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.

Oh How I Love Thee, Summer Fruit:Blueberries

Blueberries. I absolutely LOVE blueberries. As does Popeye. Come to think of it, YM has a 'thing' for them too, as he is constantly in and out of the fridge snacking on them.

So recently, when the blueberries were at a reasonable price, we grabbed quite a few punnets. Sunday morning rolled around and I knew EXACTLY what to make!

Banana and Blueberry Pancakes with a Blueberry Sauce.

Both recipes are from 1000 Vegan Recipes. The pancakes had 2 punnets of blueberries in them (I doubled the recipe) while I halved the sauce recipe and I used 1 punnet of blueberries in that. I was concerned that there wasn't going to be enough sauce for 2 lots of pancakes shared between the 5 of us, but we totally had it covered (sorry, I've got 'White Chicks' on the TV in the background and every second word is 'Totally'!).

So, I am technically home alone tonight. Popeye spent the day down in Hastings organising his flat, and didn't get finished so he is staying there tonight. The kids and I put up the tent in the back yard this afternoon, so unless the ghost stories scare the shit out of them, I'm going it alone.

Oh and I cleaned up my back room and lounge room today, so I'm enjoying the minimalist look (I guarantee you it will not last!!).

Tahn

Christmas, Christmas

Thank fuck that's over!

Seriously! Popeye and I decided last night that we would not be attending a family gathering next year. We will try to save our pennies, buy no presents (except santa, of course- but I can't control what the big fella brings the kids!) and hopefully go overseas for christmas - to somewhere that doesn't celebrate it like we do here in Oz. Maybe Cambodia (a suggestion from my sister).

I don't know why I get sucked in every year. I'll blame it on the kids. How can you not get sucked in when you have kids? I'm not even religious. In any way. I'm not even christened (neither are my kids FYI).

Wow, I'm really venting here. Despite lots of reasons to vent today, only one I will make public (and the rest I will hold unhealthily inside!).

We went to Popeye's Mum's today for lunch. Sitting at the table, YM said 'What's that?' and pointed to some sliced meat.

I said, 'Well, that's a dead pig and'

I got cut off by R, Popeye's (step) Dad who angrily said, 'Let's just say what it really is. That is ham and that is turkey.'

I said, ' I think I did just say what it really was.'

And that was about all he said to me all afternoon.

It made me so annoyed. I may sound mental I know, getting worked up over nothing, but I get annoyed when people want to cover up the truth. And I was speaking to my son. I wanted him to know what poor animal had suffered and unknowingly given its life to feed people who turn a blind eye (or whatever reason they choose to give for their omni status).

Ok, enough. Breathe. Ahh, better.

Despite my username as Seitahn, I have actually never tried, let alone cooked seitan before. So what a time to try it! Thankfully it turned out fantastic.

I made a Stuffed Seitan Roast (from 1000 Vegan Recipes) and it was surprisingly simple. I was a bit skeptical before putting it in the oven as it looked like a giant turd!

But it looked fabulous when it was carved and tasted great. I made a Basic Brown Sauce (1000 Vegan Recipes) to go over the top.

I also tried another recipe from 1000 Vegan Recipes that I had never done before (shows how much faith I have in this cookbook! Making something untried on Christmas Day!).

Chocolate-Macadamia Cheezecake Truffles

Ok, so this was the last one, and this one I rolled in crushed nuts (the others were rolled in ground macadamia nuts) but MAN they were good!! (NOT good FOR you, mind you!). Little balls of heaven!

The kids had a great time today, and they really seemed to enjoy their gifts. They are just at the right age, too. They really showed their appreciation. It was lovely.

Hope you all had a fab xmas! Can't wait to read what you all got up to today!

Tahn

A taste of the RAW life

I have posted once before about my cool vege spiral machiney thing that I purchased at the World Vegan Day. Only that time when I made awesome vegetable curls, I forgot to take a photo of them. Here it is in action:

YM holding up a zucchini curl, while eating the left over 'core'.

Tweenie showing how long they can get.

The kids search through their food to try and find the longest curl!

This is our dinner (of raw zucchini, carrot and beetroot) before we added the sauce.

The sauce was a capsicum creamy sauce and it was delicious.

I got the recipe from www.raw-pleasure.com.au. I signed up for their newsletter and I got a link to a free e-book that was about 100 pages long and FULL of delicious looking raw foods. Well worth the 2 seconds it took to sign up! I will definitely be trying other recipes from the e-book.

