicum, red onion and baby spinach

I am a grazer - I think I was a horse (or maybe more an elephant) in a previous life because I LOVE grazing. I love having a piece of fruit for breakfast and then having another one a little later... and then having another a little later. Same goes for lunch - I grab something from the fridge and have a little and then have a little something else a little later.

Anyway - instead of talking about grazing I am going to talk about my lunches while I am at home studying. During winter I would make a pot of whatever (usually lentils and whatever vegetables I had on hand) but during summer I don't often feel like hot stuff.

So what do you have for lunch thats healthy - but filling. I have found vegetable wraps are great because then I can graze later ;)

I always make them differently because I have different ingredients and varying levels of spare time. I usually have some form of dip that I use as a base then I pile on some home sprouted alfalfa, capsicum, cucumber, grated carrot, red onion, baby spinach leaves - roll it up and YUM!!

I saw an awesome quick recipe for pickled cucumbers and onions posted by Jessy at happyveganface. I love her recipes and I thought that this looked fantastic so I had to give it a go. Initially I was worried that I wouldn't use it up before Nat and I went to our parents place this weekend... how silly of me - I ate it within a day!!! It was fantastic!!


Because I wasn't thinking of keeping it for a while and because I am trying to not use extra oils/fats I ommitted the oil and sugar and just used rice wine vinegar (cause that is all I had) and salt and pepper. It was FLIPPIN AWESOME!!! I think that if your were not an oil-phobic like me you should definatly rock on to check out the Jessy' s recipe.

So I am sure that I will be posting more summer time lunches over the coming months. When I start working (and can only have one lunch) I am sure my lunches will be more substantial - so I guess these are really just a grazing snack ;)