Raw foods we've been eating

Coconut Chia Pudding Shake

Meat and water from 1 young thai coconut (BTW these are so cheap at Coles for $1.69 each right now!)

1T Chia seeds

1/2 t vanilla

2T agave

1/2C ice

Blend

This is by far THE BEST way to open a coconut. Check out this:

Tonight's dinner - an almond cream with marinated mushrooms on zucchini pasta - toooooo good!

The recipe is here - Take the comment advice and halve the cream.

Watermelon Kiwi Cooler

3C Watermelon

3 Kiwi fruit

3 fresh or frozen strawberries

juice from 1/2 lime

Blend

Raw corn salad - awesome

I've been making a delicious salad for me and the kids and then adding a little something cooked for them like a burger or eggplant fritters (1000 Vegan Recipes). Apparently they were good - I'll take their word for it!

I've been raw for 13 days today and I feel FANTASTIC. I love it!

In the dehydrator - Spicy Corn Tortillas

Tahn

Teriyaki Noodles

Know I know this photo just looks like a pile of zucchini noodles, but it is drenched in a teriyaki sauce from Ani Phyo's Raw Food Essentials book.

I had some spiralised zucchini left over from the other day so making this was a cinch. After adding the sauce, I let it sit for a little while before eating which made the zucchini nice and soft. I ended up eating the whole lot myself!

I will definitely be having this again. It's a keeper!

Tahn

Raw...Again

Ok, I know I have said this before, but this time I mean it! For some reason I really feel like I have my head into it this time! Today is day three, and I am having a blast!

Last time I tried going RAW I mostly had issues with the kids - cooking for them especially, which in turn made me crave their hot food. Well, not this time. I cooked for them day one and two (no cravings), but today I really tried to include them in my meals. After Tweenie came home from school today I gave them all a green smoothie and stirred through some cacao nibs (I have had these around the house for a while now, but today was the first time I tried them. AND THEY ROCK!!!!!!). Then I made some cheesy cauliflower popcorn (small cut cauliflower, shaken with nutritional yeast, and pinch cayenne pepper. This can then be dehydrated, but we chose to eat it straight away.YUM) - all gone.

For dinner I spiralised some zucchini and made a different tomato sauce to go through it (I have previously made a red capsicum sauce to go on the zucchini). This was very nice also. Baby spiralised some apples and is still picking at that as I type.
I have joined a cool website/forum called Raw Food Rehab which has a mountain of information, recipes, advice and answers lots of questions.

I found a few Aussies on the the forum and  I found the recipe for raw zucchini pasta with tomato sauce through one of them (thank you!)

You really should try it.

If you know of other Raw food sites/forums that rock, let me know!

Tahn

Gingerbread men and Zucchini muffins

So hot today! Too hot for baking, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

I spent some time today looking for good recipes to make for this weekend. I am so lucky - I get to attend my cousin's wedding back home (W.A) this weekend WITHOUT children!!! The kids are going to Popeye's sister's place. G is a single mother like me, so I don't think it is fair that she has to feed 3 extra mouths out of her own pocket. So I was looking for easy food to make for dinner and lunch for Saturday and Sunday. While admiring all the food porn on the internet I came across 2 recipes I wanted to try. Gingerbread cut out cookies and Zucchini Cake are both from the ppk.

I made both of them while the kids were at school, but left it until they got home to cut out the shapes of the cookies (Popeye bought me some cookie cutters a while back and this is the first time we have been able to use them!). I waited until later still to turn on the oven. Once the biscuits were cooled, the kids set about having some fun icing them.

They are delicious!

It's funny because a few days ago I told the kids that we weren't going to be baking like this anymore because there are so many raw healthy options we can choose and YM made a point of reminding me of this! I needed to explain to my nearly 9 year old (going on 29) that I had made them to take to G's house - which, it turns out, is fine by him!

The zucchini cake I turned into muffins. I thought these would be handy on the plane for my trip to Perth early Saturday morning. The rest can go in the freezer for lunches. The are not really sweet, but good for a breakfast muffin. I slightly changed the recipe and used a couple of heaped teaspoons of organic cacao powder instead of the chocolate bits. Also, in hindsight, I would not ground up the walnuts into a powder but rather leave the pieces chunky as I like that in my muffins.

I may not post for a couple of days and I will be enjoying the company of my small family (some rellies have even flown from NZ - most of my rellies still live there). Maybe I'll just take some photos and post them tomorrow of what I make for G and her 2 boys and my 3 ferals! I hope she survives the weekend in one piece :)

48 hours of freedom here I come...

Tahn

Took a break, now I need to catch up!

Wow, has a week gone past already?? I seriously needed the 'break' after posting for all 31 days of Veganmofo!

But now I am back!

This tummy-rumbling picture is a mixture of a couple of recipes I found. The tofu is sesame seed encrusted and it's resting on a bed of capsicum, broccoli, spinach and tomato. DELISH!

