Iron Chef Vegan

Mmmm Caesar Salad….

2010-03-09T18:30:00.001+10:00

So yeah, summer’s over! Where did my holidays go?

It’s been lovely keeping up with everyone’s blogs. I think the Australian vegan blogging world is waiting with baited breath for Theresa and Andy’s nuptials (or is it just me?)!

Anyhoooo, uni is back and I’m crazy busy as always. I’m going to try to do short blogs, rather than long exciting ones this semester. Four law subjects + 3 days a week of work = Amy gets no sleep!

So, Cam decided that we needed a garden (and I agreed), so we got some mini hothouses from Bunnings (‘cause we have very active possums!).

Checkout the awesome cos lettuce – isn’t this stuff meant NOT to grow so vertically?

So I made Veganomicon Caesar Salad with Fry’s Chickeny Strips (I have no recollection of the name and I’m not linking to their uber annoying flash website!) and Redwood fake bacon. Damn this was tasty!

Hopefully it won’t be another three months before I post again!

Amy

Tian Ran – OMG, seriously, OMG……

2009-12-07T20:54:00.001+10:00

It was pretty damn amazing. We miss Magic Wok so much. I remember when I heard about it closing, it was like a part of me died. Yes, I’m being melodramatic, but as much as we love Kuan Yin and Loving Hut, we really don’t have a replacement for Magic Wok. Sooooo, we decided to drop into the Gold Coast and visit Tian Ran on the way home from Byron Bay. Woah – the Gold Coast and Byron are polar opposites!

Enough ranting, food:

Mmmmmm we’ve become addicted to the young coconuts from Woolworths thanks to Cam’s sister. They’re probably incredibly bad for the environment, being flown from Indonesia/Thailand, but OMG, soooooooooooo good.

Entree 1: BBQ Pork Buns

Not as good as the Magic Wok ones (they weren’t bright red in the middle), but they were good. Very ‘meaty’ texture inside.

Entree 2: Crispy Fish Strips

From the taste, Cam worked out that these were probably Lamyong Fishy Strips (no idea what the real name is). They were really nice (and that’s saying something, ‘cause I’m not a fan of the fishy substitutes).

Entree 3: Chicken and Corn Soup

I’ve had this soup before – Cam brought some home for me when I was writing my thesis and he went to the land of the leather people (the Gold Coast) with friends. Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom !

Side dish: Nasi Goreng

This was delicious! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was delicately flavoured (tomato and chilli powder). And super super yummy. (I’m going to run out of superlatives soon!)

Amy’s Main: Salt and Pepper Chicken

Deep fried tastiness. We thought these were Lamyong Soy Nuggets.

Cam’s Main: Black Pepper Chicken

Again Lamyong Soy Nuggets. It had that tasty cornflour glaze thingy that Chinese food has. Not too peppery – Cam really enjoyed this.

Cam’s dessert: Banana Fritter

I can’t vouch for the flavour (I don’t eat banana), but Cam had a huge grin on his face the entire time he ate this.

We really enjoyed Tian Ran. The service was great and not too fast. The guy who owns it (we presume) was really lovely.

It was a great end to a fantastic weekend.

Byron Bay Food

2009-12-04T16:04:00.001+10:00

Howdy! So the hell of exams is over, so I’ve started back at work 4 days a week and have been spending the Friday doing criminal law research for a lecturer. It’s actually pretty fun, just hard to do in the heat!

Anyhoooooo, Cam and I went down to Byron last weekend to visit his sister and to generally spend time on our arses at the beach.

Broken Head Beach, Monday morning

We spent Sunday leisurely driving to Byron Bay, stopping at Minion Falls @ Nightcap National Park (best name ever). Which was fun, except we got caught in a thunderstorm at 2 in the afternoon! Leeches really are gross…

Funny, I remember it being calmer than this!

We then spent Monday at two different beaches. Morning was at Broken Head Beach (the two posts above) and Watego’s – closer to the centre of Byron (not pictured ‘cause we actually went swimming).

Terrible turnout

There’s two awesome vegan health food stores in the middle of Byron Bay – Santo’s and The Fundamental Food Store (Fundie’s – they have a store in Brisbane’s Paddington).

This deep fried tastiness was Monday’s lunch. The two pastries were yummy (one was a samosa, and the other was delicately flavoured veggies), Cam had the tempeh sushi (ew ew ew), and there was a bean fritter. Sooooooo good!

Luckily the Woolworths at Byron had Tofutti cream cheeze – so there were bagels for breakfast on both days! Nom nom nom…

This was from Santo’s various salads and amazing pies. Plus, in front, a millet ball and a rice ball (we shared). This was sooooo good!

Byron Bay’s famed unicorn farm sign…

It was a fantastic weekend!

We visited the Gold Coast on the way home on Tuesday and visited Tian Ran! I’ve got a whole post’s worth of pics, so they’ll go up soon!

Exams = study = no fun food

2009-10-24T16:56:00.001+10:00

Hey guys!

Thought I’d let you know that we’re not dead, we've just buried ourselves in study. Exams finish on 19th November (yes! I’ll be able to see the new Twilight and laugh at the ‘acting’!)

Until then, Iron Chef Vegan will not be updated. :(

Post 5: Product review!

2009-09-13T17:55:00.001+10:00

I’m sure my fellow Aussies who have tried Fry’s products are as fanatical as I am about them. Weeeell, on Wednesday after a horrible day at work I hit Woolworths to procure comestibles for dinner. I discovered these!

(Don’t worry, they’'ll be well and truly eaten by 13/12/10 – tee hee) These are super yummy! So, after my 4.5k jog with Cam (he was nice enough to jog at my pace!), I baked these little beauties and had them with sweet potato mash and salad:

Damn they were good! You really must try them if you get the chance. I made a kebab with these for lunch the next day.

Is it just Cam and I, or are pickles incredibly addictive? I had to buy a whole jar of pickles on Thursday just so I could have about 6 pickle slices on my kebab. Sooooo addictive! :)

Post 4: Weekend of tasty food

2009-09-07T17:50:00.001+10:00

Hey guys! Hope you had a good weekend. We really utilized our “Iron Chef” skills on the food this weekend. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

First – Cam’s ‘healthy’ lunch from Friday. Just to show off the fantastic Asian snacks we can procure in BrisVegas:

Trident Hot and Spicy Soup with ‘Chicken’ nuggets (from Burlington in the valley), Cabbage dumplings (Burlington) and Dim Sims (from the supermarket near the former Magic Wok). I shudder to think how much sodium was contained on this plate before the soy sauce was added!

I was inspired, after viewing everyone’s blogs on the VWAV cookbook challenge to find a recipe that I hadn’t made in that awesome tome. I came up with the “Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes and Kalamata Tapenade”. Why did I wait more than 2 years to try this? It’s fantastic in the original dish (I even found the right pasta):

I added extra parsley for prettiness.

But we also tried it on bread (on Isa’s suggestion in the cookbook). Witness the glory that is Tofutti Cream Cheese Kalamata Tapenade poppy seed bagels. Seriously. You HAVE to try this. We had this for dinner on Sunday night and I had to have it again for breakfast today. (I even exclaimed the virtues of it on Facebook).

It’s like heaven on bread WITH OLIVES! Could I be more excited about a food?

And to finish, even though this was dinner on Friday night, we have pie filling. ‘Beef’ and ‘bacon’ pie filling. Cam said he fried an onion and added casserole mince and sliced Sanitarium luncheon. Then he added ‘beef’ stock and a rather large quantity of liquid smoke (and I think a little gravy powder). To top it off we added a slice of Toffuti American sliced cheeze and put in the pie maker. It’s near to impossible to take a photo of a pie without destroying it, so you’ll have to imagine the awesomeness. Here’s a rather unattractive picture of the filling:

It’s really only good when you serve it straight away so you can mix the toffuti into the rest of the filling.

I’m having fun being a MoFo. Thanks for all of your comments. They’re a great pickup while I’m writing assignments!

Day 3: I looooove Mexican / Tex-Mex food!

2009-09-03T20:01:00.001+10:00

Okay, I just love food that centres around tasty carbs (pasta, noodles, tortillas).

I’ve made this chilli once already – only last month! It is really good, but I wanted more veggies, so when I added in the kidney beans I added in a chopped capscicum, half a can of corn kernels (the half I didn’t use in the cornbread) and the remains of a bag of ‘shrooms. OMG. Soooo good. I had leftovers for lunch today.

I made the cornbread in the muffin tin. So adorably cute! And extra crunchy.

If you haven’t been reading my blog for long, you won’t be aware of my extreme love for making my favourite recipes over and over and over. (Witness my obsession with Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon last year)… The reason why I explain this is that we’re having cheezeburgers again for dinner. So probably no posting tomorrow. Besides, shouldn’t you guys be out enjoying yourselves on a Friday night instead of visiting my (awesome) blog? :)

To rub it in – no work tomorrow! Just uni…

Day 2a: Not vegan, but feminist

2009-09-02T21:36:00.001+10:00

I had to post twice in one day to urge you to read this article in the Guardian “Secrets of the womb by Jacqueline Maybin”. I read it after seeing the gushing about it on Jezebel. I’m sure my fellow feminists will enjoy!

Day 2: Kinda lazy vegan convenience foods

2009-09-02T16:51:00.001+10:00

When Cam was cooking this last night, we discussed just how much pasta and tomato sauce we ate when we first became vegan (I became vegan after Cam but I did the same thing!). It’s funny how much cheap pasta sauce has evolved, thanks to the gentrification of the store brands. I buy a lot of the store brands stuff – especially ‘cause I cook a lot from scratch. Plus, why pay more money to the large international conglomerates when you can pay less and get the same thing?

But I digress….

This one was a Puttanesca in the You’ll love Coles range. It had both green and black olives and was tasteeeee! It’s fun finding new ninja vegan foods.

And yes, we did use the moose pasta – I think it looks extra evil with the red sauce!

Amy out…

Day 1: Asian Food – the god of all vegan cuisines

2009-09-01T21:09:00.001+10:00

Heya! Hyperbole is fun, isn’t it?

A few months ago, on a cookbook purchasing binge, I bought Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Authentic Chinese Cuisine. It’s a damn fantastic book.

So I looked in the fridge’s contents and consulted the text and made: Stir Fried Tofu and Leeks, and Harvest Moon Stir Fry.

I wish I had a better picture of the carrots (the moon) mooning you. The only issue I had with these recipes is that they had dry sherry in them. We could only find sherry that had been fined with milk AND eggs. Le sigh. Anyone found a vegan sherry?

These were REALLY tasty. The tofu was fantastic.

I really love Bryanna’s cookbooks (witness my use of them in Italian food in previous posts), but I’d love some colour photos in the cookbooks. But as Theresa said on my facebook pictures, the special lie-flat binding almost makes up for it! ;)

Breakfast the next day was pancakes. Cam insisted on ice-cream and Soyatoo, so I insisted on grated apple in the mix. I just grated the apple into the standard Pancake recipe from VWAV and just added milk until it was the right consistency. This obviously totally made up for the sugar from the ice-cream and Soyatoo!

So yeah, that’s it for the day. Cam’s making us pasta for dinner (with moose pasta from Ikea), so that just may feature on tomorrow’s post.

But then again, we know how slack I am with posting!

OzVeganMoFo

2009-08-31T18:35:00.001+10:00

Yup, we’re seceding from the American vegan blog complex (ha) for a month! OzVeganMoFo is going to run for September, but as Theresa said, there’ll be ‘no worries’ about posting every day! I’m aiming for about 4-5 posts a week!

Here’s the rundown of Oz Vegans joining in.

Vegan, Sixteen

The Tropical Vegan

(Obviously we’re hoping that more people join in – otherwise we will look a little silly with just a few of us!)

Edited to add – but wait, there’s more!

Cupcake Kitteh (who designed the awesome logo!!!!)

Unwakeable

Annabananabomb (2 week old vegan – that’s impressive!)

Ink and Venom

kblog (sorry to sound biased, but this is one of my favourite Aussie blogs)

Twilight and Shadow – a NZ-lander – making this a trans-Tasman affair!

For Esme

And BrisVegan has joined us on the 2nd! I wonder which Australian state has the most vegan bloggers?

The benefits of MoFo-ing:

You should get more comments – this equals more dancing in the study (surely I’m not the ONLY one who does this?)
You will convince half of the federal cabinet to go vegan – because nothing says you’re more Australian than eating less beef (*a common misconception amongst members of the media and Australian Cattle Repressors – I mean ‘Farmers’)
People will start to not recognise you without your camera
I may just make you a present of the knitted or sewn variety. Warning: presents may be of bad quality and may cause explosive decompression in open spaces
You’ll learn a bit about the law. Warning: any information is given for entertainment purposes. IronChefVegan Oz (inc) takes no responsibility for items lost, destroyed or damaged by following said vegan advice. Negligence is strictly prohibited. (Take that exclusion clause assignment)
Vegans are sexier. So you will become sexier by doing MoFo. Take Alicia Silverstone for example! So what I’m saying is that the Advanced Medical Institute should change their regimen. (Warning: please see previous exclusion clause for prohibition of liability)

I’m crabby

2009-08-25T22:08:00.001+10:00

Crabby for Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes – aka fake crab cakes!

These were tasty (for something made from tempeh – I’m not really a fan). They were even good despite the fact that I forgot the mayonnaise in the cakes!

We had them with salad and boiled potatoes with dill (and nuttelex). Seriously yummo.

And, a bonus pic worthy of Cute Overload, my mum’s dog Hamish (who, funnily enough, gets called H-Dog and Hambone – the rest of my family aren’t even vaguely vegetarian!).

Good doggy!

Also – I was wondering how many vegans were going to do VeganMoFo this year? I really want to, but my exams always take over November. Anyone else keen to do an Aussie one in September or something (while we can still make relatively fun winter food)?