Sweet Pepper Cream Sauce

By Mama Raw of the Raw Pleasure forums

Ingredients: 

2 large red capsicums, seeded & chopped 

1 clove garlic 
2 tablespoon olive oil 

1 tablespoons flax oil 

1⁄2 teaspoon marjoram 

1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt 

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste 

1 cup cashews 

juice of 1⁄2 a lemon

Method: 

1. Blend the first 7 ingredients to a liquid.

2. Add cashews and juice, then blend until smooth.

Serve at room temperature over spiralised zucchini. This can also be used as a dip or a salad dressing.

I bought myself a new blender on Friday (you may remember that Baby smashed mine to tiny little pieces the other week). I have been without a blender for about 2 weeks and it was killing me! I was missing my daily green smoothies! So I used the already over-extended credit card (it is christmas!) to buy me a new one. I don't know how long this $70 one will last but at 900w, it is much faster than the last blender. It really makes my smoothies smooth (as opposed to little green bits floating around). So I suppose Baby breaking the last one was a blessing in disguise (but I won't tell her that! - She is NOT allowed to touch this one!!)

I have a busy few days coming up. I've got to make cupcakes tomorrow for YM's birthday on Tuesday. He wants to take oreo cupcakes to school (27 kids, thanks very much!). YM's 9th birthday Tuesday. On Wednesday night I am flying to Sydney to see Popeye (I'm very excited! It's been 3 months!!). He is graduating from his course on Thursday. So on Wednesday I need to make 3 lots of school party foods (of COURSE they are all having end-of-year parties on the same day!). Two kids want Cindy and MIchael's sausage rolls, and one wants cupcakes. I also have chosen to pre-prepare Wednesday and Thursdays dinners for my babysitters (Popeye's sisters have kindly donated their time, so I will repay them by feeding them and making sure they don't have to do much except be there!). I still have a few christmas gifts to get, but especially Popeye's - I'm thinking a home brew kit. Thursday is Popeye's graduation parade (all those HOT navy men in their crisp white ceremonials uniform (especially mine - 3 months is a long time!). Then we are jumping in his car and driving back to Melbourne, while it is the last day of school for the kids. Not to mention a bit of personal grooming - waxing, tanning, toe nail painting (It HAS been three months, did I mention??) and all this adds up to 5 VERY busy days! Phew, I'm exhausted just from typing all that!

Better get some rest,

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

Trying a new ingredient

Tonight I thought I would try using the Vegetarian BBQ 'Pork' (or cha siu as Steph from Vegan About Town informed me - I love learning new things) in a stir fry.
I fried it up first and tasted it prior to adding it to the sauce and I really liked it. I don't usually use mock meats but I'm not against it. I really don't see any problem with using it, as I don't associate it with trying to replace meat. I do try to avoid using it because I imagine it is so processed.

Anyway, I made a stir fry, as I mentioned, and used this teriyaki sauce recipe. It was very nice and especially easy to make. On the back of the cha siu (see, I'm learning!) it also has a recipe for a sauce, so I might try that one next time.

The noodles are from the asian shop on High St also, and were so cheap - like $1.20 for 500g!

Took the kids to the pools today, met up with G and her boys and the kids had a blast.
I have a really sore throat at the moment and I totally believe that it is from all the talking I have done in the classroom for the last 2 weeks. I've spent the last 6 months at home on the internet (read:not talking much) and teaching really gives the throat a workout!
I've got 4 more days teaching this week...

Tahn

Lentil Spaghetti

I decided we would have pasta for dinner tonight and since it is YM's favourite, I let him cook. It's a very simple lentil sauce recipe from Vegan a Go-Go. We usually double the mix to make more than enough for us. Use whatever pasta you like.

LENTIL SAUCE
1T oil
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
3/4C stock
2 garlic crushed
1/2C red lentils
pinch black pepper
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon
 Heat oil and cook onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 or so minutes. Blend half or all and serve over pasta.


So today I did things slightly different. Kids went back to school today and instead of going for a jog while they were at school, I waited until they were home and we all went together. I am hoping that will encourage me to continue exercising in the long term and as an added bonus the kids get some physical activity in, too.
While the kids had a 20 minute play on the playground I decided to do some hill runs. At the Coburg Lake playground there is a small hill that goes towards a main road. I ran up there, to just past the toilets, and walked back down and repeated it 12 times in 15 minutes. I was aiming for 15 times in 15 minutes but as the sprints went on, they turned into slow jogs up the hill! Something to improve on though :)


We came home, YM made dinner (with my help) and Baby made fruit salad and custard for dessert (by herself).


