The Kind Diet. Superhero Week One - Ende

Wednesday
Breakfast -   Quick Oats w/ rice syrup
Lunch -  leftover tabbouleh
Dinner -  Azuki and Kabocha Casserole
Snack - gingered green beans
Exercise - none (naughty!)

Thursday
Breakfast -  Kamut Cereal
Lunch -  Ginger Pasta w/ zucchini
Dinner -  Polenta Casserole (I used tempeh instead of seitan)
Snack - apple. sampled a turkish apple tea from t2
Exercise - none, too rainy

Friday
Breakfast -  Kamut Cereal
Lunch -  brown rice and miso
Dinner -  leftover ginger pasta
Snack - oreo and a hot chocolate
Exercise - damn rain! no exercise today

Saturday
Breakfast -  Toast w/ vege melange
Lunch -  fruit salad
Dinner -  mini pizzas
Snack - seaweed snacks
Exercise - 

Ok, so a quick review of the week! No sugar, lots of wholegrains........ouch. I get a weird headache when i eat something with a lot of sugar in it . Dealing with the cravings at the start of the week was hard but it got easier, it's just the habit of tea and biscuit before bed that's killing me now.

Honestly, the diet is pretty bland most of the time. Yeah, i know that is a big thing to say BUT apparently this diet is all about reducing salt and making things simpler, even though soy sauce is in almost EVERYTHING!

Best thing i have made this week was definitely the black eyed pea croquettes with dipping sauce.

My goal for the next week is more exercise and keeping my sweet tooth at bay.

The Kind Diet. Superhero Week One - catch up

Having a camera with flat batteries makes it hard to blog as well as i want to but here is what i have eaten this week so far.

Sunday
Breakfast - Quinoa with brown rice syrup
Snack - Fruit platter (rockmelon/watermelon/kiwi/honeydew)
Lunch - Nori Burritos
Dinner - Teriyaki Noodles

Monday
Late Brunch - Quinoa with basil and pinenuts (leftovers)

Snack - half an apple/half a banana

Dinner - Alicia's magical healing soup

(Accidentally woke up really late this day, about 1pm. YIKES!)

Exercise - An evening walk around the neighbourhood for an hour

Tuesday
Breakfast - Quick oats with soy milk and brown rice syrup

Lunch -  2 Vine leaves

Dinner - Black eyed pea croquettes and salad with tahini dressing

Snack - homemade peanut butter cup

Exercise - An evening walk around the neighbourhood for an hour

Basically i try to begin the day with a whole grain, I should probably switch the soy milk to rice milk, but we have a few bonsoy cartons in the pantry that we should use up first. Eating leftovers is a good idea for a quick meal and i have lots of pre-soaked beans ready to whip up into something tasty.

In my regular self sabotage routine, I made a batch of peanut butter cups which stare me in the face every time i open the fridge, but i have been pretty good so far.

There have been a few weird side effects so far for both me and the boy. Definite coffee withdrawls. I had to give in to the craving a few times, it's too hard to do cold turkey! While we were shopping the boy had a bit of a dizzy spell probably due to low blood sugar. I told him about Alicia's theory that chewing each mouthful of food 30 times helped with this. So we sat down and had something to eat. The weird changes in weather aren't helping much either. Feeling a bit sluggish but i'm sure it's just detox from not eating such processed foods.

So far, so good. Hopefully my body will start adapting to the wholegrains and beans and OCCASIONAL treat. I'm so used to having a tea and biscuit before bed every night for the past 5 years that it has become a routine. Time to break it and start better ones, i say!

Day ONE of the kind diet!