Cupcakes designed to solve all of the world’s problems!

2009-08-17T18:15:00.001+10:00

Maybe not ALL of the world’s problems, just the little things, like cheering up friends!

Chocolate cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

In other happiness inducing news… pickles! (insert quotes from Scrubs here…)

Oh Fry’s Burger with Tofutti American Style Cheeze melted on top with pickles, tomato sauce, american mustard and finely diced brown onion, how much do I love thee?

Finally, I’ve been cracking (ha) out Hot Damn and Hell Yeah! by Ryan Splint because the recipes are simple and CHEAP (and supporting a vegan Australian is ALWAYS a priority).

Mmmmmm – enchilladas with cheeze (not shown, guacamole).

Up next: Vegan Cupcakes take over the United Nations – Switzerland stops being neutral on the cupcake issue… :)

Beans, beans the musical fruit

2009-08-07T16:04:00.001+10:00

Gosh it’s hard to think of snappy blog post titles! This one is extra lame (I want to hear groaning people!)… :)

Anyhoooo, Cam made a ridiculously AWESOME stew on Tuesday night. Adzuki Bean Stew. Yes, Adzuki beans can be used in savoury dishes. This was really, Really, REALLY fantastic. The flavours were just fantastic (probably all of that delicious smoked paprika). I had it for lunch again the next day. My only comment is that the dumplings weren’t bready enough. A friend have us about 2kg of dried Adzuki beans, so we will DEFINITELY be trying this again (I’m thinking of using the dumpling recipe from the Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Vcon and tweaking it). I believe the recipe for this is here – from the printed copy on the bench, it looks like Cam put it into metric! (Maths can be useful)

You really MUST try this recipe!!!

And, just because I get more comments when I post purdy things, witness the crapilly made, but very pretty quilt I made during uni break!

Not all vegan food looks like baby food

2009-08-04T21:36:00.001+10:00

Just the tasty stuff! Vegan Chilli Con Non-Carne from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah! Recipies for Hungry Banditos and the Dirty South Vegan Cookbook by Ryan Splint:

Really REALLY yummy. I added canned corn (thank you Coles – 3 for $4!!!) We had it with Cornbread (not pictured). Fan-freaking-tastic dinner.

Best dinner ever

2009-08-02T21:23:00.001+10:00

As I recall I haven’t named a post “Best dinner ever”. I was at Mrs Flannery’s on Friday and they had Soyatoo! SOYATOO!!! (cue excitement)

Anyway, we had to have cheezeburgers, fries and shakes for dinner.

Note the awesome swirly fantabulousness that I got from the soyatoo. Sorry, SOYATOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now with Italics SOYATOO!!!

Here’s a side view:

Burgers were Fry’s Burgers topped with Tofutti American style slices, with Bread and Butter pickles, finely chopped onion, american mustard and tomato sauce on low-gi, high-fibre white bread. Yes, white bread. Best food ever…

Yes, I’m back. Uni holidays, work, etc…… :)

You really need to wait until the soup cools before blending!

2009-06-08T15:37:00.001+10:00

Hey guys. Obviously study and work has been taking over my life (as usual).

I broke a stick blender this week! I made a huge pot of leek and potato soup and tried to blend it before it was cool enough. Long story short, I melted all the glue in the blender and had to throw it and the soup out. I was a very sad panda.

So I made this soup on Saturday instead – it’s kinda chunky because I used a potato masher to mash up the veggies. Totally tasty (it’s the Fennel, Squash and Apple soup from the Voluptuous Vegan).

Next I made the Chard Frittata from Vegan Brunch. It was pretty good, but next time I’m going to put the tofu through the food processor and cut up the silverbeet (chard) a lot finer!

Cookies have helped to ease the pain of study. I bastardised a Dreena Burton recipe by adding waaaaay too much molasses – they were even better this way!

And, in remembrance of my stick blender, green taties (pesto potatoes) with pesto made in the stick blender.

Cam has his only exam tomorrow. I have one next week and two the week after. Law school really is as boring as everyone says it is!!!!

Hey ya!

2009-05-10T17:10:00.001+10:00

Hey guys. Long time, no blog. Uni, work, you know the drill…..

Anyway, I was inspired by a recent South Park episode to make Tofu “fish” Fingers (I believe you call them Fish Sticks in the US). Recipe came from the Vegan Lunchbox cookbook (finally bought it!). Pretty tasty!

I’ll resist the urge to make a gay vegan fish joke.

I discovered chipotles at the Indian grocer the other week (month?) and so I made tamales (using aluminium foil instead of corn husks). Not bad…. They’re really dense!!!

And, of course, I’ve been sewing….

Exams are coming up, so I’ve been attempting to start study (they start on June 15, so hopefully I can cram it all in – for some unknown reason they’re ALL open book!!).

VeganAmy out.

I’m older, not wiser…

2009-03-02T16:10:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone – where’s February gone? I started back at uni today (had my first Criminal Law lecture – the law is really for the rich white folk, isn’t it?). So here’s my boring February catchup.

It was my friend Tiffany’s birthday mid month. I, of course, made her a handbag, but she gave me the wrong address. Have you gotten this yet Tif? If not, you’ll have to wait until the middle of the year for me to make you another!

Isn’t the fabric purdy?

Food. Mmmmmm fooooooooood

Fancy tofu, beetroot and sweet potato salad. ‘Twas yummy (I baked everything except the greens)

This is the tofu and potato dish from Vegan With A Vengeance. It’s too hot to move to the bookcase to find it. Seriously – I’m so sweaty my arms are getting stuck to the desk here!

I call this grotesque, but tasty lasagne. Double recipe of my usual white sauce with a bolognaise made out of (fake) chicken nuggets, with a layer of sliced mushrooms and lasagne sheets. Crack in a pan baby.

Cam made this for me while I watched the Oscars (I had the day off work – yay!). There’s marinated mushrooms, fancy tomatoes, sundried tomato oil, fried fry’s burgers (ha), macadamias, greens and yummy white bread. Mmmmmm I wonder if I can get this for dinner tonight?

And, ‘cause I’m a dork, here’s Charlie from my law group’s stand at Market Day. Isn’t he cool?

Why yes, I have turned into the crazy bag lady

2009-02-15T11:32:00.001+10:00

Iron Chef Vegan has been returning to old favourites - Get Sconed's Mac and Cheeze, Burritos, Vietnamese Spring Rolls. I really haven't been doing much in the way of cooking because of the machine.

The sewing machine.

And so, I have turned into the crazy bag lady:

I bought this pattern before Christmas along with the fabric. I loved the fabric so much I didn't want to fuck it up! So I waited until I was sure that I could actually sew properly!

I'm really proud of this one! It looks pretty damn good.

I really really REALLY love this fabric.

Thus, I have embarked on a ridiculous quest to make a lot of handbags for friends and family.

This one's for my mum (hopefully she doesn't check this blog in the next hour!).

Vegan homemade handbags rock!

Needle and thread

2009-02-05T23:38:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone.

As requested, here's a bit of a look back at the craptacular items I've been sewing.

Item 1 - The sack dress.

This was the first thing I sewed. I haven't worn it yet (and I finished it the week before Christmas. Any suggestions? I thought a band below the bust, empire line style might make it wearable.... I love the fabric though.

Item 2 - The Xmas Top

Lesson number two - always make the bottom of an item extra long so it covers what you want to cover!. I wore this on Christmas day. I still love it. But it reminds me that I need to lose that 7 kilos.

Item 3 - The Amy Butler In Town Bag (the easy non-pattern one)

This was the first time I actually did a proper lining (and use proper interfacing - I have a ginormous roll that I got from Spotlight now!). I use this constantly. So awesome. But I never match my top and my handbag. A little too tacky for my tastes.

Item 4 - The pyjama shorts that look like boardies

I think I'm detecting a preference for frangipanis!

And just because I think the fabric is faaabulous:

Of course, I now have a fabric buying addiction. Today I bought no less than three pieces of fabric (6.5 metres!)

1.5 metres of fancy cotton. I was going to make a skirt, but then I remembered that I don't wear skirts. Probably an off the shoulder top.

Polyester/cotton/lycra/I have no idea.... Isn't it so retro? Probably will be a work top.

And finally, the favourite thing in my stash. The fabric I waited for an hour to buy at Spotlight. I bought three metres because it's that cute:

The feminist in me likes to think that this is how happy all women will look when we finally beat down patriarchy. I have no idea what this one will make. I'm thinking some sort of handbag lining (I have a fetish for handbags, yet another reason to take up sewing - vegan homemade handbags!).

And just because this is meant to be a food blog:

The caption should read: Mmmm sprinkles.

We're not dead, we're just busy

2009-02-03T20:48:00.001+10:00

Yeah, yeah, I've been a slack blogger for about four months now. I have an excuse - I bought a sewing machine, so I haven't been doing much in the way of cooking!

From what I remember I've made Get Sconed's Mac and Cheeze (with added mustard) and various stir-fries and salad. While the Mac and Cheeze was awesome, everything else has been well, meh.

So, my blogtacular readers, I will leave you with this blurry picture that I don't remember taking. It was taken from my front verandah on what I can assume was a stinking hot day.

More blogging soon. With sewing! (Maybe I'll have to change the name to Padawan sewer and Iron Chef Vegan or something lame).....

Iron Chef Amy out....

Also - you have to check out this fabric I found online. I didn't stop laughing for five minutes!

Lazy ass food

2009-01-11T10:56:00.001+10:00

Howdie ho neighbourinos!

This was certainly a week of curries! On Monday Cam made Malaysian Curry, on Tuesday he made dahl (and we went to see the awesome, incredibly sad (really, I was bawling during the end) Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and on Friday night I had the Lit girls over for an Indian banquet and drunken ravings about novels.

You've seen pictures of our curries before (Cam was actually happy with the Cauliflower and Potato curry this time - he always thinks it's bland - I disagree!), so I'll show you the breads I made - ROTI!!!!

Recipe is from here (I can't remember who put me on to Manjula's Kitchen, but I'm forever in your debt!!!

They puffed up and tasted pretty authentic (I substituted Nuttelex for the ghee)....

And (of course) the pictures sucked. I made them again the next day with a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander....

See the puffyness! You should have seen the dance I did around the kitchen when this happened. SOOOOOO funny.

Anyway, the next day (Saturday) I went to the West End Markets with Kath and Tif to get breakfast. Mmmmmm Ykillamoocow pies (their website seems to have disappeared):

And the inside:

Yum! And all this before the diet plan starts on Monday. Whoops!

I don't want to go to school tomorrow Mummy

2009-01-04T18:34:00.001+10:00

Or I don't want to go back to work tomorrow dammit!!!

Holidays are over :(

Here's a recap of what we've done...

We bought a BBQ!

We cooked mushrooms on it (remove stalk, add salt and wait!)

Mmmmm juicy goodness....

Made a BBQ tofu sandwich!

Watch out for the evil potato!!!!

Spent an afternoon making Pumpkin Cinnabons (from Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk)

Got Hell Pizza takeaway. I wasn't a fan of cooked avocado (Cam was):

Scarfed down kumara chips with the pizza. Fuck yeah....

Visited Kuan Yin (my office moved to the valley, but I still visit on holidays!). There's some cool new menu items including:

Salt and Pepper Calamari (made with rehydrated shiitakes - we think):

Spicy Calamari

And people say vegan food is boring? HA!!!!

Hope no-one else is as sad as I am to be returning to the coal mines.....

Roasty toasty goodness (in Summer - we're crazy!)

2008-12-22T15:14:00.001+10:00

Hey guys!

I actually did try out Vegan Dad's awesome roast!

Here's what I put in the stuffing:

1/2 cup cooked wild rice (I cooked the whole packet and then measured the rice afterwards)

1 cup cubed sweet potato

1 sliced leek (it's still around! WOOOOO!!!)

2tsp garlic

Thyme and Rosemary (it was either that or Thyme and Oregano - I can't remember!)

1/4 cup water

1 cup walnuts cut into teeny tiny pieces

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method: Fry up the potato, leek and garlic in olive oil. Once it's starting to brown add in everything else. Cool and stuff into the roast as per Vegan Dad's directions.

This will fall apart, but it is tasty!

Naked:

Drowned in gravy:

It was pretty good. I'm going to tweak the roast - I can't find poultry seasoning (the original recipe calls for this), so I'm going to try some of the Massels 'chicken' stock.

What's everyone else planning for Christmas lunch/dinner?

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

2008-12-20T12:20:00.001+10:00

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!

This was meant to be a ghost (like my purple kitchen assistant)...

Hamster

Octopus (this was my favourite - it's a bit of a pain to do the legs, but it looks the best!)

Why is it that all the bunnies/hamsters I make look like deranged serial killers?

Mr Tadpole (now this was an appropriate colour to use!!!)

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!

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!):

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:

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!

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?).....

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!

Testing, Testing

2008-11-29T12:03:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone. It's the weekend. Woot!

Over the past few weeks we've found a few new vegan products in the supermarket.

Exhibit One: Fry's products

OMG, these are seriously good!!!

Sooooooo yummy. We've had this twice now - you can microwave it (but then the potato doesn't get brown and delicious). Microwaving is good if you have sore teeth!

Here we find Cottage Pie served with quickly stir fried Silverbeet with garlic.

Droooooooool................

These are pretty good. They're basically Fry's Sausages wrapped in pastry.

Mmmmmm puffy.

Tee hee - this reminds me of the Seitan O'Greatness when it expands after cooking!!! Gee I wonder what else it looks like (well you did ask for food porn)....

My lovely friend Melissa (hey Mel! Congrats on finishing honours!) brought this over to me two days after my wisdom teeth were removed. You can get it from Mrs. Flannery's stores. I know Melissa must like me because it's about $15 a tub!!!!!

It's pretty good. Because it's raw, the vanilla flavour really shines through. I liked it!