Today I have been checking out raw vegan food sites, and I am going to try and have at least one raw meal a day (even if it is only a smoothie or a juice or a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts). You gotta start somewhere.

Tahn

Can I have some more broccoli, Mum?

OMG! Who's kids say that?? Certainly not mine BEFORE we became vegan!

This is what we had for dinner. SO SO SO very sorry about the crappy photo again - we were all chowing down when I suddenly remembered I needed to take a photo of all my hard work! Luckily YM is a slow eater, so I took a photo of his plate (chip on the side and all!) of food. He chose not to put the mushroom sauce on the cutlets or the special broccoli sauce on the broccoli which is why it is sitting separate to his plate.

Chickpea cutlets with Mushroom sauce & Mashed potato and Kumera with caramelised onions & Borlotti beans with Silverbeet & Broccoli with Garlic butter and Cashew

What a feast! It may not LOOK particularly appetising, but it was delicious!!

I had never made the chickpea cutlets before and I will definitely make them again! I got the recipe from here. Next time I might try baking them. I made two batches and they are all gone! That's me and four small kids!

I found the recipe for the mushroom sauce in Vegan a Go-Go by Sarah Kramer. Pretty basic.

Mushroom Sauce

6 Button mushrooms, chopped small

2T marg

1C vegetable stock

3T flour

1T Nutritional yeast

Pepper

1t Braggs

In a pot, soften the mushrooms up in the margarine. Add flour, yeast, Braggs and pepper and stir briefly. Add stock 1/4C at a time and stir continuously until thickened. Either blend or leave as is.

The mashed potato, kumera and caramelised onion dish is just as it is said! Too easy.

My new favourite way to cook silverbeet is the next recipe. I remember silverbeet as being a boil sloppy mess on my plate when I was a kid, but this dish rocks!

Borlotti Beans and Silverbeet

1 bunch of silverbeet, greens, chopped, washed

1 tin borlotti beans, rinsed

2T tomato paste

1 carrot chopped small

1 onion, diced

Put beans, tomato paste, carrot and onion into a pot and just cover with water. Cook for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, boil the silverbeet. Add silverbeet to beans mix when beans and carrots are cooked. Cook an extra few minutes and serve.

I also love this next recipe. It's from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. The first time I made it I had no marg (so I used oil) and no cashews and it still was fabulous.

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews

Broccoli cut into bite size pieces

3T Nuttelex

2 cloves garlic, minced

1T brown sugar

2-3T Braggs

2t rice vinegar

1/4t black pepper

small handful cashews, chopped small

Steam broccoli. Meanwhile melt marg and add garlic, sugar, Braggs, vinegar and pepper. Bring to the boil, allowing it to thicken up a bit. Remove from heat and stir in cashews. I usually serve it in a separate bowl so people can add as little or as much as they choose, otherwise toss it through the steamed broccoli and then serve.

mmmm mmmm mmmm

Well today we went for another bike ride. The plan was to head past CERES to watch 'Derrick' the litter trap on the Merri Creek being emptied. There was a little sign up that said he was to be emptied at 11am Oct 2. Today. So we got there, and waited and waited. NOTHING. How disappointing. I was interested to see how it worked. But all was not lost. I met a lovely lady there  who turns out she and her two gorgeous kids are raw vegetarians! So we got talking, exchanged email (now where did I put her email address??) and I am looking forward to having more contact with her. She said she would give me some raw kid 'treat' recipes which I am really looking forward to.

Then we headed back my way, with the intention of heading to Moomba Park a few more kms away. We kept riding and riding and riding. It is not very nice much further past Coburg Lake. :(

Baby said 'This reminds me of the leech walk' (A disastrous Tasmanian walk that should have lasted only 2 hours but turned into four where the children were eaten alive by leeches, it was raining heavily and was very, very unpleasant!)

And I thought, yeah, she's right. This is not fun anymore. So we turned around and came home. Almost 4 hours later and the kids were knackered (which is why I am able to post this so early - they have crashed out!) I don't think we will go past Coburg Lake again. Heading in towards the city is nice, though.

You may be wondering why I always tell what we have done for the day? Shouldn't I just post about food?

Well, a few reasons why I tell more. I hope Popeye will get some time to read this, so he can see what we are up to while he is away. It's not all about food for me, it's about family. I think it is nice to read what others do, and to realise we are quite normal after all! It is also like a diary for me. One to be able to read back through at any time and reminisce.

D & M over, have a great weekend!!

Tahn