A Day of Fun and Food

We've all had such a fun day today!
This morning Popeye said to me, "What do you want to do today?' I said, "I want to play games with my kids all day.' And that's what we did.

First Baby wanted to make breakfast pancakes (and she is still learning to cook, read recipes, use the hotplates etc, so that usually means I get to cook!). Instead of doing the trusty pancake recipe that Tweenie and YM make (by themselves) I can't help myself and I have to try a different recipe.

I chose Spiced Apple Pancakes from 100 Vegan Recipes (p. 515) which turned out to be a long process (mostly because Baby was 'making' them, so it always goes slower!).

It was well worth the wait. Very, very nice. The apple topping was good!

Then we decided to have a game of Earthopoly (which is like monopoly but focuses on the earth). The whole game is earth-friendly. The board, money and cards are printed with soy inks. The game pieces are recycled bits and bobs. And you collect Carbon Credits instead of houses. Very cool.
Normally when we play we use the 1 hour game rules to make it fast, but today we played the WHOLE game from start to finish! It was well past 6pm when we actually had a winner (Popeye was declared the overall winner - he kicked our butts!).

We stopped for lunch and I made some burgers with left over bits and pieces in the fridge. After a short break we resumed play.

Just near the end, when I finally got out, I decided to make us all banana icecream with a delicious Fudgy Chocolate Sauce (From 1000 Vegan Recipes, p. 498).

Amazingly good, and so quick and easy to make! I finished making it just as Popeye and Tweenie finished battling it out for the winner's title (it was always going to be Popeye, though!).

After eating the icecream we had a sudden urge to go for a bike ride after being inside all day. Popeye put his bike back together (after dismantling it to get it home from Sydney) and off we went. We stopped at the Velodrome in Brunswick and ended up having fun competing against ourselves in 'time trials'. Popeye's back brakes got stuck on and he had to ride it all the way home like that!

We didn't feel like much for dinner and I wished I had made another batch of Uncheese so we could have toasties (I thought of this because I was flicking through The Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak trying to find a G/F recipe to take to the next potluck with a 'cheese' theme for Kristy who has just discovered she is coeliac). I came across Gooey Grilled Cheez (pg.141) which was a really quick recipe to make a gooey filling for toasties. Very cool.

The kids are still all sleeping in the tent (I had told them the tent pulling-down day was today, but after hearing it is going to be 43 degrees (that is, F@*K'N HOT) I left it up just in case I can't sleep in the house tomorrow night). I think they are all stuffed (as are we!!)

Tahn

PS:For Johanna
 Tomato and Peach Relish (from 1000 Vegan Recipes)

1T olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1T maple syrup or agave nectar
1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2-3 sweet peaches, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4C dark or golden raisins
2t grated fresh ginger
1/2t ground cinnamon
1/4t crushed red pepper

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and add onion and cook until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat, covered, for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes and peaches should be tender but not mushy.
Taste, adjusting the seasonings if necessary, then simmer, uncovered, over very low heat for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature before serving. If not using right away, cover and refrigerate until needed. Properly stored, this relish will keep for 2-3 days.

The Man is Back

He's ho-me! Finally. And I am sure you can understand my absence on this blog! It is nice to be able to wake up, roll over and be able to cuddle something other than my pillow!

I flew to Sydney to watch his graduation parade. All very exciting! It was a two-part affair. The first part was the actual giving of their badges and promotions for those who were being promoted to the new rank. The second part was the parade, complete with marching band, to present themselves to some high-up official (sorry, couldn't take my eyes off my man to actually listen to the ceremony!).
Here is a photo at part of the parade. Popeye is third from the right, front row.

Ahh, men in uniform!

This is one of us after the whole thing was over, back in his rooming area. There are better ones of us, of course, although you know how much I hate photos of myself so this is the best you get!

I haven't really done too much noteworthy cooking since we have returned home (we drove home the following day). Except this...

Both of these are from 1000 Vegan Recipes (of course!). There is Quick Apple Crisp and Vegan Whipped Cream. Both were delicious! The 'Whipped Cream' I think is more like a pouring cream as opposed to whipped, but delicious nonetheless. It is a lot faster to make than the cashew creme, mostly because I only have a little spice grinder to make the cashews into a powder. The Whipped Cream is silken tofu, agave (or maple), vanilla, 1T canola oil. Very easy. The only time required is to refrigerate for a while before serving.