So, I'm looking forward to a weekend of knitting, TV watching and maybe some dinner cooking. At the moment I'm thinking of rosemary gnocchi. Or maybe a stuffed mushroom pasta? You'll have to wait and see!

Holiday! Celebrate!

2008-11-27T18:18:00.001+10:00

Hey guys. We're back!

Exams are over (woot!). I passed everything (and Cam did really well - what do you expect!). Thanks for all your kind good luck wishes in the comments guys!

What else is new? Hmmmmm.....

I had my wisdom teeth out last week. It wasn't too painful. But ice-cream for breakfast gets old....

But I digress, you want the food pornage, don't you?

Sanitarium Hot Dogs in el cheapo doggy rolls and a bean and baby spinach salad. Fart making materials.....

The stars of the blog muscled into this photo. I'm in the middle of making them a few new friends. (Ha - so almost typed fiends - Freudian slip!)

Hearty Winter Soup from How It All Began. This was a Cameron creation!

Mushroom and Silverbeet Risotto (buried under chiffonaded italian parsley). I made this after my Public Law exam. I couldn't stop snacking on this ALL weekend!

I'll keep this post short and sweet. Hope everyone is doing well. I'm back @ full time work now, so there's no rest for the wicked. Mwahahahahaha!

VeganMoFo - catchup!

2008-10-23T18:10:00.001+10:00

EAR would like to welcome his new little nameless friend. Anyone got any suggestions? I think she's the cutest one I've made yet (I have a crab in pieces, but reading case law seems a little more important right now!).

But here's more exciting stuff.... Food!!!

Mmmmmmmmm gargantuan sandwich.........

Bittersweet's Pizza Scrolls with VCON cashew ricotta. Yummo!

BTLT (Bacon Tofu, Lettuce and Tomato). Can you tell EAR wants to run away with it?

EAR and the new toy are fighting over who gets to be in the picture! Tee hee.....

Hey guys,

I have exams in two weeks, so this is going to be my last post for a while. Cam, on the other hand has already finished exams (grrrrr) so I'm handing over to him. So here's my final catchup before my last exam in November!!!

Amy out.....

VeganMoFo - Chips around the world part deux

2008-10-20T21:03:00.001+10:00

Poutine! Greasy. Delicious.

Someone was a little jealous of chips with cheezley and gravy!

VeganMoFo - I'm avoiding study again!!!!

2008-10-18T20:54:00.001+10:00

To show you the fruits of my shopping labours!

From the bottom left (clockwise): Fried Tofu, Vegan Codfish pieces, Peach Tea, Vegan Roast Pork, Vegan Prawn, Vegan Beef Chunks, Vegan Soy Pieces, Vegan Chicken Nuggets, Lemongrass, White Miso, Hard Tofu (my favourite brand - all the other ones crumble too much). This came to about $100. It'll feed us for more than a month. D'ya reckon you could do that with meat? :)

VeganMoFo - Tuesday 14th October 2008

2008-10-14T20:00:00.001+10:00

Brinner! And the return of our little friend....

As you can see I restrained him behind a specially designed metal bar to prevent him from stealing the feast of: baked beans, fried 'shrooms and spinach, ginger and apple waffles, tofu bacon and a hash brown. I wussed out and ate the waffles separately (sorry - don't get the sweet and savoury thing).

The tofu bacon and waffles are bastardized versions of recipes from Vegan With A Vengeance. Yum!

I'm such a lazy VeganMoFo

2008-10-13T22:23:00.001+10:00

All I have to offer you is hummous and quackers:

VeganMoFo - Thursday 9th October 2008

2008-10-09T20:24:00.001+10:00

Now this was a meal I was proud of!

Tada!!

Vegan Parmigiana, Garlic Fried Silverbeet (that's Swiss Chard to our American friends) and parmesan mashed potato (NOTE: This photo is before I covered everything in the vegan parmesan)!

EAR was so excited to be in a photo that he was humping my fork. You dork EAR!

I'm not a dork. I'm the full strength Coke of evil! I'm back bitches!! My evil plan is almost at fruition, I ordered Amy to make me another evil friend. Mwahahahahahaha..... It will be unveiled this weekend!!!!!!

Well, I think voting finishes tonight & there's no way in hell I'm studying Constitutional Law on a Friday night, so after I make BRINNER (tee hee) I'll get started!!!!

VeganMoFo - Wednesday 8th October 2008

2008-10-08T17:35:00.002+10:00

It was inevitable. I, the one who refuses to fill out surveys, have succumbed to the vegan survey doing the bloggy rounds. EAR made me do it? I've corrected the English!!!!

1. Name a song that involves food in some way.

Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off – only when it’s sung by Ella Fitzgerald though. One of the millions of things I picked up from my mum was a love of jazz/blues singers.

2. What criteria do you use when choosing a new cookbook to buy?

I constantly update my wishlist on Amazon. Probably every six months I buy about 8. And then they don’t get used! (Unless it’s Veganomicon)

3. What did you eat today?

Breakfast: Leftover cornbread with low-fat Nuttelex

Morning Tea: Dried Fruit and Nuts from the fruit stand @ uni

Lunch: Vegan Lentil pie from the new food co-op at uni. It was an interesting experience visiting their quarters. I suppose you’d say that these guys are REAL hippies.

Afternoon Snack: Icy Pole – raspberry flavour. It was HOT on Monday, so Cam and I got iceblocks!

Dinner: Why answer that and ruin a perfectly good blog post tomorrow? :)

4. Name a vegan food that you know exists but you have never tried.

Tings, Teese – see previous post

5. The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow. What will the title of the show be?

Eat the cupcake dammit. EAT IT!!!!

6. Favourite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?

Sweet Chilli Sauce, but when it’s completely watered down!

7. How old were you when you became vegetarian/vegan?
23 – Vegetarian 25 - Vegan

8. Favourite vegan cheeze?

Cheezley – the mozzarella one

9. Cutest baby animal?

Obviously turtles. They’re so cute when they fall over themselves.

10. Favourite type of jam/jelly/marmalade/preserves?

Raspberry Jam from Uncle Steve. Damn that’s good jam!

11. Do you take any vitamins/supplements?

2 x Calcium, 1 x Multi-Vitamin (for the iron) and 1 x Vitamin D (I don’t like the sun)

12. What food/dish most embodies the Fall season?

Um, it’s called Autumn dammit.

13. What food would you have a hard time living without?

Chocolate.

14. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

Coke Zero?

15. It’s 10PM and you’re starving. What do you eat?

Whatever asian vegan snacks I can find in the freezer

16. If you have an animal companion, what is his/her favorite food?

They love peas!

17. Worst injury you’ve gotten in the kitchen?

I used my mandolin without the cover – I still have my finger tip luckily!

18. When you have a food-related question, who do you call?

The PPK

19. Summer is ending- What food will you miss most?

Summer’s just starting! I will miss leeks over summer though!

20. What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work?

In the fridge/my desk – vanilla soy yoghurt/walnuts to put in the yoghurt

21. Favourite soup to make on a rainy day?

Tomato with either chickpeas or mushroom chunks (a beef analogue)

22. What’s your favourite combination of fresh vegetable and/or fruit juices?

Watermelon, Pinapple, Apple and Mint

23. Favourite brand of root beer?

Bundaberg Ginger Beer – what’s root beer?

24. Make up your own question!

Dear Strongbad, Why wear pants? Creepy pants all the time get some.

Vote early for the next blog overlord! I'd say vote often, but I can only get it to vote once (otherwise there'd totally be rigging going on!).

Otherwise...

(He's threatening you with my nail clippers. Isn't he adorable?!)

Vegan Mofo - Tuesday 7th October 2008

2008-10-07T23:37:00.002+10:00

Hey guys, I don't have any new pics today - we've been into the studying, so food has been rather unadventurous (though I did give Cam a quiz on drugs - for uni!).

So I thought I'd do a vegan rant post.

Let me just say how jealous we Aussies are of the marvelous array of vegan items that the Americans can get their hands on. Some of the things I'm dying to try when I (ever) visit the US or Canada:

Tings - what do they taste like?
Teese. From what I've heard this stuff really is the vegan holy grail. And now Angel food in NZ has done marshmallows and someone else (or was it Angel food) has done vegan meringues, there really isn't much left to conquer!
Decent Mexican food. All we have here is Old El Paso (and Cactus Jacks in Townsville - but the only vegan thing on their menu is margaritas as I recall). The PPK DIY task this week was homemade tortillas. Funnily enough I have masa in the cupboard (but there's no way I'll be able to find a tortilla press!) that I bought thinking I'd be able to make tamales, but I'm too lazy to get the whole cobs of corn and carefully tear off the husks. SO lazy I am!!!
Vegan shoes - have you seen the prices of Aussie vegan shoes? I'm buying some when I finish law school, but that's the only time I'll be able to afford them! Until then, I'll have to be content with not quite so vegan plastic shoes from Big W and my tatty No Sweats!
Peppermint flavoured soy milk - apparently this is an Xmas delight.

What vegan things would you like to try that are impossible to get in your neck of the woods? I might be persuaded to send extra large jars of Vegemite to people in the US in return for some vegan marshmallow spready stuff!!!!

Obviously I need to visit the Vegan version of Mecca (Portland, Oregon) one day!

Also - have you voted yet for EAR's friend? The whale is JUST in front.... Link here

VeganMoFo - Monday, 6th October 2008

2008-10-06T21:42:00.002+10:00

Ha - that sounded like the opening to The Daily Show (thank jeebus I can watch online!).... I was busy this weekend writing TWO assignments - so glad that they're over so I can start revising for my exams (that start in a both). Yee haw.

Anyway, I had cause to bake on the weekend (there was a small disaster with a giant cupcake tin - you definitely need a faster baking recipe in this thing, Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes are WAY too dense) because of someone's birthday.... I also found vegan sprinkles (yes, I was in Coles and I said "oooh sprinkles" like Homer Simpson):

This was the second thing I baked (the first thing I baked ended up being a faaabulous batch of charcoal!). It was tasteeeeeeeeeee.

And because it was someone's birthday, I made him Oreo Cupcakes to take to uni. I had to use Copha for the icing. I'd read (somewhere) that it was a cool idea to grate the Copha for easy melting. It looked so rad that I had to share!

Of course someone else was stalking for cupcakes on the bench.

Quiet you! Not a peep out of you today!!!!!

Hi everyb

Hey - I won't make you another friend!

Okay, I'll be quiet (for once).

See our nice (quiet!) model with Cam's chips and Curry Sauce? The inspiration comes from here. Don't ask me how he came across it!!! He's planning a series of Chips and Accompaniments From Around the World. Stay tuned......

And compare that not so healthy dinner to my "chicken nugget" salad (thank you asian grocer!). This dinner was exactly what I wanted - a shiteload of veggies with balsamic dressing - it's Paul Newman dressing:(

So, seeing as I seem to be getting more hits because you all love EAR, how about you guys get to vote on what friend I knit him next. All the patterns I use are in "Little & Friends" by Jake Henzler.

I've added a poll to the main page, so vote!!! You have three days....

VeganMoFo - The Director's Cut

2008-10-03T22:02:00.001+10:00

Someone escaped from the pantry and threatened me with sharp objects, so I guess I better let him have the limelight again... Sigh

Greetings. It is I, EAR. I have escaped from the cupboard to reveal the evil cooking secrets of Amy and Cam's meals past! Mwahahahahahahaha. Also - Amy forgot to take her camera to dinner tonight. My revenge will be swift and spiky....

She claims these are Nachos. But where are the Mexican hats? And why isn't she drinking a margarita? What? Oh, you had a margarita with this? I disprove of this meal - how am I meant to dip the nachos in the guac without opposable thumbs?

This appears to be some sort of bread based item.

It's pizza!

But how can it be Italian with pineapple?

Don't get me started, I let you out of the cupboard, just get on with the commentary!!!!

Fine fine....

Wow! This looks restaurant quality. Are you sure that you made this?
I was avoiding study! for four hours.....

And what else did you do while avoiding study?

You knitted me friends? Wow!!!! I really am taking over this blog.... Tee hee!!!!

Meet Steve the armless overstuffed alien (thanks for the name Theresa!) and Teddy the tadpole!!!

Do I need a new gimmick yet? :)

It's not Vegan Cupcakes taking over the world.....

2008-10-02T21:57:00.002+10:00

It's me! EAR! All of you bow down before me....

Mwahahahahahahahahaha

Oooh... what's this green stuff Amy?

That'd be Coriander EAR.

I must have some..... nom nom nom

Hey! Did you eat all the Coriander in the house?

Yes! Now I'm going to run away with your cheezley pizza. It looks so good and tasty.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Looks like I've inherited an ego maniacal rabbit, not just an evil acrylic one.

It's okay, I've put him where he can't cause any trouble......

Hopefully lack of opposable thumbs will stop him from eating my chocolate!

VeganMoFo a go go!!!!

2008-10-01T18:27:00.001+10:00

Right. Now that I've got that out of my system, I'd like to introduce you to this month's VeganMoFo mascot, Steve's friend, the evil acrylic rabbit:

Actually, he was meant to be a hamster for Cam, but I'm not very good at the knitting yet! Isn't it kinda cool how he looks evil and demented at the same time? So rad......

So evil acrylic rabbit (EAR - ha it's funny because the ears are the worst part), what did I eat last night?

YMCA (which stands for Yesterday's Meal Cooked Again - my family has a penchant for stupid nicknames for things) Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon. I'm SO going to miss leeks over summer! One thing, I always put mushrooms in this (they explode with tasty juice when you eat them), but I always wish I put more in. I could seriously live off mushrooms.

And for lunch?

We've discovered that the Trident brand Hot and Spicy Thai soup is vegan! So I fried up some soy nuggets for extra tasty goodness (warning: you'll need a tissue for hours after eating this!). Add extra coriander for a burst of fresh flavour!

