Chips and Satay Beans

I had no idea what to make for dinner tonight, so I went with number one fallback plan chips, and green beans. I did the green beans is a sauce made of soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic, and a little orange juice. It thickened up beautifully, and this meal really hit the spot. Thumbs up, and it was done in half an hour from scratch.

Resolutions

Of late I have become pretty...I don't know, maybe apathetic or something like it. I feel pretty disconnected, maybe less passionate, and I want to remedy that. I am at my happiest, I think, when I feel active, and involved, and like I'm part of a bigger cause. So I'm going to make some resolutions to right some of the things I'm doing wrong.

1. I am going to give up drinking pop for (at least) one week, starting today.
2. I am going to cook something fresh and delicious every day for (at least) one week, starting today.
3. I am going to do something creative every day for (at least) one week, starting today.
4. I am going to read more on the issues I am interested in.
5. I am going to post here twice a week for (at least) one month, starting today.

Maybe I've just gotten lazy of late. Hopefully this will give me a kick up the bum, and get me going.

In food related news, I had the BEST salad for lunch. I had lettuce and grated carrot, with fried red onions, pumpkin seeds and apple slices, all with balsamic vinegar, hummous and pitta bread. It was delish!

Two Sketches

Just things I've been doodling.

Mish mash lunch

There was pretty much nothing in the house to make lunch from, so this happened. It was surprisingly good, comprising of broad beans, butter beans, spinach, bussels sprouts, arrabiatta sauce from a jar, tomato puree, soy sauce, tandoori powder, curry powder, garlic and cream coconut. Actually, it was nearly miraculous that it tasted good. I ate it with couscous and pickle, and hoummus too.

Crochet works in progress, and pie'n'mash

I've been going mad for crochet at the moment after my grandma gave me a million old patterns - people dressed really badly in the 70s and 80s, and knitwear was a huge part of it.

This is the beginning of a scarf I'm making for my brother - it's growing with alarming speed.

And (another very similar pattern) this is going to be a little drawstring holdall.

I've got about ten projects going at once, but they're all getting reasonabe amounts of attention so it's ok. Had a linda maccartney pie for dinner as part of the new weekly 'Vegan pie and mash night'. My boyfriend did the cooking - we had pie, broad beans, sauteed greens with garlic and soy sauce, mash, and this mushroom and mustard gravy that he made up on the spot. It was a definite winner.

Boyfriend Bolognese

Long time no update. Now that life is less hectic, I'm hoping to get back into the kitchen. For now, here is a rubbish picture of the dinner my boyfriend made me - macaroni bolognese. It was so delicious! I questioned him about it, and he said he made the sauce with onion, garlic, aubergine, courgette, lentils, pearl barley, worcester sauce, basil and pepper. It was very hearty and very tasty!

Berk

I'm a big fan of 'The Trapdoor', and I made this stuffed-toy Berk as my latest project. It was fun to make, and surprisingly quick and easy. My sewing machine has developed an inability to sew, so I hand sewed this, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would. It was a good distraction from revision anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkN_gPM9SWU - Click here to see Berk in action.

Pizza!

I made pizza for lunch yesterday! I made a pizza base out of brown bread flour, with garlic and herbs in it too. I rolled out a base, then cut it in half so my boyfriend could top his half with cheese. I left it to rise for about 45 minutes, because I was too hungry to wait any longer. It's topped with red onion rings, garlic, tomato sauce, pesto, barbecue sauce, and some 'bean balls' - leftovers from a disastrous attempt to make bean sausages, which were tasty, but fell apart.
It was so good. The photos don't really do it justice, but it looked smart. Oh, also it had some 'Parmezano' on the top, which didn't really add much.

Knitting and a Flower

Here is my current knitting project. When it's finished it will be a small pillow case. Then, I am going to make a little pillow to go inside it. I want to stuff the pillow with something re-used. At the moment I'm thinking lots of little squares cut from plastic bags, but maybe I'll go with scraps of fabric.

Here is a dandelion! I know they're weeds but I still think they're pretty.

Cauliflower and Macaroni Mustard Yeast

This was SO good. I served it with some roasted vegetables, and it was a delicious meal, and very filling. The vegetables were roasted in a mixture of garlic, thyme, cumin, salt, pepper and olive oil, which was stupidly easy to make. The cauliflower and macaroni was made up pretty much as you would make a macaroni cheese, but with soya butter and milk, and nutritional yeast and mustard instead of cheese. Oh, and I added a little tumeric to give it a healthy yellow colour, as it was looking a little pasty before.

Mustard potato bake, cumin fried peppers, cheesish garlic scones

This is what I made for lunch today, it was fantastic. I was really pleased with how the potato came out, and the scones were brilliant!



Potato and Green Bean Creamy Mustard Bake

4 tbsp flour

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

400 ml soy milk

4 big potatoes

handful of green beans

salt to taste

maple syrup



- chop the potatoes into cubes, and boil for 15-20 minutes.

- heat the oven to 200C
- make a roux - melt the butter in a saucepan and stir the flour in.

- gradually add in the soya milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

- add the mustard and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes or so.

- drain the potatoes and green beans, then put into a casserole dish. Pour over the sauce.

- put in the oven, on a low shelf, and cook for 12-15 minutes.

- Eat!



The scones involved nutritional yeast (finally got hold of some - very exciting!) and garlic powder, and were very nice.

Ginger Winter Vegetables

Pictured here - ginger roasted winter vegetables, sugar snap peas, hummus, and home made pickle. This was delicious, and easy to make. My pickle came out a strange purple colour, because I used red onions instead of normal ones.

Birthday Cake Trial Run

Well, I guess that shows how cool I am! This was the trial run for the cake and icing. It's the same recipe as for my birthday cake, from 'Easy Vegan Cooking'. I made a few minor changes to the final cake, but this was really good. On the top are 'Whizzers', which are a vegan chocolate filled sugar bean sweet.

Crispy Peanut Butter Cookies

This photo turned out really 'food-photo'. This must be the most robust recipe in the world - I didn't do ANY of it right. I used crunchy peanut butter rather than smooth, margarine instead of oil, I cooked it for too long, I think I put lemon juice in it. I just turned the dough into balls and squashed them to make the cookie shapes. And I put in loads of soy milk by mistake. They still turned out ace, I was impressed and surprised! I'll definitely make them again.

My Birthday Cake!

Here it is! It's an adapted version of Leah Leneman's chocolate cake. I turned it into a marble sandwich cake. It's got almond buttercream in the middle, with chocolate fudge frosting and maraschino cherries on the top. I haven't made anything so sugary in ages! But hopefully it will be amazing.

PS. I don't only eat cake, even if the last few posts might suggest it. Though it should be a big component of everyone's diet.