Day one has been a success. I have made it through my first day on a diet! yay! Now to go to bed before I ruin it all!
I'll keep a small meal plan here just to let you know what I have been eating so that when you decide to try to the kind diet, you can just steal mine or take ideas for yours.
Last night I made the Quinoa with Basil and Pine Nuts. Pretty basic but i love fresh herbs and toasted pine nuts in anything really. We had some radish tabbouleh on the side. The boy also said this was his new favourite tabbouleh. SUCCESS!!
Today's breakfast was scrambled tofu. A diet with scrambled tofu you say? Why, yes. YES INDEED! We made ours with broccoli, zucchini, spanish onion, red cabbage and mushrooms. Fresh coriander on the top made it delightful. The boy had his with toast but I had mine on it's own.
Alicia's meal plan mentions that you can eat out at a sushi place, so for lunch we had some fresh sushi. I had a seaweed salad, edamame and an avocado roll. I also had a green tea which didn't quite give me the caffeine hit my body was asking for.
For dinner i made the clean, mean burritos. These are not actually burritos in any way, shape or form. Basically you put a bunch of stuff onto a tortilla, wrap it up and eat. We used wholemeal flat bread and I piled brown rice, kidney beans, lettuce, cucumber and avocado onto mine. After one i was pretty full. I ate the rest of the avocado so it didn't go to waste.
Waited a little while for dinner to settle and took a walk around the neighbourhood as our daily exercise.
All in all, a good day. Missing my coffee a lot and i would love a cup of tea and an oreo right now though.
This diet does require a bit of planning. I already have beans soaking for tomorrow's dinner and have a bit of prep to do for lunch tomorrow too. Alicia recommends that you prepare in bulk for the week but I don't like things sitting in the fridge for too long, waiting to be reheated/cooked.
I have been reading the kind life forums and noticed people asking if the diet was a scam because they had been drinking the weight loss tea for 5 (i think) days and hadn't lost a single pound/kilo. This stuff always makes me laugh. It took months/years to put the weight on, how on earth is it supposed to disappear in 5 days, you crazy, delusional fool?!!? I'm not into this diet for a quick fix. I want my body to be as healthy as I can make it. I tried the tea drink, I didn't like it. Probably wont try it again, but i'm not going to write to Alicia Silverstone on her forum and whinge about it! SHEESH!
So not only have I made it through my first day on a real diet, I have also written my longest blog ever!

so long, winter

As summer digs it's heels into another year, my body starts telling me to eat better. That is until my brain tells me it wants chocolate at every waking moment. But, this summer will be different i tells ya!
I got my copy of Alicia Silverstone's, The Kind Diet from amazon a few weeks ago and have been inspired to change my vegan junk food ways. Armed with a shopping list to make your parents proud and a meal plan to last at least two weeks i will embark into a journey of the unknown - eating healthy foods!
Of course i will revive this ridiculously neglected blog with a breath of organic and cruelty free air with lots of lovely pictures and recipes to fill your voyeuristic requirements.

If you haven't read The Kind Diet yet, you should. It's full of useful information and easy to read. Not anything like the textbooks, medical journals and essay styles that i'm used to reading to get my information from.

The Super Hero Diet is all vegan, with a lot of japanese influence, which i really like. I've never been on a diet before, so let's see how long this will last!

Vegan Marshmallow Brownies

We got some Dandies vegan marshmallows from the cruelty free shop last week and, although tasty on their own, i was dying to bake them into a delicious gooey brownie.
After scouring the internet for a recipe i decided to go with the one on the Chicago Soydairy website.
Getting all my ingredients together, i found that i only had self raising flour so i didn't add any salt or baking soda to the recipe as these are already in the self raising flour.
This recipe calls for you to make some of the flour and water into a cooked gooey paste and to melt the butter and add cocoa til smooth. As the recipe says, this will make a thick batter. Too thick i'd say. I ended up adding almost half a cup of oil just to make it into a better consistency. I also added the marshmallows and choc chips into the batter rather than at the end.
Now, i'd say at this point in my life i could call myself a bit of a cake connoisseur but this brownie was a little too cakey for me. I like my brownies fudgy !! Maybe less time in the oven next time. Luckily the marshmallows are the saving grace for this chocolatey treat. They melted nicely and even burned the hell out of my hand when taking the tray out of the oven, just like a real marshmallow.

Vegan Pizza!

