Vegan MoFo 2010 - Mushroom and Chickpea Stroganoff

Yesterday saw me trying a stroganoff for the first time since becoming vegan. I was a little excited about this and skeptical that the homemade sour cream would do the trick. I needn't have worried.

Verdict: I'd make this again too! I've been having great successes with 'Passion For Pulses' and I'm really impressed. Next time I'd watch the last 10 minutes cooking time more closely (when the sour cream gets added) or add more than 1C of sour cream so it would be a little bit more thinner than it was.

Mushroom and Chickpea Stroganoff adapted from Passion For Pulses compiled by Nancy Longnecker

2C cooked chickpeas
2T oil
2 onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2t paprika
2C mushrooms, chopped
1T tomato paste
1 large tomato, chopped
1C sour cream (vegan homemade recipe to follow)
1t dry mustard
1t dried dill
1T chives, chopped
1/4C parsley, chopped
1t honey (I used agave)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and garlic and oil. add paprika; cook for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, cook for a few more minutes. Add tomato paste with the remaining ingredients, including chickpeas. SImmer gently, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Serve with brown rice or wholemeal noodles.

Almost Sour Cream (p. 10) from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah 


1 1/2C silken tofu, squeezed and drained
1T canola oil
2t cider vinegar
1/2t salt
1t sugar
2t lemon juice

Blend until smooth and thickened up. Refrigerate.

On another totally non-related, non-food note, I want to share what has been happening in my life for the past few weeks. I found out I was pregnant about 4 weeks ago. Things were going well until I woke up last Thursday and found that ALL of my pregnancy symptoms had completely stopped. Concerned, but telling myself it was all in my head, I waited until my Saturday appointment to see the Dr. After the pregnancy formalities, I expressed my concern to the Dr, who took some bloods and instructed me to come back the following Tuesday for follow up test. The blood tests were to check my hormone levels, which are supposed to at least double every couple of days. Yesterday I went for the results and my hormone levels had actually dropped. I was sent for an ultrasound today and my suspicions were confirmed when the radiologist could not find a heart beat and declared the baby was about a week younger than my actual dates. This is called a missed miscarriage, or a missed abortion. I think the next step is to go to the hospital for a D & C to remove the foetus. We will find out for sure tomorrow.
As sad as I am, I believe these things happen for a reason and maybe the timing wasn't right. I already have 3 gorgeous children and I am eternally grateful for them.
Why am I sharing so publicly on my blog? Because it's my bloody blog and I'll write whatever the bloody hell I want! But also, I find it a real shame that these sort of topics are taboo. It's bad enough that pregnant women fear telling ANYONE they are pregnant until at least 12 weeks, but women lose babies all the time and it seems that once this happens, they are left to deal with it themselves. I want this out in the open. I want this pregnancy remembered, and the baby, barely out of cell dividing stage but my baby nonetheless, to be discussed openly especially within my family. My children know about the baby (we've given it a new name each week, relating to the size of it - this week it was 'Prune') but have yet to be told about the loss (this will probably happen tomorrow when we find out what the next step is). They have been so helpful to me while I was stuck in bed with morning sickness. They are the best children in the world - regardless of what members of my extended family believe.

Goodbye angel baby, may we meet in another life.

Tahn

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

Ani Phyo - Portobello Steaks on Brazil-Broccoli Mash with Mushroom Sauce

I mentioned in my last post that I had ordered a couple of Ani Phyo's raw cookbooks from The Book Depository. Excitedly, I received one today, Raw Desserts. Obviously from the title of this post this recipe did not come from my new acquisition. But I was lucky enough to borrow her Raw Food cook book from the library without too much of a wait. It was due back today, but I was unable to renew it as there is a bit of a list of people wanting to borrow it. So I quickly wrote out a few recipes to keep me occupied while I sit and wait patiently for my own copy to arrive!

Tonight I made the Marinated Portobello Steaks, which was really simple - the hardest part was waiting the 1-2 hours for the mushrooms to marinate and soften. The mushrooms sat on top of a bed of Brazil-Broccoli Mash. Another simple dish. A quick throw in the food processor. And lastly, the mushroom sauce - just a momentary mix in the blender. Voila!

It was delicious! The Brazil-Broccoli Mash was an interesting flavour. Definitely one that needed 'something' to go with it and it was perfect with the mushrooms. The kids did not like it by itself, but as a part of the combination it was great. The mushroom sauce around the edge was tasty and I ended up adding quite a bit more to my plate. I am really looking forward to trying a lot more savoury raw meals as I tend to stick to the sweet stuff.

Other recipes from her book I have tried are the Almond Mylk which is so easy and delicious and no straining required. A couple of her 'puddings' were yummy, 'Luscious Lemon Pudding' and 'Almond Pudding' usually we ate them at lunch and they kept me full for a good three hours.

