Saturday 20 December 2008

We're alive (we're just on holidays!)

Howdy!
Yes, I've neglected you blogosphere, but it's all been for a good cause.  Relaxation!
I've been doing way too many crafty things of late!  I've taken up sewing (I'm working on a dress and a top at the moment) and I made little Oliver (a friend's 1yr old) a birthday mobile out of my crazy little creatures!
Blue armless ghost
This was meant to be a ghost (like my purple kitchen assistant)...
Blue Hamster
Hamster
Blue Octopus
Octopus (this was my favourite - it's a bit of a pain to do the legs, but it looks the best!)
Green bunny
Why is it that all the bunnies/hamsters I make look like deranged serial killers?
Green tadpole
Mr Tadpole (now this was an appropriate colour to use!!!)
Mobile of the dead stuffed animals
I didn't get a chance to get the "Oliver's view" pic.  But you get the idea!  Isn't it adorable?  I think I'll definitely be making this again!
FOOD!
I think Woolworths has finally worked out that they have vegan customers!  As I mentioned last time, they've increased their range of Fry's products (thank you thank you!!!).  We also found a new range of Australian gourmet burgers!
Package of Mexican Burger
Syndian make these burgers.  They're pretty tasty.  We found best results from cooking on the health grill (I think they'd fall apart if you did them in a frypan).
Mexican flavour was tasty (also these are pretty mushy - which was good when I was recovering from tooth surgery!):
 Mexican Burger
I've also been on a bit of a pasta kick (you're really surprised, aren't you? HA!).  I made some sort of mystery pasta a while ago:
Pasta - I don't remember what kind
Looks like some sort of bolognaise?
Continuing on my obsession with silverbeet, I made silverbeet and cashew ricotta cannelloni with extra silverbeet on the side.  I want silverbeet at every meal dammit!
Silverbeet and Cashew Ricotta Cannelloni
Yummo!
And....... I made gnocchi again.  I seriously could eat this stuff everyday!  I made a ginormous batch, so we had no less than four bags of frozen gnocchi.  SOOOOOOOO tasty.  I pan fried it after boiling with dairy free pesto from Mrs Flannery's.  Not original but delicious!  I topped with the dairy free parmesan we've been overusing for the last few months (it's like crack, but good for you?).....
Pan Fried Gnocchi with Pesto
This week I'm intending to try out Vegan Dad's roast to see if I can get it to work for Christmas Day.  And we finally found Sweet William choc chips, so there'll definitely be cookies in the future!
Hope everyone's enjoying summer/winter.  I'm seriously jealous of Teresa's trip to Melbourne!

10 comments:

aredcardigan said...

new reader going 'YAY' new post!

oooh glorious food overload!

sewing! wow...how adorable those little things are!

Susan said...

I found some Syndian patties at the Woolworths in Garden City, plus the Fry's pie and rolls you had last time. I of course impulse bought the lot.
Haven't actually tried any yet! My Syndian patties are 'Aussie' flavoured, whatever that means. They are quite expensive though for only two patties!

Anonymous said...

Hey, long time lurker here!

I just wanted to say I definitely appreciate Woolworth's v. slowly increasing vegan range aswell.

Also, your little critters are cute! Keep posting them!

-Lee

Amy said...

Good to see you and glad to hear you've been relaxing :)

Lol I was contemplating that roast (different stuffing) for Christmas!

Jealous of the syndian products, I have to drive right over the other side of the city to get any and they only have 2 flavours :(

And mmmm gnocchi, feel free to send any spare my way! I adore it, but am WAY too lazy to make any :P

lisa said...

While every Safeway store in the known universe seems to be increasing their Fry's lines, mine is actively phasing out all but the burgers. SCREAAM! However, there is a Safeway about a kilometre away so I shall be going there, because they are smartly increasing their range. Have you tried the sausage rolls yet? They rawk.

I'm not a fan of the Syndian burgers. I'll have to try them again because I've heard a few people say they like them.

Anonymous said...

You are allowed to take a holiday from blogging if you come back with awesome posts like that!
The mobile rocks! I can't get enough of your little knitted critters >:o)
All the food looks yummy.
I've been buying Sweet William choccy chips for a few months now in the U.K, they are ggrrrreat (I've made far too many Dreena Burton choc chip cookies with them!).
I hope the seitan roast goes well~ I've had so many failures that I give up! Crimbo dinner is still a mystery....

Anonymous said...

Hi Amy~ The pastry I used for my mince pies was the 'flaky pie crust' recipe from 'The Joy Of Vegan Baking' (I made it with vegetable shortening instead of marg, it makes it crisper, and orange juice instead of water~ for a more festive flavour!).
Hope that helps, take care
Merry Chritmas to Cam and yourself x

Theresa said...

What a cute mobile! You're so awesome! And the pasta looks great. I love silverbeet so much.

x said...

I love your new creature creations!

I like the new Syndian burgers in order of preference: Country, Mexican, Aussie. I do them in a fry pan and if you cook them well enough & move them with a spatula they don't fall apart but they are quite soft. I love 'em! I can only find them in Macro for the time being.

Anonymous said...

you should have seen the silverbeet that was growing in the garden - ginormous, certainly enough for every meal