Last weekend we took a trip to the city to visit our friends and ended up staying for dinner. Usually we head to Newtown because that's where all the good vegan stuff is, but someone mentioned a place next to our old house was now making vegan pizza.
Melinzana Wood Fired Pizzeria offers vegan and gluten free pizza. HOORAY!
There were 4 of us eating, so we got 3 pizzas. Vegetarian, Melinzana and a vegan deli/mock meat style. All of which were delicious!
It did end up being expensive but we don't eat out very much so it was a nice treat.
I didn't have a favourite because they were all awesome and it was really nice to try something new. The woodfired pizza taste to it made it even better than a regular pizza. They even had the actual wood fire in the middle of the pizzeria for you to see your food being cooked. Service was excellent and the food was ready quickly. The waitress made sure that we had our vegan questions answered promptly too.

Melinzana Wood Fired Pizzeria
289 Enmore Rd, Enmore
95161781
Dine in and Take away
(Free home delivery for orders over $20)

something other than food

Getting my hair cut is my favourite non food treat. If i had to choose between splashing out on clothes or a good hair cut i would definitely take the latter.
I had seen an advertisement in the local paper about a hair salon that used products that were environmentally friendly, no animal testing or ingredients, plant based and australian made and owned. The were really close to my house and a good hairdresser is hard to find so i thought i would give them a try.
Sheridan, my hairdresser, was really nice. She showed me heaps of magazines so i could pick a hairstyle, talked to me for ages about the colour and even gave me a cup of tea.
Other places i have been to are just so pushy and get you in and out as fast as they can but this is the first time someone actually took the time to help me out. Once, a hairdresser got dye in my eye! Another time dye was all over my neck and ears and all over the place and it was a bright red dye too :/  I also hate being splashed in the face when they wash my hair. Yes i am a hairdresser's nightmare sometimes when i ask for a ridiculous haircut or colour but i am paying for a service here!!!!   I also hate when they try to give you the upsell on some shampoo and conditioner pack after they have just given the worst service ever.
Anyways, after 2 hours of being pampered at the hairdresser and the best service i have ever been given i walked out a new woman.......well, not really, but my hair was fun and bouncy.
I guess by now you might want some details on this salon. Well it's

Infinity Hair Design
Shop 7  19 Turner Rd
Berowra Heights 2081

They use De Lorenzo products and are super nice and give fantastic service. So next time you need a cut and colour, give them a try. They get my stamp of approval.

bones in the sand

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Originally uploaded by for_esme

I think i forgot to mention that on our road trip we found a whole bunch of bones buried in the sand and tangled in seaweed. We walked from one end of the beach to the other collecting them all and trying to figure out what they could be.

a whale of a time

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Originally uploaded by for_esme

Although i am yet to blog properly about my trip to Melbourne, here is a quick video of a mama and baby whale we saw at Warrnambool in a place known as "Victoria’s Southern Right Whale Nursery".

cat face

This is my kitty cat Pupa.
Pupa means doll in Maltese but most people thinks it's because she poops a lot. She is 4 years old. Grey with peachy coloured highlights from sitting in the sun.
She likes pats under the chin and pretending to be non affectionate.
She also likes a sneaky afternoon nap on the end of my bed.
We found her as a baby kitty dumped outside a pet store in a shoe box. I think she was probably less than 6 weeks old because she was TINY!

Kino Bake Fair

Yesterday was the Kino Bake Fair at Kinokuniya Books in Sydney to promote the release of their cook book catalogue.
Planet Cake popped in for a demo on cupcake decorating and the Bourke Street Bakery authors were doing signings of their new book.
A friend of mine works at Kinokuniya and asked if i would like a table at the bake fair and of course i said YES, YES, YES!
I spent the whole of the night before making lots of sweet treats and woke up early to make frosting and even had some extra time to make a few impromptu little cakes too.
We got there a bit early to set up and there were already other stalls ready to go and quite a few people looking around.

Oreo cuppies sold out the fastest, of course!




The Recipe for this is in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

And a few people were into my new invention - the vanilla slice cupcake

Brownies were also a hit and we only had one left at the end of the day. I got the recipe from The Joy Of Vegan Baking (i think).