Most of our meals in my week off have been very boring.

My mum arrived from W.A today and we went to the South Melbourne Markets. I found Chia seeds and organic cacao powder. After we got home we walked to Woolies to get a few things. We specifically wanted some ingredients for tabouli and oaty burgers. By the time we got home we were stuffed so I ended up using my new toy from the World Vegan day to make some raw zucchini and carrot curls.

I then probably broke the rules of raw and added some heated pasta sauce over the top. Everyone thought it was delicious and I thought of some other wonderful ingredients I would add next time (including making my own pasta sauce!). It was scoffed down before I could remember to take a photo! I think this was a good introduction to partially raw for all of us. The kids were comparing the lengths of the curls to see who had gotten the most and longest!

After we cleaned up I made the kids a green smoothie. I used green grapes, spinach, flax seed oil, cacao powder, banana, chia seeds and ice.

The result was happy kids!

Stay tuned for the tabouli and oaty burgers. Tweenie gets her braces off tomorrow and is very excited. I wonder if I will feel like cooking...not if it is as hot as it was today!

Tahn

Tofu Patties and a new, old cookbook

Today I went for a walk to my local op shop to look for a Jane Austen book. I didn't exactly find a book, rather a text that contains extracts from 6 of her books. Not a bad find, really. I also came across a heap of other book goodies. There is such a huge 'library' there. I found this book:

It's old, but Australian! Gotta love that!

Tonight the kids all had a Halloween disco for school to attend. Baby was first, then YM and Tweenie's time to rock on. So I needed to make an early dinner and I wanted to use up the veggies in the fridge. I made some Tofu Patties which were not very nice so I won't even bother adding the link. From my new, old cookbook I made Saute Zucchini. It was absolutely delicious! It was really simple, although I would never have thought to do it and ALL the children really liked it! Imagine! I'm not a big fan of tomatoes and I really liked it!
I also just fried up some mushrooms and they were tasty with it also!

SAUTE ZUCCHINI

2T oil

3 large zucchini, sliced

1 onion, sliced

3 tomatoes, cut in wedges (although I cubed mine small)

1/4t oregano

1/2C black olives (not a fan-omitted them)

salt (didn't use either)

Heat oil in frying pan and saute the zucchini slices. Add the onion after a couple of minutes and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, olives and salt. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve.

I've had a bit of a 'moment' tonight :( I am really, really missing Popeye. I don't think I will ever get used to this life.

Tahn

Zucchini is coming out of my ears!

On Saturday we got to the Markets VERY late so we didn't have much choice left. It was 15 minutes before closing and the stallholders were getting rid of the last bits of fruit and veges. I managed to pick up a dozen zucchinis for $1! So I have been trying to find yummy things to do with them before my pets (the worms) get to eat them.

So I found this recipe for Vegetarian Chilli on the Supercook website (there is a bit of a theme going on here with the Supercook website this week!). I know most of you will have your own chilli recipe you use, but I haven't got 'one' yet and found this one to be SCRUMPTIOUS! Every single one of my babies LOVED  it. I used up 2 of the zucchinis in this recipe, changed the 2T of cumin seeds to 2t (still could taste it but not overpowering - too much spice makes for whingey kids!). I'd also add MORE sweet corn as I am such a fan of this vegetable (that's because I am such a sweet tooth!). I didn't have an extra can of whole tomatoes so I left it out, but next time I would try it with 2 cans of chopped or some fresh chopped tomatoes. Other than that, I think this recipe is a keeper for us. Maybe it will be my 'signature' chilli! ha

Oh, and I had a TINY bit of left over rice from last night that I added right at the end.

I went to the 'Nong today to help my BIL with his website. I tried to find the new Vegesafe cafe for lunch (was suppose to be on Foster St), but could not find it ANYWHERE! Very disappointed as I was hoping to see what they had, give it a go and review it. If it is there it is hiding and not very noticeable - if a vegan looking for it can't find it, how are the general public going to go! Shame, really, was looking forward to it.

On the way out my sister and I stopped at Savers. Wow, that is a big store! Very neat, orderly and set out. Lots of kids clothes too, so I promised that I would take the kids there one day (they'll love it!). All we pulled up in a parking spot and were putting some coins into the meter, an average looking, nicely dressed bloke came up to us and said that he had just had his wallet stolen and really wanted to buy a jacket in the Salvos (that store was right where we parked) for $5 and could he swap some cigarettes for $5. My sister said she had no money but I knew I had a $5 note and although I am on government benefits (dole bludger!) I reached into my bag and handed him some money. He looked at me, took the cash, started to walk off, then turned and said thanks. Then he started to walk in the OPPOSITE direction of the Salvo store! Rude. Anyway, we went into the Savers store and after 10 minutes in there the same dude walked up to us and was about to give us the same line again but you could see in his face he recognised that we had already been suckered into  handing over money and he promptly turned and got the hell out of there. You, know, it really annoyed the crap out of me because 1. I have NO money (I haven't been paid for the teaching work yet) and 2. It makes me think twice about helping out these people who REALLY need help. I bet he makes more in a day than I get from the government with 3 kids in a week! So wrong and again, I feel embarrassed that I got suckered in again!