Veganomicon is one of those cookbooks that I keep coming back to. I tend to make the same recipes over and over (I'm tempted to go back and count how many times I've posted this meal!). Cam's more of an explorer when it comes to food. I like the comfort of knowing dinner's going to be amazingly tasty (last week I tried a new recipe and it turned out very badly - I was heartbroken after three hours cooking). Hopefully I can kick my arse into trying new recipes this month.

I'm going to try and make brinner (breakfast for dinner) one day this month (it will have to be a weekend day). I'm definitely going to try Celine's Seitan Bacon for that one!

One day down, 30 to go!!!!

In which Amy procrastinates from a law assignment

2008-09-29T21:24:00.002+10:00

To tell you about VeganMoFo (Vegan Month of Food)! See Isa's blog for more information!

I'm joining in this year! So I've been evil and have saved up photos, etc for posting!

Possible plans include:

Brinner (total steal from Scrubs!)
Lazy student meals (how many ways can you make a tofu salad?)
How to tell your family that you've 'turned vegan' (is that like turning into a zombie, except you don't want to eat brains?)
Stuff I wish someone had told me when I first became vegan
Snacks for work, a how to guide
Why you'll never be skinny when I cook for you
Possible rants about the law
Vegan shopping in exciting locales!

I'm looking forward to a procrastination excuse!

Tofu madness

2008-09-21T14:15:00.001+10:00

Veganomicon Asian Marinated Tofu with a baby spinach salad. You can't see the beautiful glaze in this photo but drool..............................................

Cam made this a while ago - it's fried tofu with a Malaysian Curry sauce. This was a tasty (and speedy) dinner. Yummers.

Isn't it nice to have a partner who can cook? :)

Creating things and feminism

2008-09-16T18:46:00.001+10:00

A Stitch and Bitch snack (and Krafty Kath's talented fingers (dude, that sounds dirty!))

It's funny, as a feminist, I used to be a staunch opponent of craft, ALL craft. I thought that the idea of making a dress, or knitting a scarf was antiquated; a waste of our brilliant minds.

HOWEVER, after becoming friends with some brilliantly crafty girls at uni (go English department at UQ! Woooo!) and at work, I've slowly, but surely become open to the very notion of creating things for myself. Not that I didn't do this already via cooking (which I now see as more of a reflection of my growth as a vegan and society's obsession with the latest celebrity chef), but I now find myself fascinated by the possibility that I may possess the talent to learn to make my own clothes and other craft projects.

So, during the latest uni holidays, my friend Melissa (who, when she got married, made herself a wedding dress more beautiful than any you can buy) helped me learn to knit. And thus, our little Stitch and Bitch group was born.

Snack during Stitch and Bitch at Kath's place - checkout the great yarn in the background! It was made into a super cool skirt (Cam was jealous that he missed out on tasty snacks)

Of course, as a lifelong book geek, I had to purchase a reference text (no, it's not a knitting book, it's a reference text!). My friend Kath had the book "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker" by Debbie Stoller (a book with the BEST title ever). So my friend Melissa tracked down, and I (ever the sheep) tracked down too, The original "Stitch 'N Bitch". Wow. This book is funny, and a great way to learn to knit.

Stoller talks about the great familial experience she has with crafting, something that I wasn't fortunate to experience as a child (I was very much encouraged to read - I can tell you stories about Shakespeare comic books, but I digress). I think our group likes to feel a metaphorical connection with our foremothers, after years of connecting with our literary foremothers (see Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" for the idea). With those invisible foremothers, with those background characters that came, saw and knit.

Stitch and Bitch mascot (well, wool devourer) Rowley. How cute is he???

So, I want to know, of those of you are crafty and feminist, what do you think about crafty fun?

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie (and knitting)

2008-09-08T17:29:00.001+10:00

It's my own bastardised version of the La Dolce Vegan Coconut Choc Chip Cookies. I made a half batch of these and we ate them all at the movies! (We saw Tropic Thunder - I love Ben Stiller when he plays a doofus! It was like Zoolander, but set in the jungle!)

I have a Public Law exam this week, so I've been studying up a storm. I lie - I've been knitting! Check out this remarkably bad toy I made! I think he needs a name......

Yum Yum Soup!

2008-08-24T22:22:00.001+10:00

Actually, it's Tom Yum Soup. Can you tell I'm going for the 'lame title' title this month? (Also - what's with the number of posts this week? Am I really trying to avoid study that much?)

I like it with a ton of coriander. Soup-erb!!!

Cam's Indian Restaurant

2008-08-21T20:18:00.001+10:00

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday night, and by Jeebus, he outdid himself! (You can commence drooling now):

Mung Bean Dahl. Need I say more?

Cam's favourite Savoury Chickpeas.

Amy's favourite Potato and Cauliflower Curry (he added Coconut Milk this time - it's a nice addition!).

Indian Salad.

Mushroom and Pea Curry. This one was HOT but good!

Why are there never any leftover Chilli Potatoes? Grrrrrr.

The whole shebang.

We followed all that spice with Spiky cupcakes!

They were the Toasted Coconut ones from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World topped with Chocolate Buttercream. I made too much icing (on purpose). Oh the joy of raiding the fridge for icing!!!!

(The diet started yesterday - I'm of course ignoring the English muffins below!).

I bring to you..... my breakfast!

2008-08-19T11:45:00.001+10:00

I couldn't let this one go without a pic. Cheezley on English muffins with sliced up hot dogs (hooray for Sanitarium doggies). Note the incredible melty browny goodness!

I'm actually still eating it (while procrastinating from law study - as always!). Yummo!

Vegans in Brisneyland - part one

2008-08-18T17:39:00.002+10:00

The first in a new series of food pictures (because I got a fancy new phone that takes awesome pictures!)

First up: My Heart Garden in St Lucia (a brisk five minute walk from the main campus of the University of Queensland (suck it QUT)).

I tend to visit this with friends for lively literary discussion, but I always forget my camera. Not anymore!

Cam had this burger - no idea what the name was... It looked gorgeous!

I had two of their great salads, with Korean Tofu. I'm so going to crack the recipe for the Korean Tofu!!!!

They make the best cakes!

Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake:

Vegan Chocolate Cake (note the literary hands - she's writing her honours thesis on Anne Bronte's The Tennant of Wildfell Hall - yes we're all into old English lit!):

They're open: Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri, 8am-9pm. Wed 8am-3pm. Sat 5pm - 9pm Sun Closed. (I always forget they're not open for lunch on Saturday!)

My Heart Garden: Shop 5 / 225 Hawken Drive, St Lucia 4067. 07 3870 8898

Wicked!!!!

2008-08-13T12:46:00.001+10:00

So my trip to Melbourne was about four weeks ago now (but I can tell you lots of information about negligence torts with regards to omissions and psychiatric illness!), so it's probably about time that I shared the photos. They're pretty damn blurry because my hands were shaking the whole time (yes, I was that cold).

Wicked was wickedly (lame, I know) awesome. The fact that I knew all of the songs didn't detract from the performance. I'm wearing my Defy Gravity t-shirt right now!

We spent most of the Saturday walking to Collingwood so I could get a new belt from Vegan Wages. Above: picture of Vegan Mecca #1.

Vegan Mecca #2: Lord of the Fries!

This was taken at three in the morning at our hotel. OMG. How can the Melbourne vegans eat anywhere else?

We found Las Vegan, but alas, they were closed.

Finally, on Saturday night (after the show) one of my friends from high school took us to an awesome cocktail bar called Ginger. Wow. This bar showed me just how far Brisbane has to go to creating a decent nightlife.

I can't remember what the red one was called, but the one below was called Napoleon Dynamite! (ignore the non-vegan cocktail behind it)

All in all it was an awesome trip. I'm dying to visit Melbourne when it's a little warmer!!

Unhealthy yumminess

2008-07-24T18:27:00.001+10:00

Howdy. Yes, I'm a lazy blogger, but between work, my trip to Melbourne (blurry pics will be in the next post!) and other stuff, it's been a little busy. Enough empty apologies, you came here to see food pictures!

Vegan Fish and Chips!!!! We took the Vegetarian Cod Fish slices (available from Asian grocer - it's like an oval shape with seaweed around the outside), mushrooms and leek circles and made a batter with the following (actually, I just mixed the dry ingredients and added liquid as required):

1 cup plain flour, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 cup cornflour, 2 tsp salt, 1tsp sugar. To make a full batch add 1 cup water and 1tsp oil.

Take to your mum's house when everyone else is having fish and chips and make everyone jealous with your fried goodies. And OMG, deep fried leeks and mushrooms are just DROOL-worthy. Seriously.

Amy and Cam's lazy burger (makes one burger):

Take 2 Fry's Burgers and bake along with 4 slices of Sanitarium luncheon. About 10 mins after the beginning of cooking, add slices of Cheddar style Cheezely. Assemble with tomato sauce and american mustard. Pretty damn good. The baking of the cheezely kinda enhances the cheddar goodness.

I'm waiting for permission to post details of the recipe for the lasagne (which is made up of about 3 different recipes)! So here's a sneak peek!

It's fricking freezing here in Brisbane (or as I now like to call it - Brisneyland - thanks Bec!).

IronChefAmy out.

Lazy vegan food

2008-07-10T17:30:00.006+10:00

Howdy! We've been incredibly lazy the last week when it comes to cooking. I've been spending most of my time sequestered on the couch knitting a scarf (I'm hoping to be done on Saturday - pics will follow) and Cam's been back at med school (ha ha! I still have about a week left of holidays!). So no intensive cookery sessions! So lazy food it has been.....

Cheezeburgers! We used Cheddar Cheezely and English Muffins, topped with American Mustard and Tomato Sauce. So unhealthy. SOOOOO tasty.

Yes, this is jam on bread. Raspberry jam on bread. The jam was made by my uncle (he lives in Launceston). Best damn jam in the world.

I've kinda made up an awesome recipe for vegan lasagna (my nephew calls is assnia - it's funny in the voice of a four year old), so hopefully next post will be pictures and recipe!

Iron Chef Amy out.

DIY Indian Feast

2008-07-07T17:40:00.011+10:00

I often brag about Cam's skills as a chef (or as he'll now be known, Iron Chef Cam) when it comes to Asian delights. He really is very good!

Here's an example of just how good he is (be prepared for extreme jealousy!). A couple of weeks ago we took pity on my Dad and made him dinner (Mum was overseas for work). Cam made an extra yummy Indian feast!.

Tomato Glazed Sour Chickpeas from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking.

Chilli Potatoes by Iron Chef Cam - recipes to the right!
These are pretty hot, but OMG they're incredible!

Mung Bean Dahl - Iron Chef Cam

And my absolute favourite at the moment, Potato and Cauliflower Curry by Iron Chef Cam.

Yummy! Dad sweated a bucketful (as always). Tee hee.

Here's a later meal - Mushroom and Pea Curry by Iron Chef Cam. The recipe's in the recipe list to the right.

Hopefully I can get myself organised before uni goes back to add some of my original creations.

Please have a go and let us know what you think!
Email us at ironchefvegan AT optusnet.com.au.

The incredibly dorky Iron Chefs.

P.S. I heard Hiroyuki Sakai was in Brisbane yesterday and I missed out!!! :(

Finally, some recipes!

2008-07-02T17:10:00.003+10:00

I've finally uploaded some of my recipes and some of the recipes that Amy and I were taught by a Malaysian chef. Feel free to leave me feedback.

In a couple of recipes, I may not have explained what a curry mud is. All it means is to mix the curry powder, turmeric, etc with a little water until the result is somewhat like a dryish mud. This can then be gently fried in a wok with plenty of oil. The Malaysian Curry recipe should have a good explaination of this procedure. I learnt it when I was taught this recipe and nowdays use it for pretty much every curry I cook.

Mmmmmmmm veggies......

2008-06-29T11:07:00.007+10:00

I'm pretty damn proud of the recipe I'm sharing today - I made it up all on my own!!!! It's a polenta, but there's veggies and beans mixed into it before setting. Yummy.

Make the polenta as directed. While you're doing that saute about two to three cups of mushrooms. When the polenta is almost cooked, add in the cooked mushrooms, one tin of cannellini beans, half a chopped capsicum, mixed italian herbs, 2T nutritional yeast. It'll need to cook for a bit longer (the veggies will let off a bit of liquid), once it's a nice porridge again, turn off the heat. Add the baby spinach in handfuls and quickly stir through (you don't want the spinach to wilt - it ruins the cool texture. Pour into a glass dish and refrigerate for at least three hours. Then grill at will. It's pretty low in fat and super yummo. Voila!

Also - here's a salad we made with the Tamari Roasted Chickpeas from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and grilled marinated tofu.

Hope your weekend is going well - I've finally properly started on my scarf (my friend Melissa helped me cast on and select wool yesterday). I'm looking forward to a day of watching Buffy/Grey's Anatomy and knitting!

Soup or stew (or dip)?

2008-06-25T16:46:00.009+10:00

I've often wondered to myself whether Cam's lentil soup is actually a soup or a stew. For that matter, what is the difference between soup and stew? When it's this tasty, does it really matter?

I bring this question up because Cam's in the middle of writing us some software to write down recipes (so we can post them on the site!), and he's changed the name of his Lentil Soup to Bean and Vegetable stew. I object. But seeing as I can put it on crackers (above is actually torn up pieces of Mountain Bread baked in the oven topped with the previous night's soup), is it a fancy-schmancy dip?

Anyways, despite the introspection, it was really tasty (as evidenced below - can you tell I'm missing academic writing?)....

On the fake meat front we have these 'chicken' kebabs. They're basically the fake chicken nuggets from the chinese supermarket baked in the oven (we're avoiding frying like the plague) on kebab bread spread with hummous, and topped with lettuce, tabbouleh, tomatoes, mushroom, the chopped nuggets and topped with vegan mayonnaise. Cam surprised me with this for dinner after an awful day at work. Jealous?