Choc crackles and spiders were quick and easy to make and sold well.

This is a Vegan bad mood cake. Taken from the recipe by Natalie at Bake and Destroy. Originally a cupcake recipe, cake-ified. All i did was double the recipe and voila - the best damn cake you have ever tasted in your life. I'm glad a i had some of this left over to gorge myself on with a nice cup of tea.

My shirt is also from bake and destroy. You can get one from Natalie's   blog. Mine is almost worn out.

Baby Berry cakes were almost sold out by the end of the day and a few people asked me for the recipe.

Choc Chip and Rainbow cookies were popular but i made so many that i still had heaps left at the end of the day. Recipe from The Joy of Vegan baking.

I made some donut holes from a gluten free recipe i found on the web, but silly me used sprinkles that contained gluten. GF Fail for  me :(

I didn't sell all of my melting moments but the boy was happy to devour a few with a huge coffee. The recipe for these came from Vegan Indulgence. I have tried to make them a few times before without great success but this time they worked perfectly!








The cute sign Andy made for morons to roll their eyes at.

My friends Mechelle and Anney also had a store selling their amazing treats and cute hand made softies and vintage decorated plates. Their ice cream cupcakes were ridiculously cute.

We had a great day apart from the few eyeball rolls and i got a cute new apron with cherry pies on it.

Leftovers went to my vegan friends who were only too happy to take a few doggy bags home.

Kino Bake Fair

Kino Bake Fair 
Saturday, 17 October, 12pm - 4pm 
Kinokuniya Book Store 
Level 2 The Galleries Victoria 
500 George Street Sydney 2000. 
my stall will be strictly vegan. come by and try some of my treats! 
open for requests :)

too lazy to blog

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Originally uploaded by for_esme

spent most of the past week doing this. will blog about it when my brain returns to normal.

Melbourne Road Trip - making plans

Melbourne friends, what are some good places to stop at on a road trip from Sydney to Melbourne?
Also where are some awesome places to eat and shop? Help please!!

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - #16 cuppycakes

The last time i made a batch of cuppies was for the RSPCA Cupcake Day but this weekend i felt the baking bug bite so i indulged and made a some vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World is my main source of sugary goodness although i was going to mix it up a bit and try to make a "vanilla slice" kind of cupcake. I added some rum essence to the cake batter but when it came time to make the frosting i  realised i had no passionfruit, so i made some chocolate frosting instead.
These guys were  hit with my friends and the rum essence is a nice twist on the regular vanilla taste.
I love making the frosting look like a soft serve ice cream, it makes me feel like i'm getting 2 treats for the price of one!

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - #15 chickpea cutlets

My most favourite recipe from veganomicon is the chickpea cutlets. When there's nothing in the fridge and everything is running low, these guys are always there to save the day. They are easy to make, quick to cook and taste amazing. Veganomicon, you've done it again.
When we make the chickpea cutlets they are always accompanied by lemony roast potatoes and in our kitchen Andy is king of these guys. He never fails to make these anything but awesome. The cutlets are my domain and i have tried a few different ways of making them. I tend to add more sage and instead of mushing the chickpeas with a fork i just chuck them in the blender and pulse til they are smooth. I make the cutlets palm sized and i flatten them quite a bit because i like mine crunchy around the edges. Sometimes i make them a bit fatter and shallow fry them for the same effect.
I never manage to eat my plate full but having this as leftovers always rules.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - #14 Perfect Pesto

There are so many different recipes for pesto on the internet and cook books but here is how i make mine

1 bunch basil
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tbs chia seeds

Blend together and mix into gnocchi or pasta.
Very quick and tasty

Your body, YOUR CHOICE!

Sign the "Stop Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccination (Aust - Federal)" petition now!

How does your garden grow?

I like the idea of a sustainable garden and when we have our own house with a huge fenced backyard i would love to plant all of these things
*lemon tree *lime tree *plum tree *peach tree *avocado tree *apple tree *mandarin
*lettuce *tomato *carrots *peas
*potato *squash *pumpkin
*lavender *sunflowers
*basil *coriander *mint *parsley *dill *rosemary *thyme *oregano

What do you have in your garden?

