FYI Cheap dates!!

Love fresh medjool dates?  Coles has them on special for only $9.99kg!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to share....

Tahn


Oh, and I found a yummy raw goddess salad dressing here.

Curried Carrot Salad

This is by far one of the best salads I have had yet! (yes, it's the same bowl - it's the only good one I own!)

Again the recipe is from goneraw.com and can be found here. Well worth a look!

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

Quiche and Salad

Having loved Isa's broccoli quiche, and recently buying Vegan Brunch, I really wanted to try the cauliflower and red capsicum version of the original.

It was delicious, and can I say, possibly even better than the original (if that is at all possible!!). I really love this quiche the next day, straight out of the fridge.

The salad was also nice. I made Petite Pasta Salad (I have a mountain of cucumber to use up) from Vegan Lunch Box with cute little star pasta. Today at my local Foodworks I found some tiny alphabet pasta that I can't wait to try with something like a salad that really showcases the cuteness of the pasta shape.

Cake, salad & (no) sausage rolls

After reading a post from the blog "Cooking From 1,000 Vegan Recipes" (I've found a bunch of vegans who love this book as much as I do!) about Sour Cream Coffee Cake, I was inspired to make it. The author  said 'I found THE BEST RECIPE in the entire book!' and I really wanted to try it for myself!

Doesn't it look yummy?!! The ripple is a mixture of walnuts, sugar and cinnamon. This cake was really nice, although I would not go as far as naming it the best recipe in the book. It is so full of sugar (2 whole cups!!) it's not funny. (Did I just say that?? I think my sweet tooth is starting to mature!). It's definitely delicious, but not one that I would probably make again (it is a bit fiddly, too.)

This morning I made a salad for the kids for school. I had made extra rice last night (we are eating freezer foods at the moment, trying to get rid of the bits in my freezer in preparation of 'the move') with the full intention of using the left over rice in a sweet rice dessert tonight but instead I used it to fill out this salad.

Really good! Even the kids' lunch boxes came home empty! I have decided that I DO like salad - but only if I make it! Then I know what is in it and what is not (especially celery - I HATE celery!) I know this salad looks/is simple - but remember that I don't like salads (ok, last time I say that! I DO like salads, I DO like salads) and I am only just learning!

Tonight I made vegan sausage rolls from Where's the Beef?. I have seen their sausage rolls mentioned a few times on local Melbourne blogs raving about them and seeing them again on Miss T's blog I decided I just MUST make them!
Even with the rave reviews, I must admit, after seeing the ingredients list I was still not convinced. Pecans? In sausage rolls? But I was determined to put my prejudices aside and have-a-go. Even after making the mix I was still skeptical. But, let me just say WOW.

You MUST try these!!!!! Every now and then I would get a little bite of a pecan nut. Pure pleasure! These are so good! They will definitely become part of my recipe file. We even enjoyed them cold! Give em a go.

I got a bit more christmas shopping done today. My mobile phone battery is almost dead so I purchased a supposedly unlocked cheapo phone today for $40 to stick my sim card in. But it doesn't work! So disappointed! I hope they give me a refund because I really couldn't afford the $40 (I had to pay my rego today too! It's actually due christmas eve - how shit is that!) especially after I made sure I asked them If all I had to do was stick in my sim card. :(
Not many gifts left to get. I REALLY need to find a pressie for Popeye, but I have NO idea! I hate buying gifts for blokes! Any ideas?

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

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

I'm in love!

I am soo in love with my new cookbook 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson.

Here's what I have made while I have been ignoring you:

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (soo damn good!)

Moroccan-Spiced Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew

Sunset Fruit Pudding (oh, so good! Can you tell I have a sweet tooth!!) It's raw, too - just fruit.

The salad is Roasted Cauliflower and Rice Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette. And thanks to Brisvegan's quiche post I was inspired to try Isa's Broccoli Quiche. I actually found the recipe on the PPK website. I used a basic pie crust recipe from 1000 Vegan Recipes. And DAMN it was good! Will definitely make this for the vegan xmas potluck I'm going to next Saturday (although I will splash out and purchase a pie tin - all I had was a square one). I wanted to have a test run on it first. Amazing! I also thought I would take some sushi as a starter and some sort of dessert to the pot luck. I'd better do some test runs on some desserts! Just in case....

Friday night Tweenie asked if we could watch the sunrise on Saturday morning. So we got up bright and early the next morning and walked up the road to the park. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy out on the east side of the world(and wouldn't ya know it - clear everywhere else!!). The kids still enjoyed it and it fostered some great discussions about the earth's rotation and the role of the sun. We hope to do it again on a day not so cloudy, although it did make for cool pictures.

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