One of the joys of winter is leeks. They're not available all year round - so they're extra special when we can get them! I've made this Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon many times (I think I've posted pics at least once before). It's ridiculously good. I always add mushrooms just before it goes into the oven. I love how they explode in your mouth when eating. Drool!!!!

Last, but certainly not least (really? I had to go there? How cliched is that!!!) we found WHITE CHOCOLATE!!!!!
This is one of the vegan holy grails (if we were religiously inclined) apart from cheese that melts (thanks Teese, it's really not a tease at all seeing pictures of your cheese all over the PPK!!). We've found this at two Coles supermarkets in Brisbane thus far (Sunnybank and Redcliffe), so it's not that hard to find!!! You really must try it!

I'm hoping that Cam will have the recipe application done soon, we've got at least ten recipes that we can post (in pdf) so you don't have to read my rambling!

Never fear, we're still here!!!

2008-06-18T21:10:00.005+10:00

As you can see from the title, I use my Arts degree quite a bit these days (not). So we survived the first semester of law/medical school. And we're EXHAUSTED!!! I had my last exam on Monday & Cam had his ONLY exam the week before (I had 4!). So now it's back to cooking exciting things and blogging about nothing of excitement.

We've got food pictures on the camera (but that's so far away in the kitchen), so here's a picture of geeky medical students playing Operation:

We're planning a trip to Magic Wok (or as we like to call it Leader Wok Magic Bowl) tomorrow night & I'll embarrass myself for the sake of pictures.....

And thank you to everyone for your kind comments on the last few posts, sorry I haven't had time to comment on your awesome blogs!!!!

Potatoes

2008-05-18T13:34:00.005+10:00

Hey everyone. I've been mega busy lately (with assignments & attempting to study for end of semester exams)! Surprise surprise.

A few links and then piccies!

HellOnHairyLeg s - I wish I was like this blogger when I was in high school. She's an Aussie high school student who's an avowed feminist. Her last few postings have been nothing short of genius.

Feministing - I read this about three times a week. I wish I was brave enough to create an Aussie Feminist blog. But, alas, the legal fraternity is a fraternity and being an outspoken feminist online would severely decrease my job opportunities.

Lastly this opinion piece from the Sydney Morning Herald (alas, in Brisbane we lack a decent newspaper). I know that many of my generation, who didn't do biology at school, did not get any decent sex-ed. And people wonder why we read Dolly magazine? Yes, it was full of crap that made us feel bad about our bodies. But, it gave us information about what was happening to our bodies! I really wish that our parents generation had spoken to us more about stuff like this.

And now, potatoes!

Gnocchi with Spicy Lentil Pasta Sauce.

Gnocchi with Mushroom Olive Sauce (and nooch!)

Sunday roast with Roasted Onion, Garlic and Potatoes!

Thanks for your lovely comments last time. I'm collecting them like a squirrel collects nuts (is that right? We don't have squirrels here) for the long cold winter of assignments and exam study. Oh yeah, the gnocchi recipe is from Vegan With A Vengeance. I've made it every Saturday for the last four weeks. Yummo!

Food and a rant

2008-04-30T17:24:00.029+10:00

Or should I say a rant and food pics? I'll get to approximately three weeks worth of food porn momentarily but first a word from our sponsor.

Feminism. Is it really a scary word? Despite the new cultural angst over the idea of feminism, I identify myself as a feminist. The problem? I'm doing a first-year law course (I would name it, but to save myself the heartache....) with basically the intent to persuade the students of their responsibilities to act morally and their duty to help others in society. This is a very "leftie" agenda. I, as one who celebrated Kevin Rudd's victory with a smashing hangover, think this is a great idea (as do many of the students, conservative or not!). However.....
This week's topic was "Gender and Race" - basically an analysis of access to justice/legal assistance from the perspective of women and non-white people. I was surprised to find that I was the only person (other than our awesome female tutor) that identified themselves as a feminist (most of my class is under the age of 20). They didn't seem to think that feminism was really required anymore. One fellow classmember actually listed the reason that they didn't identify as a feminist was that "the boys laugh at feminists. They think they're dikey lesbians". !!!!!! Notwithstanding the utter disparity in this statement, I want to say a few things....
We need feminism for everyone. Feminists don't hate men! They want equality for everyone! This means equality in pay and treatment. We're not going to get change unless we push for it.
I know I'm not the most articulate when I'm angry, so here's a video that you must watch (thanks to my favourite feminist website Feministing for the link):

And now, as advertised, food!

I think this may have come from Vegan Fire and Spice? Sorry Cam, I remember it was tasty though! I call it "Cam's chickpea dish with mashed potatoes and hummus". I do remember that I put nooch and smoked paprika in the potatoes!

Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup. This did come from Vegan Fire and Spice. Yummers.

An awesome photo of my Dad slicing Veggie Roast with his fancy knife. I heart this knife. Check out the wafer thinless of the slices.

Cam's been making lots of Indian curries (as always they're awesome). So here's a small selection (there's a bit of a theme here!):

Chilli Potatoes (These burn for me, but gosh (did I just say gosh? When did I turn into a polite person?) they're tasteeeeeee!)

Chilli Potatoes with Spinach and Chickpea Curry (Also delectable)

Chilli Potatoes with Mushroom and Pea Curry (Cam said that he'll have a recipe for the Mushroom and Pea curry soon!)

Leeks are finally available in Brisbane!!!! I've been waiting for Leeks to become affordable since getting Veganomicon.

Firstly, a Leek and Potato soup from La Dolce Vegan (it has carrots in it, thus the orangey goodness):

THE Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon. So. Damn. Good.

And onto my particular favourites, the non-savoury things!

Choc-chip Blondies with Rasperries from Vegan With a Vengeance!

Fancy Mushroom and Red Wine Scrolly Bread. It was a bit tough, but still AWESOME.

Ginger Pear Muffins (overripe pears equals incredibly smooth batter equals yummy goodness):

I attempted some apple scrolls based on Bittersweet's Pizza Scroll recipe. They just weren't sweet enough (more sugar is required in the dough!):

Finally, I'd had a crap morning at work and raced home for lunch before uni in the afternoon.... Someone was nice enough to leave me the last of the "middle" of the bread (I hate the end/crusty bits)! So I had the ultimate in convenience snacks: The (vegan) luncheon sandwich.

Thinly sliced Sanitarium Lunchon is sandwiched between two slices of High Fibre White Bread from Baker's Delight. Spread with Nuttelex, this sandwich will fill the needs of vegans on the run....

Yeasty goodness!

2008-04-06T21:32:00.014+10:00

No, not beer - bread! After my success last weekend with the Cinnamon, Sultana & Craisin Bread, I made two savoury bready thingys.

Firstly, Calzones. The recipe is "Zucchini and Tofu Calzones" from Vegan Vittles. I added Mushrooms as well (and a bit of olive oil to the pizza dough for ease of manipulation). I served it with VWAV Pizza Sauce.

And secondly, and completely awesomely, Bittersweet's Pizza Rolls! OMG. Seriously. The. Yummiest. Thing. I've. Ever. Made. The variation is from the VEST article (V'con Cashew Ricotta and Lachesis' Seitan O' Greatness).

Up close (and yummy):

I actually made these scrolls twice today. I have to run, otherwise Cam will eat them all!

My name is Amy and I'm addicted to buying vegan cookbooks

2008-04-02T17:33:00.004+10:00

Hey guys! Just a quick post to say holy crap I have a lot of cookbooks! (And I still have my eye on a few, particularly Yellow Rose Recipes....)

New ones include:

Cozy Inside by Jonie Marie Newman (which may include a reference to Iron Chef Vegan?). Am I famous now? (It's in the list of blogs to look for. I screamed out to Cam when I saw it!)

My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky. Jeebus. This book is just worth it for the pictures (and to be honest, that might be a little more healthy!). I've made the Peanut Butter Bombs. SOMEONE ate most of them. I had one. It was yum!

Soy, Not Oi! edited by Joel Olson. This is just an entertaining read. The recipes do look good though.

Hot Damn and Hell Yeah! by Ryan Splint / The Dirty South by Vanessa Doe. I'm learning lots, particularly about tex-mex & Mexican food, from this one.

Vegan Fire & Spice by Robin Robertson. Cam's already made Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup. Pictures to come!

Vegan Vittles by Jo Stepaniak. I've already earmarked two recipes from this!

Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. This book is HUGE! (It only arrived today with Vegan Vittles - the Australian postal system is so good (not) - expect recipes from this tome soon!)

The updated list is on the sidebar. What to buy next? I believe a certain Australian is coming out with a cookbook soon?

Hope everyone's week is going well. I'm up to my ears in the Tort of Negligence. Woot!

Cinnamon, Sultana & Craisin Bread (with recipe!)

2008-03-30T22:13:00.008+10:00

What does a girl do on a Sunday night when there's no bread in the house for the morning? Bakes yummy bread (and does a dance because she's finally discovered how to make the bread SOFT!). Yummers.

Cinnamon, Sultana & Craisin Bread

Ingredients:

270mL Water (replace a third with "milk" of your choice - I used soymilk)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1.5 tsp Salt

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

3 cups Bread Flour (punk up your own by using 1 Tbsp of gluten flour per cup of plain flour)

3 heaped tsp Cinnamon

1 sachet dried yeast

1/3 cup mixed sultanas & craisins

I was lazy and used the breadmaker. I used the dough setting and pulled it out 30 mins before it finished rising. Then I shaped it for the loaf tin and let it rise again in the cold oven for approx 60 mins (I boiled a pot of water, poured it into a baking tray and shut the door so it could steam). I baked it for approx 25 mins in a 200 degree oven.

Catching up on tastiness!

2008-03-15T15:46:00.002+10:00

So here's what we've been eating of late!

Leftover stuff from my birthday party:

Malaysian Curry and Spanakopita (I froze a lot of leftovers – I only put out a half batch – they are a really good and easy snack!)

I made a double batch of the Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse for cupcake filling. It was awesome!

I found a donut maker for $18 the week before my birthday. I used the recipe from VeganYumYum to make mini donuts!

And here they are topped with chocolate:

Money shot...

I got around to trying the Tamari Roasted Chickpeas from Eat Drink and Be Vegan. We've made them about three times in salad!

Yummy Italian Bread that we had with salad one night.

Leda makes Mintons. They're super yummo!

Money shot...

I made another batch of chilli. I put a million veggies in this one!

Finally, I made tofu BLTs. "Bacon" recipe is the Tempeh Bacon recipe from VWAV modified to use tofu. I also used the Cashew Ricotta from Veganomicon as a spread. Drool!

No Food Today...

2008-03-10T21:01:00.003+10:00

We're not starving, but I've been caught up in my new studies (and I've discovered Facebook - two years after everyone else).

If you haven't read Atonement by Ian McEwan yet - shame on you. Here's an interview from Australia's best journalist (remember his work in the 2007 election coverage?) Kerry O'Brien:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2185388.htm

Also, a very nice boy has ordered me about six cookbooks for my birthday from Amazon. I'll post ecstatic pics in about a week, me thinks.

Lastly, I'm thinking of inventing a vegan fish and chip recipe (based on the "fish" that Cam uses for his RDO special). Anyone know how to make the batter they use in fish shops?

Hugs to everyone!

Amy (& Cam)

ETA: Have you seen these? Made me laugh so much I cried!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnVJZkDuVBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGa29kPBbp4

Happy Birthday to me (for Monday)

2008-02-28T21:07:00.005+10:00

I've been busy with my first week of law school (yay!), so here's a quick pic from my birthday party on Saturday night (my birthday was on Monday, so alas I had to party early):

Cookies and Cream cuppers and the Hazelnut Choc Mousse filled Hazelnut Cuppers from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So yummy. These provided me with the energy to sing karaoke for two hours. Best. Birthday. Party. Ever.

Arrrggghhhhhh (or Yarrrrr for the piratical amongst us)

2008-02-14T18:36:00.003+10:00

This is the THIRD time I've started this post. I attempted to post this twice on Tuesday and Blogger decided that it wanted to be evil that day, so here I am!

I wanted to title this "The Yum Disease", in honour of Cam's medical studies, but now it's just Arrrggghhhhhh (or Yarrrrr for the piratical amongst us).

Here be the tasty stuff:

Special guests Adam and Kath's "Tomato Basil and Garlic pasta with Chickpea Salad". Remind me to get the recipe from Kath. It's full of olive oil and deliciousness!

Cam made a "Mushroom and Pea" type curry, but this included zucchini (a vegetable I can no longer live without) and cashews (which are just tasty dammit). 5 stars. Seen here with turmeric rice!

I made my first attempt at a curry "Zucchini Chickpea Tomato Curry" from Dreena Burton's Eat Drink and Be Vegan. Woweeeeeee. We're not going to include the whole coriander seeds next time, but other than that the flavours were perfecto. I might invade Cam's cooking arena!

My dad came over for dinner (Mum was away at a conference) so I made Lasagne and salad.

The Lasagne uses the "Chik'n" seitan from Volume Two of Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk (which I baked) made into a bolognaise sauce (with the "Marinara Sauce" from Veganomicon) layered with wholemeal pasta and spinach "Cashew Ricotta" from V-con. Topped with "Pine Nut Custard" of the same book.

Cam made Tomato and Walnut Rocket Salad. We used a balsamic dressing (the Paul Newman one is vegan!).

Cam's snack plate using various Asian grocer treats – Spring Rolls, Mushroom Chunks and Cabbage Dumplings.

Get Sconed's New Farm "Mac and Cheez". I added extra mustard powder. Yummers.

It's been a week (or so) of firsts – My first Chili! This one was the Black Bean stew (I think) from VWAV.

With Joy of Vegan Baking Cornbread (another first). Awesome Awesome Awesome!