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - #13 Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry

I have gone back to my regular few meals for the past few days. Burritos usually followed the next night by nachos and one night we ate out because the boys band was playing.
Saturday night we were going to eat at Yulli's but we stood inside for a while and were ignored by 4 different people and we didn't really have time to waste standing around, so we just walked out. Got cheap Thai at the place a few doors down which i think mine had egg in, weird because i asked for veggie tofu. hmmm :/  Anyway, i shall get onto the deliciousness that is Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry. I have made this a few times and each time i like it more and more.

You will find the recipe in VEGAN PLANET.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - #12 the lazy post

Hot dogs for dinner. I think i put too much mustard on mine this time. I used the leftover snobby joe stuff and some fried onions. Please summer come and save me from this comfort food eating! Fruit for dinner every night, smoothies and sorbet. come soon.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - #11 snobby joes

I have never eaten a sloppy joe before and the only time i have seen one was on the simpsons. So trying out a recipe from cartoon reference and Mandee's blog post was always going to be experimental.
The recipe called for "tomato sauce" and for some reason i thought that meant sauce as in "ketchup". oooops! lost in translation. In Australia we call ketchup, tomato sauce. Andy later told me it meant to use what we call "passata" or spaghetti sauce. Luckily, i didn't have tomato paste either and in lieu of both these things i used a can of tomato soup. My conversion skills weren't that great and instead of using 8oz i used a 450g can of tomato soup. So to thicken it up a bit i put in cornflour/water mix and that seemed to help a bit. Anyway, lesson learned - convert first, don't guess and make sure i understand the american terms for stuff.
So here it is, our extra sloppy snobby joes

I put a slice of tofutti cheese on one of mine and Andy made his into a burger. Probably some form of sloppy joe faux pas but whatevs. I ended up leaving the lid off mine (too much bread for me) and they were yummy. However, I am partial to a nice saucy lentil smooshy kind of meal.

Australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - the food diaries

Last week i suggested a few things that we all try to do instead of taking pictures of our dinner.
So yesterday i kept a food log and here is what i ate;

glass of water
2 slices vegemite toast
1 strawberry
1 banana
early grey tea
handful of macadamias
glass of water
2 pieces of crystalised ginger
a packet of vege chips
4 snakata rice crackers
earl grey tea
2 snobby joes
2 choc mint bikkies
sleepytime tea


Yes, i am the constantly snacking type. Usually i drink way more tea too. Definitely need to add more exercise though. Anyway, that was fun. What do you eat on a daily basis?

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo #10 - beautiful soup

I love a good, rich butternut pumpkin soup. Not the watery canned type, but one made from scratch. It's pretty easy and quick to make, so here's how you can do it too. You will need;

half a butternut pumpkin
5-6 cups of water
veggie stock powder
ginger (if you want but not necessary)

Firstly, cut up the pumpkin into slices and remove the skin. Grease a baking tray or dish and place the slices on then season with salt and pepper. Make sure the pumpkin is well oiled so that it doesnt burn or crisp up. Cook at 180 for 20 mins, then turn and cook the other side for another 15. The pumpkin should be slightly brownish but not burned.
On the stove fill the saucepan with the water and veggie stock and add the pumpkin. Medium heat boil for about 10 mins so that the pumpkin starts falling apart.
Pour the almost-soup into the blender and pulse about 10 times. Be careful that you don't get burned if the blender spits up some soup. (You can add the ginger before pulsing if you choose to do so)
This will make a nice thick soup but if you like your soups a bit thinner just add more water.
Serve with fresh bread or croutons or toast.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo #9 - an old fashioned baked dinner