I also made her 'breakfast pancakes' made primarily with flax seeds. I made the blueberry syrup she recommends and topped it with bananas. Very nice and filling.

Can't wait for my copy of her cookbook to arrive, especially her new one out VERY soon.

Enjoying the RAW,

Tahn

Beans Bourguignon

Tonight for dinner we tried yet another recipe from new favourite cookbook (1000 Vegan recipes).

Beans Bourguignon

I made a few changes, well actually just one. It needs red wine and I didn't add it for 2 reasons - 1. I always find that red wine in cooking is quite overpowering, especially because I don't drink it or like it. I thought that the kids would not like it either. 2. I was actually going to put a quarter of what it asked and the rest stock, but I looked at the back of the bottle of red wine that I was given when I bought this house (I think) and it said it was made with eggs and gelatine. I past it straight to Tweenie and got her to tip it down the sink.

Even without the key ingredient, the bourguignon  was delicious. I served it with couscous, mostly because I was unsure what bourguignon is usually served with. Is it pasta? Regardless, it was good and Baby even asked for leftovers for school lunch tomorrow (and Baby is usually the one who doesn't really like stuff - her young palate is still getting used to the mountain of flavours I have been dishing her up).

Another recipe from the book that I made for the kids' school lunches was Sesame Udon Salad with Azuki Beans and Baby Spinach.

So easy and so delish. The people who know me should be so proud of the amount of salads I have been  making AND eating AND enjoying!!! **pats self on back**

Recently, on the World Wide Web, I found a recipe for Sugar-Free Breakfast Cookies. If it is your recipe, please let me know and I will give you the credit for it you deserve.

YM is making them here in this picture, ready for baking. They are so quick and easy and healthy to boot! My girls usually have porridge for breakfast with apple sauce and sultanas so this really is just another way to eat those ingredients. Best eaten soon after cooking.

Sugar-Free Breakfast Cookies

Makes about 18 cookies

2 bananas, mashed

1/4C apple sauce

1/2t vanilla

1/4t cinnamon

1/4t nutmeg

1/3C sultanas/raisins

2C quick oats.

Preheat oven to 180C. Combine all ingredients in the above order. Place tablespoon mounds on a cookie tray (they don't spread so you can put them pretty close). Cook for approximately 15 minutes.

I give my kids a piece of toast or two with about 4 cookies (they NEVER get toast for breakfast - I don't believe it fills them up for school enough- so they LOVE this breakfast!).

18 days until Popeye is home!

Tahn

Mushroom pies and tofu spinach salad

Baby decided yesterday that she would like to make mushroom pies. I asked her how she was planning on doing it and her idea was to just chop up the mushies, chuck them in some pastry and wack them in the pie maker. Err, mmm, no. Good try, Baby!


So I was on a mission last night, as a good **cough, cough** mother, to find a mushroom pie recipe that Baby would like.
I found this recipe (scroll down to heatherq's recipe)and this morning I made the mix and left it to cool. Because I made the pieces of pumpkin and potato quite small, I didn't need to cook it in the oven for 30 minutes tonight. Instead I put them in the pie maker and made little individual pies.

I thought we would need some protein with this meal, and in my quest to try (and love) salads I made a tofu spinach salad. It was quite nice, although I would use baby spinach or mixed salad leaves next time as the spinach (all that I had in my fridge) had a slight bitter taste.

On Tuesday, my mum went down to Seaford to stay with my sister for the night. We met them at Mordialloc Beach which was nice. Here is a photo of my nephew, R. Tweenie, Baby and YM buried him and Tweenie drew a pair of boobs and a g-string on him!

When we wanted to come home we got to the train station at 9.05pm and had just missed the train by 5 minutes. It was a 25 minute wait for the next one. When it finally arrived, a few stops later we had to wait for some dickhead to stop forcing the doors for 10 minutes! The Epping line at Flinders Street Station was then 10 minutes late and we had to go by way of the city loop adding ten minutes to the trip. We finally opened the door of our house at 11.15pm! My poor babies feel asleep on the train! Gotta love public transport at night!


So the next day I kept them home. Tweenie already had an orthodontist appointment to get her plate fitted anyway. We did some learning about Remembrance Day and the kids wrote a poem. Here's YM's (he used my computer so that is why I have access to put it on here!):

Remembering The Dead

Poppies covering the grave

The dead under the crosses

People screaming, getting shot 

Sadness for the dead     

The blood of the wounded people

There should be no wars.

Anyway, so on the way to the orthodontist, Baby found a REAL poppy which they thought was great.

After we went to the Art Gallery again and completed the water trail before stopping off at the AC/DC exhibition at the Arts Centre. The kids rocked out with the guitar!

It's my birthday tomorrow! We are heading out to Shakahari so expect a heap of photos on my next post with my friends and family celebrating with me. I am so looking forward to tomorrow night's dinner!

Tahn