Now I need to get a definite idea of what I am making for christmas day and at least write up a shopping list!

What's everyone else making for Christmas Day?

Tahn

So much to cook, so little time

The day started with Baby complaining of a sore stomach and asking if she could stay home. She complained that if she went to school and went to the sick bay they would just send her straight back to the class room. She's right. She also was complaining last night too, so I let her stay home. Turns out all she needed was one gigantic turd (!) and she was back to normal. Pity it was too late to send her to school!

I wanted to get a couple of pie tins today so Baby and I jumped on our bikes to head to the shops. I had a letter 'RTS' to post and so we went a different route near the school. Low and behold, who should we see walking towards us was the deputy and principal of her school and Baby yells (and I mean YELLS!) "Hello Mr. ___. Hello Mr. ____!" I could have died! She has NO idea, that child! Too innocent for her own good!

Anyway, the reason I wanted a couple of pie tins was to 'try' a dessert for taking to the vegan christmas dinner we are going to in Frankston on the weekend. More on that soon.

For dinner I really wanted to try polenta. We have only ever had it as a sort of crumb on tofu cutlets. I wanted to make it properly. From '1000 Vegan Recipes' (again, all of tonight's recipes are!) I made the basic polenta recipe, poured it into a loaf tin, threw it in the fridge for a couple of hours and then sliced and fried it up. On top of it I made the Spicy Tomato Ragu (which wasn't spicy because I left out the crushed red pepper), which also consisted of a homemade Marinara Sauce (also from 1000 Vegan Recipes). I had also marked Crunchy Sesame Slaw to make for the kids' lunch tomorrow, so I decided to have that with the polenta.

The Crunchy Sesame Slaw was a HUGE hit!! The kids want me to take this to the christmas dinner and it was so easy I think I will oblige them. The polenta was yum too! I'd like to try it straight into bowls next time and see which texture I prefer.

So the dessert. As I mentioned, I wanted to try whatever dessert I decided to take to the dinner early to make sure it is what I wanted to make. This morning I thought I would like to take a simple apple crumble and I found a recipe (in 1000 Vegan Recipes!!!) for an Apple Tart with Walnut Crust and I couldn't resist! It's a little bit more involved than a basic crumble, but SO worth it!
This all started by me thinking about riding my bike with Baby to The Radical Grocery Store in Brunswick for a can of whipped soya cream to take. It got me thinking about making my own and I'm glad I did. I made Cashew Creme (1000 Vegan Recipes) and it was to die for!! Beats the pants off any dairy whipped cream I have EVER tasted! It looked like this:

It even tasted way better than it looked! OH SO GOOD! I will be definitely taking this to the dinner (especially the creme!!).

So this is what I have decided to take to the Christmas Dinner:

Sushi
Crunchy Sesame Slaw
Broccoli Quiche
Apple Tart with Walnut Crust
Cashew Creme

I know it seems like a lot but there are 4 of us to feed so it wouldn't be right just turning up with one dish to share. Also, I can't help it - I want to show off my culinary skills! I love to see people enjoying the food I have made!

Got to start tomorrow!

Tahn

Pumpkin Pasta and a Whale for Lunch

This morning, while everyone was getting ready for school/work, Baby was making her lunch. She came into my room and showed me what she had done to her sandwich.

She had drawn a face on the wrapper because she thought it looked like a whale! How cute! She also grabbed her mermaid blanket to show off the 'whale' in its natural habitat.

She's very creative, my Baby!

For dinner we had a very simple, but tasty and filling dish of Pasta with a Pumpkin sauce.
Apologies for the damn awful photo (I'll make it small!)

Last night, in preparation for tonight's dinner, I roasted three-quarters of a butternut pumpkin in the oven. Tonight I fried some garlic in a pot and then pureed the garlic and pumpkin and tossed it through the spinach fettucini. Basic, filling, even if it was quite boring. The other quarter of the pumpkin is for tomorrow night's dinner.

I also whipped up an apple cake from The Joy of Vegan Baking. It's fat free!

Tomorrow I don't have any CRT work planned, so unless they call me early in the a.m., I should be able to have a free day. I think I might hit my local op shop and try and find a dress to wear to my cousin's wedding back in Perth in November. I suck at buying clothes, actually. I am used to buying for my kids, not for me. So it should be interesting!

Fingers crossed for op shopping (although if I get a call I'll go in - I need the cash!)

Tahn