I sent "Coconut Choc Chip Cookies" from La Dolce Vegan in the Aussie PPK Cookie Swap. Quality testing assured that these were of the highest standard.

Finally, Cam took me out to dinner on Monday to Magic Wok in Sunnybank. I had "Crispy Chicken in Bean Sauce" and he had some kind of fish. We also had greens on the side (that were still crispy the next day when I ate leftovers for lunch!).

Aaaahhhh. That feels better! We're not big on Valentine's Day, so we're having hot dogs for dinner. I'm then planning to crash on the couch and watch Buffy. Toodle Ooo!

Holidays are awesome

2008-02-04T21:58:00.001+10:00

So I've been lazy. Woops. Actually, not woops, I've been enjoying my last few weeks of freedom (and Cam's already started Med School, so it's been a bit crazy 'round here!).

I'm excitedly preparing for law school. I had to pick a non-law elective and, in order to be fair to the poor 18 yr olds, I decided not to do English. I'm doing French instead! I've been speaking aspirational French since I was a teenager (yes folks, that's English with a French accent).

We've got lots of food to catch up on, so here we go!

WARNING: There's lots of repeats in today's post – I don't have much of an imagination sometimes!

Spinach and Ricotta (Veganomicon Cashew Ricotta) Ravioli with (Veganomicon) Marinara Sauce:

I continued my fetish for kitchen equipment with a ravioli mold!

Isa's Pumpkin Pie Brownies (I've made these before, delicious!):

The usual fortnightly pizza:

Cam made "Chicken" and Sweet Corn Soup. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tasty!

Random stir fry.... I think I made this?

Apple and Sultana Muffin (bastardized recipe from Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk Vol. 1):

(Yes, I have tiny hands)

The insides were yummo!

Cam's Extra Special Tomato Soup (1 can Rosella Tomato Soup, 20 mushroom chunks (from the Asian grocer) and a can of chickpeas. You'll have to hassle him for the extra special herbs and spices!):

An army of gingerbread cuppers for Cam's last day of work:

VWAV Carrot Bisque (I was sick for about three days – this helped with my recovery):

Lower fat Pumpkin Ziti from Veganomicon (the secret is not frying the topping & just spraying the top with our fancy new non-aerosol oil spray bottle. Yes, another gadget!):

Celine(from the Have Cake, Will Travel blog of awesomeness)'s Cheezy Quackers. Note the hand of our fantastic model Kath!

There's more to come, but I might save our very special Iron Chef Vegan guest chef meal for another day!

I got into law school!

2008-01-10T17:29:00.000+10:00

I get to be poor for the next four years! I'm super excited!

Pass the Pasta!

2008-01-08T17:48:00.000+10:00

Yes, that is a super lame post title!

I had the girls from uni over on Friday night 'cause one of our friends was visiting from Adelaide (we miss you Tif!). We went to see Atonement and I cooked for three hours! Atonement was awesome. We're all big fans of Ian McEwan's work 'cause our thesis supervisor wrote her Ph. D on his novels. Read the book before you see the film!

Down to the reason you're here: food!

I made a bastardized version of the spinach and ricotta filling from Nonna's Italian Kitchen using the Cashew Ricotta from Veganomicon. I added a packet of frozen spinach, a handful of fresh basil (from my pot in the kitchen - it's the only thing I can actually grow!) and a shake of dried basil. I made a batch of the chickpea pasta from Nonna, and proceeded to make ravioli. Rolling out the pasta and filling it took 2.5 hours! Now I remember why I only make fresh pasta on special occasions. I need a pasta mold or similar.

Anyway, here 'tis with a modified Marinara Sauce from V-con (I added zucchini!).

I also made my usual olive foccacia. I used smoked olives from the divine deli that my brother works at!

The whole Shebang:

A few days before I made the Pumpkin Ziti filling, but I put it in cannelloni!

Here it is from the side too!

Hope everyone's having a fun summer. It's not raining in Brizzy anymore, much to my dismay. Only three more sleeps to see if I got into law school! And Cam starts med school in two weeks (actually it was two weeks yesterday)! Exciting times....

Amy's second vegan-versary

2008-01-01T15:42:00.000+10:00

Howdy everyone! I went vegan two years ago today!

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday, so I made the Veganomicon Moussaka. In fact, it was a VWAV and Veganomicon meal!

Chickpea cutlets! I made a triple batch (thanks to Mr Food Processor). I think I overcooked them slightly...

But they were uber yummy with the tasty mustard sauce from V-con (we used red wine). This is so good! I'm loving mustard more these days. I think my tastebuds are growing up (I realised I'm turning 27 in about two months - eek!).

We had the cutlets with VWAV sesame asparagus. This is the fastest side dish ever!!!!

Then, there was the moussaka. This is insanely tasty. It takes a while (and I need to slice the eggplant more thinly). The tomato sauce was delicate & the pine nut cream/custard was awesome. 11/10!!! In whole form:

On the side:

Upclose (which, to be honest, is pretty similar to on the side):

And to finish, the lovely view from my window (it's raining, yay!)

Happy Non-denominational Christmas everyone!

2007-12-25T18:20:00.000+10:00

Here's what we ate today. 'Twas delish!!!

Sanitarium Roast - check out my awesome lining up skillz!

Sesame Asparagus (from VWAV). Roast pumpkin, potato and sweet potato (and the onion that sat under the roast, soaking up the delicious glaze).

Polenta salad from a random Italian cookbook I stole from my ma.

Pumpkin Ziti from Veganomicon.

I also needed more Ziti while writing this!!!!

Hope everyone is as full of food as I am!!!!

More Cookies

2007-12-02T22:19:00.000+10:00

I tend to get fixated on particular recipes from time to time. For most of last year I was obsessed with the Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies from La Dolce Vegan. I made them for work, uni, christmas, family, etc. The choc-chips are awesome and they remind me of m & ms. Tasteeeeee!

Hope everyone's well. Life isn't that exciting around here at the moment. We're pretty much still in disbelief over last Saturday night. Did it really happen? Are the 11 years of JWH really over? Are people starting to actually care about things OTHER than money? Time will tell.... Peace out - go hug an animal for me!

The Zombies are taking over...

2007-11-29T23:29:00.000+10:00

This isn't a rather late Halloween special post (we don't celebrate Halloween in Australia). A friend of mine (from work) is going on maternity leave tomorrow, so I made Gingerbread men (she's having a boy). She also loves Horror movies. So I made Zombies!

The Zombie army, ready to take over work tomorrow:

Mwahahahahahahahaha! My evil plan is almost at fruition!

Backlog catchup!

2007-11-27T20:25:00.000+10:00

Here's what we've been trying from our new cookbooks!

Cam attempted a curry from his own recipe. It was pretty tasty. Still needs a bit of work though.

We've been making lots of this roast! It's the Sanitarium vegetarian roast. I made Sweet Potato Mash - where has this been all my life? I can't go more than a week without this roast.

Creamy Chickpea Soup with Moroccan Spice Oil (The Voluptuous Vegan page 34). Like my smiley face? This was really runny, but super delish.

Yin Yang Salad with Peanut-Sesame Dressing (The Real Food Daily Cookbook p99). This contains 2/3cup of peanut butter. It's peanut-tastic!

Salt and Pepper Tofu (The Post Punk Kitchen Forums, here). My friend Kath loved this. We also had too much wine that night!

Caesar Salad with Roast Garlic Croutons (Veganomicon p81). I added Joni's Bakin Bits on the top. Yum! Beware: Those croutons are amazing (and amazingly fatty).

Cholent (Veganomicon p182). Cam made this one. We loved it!

If you don't have Veganomicon yet. WHY ARE YOU HOLDING OUT? Seriously. This cookbook rocks. I don't know how Isa and Terry are going to top this one.

Oh yeah

2007-11-26T22:43:00.000+10:00

Cam got into medicine. Woo hoo!

Brownie goodness

2007-11-26T22:35:00.001+10:00

I made these brownies for Saturday night's election returns watching party. Suffice to say the brownies were awesome and I screamed like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert (circa 1965).

They're Pumpkin Pie Brownies! Recipe is from Isa's old blog. You of course check her new blog on an hourly basis.

I've been enjoying my free time of late. I've been reminiscing while watching seasons one and two of Buffy and I think we're up to season five of the X-Files (yes, I was a geeky dork in high school - all the cool people were). I've also bought a flash new pushbike. It's silver and oh so rad. I'll see if I can get Cam to take a picture of me riding it on the weekend (if I'm not too busy making cupcakes for our next cooking lesson on Sunday).

We've got backlogged pics from VCON (of course). But I'm lazy and have to get up for work in eight hours.

Enjoy your newfound freedom people!

69th post - mwahahahahahahaha!

2007-11-08T20:25:00.000+10:00

Howdy! So I've been free for four days now - I'm enjoying my freedom with a Mount Gay Rum and Coke (slightly tipsy = good!). Hopefully this will be the last catch up post. I want to post more regularly for the next few months before the insanity of uni starts back up for Cam and I (that's if he gets into Medicine - fingers crossed).

Okey dokey......

On Sunday we went to another Malaysian Vegetarian Cooking lesson! 'Twas fun. We're going to play around with the recipes a bit before we post them. In the meantime:

Vegetables and Vegetarian Ham in Black Pepper Sauce

I'm fairly "anti" pepper, but this was really mild (you toast the pepper, so I'm guessing the cooking removes some of the pepperiness?). Veggie Ham is available from Asian grocers - but apparently there is only one brand of vegan ham. We're going on a hunt soon, so we'll have pics, etc for our Aussie friends!

Veggie Cake

This one's pretty easy - the veggies are carrot, cabbage, broccoli and ginger. Yum!

Fragrant Vegetarian Goose/Geese

I don't remember having this dish @ ID Cafe when it was open, but dang, it's tasty! It's pretty much tofu with tofu sauce deep fried. What more could a vegan want?

I finally got the courage to try the Tempeh Wings from Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk. Boiling the tempeh to soften it up reminded me of a quote from Aqua Teen Hunger Force:

Young Carl: (flashback to when Carl was a child and received carpet as a Christmas present) Hey! Look at my magic flying carpet. I'm flying around in Egypt land! Carl's Dad: Don't get too attached there, Aladdin. Pretty soon it's gonna be magic flying dinner. Young Carl: You cant eat carpet, silly daddy. Carl's Dad: No, not like that. you gotta boil it, so the glue gets soft!

But I digress:

And I made doner kebabs (we normally use "chicken" nuggets or felafel, but I had tempeh to use up):

Yummy.

Cam found these at the supermarket:

So we had them with gravy and mashed potatoes

And with silverbeet (that'd be swiss chard to non-Aussies) and baked potatoes. Potatoes are topped with Tofutti Sour Cream and Joni's Bakin Bits. Why did it take me so long to try these?

I made pie on Monday for lunch (my last day of freedom). Asparagus and Mushroom with gravy. Ridiculously easy. Fry mushroom and asparagus with vegan marg. Add tsp of stock powder and about 3 tsp gravy powder. Add about 50ml of water and stir until like this:

Put in pastry

Bake and eat!

The burgers we ate before going to see Bad Religion and Strung Out. They rocked, and so do these burgers! There's fried Sanitarium Luncheon in there - I nicknamed it fried crack!

Lastly, this was the view from my study on Sunday arvo. Isn't it purdy?

Okay, so I'm planning to post tomorrow or Saturday. Is anyone interested in a step by step recipe for the tastiest miso ever? Or is that just silly?

Submission Complete!

I'm free!!!

2007-11-04T16:53:00.000+10:00

Hey y'all - I've finally finished my thesis. Woo hoo! Just needs printing and binding. So happy (and nervous as hell)!

As previously promised, here's a few things we've been cooking lately. We went to a cooking class this morning, so I'll show a few things we made in the next few days (we'll post recipes when we've had a wee play with them).

Firstly, on the 10th October (has it been that long since we posted?), I made a tofu salad. Tofu recipe is Italian Marinated Tofu from Vegan With a Vengeance.

It was very tasty (we also crumbled in some Cheezly - I think it was the garlic and herb one). Doesn't the tofu look a little like it was barbequed? I love the idea of baking tofu over frying it - will definitely do this in the future!

Next, BBQ Pomegranate Tofu from Vegan With a Vengeance. This recipe is not that healthy. The sauce is scrumptious though. Another baked tofu <3.

I found some cheap veggies with noodles @ the supermarket that arvo to have with it - I just gave them a quick stir fry. This one's probably a nice fancy one to do when we have guests.

After we bought the Cheezly Cam wanted to make his own. The recipe is the Colby from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. It was good, but we're having agar issues. I got some fancy loaf tins the last time I was at Big W - aren't they cool? They're about 12cm long. I made my favourite Zucchini and Apple muffins in these last week. But I digress!

Waiting to set:

After it was set:

Sliced up!

We made an antipasto lunch - it was very civilized!

From the left we have: Semi-dried tomato stuffed green olives, Semi-dried tomatoes (yummo), Tartex pate, Kalamata olives, Chris' brand hummus, Sliced herb and garlic Cheezly, Sliced Sanitarium luncheon. We had it with crusty bread! 10/10.

I insisted upon making Squash, Fennel and Apple Soup from The Voluptuous Vegan again, 'cause it was so damn rad. Herb and olive focaccia on the side.

I kinda wish it wasn't getting hotter here - soup is healthy and yummy. And fennel! Who knew it was this tasty?

On the 21st (October) I went to a baby shower. It was nice! (I had too much champagne - everyone knows I'm not that excited about kids) The mum to be is an awesome chick that I work with, so I was happy to go to this one! On her request I made....

Oreo cupcakes (I couldn't resist making "baby" sized ones!) from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World.

As I recall, the rest of the packet of Oreos was consumed one night while I was struggling with chapter two!

I also made the Hazelnut Cupcakes. I couldn't be bothered making the ganache, so I just piped the YUMMY mousse over the top. Le sigh....