It starts to wear thin with me when people continually ask what i eat. I answer with, "the same things as you, only healthier and cruelty free" Being vegan hasn't made me skinny like most people use the vegan diet for. Infact, being vegan has given me the biggest sweet tooth ever and i think i eat more sugary treats than i used to but i always try to balance it with lots and lots of fruit and veggies. Vegan is a lifestyle, not a diet!
Now, the sunday roast was a family favourite in our house as kids and of course it's easy to veganize.
When i make a roast i always try to make as many veggies as possible and eat less of the "meat"(I use the sanitarium veggie roast) What's a roast without baked potato? I try to make 1 potato per person then add some sweet potato aswell because it's lower GI. There is always an eggplant thats about to expire so i grilled some of that and lastly i steamed some brussel sprouts. Voila - vegan baked dinner

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo #8 the lost chapters

Over the weekend we babysat my nephew and cousin. I didn't get a chance to take many photos of food because it was demolished within seconds of touching the plate. They are omni's at home with their parents but part-time vegans when they come to stay with us. They can't really tell the difference that they are eating vegan and eat the same things we do.
Friday night we had spaghetti, They usually have mince in theirs but i made it with the sanitarium stuff and they couldn't even tell! They also thought the parma-almond was real parmasen cheese.
Saturday we went for a drive to amazement, which has a few mazes, animals and other fun things. They rode on the electric cars, fed some baby lambs and played puzzle games. We had some lunch and headed to the beach at The Entrance.
The kids loved splashing around the beach, finding shells and watching the pelicans get fed. We had some chips on the grass and then headed home.
For dinner we made mini pizzas. Kids had cheese pizza and we made cheeseburger pizzas from one of the Sarah Kramer cook books. We also made an artichoke/tomato/mushroom pizza which i didn't get to taste because someone dropped mine on the floor :(

So i'm pretty sure i have had my yearly dose of vitamin D. I had heaps of sunscreen so i didn't get burnt thankfully. Babysitting is tiring and i'm kinda glad i get to give them back at the end of the weekend.

peanut-ginger-sesame cookies

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Originally uploaded by for_esme

veganomicon is my bible. i say it all the time but these have to be the best cookies i have ever tasted. The old lady in me says to add more ginger next time but still very nom!

gotta check if those shews are veegz

Australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - Leftovers

Since my fridge was full to the brim with plates and containers of non finished foods, last night had to be a leftover night. I find that most times food tastes just that bit better after sitting overnight. I polished off the quinoa stir-fry for and it was even better second time around. I can't tell you how much you need to make it, like right now!
Today feels like a baking day. I haven't made a batch of cupcakes since the last RSPCA cupcake day baking extravaganza but i feel like making the ginger-sesame cookies from veganomicon. If i make the cupcakes there's only 2 of us to eat them and i usually end up eating majority of them. At least with cookies they last longer and we can enjoy them with a nice cup of tea.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo - shakin' it up

Here are some ideas i copy/pasted from the Vegan Mofo Flikr Group

I know we all love to take photos of our food and blog about it to inspire one another but let's all try to do something new from this list. I wont be doing the earth balance thing though!

* Your first vegan/vegetarian restaurant memory
* Something you used to cook but don’t anymore
* Try to cook/bake something that intimidates you
* Write about your grandma’s holiday cooking
* your favorite dish to bring to a potluck
* your favorite meal to cook for people who are scared of vegan food
* your favorite meal to cook for your parents/in-laws
* use an grain you’ve never used before
* use a fruit or vegetable you’ve never used before
* veganize a recipe from your childhood
* cook dinner for a friend as a surprise and drop it off right after work
* cook an all-local ingredients meal
* Write about your favorite songs to cook to
* Keep a photo food journal for the entire day
* Veganize a recipe
* Tell the story of the first time you tried tofu
* Take a cookbook that you don’t use very often and make one new recipe out of it every day for a week
* Post pictures of yourself wearing nothing but Earth Balance and a smile

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo #7 - The second serving

Another favourite of mine from Veganomicon is the eggplant-potato moussaka with pine nut cream.
There is a few different steps involved in making this so you will need to set aside about an hour to get everything ready.
I'm not too sure about the legalities of writing up recipes from books but if you have your own copy of veganomicon you can check it out on page 164.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo #6 nomolicious