Slime ball.

Tahn

Still Monochrome But Better

For dinner tonight I enlisted the help of Tweenie. I put her in charge of Nut Butter Potato Croquettes. I, meanwhile, took the easier job of Garlic Roasted Cauliflower. Tweenie organised the mash potato and kumera, then prepared the rest. When the potato was done, she mashed it then stuck it all into her bowl but it was waaaaayyyy too much spud! So the Nut Butter Potato Croquettes didn't really work out but was ok, maybe something to try again at a later date. I would cook the onions first next time, as I am not a big fan of raw onion, and Tweenie had chopped it up quite large. Never mind, it was a good effort. Meanwhile, I temporarily forgot about the cauliflower, so it was a little 'brown' in places but delicious! We have never had roasted cauliflower before and I will definitely do it again. Again, it wasn't until I took the photo of tonight's meal that I realised the monochrome colourings (again!). Could have done with a nice large salad, but didn't - for 2 reasons. 1. Lazy. 2. Not much left in the fridge (vege run tomorrow). Mostly it is because I am lazy :)

Also, on the raw side of life, I found this recipe from the Choosing Raw website for Zucchini Hummus. I halved the recipe and it still made a shite load!

It was nice, different. I only had a few dips, but I could get used to it. Tweenie loved it but she loves everything! YM wouldn't even try it, and Baby didn't like it at all.

Well I went around to my local schools today and I hit the jackpot with one school! Most schools go through an agency, which I am not keen on doing. But the last school I went to find their own CRT's and out of the next 15 teaching days I am already booked for 10 days with this one school! Scored! First day back, Monday, Preps - my favourite!!

73 days to go...

Tahn

Keen for some Quinoa

Quinoa is such a funny name (just like seitan, agave, and other names I can say in my head, but I have never had to say them out loud). I’ve actually never eaten quinoa, let alone cooked with it!! Can you believe it?? I bought some a few months ago with the intention of giving it a go and I am only just trying it now! 

I found this recipe at Savvy Vegetarian but made some adjustments (mostly because I didn’t have some of the ingredients). The original recipe asked for 1/4C currants but I think hot fruit is WRONG!!!!

Quinoa, Carrot & Zucchini  Casserole

1C quinoa

a small handful of pepitas (I had no sunflower seeds)

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2T olive oil

1 small leek, chopped small

2 medium carrots, chopped small

2 small zucchini, chopped small

1t ground coriander

1/2 t paprika

pinch cayenne

1/2t ground cumin

1 3/4C boiling water

fresh coriander

ground pepper 

Method

Soak quinoa for an hour, rinse, leave to drain. Preheat oven to 180C. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Stir fry leek until transparent. Add carrots, stir fry five minutes. Add zucchini, stir fry one minute. Add the spices, except for the fresh coriander and pepper, lower heat and stir until they start to brown. Put all ingredients (except fresh coriander and pepper) into a casserole dish. Stir in 1 3/4 cups boiling water, cover, and bake 20 - 30 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Before serving, remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Stir in the minced fresh coriander, fresh ground pepper, and serve

The original recipe also asked for celery but that is one vegetable that I can’t stand! It is so overpowering in every dish I have had with it!

This dish wasn’t bad. A bit bland, but the kids liked it (probably because it was bland!)

Today we went for a really long bike ride. We tried to find Dight’s Falls but couldn’t! We found a sign that said ‘Dight’s Falls 250m’ with an arrow. So we followed it only to come across another sign with an arrow pointing back towards where we had just come from saying ‘Dight’s Falls 500m’. WTF!! So we gave up and found a cool park to eat our picnic lunch and played on the playground. On the way home we stopped at other parks and went around the Brunswick Velodrome a million times to wear ourselves out a little more! All up -   4 hours of continuous exercise and about 18 kms of bike paths!!

When we got home Tweenie said “my vajeena is sore’ and YM said ‘So is mine!” We all rolled on the floor laughing as YM is a boy and therefore does not own a ‘vajeena’! hahaha

(note: we do actually use the correct names for our body parts in this house but Tweenie considers herself a bit of a comedian!)

Looking forward to the start of VeganMoFo III tomorrow! I have noticed there is a bit of ‘chat’ about having a theme, but I will just blog about what we eat - it’s hard enough coming up with things for this family to eat let alone trying to follow some of the suggested themes! I have found the master list of participating VeganMoFo blogs here and I am aiming to have a quick look at all the blogs on the list over the next month. It’s alphabetically listed. Which letter will I make it to??

Tahn