I think this decoration is quite effective. What do you think?

I couldn't in conscience waste half a pack of tofu, so I made a double batch of the mousse! Dessert the next day.....

When I die, can I be buried in this? (Just in case I'm not dead, so I can eat something!)

I tried my hand at Lolo's (VeganYumYum) Cappellini in Fresh Tomato Cream Sauce one lunch. It was good, so I used the rest of the sauce for dinner. I added a tin of lentils. I'm such a genius like that....

This woman is a genius! Go order her book now!

I made some potato things for lunch one day (study requires fatty food - believe me, the diet starts tomorrow). I got the idea off the PPK boards (but seeing as they're down, I can't link it!). Basically the idea is this:
1)Grate one large potato into a bowl.
2)Chop up a spring onion/green onion/whatever the hell you call it.
3)Add in about a tablespoon of plain flour.
4)Add in some salt - maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon?
5)Add in oil - I used Olive - about 1 teaspoon.
6)Mix together
7)Spoon onto a greased tray - I made about 5 from one potato.
8)Bake in a hot oven (200C) for about 10 or so minutes. Flip and cook for 5 or so more minutes until crunchy. This isn't really precise. Just don't burn them!

I served with Tofutti Cream Cheese & Sweet Chilli Sauce. Heart attack-tastic!

Um, what else? Oh yeah! We had a roast the other night (the usual Sanitarium one) and we only had red onion. I had to take a pic - Pink Onion!

We made pizza to use up some Cheezly (I insisted that we buy Cheezly expressly for this purpose, so....). The sauce is the Pizza Sauce from Vegan With a Vengeance and the base is my usual one. Toppings were chilli, Seitan O'Greatness, Mushrooms and Nooch.

Lastly, from Cam, we have Malaysian Curry! I was at my sister's new house last weekend & I had to give half of my leftovers to my nephew. Even 2yr-olds love this stuff.

What do I do now? I have all this free time. Oh wait - I have to go to work on Tuesday. Dammit! Hope everyone's good!

Is anyone out there?

2007-10-29T21:04:00.000+10:00

We're here! I've been busy studying, so Cam's been filling in for me. Did you like his posts?

I only have a week until my thesis is due - I was up until 6am this morning doing a final draft for my supervisor. I've had the joy of being off work for the last two weeks, so I've been cooking as much as possible - procrastination is fun!

Here's a few cute things from the last few weeks - I'll post fattening pics later in the week!

We got a new landing platform for the turtles, so I've been trying to get photos of them basking under the red lamp. They spook very easily!

I love a good turtle butt picture. Tee hee!

We had a little visitor to the kitchen last week.....

I don't think I've seen a ladybug since I was a kid!

Lunch, two days before my "holidays":

I made a hummus & tomato sandwich and snacked on the rest - I <3>

The cupcake carriers I bought a few months ago are awesome! Here's how I put them in the car.....

Ha ha ha... Hope everyone's doing well!

Update 8th October

2007-10-08T22:54:00.000+10:00

Amy is still busy with uni work, so I thought I'd post again. As you all know, this is only the second time I've ever used a computer. Frankly, I'm amazed at this interweb thingy. Until now I thought computers were just pornography machines used by the perverted and the internet was a seedy disgusting place for criminals. At least that's what our esteemed Prime Minister John Howard told me.

From oldest to newest:

25th September - Tofu Salad with Pine Nuts
Made by Amy & Cam

26th September - Tofu Salad with Pine Nuts and Mushrooms
Made by Amy

27th September - Mushroom Stew with Potatoes
Made by Cam
Variation of recipe from Vegan pp102

28th September - "Fish" and Chips
Made by Cam
I had an RDO from work, so I watched a lot of X-Files and cooked up these bad boys. The fish is mock cod fish pieces from one of the Asian Supermarkets in The Valley.
I made the sauce for the fish from black vinegar, lemon juice, chilli, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and coriander!

Hehe... cod pieces.

3rd October - Gingerbread Cupcakes
Made by Amy
Amy said I have to call these "ginger nipples", but I think that's lame!
From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World pp53

5th October - Stuffed Mushrooms with Mac & Cheese
Made by Amy
Mac & Cheese recipe from Get Sconed!

6th October - Tasty Platter
Made by God and brought down to earth by angels

7th October - Apple and Zucchini Muffins
Made by Cam
From Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk Issue 1

7th October - Crazy Leftover Clearance Sale! Shepards Pie with Polenta
Made by Amy

8th October - Brown Lentil Pasta
Made by Cam
Roughly based on Pizza Sauce recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance pp130

Finally, we have some pics of some vegan products we bought recently.

Welcome to the new Dark Ages.
Cam

Vegan Recipes!

2007-09-27T18:12:00.000+10:00

Isa and Terry (of the PPK) are releasing a new book in November.

They're giving us a sneak peek of a few recipes on the PPK site!

Go there now!

Update 24th September

2007-09-24T20:21:00.000+10:00

Amy has been busy with uni work lately, so I thought I would do this post for her. I've never used a computer before, so this will be an experience for all of us. Hold on!

From oldest to newest:

4th September - Mushroom Stew with Herb Dumplings
Made by Cam
From Vegan pp102

8th September - Random Pancake Action
Made by Amy

8th September - Blasphemous Krishna Dahl
Made by Cam
From some shitty religious propaganda

Okay, so I may have put onion and garlic in a Krishna recipe, I honestly don’t recall, but it's likely. It probably made it taste better too. The real mystery is whether Lord Krishna is going to smite me with a fireball from the sky for the offence. Oh, Great Garlic, I would never forsake you for that false idol Krishna.

10th September - Seitan Pasta
Made by Amy

15th September - Moroccan Tagine with Spring Vegetables & Couscous
Made by Cam
From VWAV pp178

15th September - Strawberry Shortcakes with Macadamia Cream
Made by Amy
From VWAV pp240

Amy has tiny hands.

22nd September - Squash, Fennel and Apple Soup
Made by Amy
From The Voluptuos Vegan pp27

23rd September - Sexy Low Fat Cupcakes with Strawberry Gizzards
Made by Amy
From VCTOTW

23rd September - Simply Lovely Carrot Soup
Made by Cam
From How It All Vegan pp57

Those of you on the east coast of Australia will know that we had a lunar eclipse on a full moon recently. I went out with my telescope and camera into the front yard. All the pics I took of the moon sucked, so here is something else.

Oh and one final note. See that Squash, Fennel and Apple Soup above? Those spikes sticking out are sharp spikes of pure apple. Don't try this recipe if you're not hardcore enough. I drew a picture to show what would happen if you weren't hard as f*&k and you tried to eat it.

Without Bombs or Religious Glory
Cam

Update 28th August

2007-08-28T17:57:00.000+10:00

Here's a selection of what we've been chomping on for the last few weeks!

We went out to dinner about two weeks ago for family birthdays (my brother is born on the 13th and my sister and dad are born on the 14th of August!). We went out to a really yummy restaurant called Olivetto's. It's really fancy (we had real table linens and napkins - you really don't get that in the cheap vegan cafes!).

This was all that I remembered to snap (I was unable to after 4 glasses of Pimms!). It was a mushroom and potato thing... Don't remember what it was called. Do remember that it was AWESOME and I wanted MORE! This isn't from a vegan restaurant, but isn't it funny that "normal" chefs can produce excellent quality non-meaty food!

Next, we had our friends Kath and Adam over for dinner. I was studying that day (surprise, surprise), so Cam made an Indian feast!
Chickpea Curry:

Potato Dahl:

And Indian Flatbreads:

As I recall, the Chickpea Curry and the bread came from our normal Indian reference text. Potato Dahl was (I think) a Cam original. I'll check & let you know! My contribution was VWAV Gingerbread Apple Pie. It tasted good, but it really sticks to the pan!

Speaking of Cam originals, I present, Mushroom & Pea Curry! Our local Indian restaurant makes a recipe exactly like this one. So good!

We've also made La Dolce Vegan Stroganoff (I found portabellos on special!!).

As inspired by PPK Food Porn, I made Scalloped Potatoes, which we had with "chicken" nuggets from the chinese supermarket & random vegetables (they're buried UNDER the gravy!).

Tony, who gets to share an office with me at work (isn't he lucky?), had his 55th birthday on the weekend, so on Thursday night I made Pistachio and Rosewater Cuppers from VCTOTW. I ate too many (and I'm now sick of rosewater!).

Checkout my lame decorating skills!

And the reason I was so excited about making cupcakes - I got a proper cupcake carrier!

And finally, Susanna, a lovely girl that I work with, bought this for me! She's heard me go on and on about how much I LOVE Hello Kitty! She's so awesome (I need a new adjective)! It's a lunchbag (yes, I'm a 26yr old who has a pink Hello Kitty lunchbag - I rock!).

Hope everyone's doing well. I sent off chapter two to my thesis supervisor yesterday, so I'm onto chapter three. I have ten weeks (from yesterday) until it is due! I don't need sleep to live, do I? LOL... Peace Out!

A mixed bag of vegan goodness (plus a special visit from a friend or two)

2007-08-09T21:50:00.000+10:00

Howdy. Hope everyone's doing well. We've been a wee bit boring of late. I've been doing lots of reading for my thesis (trying to make sense of Judith Butler & the notion of gender as performance - long story) & Cam's been doing pre-med study (I'm learning lots of new words).

I finally got around to making the Cookies 'n' Cream cupcakes from VCTOTW - I know, I should have made them earlier (but I'm seriously addicted to the Gingerbread ones). They were AWESOME! And FULL of fat! (The icing is 1/4 cup nuttelex & 1/4 cup copha)

So here's a mini photo essay, plus an idea of what you can do with leftover icing (you do not want to eat too much, I felt SO sick after licking the bowl out!)....

That's right people - a Super Stuffed Oreo cookie. It may not be that original, but dammit, it tasted good!

A batch of foccacia I made to go with Leek & Potato Soup:

I made some seitan on Sunday arvo (let's face it, Sunday afternoons are the best time for baking & seitan making). Firstly, with the recipe 'stolen' from Vegetation, I give you Bryanna's 'Chicken' Seitan!

I know it looks kinda gross, but it tastes good....

I also made a SoG, I mixed it in the food processor, so it was a lot smoother this time. I haven't thought of anything to put in it yet (but Cam's been snacking, so I better be quick about it!).

I'm an avid reader of Lolo's website & a few months ago she posted a recipe for Crispy Sweet & Sour Tofu. So I made Crispy Sweet & Sour Chicken. So tasty.....

Finally, I thought I'd take a few pics of our turtle tank!

Here's the mean gargoyle that protects the tank inhabitants (we have three bristlenoses in there that love to suck on him (that's a good thing))!

Snappy the Turtle (I named him):

Mr Turtle (Cam named him - guess who loves My Name is Earl?):

Theresa nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger, but do you think I could get the graphic to work? Arrgghhh...

And Vegetation, those 'chicken' nuggets from last post are made of soy, so sorry!

Ruiyi, glad to see you're having fun! When you get back we'll have to bake.

Peace out everyone!

Catch up food porn... Yeah baby - work it!

2007-07-30T19:11:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone! I finally got the complete draft of chapter one done (5500 words later!), so here's what we've been eating.

Cam's been cooking lots (not that he doesn't cook a lot anyway)... Most of the mains below are his - I think I can only take credit for the desserts in this batch! Oh the joys of having a vegan boyfriend who can cook...

To the porn...

Cam made lentil soup last weekend (I think). It was super yummy!

He tends to make enough to feed an army (it's really good when you're tired to have lotsa lentil soup in the freezer! This pot is HUGE! The recipe is his own - I believe that you soak whatever lentils & pulses you want (we tend to add chickpeas) and boil, add in onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc and spice it up. Maybe I'll just get him to write it down for me next time. :)

Next, I believe Cam made Chicken (mock) and Sweet Corn Soup. The recipe came from an ABC website, but do you think I can find the link (but I did!)? Very easy to veganize - just sub vegan margarine and vegan "chicken" (we used the "chicken nuggets from Burlington in Fortitude Valley - great asian supermarket). Warning! This soup is souper (yes, very funny) fatty. You don't need butter on your crusty bread for this one!

Chickpea and Spinach Curry from Vegan With A Vengeance. Truly Isa is a god in the kitchen...

The flavours were so delicate in this one. Just perfect.

This one I can take credit for - pizza! Our usual square base with veggies and SoG. Delectable....

We also made polenta - I crave this frequently:

And finally, Cam made Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy from VWAV. We didn't have vegan white wine, so we made it with red. Awesome!

And now for the sweet things! I went to My Heart Garden @ St Lucia a few weeks ago (I go to UQ) and had lunch with a friend. This cafe is awesome! The food is tasty curries, burgers, salads, etc. They also do awesome desserts. I had a conversation with the chick that runs it - she's also a huge Isa fan! She had some cupcakes from VCTOTW, which I had with lunch, but I brought home this Pumpkin Maple Cheezecake for Cam and I. So yummy!
If ONLY I had the recipe for this - I would have to run 10km a day instead of 5km!

Finally, Cam requested that I make pumpkin pie. I've seen a few recipes around, but I made the nut granola base from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook and used Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe (I found it here). Yummy! I've made it once since (and we've been having it for dessert every night). While it is pretty low in fat (1/4 cup of oil for the entire pie), it's loaded with sugary goodness......

It's been pretty smoky in Brisbane over the last few days (I think they've been burning off on the BrisVegas outskirts - 'tis awfully dry from the damn drought). I took this pic from our front porch before we headed off to work. Views like this make me want to be a better nature photographer.

Checking in - I'm not dead!

2007-07-24T22:09:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone!

Just checking in to say yes, I'm still alive. My thesis has taken over my entire existence for the last two (ish) weeks.

We have some photos waiting to be uploaded, but I'm waiting until the weekend when the 6th draft of chapter one is done.