I find myself rotating the same 10 meals week after week so i thought i would mix it up a bit and try something new. Scouring through veganomicon i came across the pineapple-cashew-quinoa stir-fry recipe. (Sounded good and i had all the ingredients)
I'm usually a bit scared when i first try a new recipe because i'm not sure how its going to taste or turn out but this was definitely 10 noms out of 10.
You will need to prepare some quinoa in advance for this recipe. I had some cashews from the Hornsby organic market that went great with this but i used crushed pineapple instead of pineapple pieces. (I suggest you go for the pieces) I think Andy put a grilled chikn schnitzel or something on the top.

Yesterday i had a mid afternoon chocolate craving that wouldn't quit, so i looked in the cupboard for something to cure it. Cooking chocolate just wouldn't cut it. I had a few choc ripple bikkies in the cookie jar but that wasn't enough, so i added some so delicious chocolate velvet icecream to the middle and voila - home made vegan ice cream sandwich. A cure all for the biggest of chocolate cravings.

australian NZ VEGAN Mofo #5 - The craving edition

For the past few weeks i have been craving omelettes like crazy. I have been looking all over the net for the perfect recipe and when one was suggested to me i knew i had to try it. When i woke up this morning i knew it was an omelette day. All the ingredients i needed were here. amazing! I changed it a little bit because i can never make a recipe exactly as it says (it's the rebel in me). You will need

2 cups of rice flour (I used the glutenous rice flour i had lying around)
1 cup chickpea flour
400ml Can of coconut cream
(I added some of the water and blended mine with a whizz stick to make it a bit thinner)
2 cups water
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp salt

Sift the flours together and make a well in the middle. Slowly add the coconut cream and water in intervals with a whisk starting with small circles and getting bigger as you add more liquid. This will stop it getting lumpy. Once you have a nice batter you can add the nutritional yeast, tumeric and salt and set aside so the flavours can infuse.
For the filling you can pretty much have whatever you want. I had shallots, mushrooms, spinach and grape tomatoes. Pre fry them so they are almost cooked and set aside.
Now back to the batter. Heat a fry pan and oil and pour in the batter. I suggest you do it so it's about a centremetre away from the edge so you can have some room to put the spatula under when it's time to flip. Then put your filling in a line in the middle and when the bubbles start appearing its time to flip it over in half. When it seals itself into a nice little omelette package it's time to enjoy.

I think the glutenous flour worked well with this recipe because it gave the omelette that gooey eggy feel.

Isa Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch also has a good omelette recipe using silken tofu but i was saving mine to make her eggplant and potato moussaka. She also lists a whole bunch of ideas for fillings.

The original recipe for the omlettes can be found here

Australian NZ VEGAN Mofo Take 4

Last nights dinner was the vegan version of meat and three veg. We all grew up watching the mushroom ad "it's mmmmmmeeeat for vegetarians", so tonight we made portabello schnitzels.

I can't remember where i got the recipe from but this is what you will need

half cup bread crumbs

half cup flour

1 tsp thyme

pinch of salt

half a cup of soy milk (or rice milk if u prefer)

Prepare 4-5 portabello mushrooms by wiping off the dirt and removing the stem. I don't like to wash mine because it makes them slimy, i just wipe them with a clean tea towel.

Put the soy milk into a bowl and in a separate bowl combine the bread crumbs, flour, salt and thyme.

Firstly dip the portabellos into the milk then into the dry mixture. make sure they are fully coated and set them aside.

Melt some butter into a frypan, i use the second highest setting because you don't want it to burn but you still want it to be hot. Now you should use enough butter so that when you put the mushrooms in it is bubbling/frothing up the edges. Put them in top down first and turn when they are a bit darker than golden. You basically want the breading to get nice and crispy and to heat the mushroom inside. This will only take a few minutes on each side.

We made 4 all together but i usually only end up eating one because they are so filling.

Serve with mashed potato, corn on the cob and green beans. Ahhhh, just like mum used to make, only cruelty free.