Meanwhile, watch the 1995 P&P for me & drool over Mr. Darcy....

Tee hee!

Cookbooks - help!

2007-07-09T21:10:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone!

I'm avoiding study, but I need to order a few books online for my thesis. Thus, I thought that it would be a good time to update the collection (also, I'm a book geek, so I 'like' want every book ever published...)...

Anyway - here is the list thus far (please feel free to make suggestions):
Vegan Vittles (I hear that there is a good pizza cheeze recipe in this - I REALLY want a decent pizza cheeze recipe)
Vegan Planet

Thanks for the help in advance!
Amy.

Slow week.....

2007-07-05T18:10:00.000+10:00

It hasn't been the most exciting week here at Casa Cam & Amy. I've been working my a$$ off on my thesis. I sent a draft of almost 4000 words to my thesis supervisor on Monday night (at about midnight) and I got it back on Tuesday afternoon - the number of corrections and rethinks I have to do is ENORMOUS. So depressing.

We don't have many exciting pics for you this week. I've been doing a bit of a repeat week - I've made Seitan Bolognaise (nowhere near as tasty as the last batch), Fresh Spring Rolls (although I skip the noodles now & use grated carrot - so many less cals (I think!)), and a disasterous attempt at a stuffed seitan (it looks like roast beef with the potato when you slice it now)!

I had a friend over on Saturday morning & we made a SoG (Vegetation's fabbo term for Seitan o'Greatness) and some Apricot and Almond Cuppers from the Vegan Cupcake Bible (VCTOTW):

I didn't get a chance to try these, but I'm dying to try a variation with raspberry jam (I'm not an apricot fan)..... My friend said they were awesome! So I suppose I can take her word for it! :)

Cam cooked last night ('cause I was working on the thesis redraft - sigh). Potato and Leek soup. The leeks were a ripoff at about $2.50 a stalk (damn you drought), so we joked about not bruising our gold plated leeks. LOL.... Anyway, it totally rocked - we don't have a handmixer (and there's no way in hell I'm sticking something this hot into my food processor) so it was chunky! In a word - YUM!

We're having pizza for dinner tonight (yay) so I may have a few pics in a few days. **End Communication**

The Catch Up - Part Deux - The Return of Sugar!!!

2007-06-29T17:16:00.000+10:00

Howdy. It was a mega sh*t day at work today (End of Fin Year) so I need something to cheer me up (and prepare me for a weekend of study) - sugar!!!

I've had a few celebratory occasions of late, a friend from work went overseas for a year (and if I didn't bake, not only would there have been nothing for me to eat, there wouldn't have been a celebration at all!) and my middle nephew turned four. He's REALLY into pirates at the moment (who isn't???) and I ended up buying him the exact same book as one of my brothers!! I went to Dymocks today and got him a different pirate book and a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit. I know it's a bit girly, but dammit, he is going to have the classics forced upon him (that's the Arts degree talking)...

Firstly, Theresa (Ms. Tropical Vegan in Townsville - link on the right 'cause I'm lazy - yay for Tez!) posted about some amazing looking hot chocolate a few weeks ago. We found a Cadbury Hot Chocolate in Coles (the mint flavour) that we think is vegan! Cam loves it (I'm not in love with the mint)... I always add a bit of cinnamon - it adds extra pizzazz!

Don't you love the swirly action? I thought it was mega cool (listen to me talking like a teenager - I've been watching way too much Clueless for Mr. Thesis!!)...

Cam made Margarita Cupcakes for a work BBQ (I skipped them 'cause I was on my sugar break). His work mates thought that they were very manly with the sprinkles!

He invented a cool way of transporting them though - another muffin tray on top (upside down) secured with zip ties (see, it is handy having a handyman around the house!):

And last, but certainly not least, feast your eyes on this!

Starting from the top:
4 Gingerbread cupcakes (VCTOTW), topped with melted chocolate and a piece of crystallised ginger
Second row:
Strawberry chocolate thumbprint cookies (VWAV).
Bottom row:
5 Gingerbread cupcakes
9 Carrot Cake topped with Cream Cheese Icing

All were AMAZINGLY good! I have to say that my favourites were the Gingerbread Cupcakes - OMG so tasty. Plus they had a crunchy top (and the chocolate matched perfectly).

Here are some cupcake closeups for extra p0rn....

I had Cream Cheese icing leftover that day, so I made another carrot cake batch & took to Ma & Pa's for my nephew's birthday. I decorated with three sultanas so they looked like a flower. Scrumptious!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed today's post. I have a friend coming over tomorrow for vegan baking - I'm not sure what I'm going to attempt yet - maybe a lower fat gingerbread cupper? I could replace half of the fat with applesauce... Any suggestions? :)

The Catch Up - Part One - Savoury Dishes

2007-06-26T21:45:00.000+10:00

Let's cut the c**p and just say I'm a lazy blogger (and a lazy thesis writer - up to 2600 wds).

I'll do another update in a few days - the sugar kick lasted all of a week and a half - HA!

So here's what we've been a cookin' lately:

This was a roast dinner that we made - the roast is the brand spankin' new Sanitarium one (you'll find it in the cold 'health food' section at Woolworths/Coles in Australia). It is fairly tasty, but I'm sure I could do something better with homemade seitan. We had it with Rosemary ordinary & sweet potatoes, onions and mushrooms (and a mix of steamed veggies) covered with vegan gravy (the Orgran brand)... Mmm mmm mmm

Next we made Tofu Tacos from The Everyday Vegan. This recipe made A LOT of taco mix - we were eating with tacos and then with tortillas for the next three days! I added a lot of chilli, so it burned, but Cam likes it that way. I served with guac and refried beans (we were too cheap to add cheeze)...

Finally, Cam found a recipe for dahl on the PPK recipe listing (somewhere, I don't know exactly which one). It was pretty tasty, but we needed to grind the spices a little more. It was good the next day as the flavours had developed.....

And one more thing..... We went to my parent's house for dinner tonight (it was my middle nephew's fourth birthday (I ended up buying the same book that my brother bought - there appears to be only one picture book about pirates????)). Anyway, I snapped my mum's cat Nancy (aka Nancy Fancy Pants, Pantsy - we have a weird thing with animal names) curled up next to a decanter of port (it was right under the heater - it's COLD in Brisbane!!!) I want a fur coat (I mean I want one instead of skin - duh)..... Check it out!!!

Stay warm everyone! I'm off to bed to cuddle up to a hot water bottle (well, it's actually a bag of wheat that you microwave, but serves the same purpose).

Visit in a few days to see the mountain of sugar I've prepared - you'll enjoy!!!

In which Amy pulls her finger out...... (and goes on and on..............)

2007-06-14T20:57:00.000+10:00

And posts something on the blog. Hi everyone! I've been sick and hella busy for the last week or so, so I've been neglecting the blog. I went to a friend's wedding on Saturday, which was lovely. AND I finally got some work done on my thesis (10% down, 13,500 words to go!). But here's what you've visited for - THE FOOD!

I baked two batches of seitan on Monday afternoon (the recipe was Lachesis' ultimate baked seitan from the PPK boards). One was the original Seitan O'Greatness and the other's flavour was inspired by the VWAV tempeh recipe (the recipe I normally use to make Tofu Bacon in BLTs). I didn't bake the original Seitan O'Greatness for quite long enough, but it turned out to be really useful for use as a 'mince' substitute!

So on Monday night (which was pretty cold here in Brisbane) we curled up on the couch with a huge glass of red wine each and watched two episodes of the Sopranos and ate Italian food!

Garlic Bread (oh man, this was so garlicky & tasty!):

And Seitan Stroganoff:

To make:
Fry up about half a batch of Seitan O'Greatness with garlic(I'll leave the quantity to your own taste, we end up using about 3 tablespoons everytime - we like garlic breath), a chopped onion in olive oil. After the onion is transparent, add your pasta sauce (I make a bastardized version of Isa's pizza sauce & add more tomatoes). Serve over pasta.

Cam really loved these two recipes - I think I need to make more pasta sauce before adding the grilled seitan.

Going back in time now.....

On Sunday night my brother (who lives with us & works for a rockin' deli in a local suburb - their olives are the best) brought home about ten punnets of strawberries for us! I love strawberries (my favourite way to eat them is to cut them into pieces and eat with a fork)! So, we just HAD to make waffles! I made the Ginger Pear Waffles from VWAV, but we didn't have any pears, so I did it with apples.

We served with Strawberry sauce and Chocolate Soy Ice Cream. The batter made LOTS of waffles, so I basically snacked on these while writing my thesis (the sugar assisted greatly!).

On Tuesday, after what can only be described as the worst working day in my career thus far, I needed tasty food. Voila! Vegan Fajitas!

I marinated the seitan in a sauce made with Smoky Barbecue Sauce, Refried Beans (the only thing I could think of that would impart a 'mexican' flavour) and a lime-chilli paste.

I had to post a pic of the sauce - what is it with actors and sauces? Paul Newman has his salad dressings, etc and now Jack Thompson has a BBQ sauce? LOL.....

Seitan looked like this when it was marinating:

And when it was served with guacamole, refried beans, fried onion and mushroom, tomato and lettuce, it looked like this!

I think that's it for now..... We went to the Alibi Room on Saturday for breakfast - if it is possible, it was better than the week before!

One last thing, I'm going on a sugar-free kick. Yes, I know this means no cookies and cupcakes, but I'm getting tubby and more than a little concerned about my sugar intake (I really don't want diabetes). So Iron Chef Cookie will have to wait a few months.

Hope all the Aussies aren't freezing their arses off right now (I'm wearing four layers!) & hope everyone in NSW is doing okay after all the rain. **End Communication**

Breakfast at The Alibi Room

2007-06-03T13:14:00.000+10:00

A friend told us about this place - OMG it was so good!

Here's what we had (Cam and I shared), The Kombie Driver's Breakfast (the $30 lovebirds plate):

It is indeed an ungodly amount of food:

The food was (clockwise from the top): Asian Inspired Scrambled Tofu, Hash Browns (they were mega tasty & spiced just right), Mushrooms and Spinach (drool), two Fried Tomatoes, Nuttelex (damn flash), Vegan Bacon (Cam loved it, but I have to say I prefer my Tofu Bacon over this, but it was smoky and tasty... Okay, I loved it too), half a dozen pieces of Sourdough toast (yummo!), and Baked Beans. I think my favourite thing was the mushrooms, but it ALL tasted great! The food was enough to keep us bursting for the next six hours (so we went and bought a Playstation 2 - long story).

You also get a tea/coffee and a juice. We screwed up and ordered shakes! Cam had a chocolate soy shake:

I had a strawberry soy shake:

I also got a green tea - they had a cool tea infuser, so I took a photo of that too:

I was so proud of us, we finished the whole plate (there was seriously enough food for about four people on the plate):

They had a few purty pictures around the place (the atmosphere was awesome). I took a pic of this one:

The Alibi Room is a funky cafe/bar in New Farm (720 Brunswick Street - www.thealibiroom.com) that serves omni and vegan food. They've made a real effort to have vegan friendly options on their menu, so please give them a try next time you're in BrisVegas. The staff were really cool, they had tatts and cool t-shirts! Atmosphere was great - they had lots of paintings (as above) & the vibe was cool, not yuppyish (as you sometimes get in New Farm).

Checkout their online menu - they do mexican & vegan pizza with Cheezly! According to Cam, who heard from a friend who heard it from his housemate, the bacon is made by the same guys that make Cheezly. That would be Redwood: http://www.redwoodfoods.co.uk

Vegan BLT

2007-05-30T20:41:00.000+10:00

I've been craving Tofu Bacon (I get the recipe from Tempeh Bacon in VWAV, I really can't handle tempeh) for a few weeks now - we haven't had it since our four year anniversary about a month ago. So I got a bee in my bonnet and made BLTs! I marinated the tofu overnight (and got some marinade behind my ear, but that's an entirely new story) so it really soaked in. Make sure that you follow the directions from VWAV carefully, I always forget that you don't put the oil into the marinade - and the oil solidified on the bacon - it kinda looked gross, but it melted back after about 15 minutes on the bench.

I grabbed some fresh Turkish bread from Coles (it was on special - yay), an iceberg lettuce, an avocado, a coupla decent tomatoes, half an onion, half a dozen 'shrooms and some vegan soy mayonnaise. Assemble as you would a BLT.

We were a bit overexcited when we took these photos, possibly because we knew just how fantastic these would taste!!! So here's the BLT from a few different angles:

Open sandwich version:

Close up:

And from the side:

Ensure that you serve with an appropriately flavoured beverage. I chose to have a Mount Gay rum and Coke. Yum!

Except for the prep the night before, this is a really easy dinner (though there is a few dishes to wash, but it is really tasty, so hopefully your loved ones will be as overjoyed as Cam was and will gleefully do the dishes!). 11/10.

And the BLT smell will wash off with soap and water. But why would you want to get rid of that smell? Tee hee. Hope everyone's having a good week - I'm learning lots of new stuff at work & have discovered a way to include Richard Dawkins' notion of memes in my dissertation. It's always fun to use evolutionary theory.....

Sunday's Indian Feast & cookie swap photos!

2007-05-28T20:59:00.000+10:00

Cam cooked almost all day Sunday to make a feast for us! His sister, her husband and Cam's nephew joined us - they're omni and they LOVED it!!!

All the recipes come from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking - the bread is a Chickpea and Whole Wheat bread (it was meant to be puffy, but we just baked in the oven), there's a tomato glazed chickpeas and a dahl. The salad is a quick combination of evenly chopped tomatoes, onions and cucumber drowned in a sea of lemon juice and liberal additions of sea salt.

They were all very tasty - I'm afraid I really cannot compete with Cam when it comes to Indian food - he is the master (but we won't let it go to his head, will we?)....

We checked the mail this afternoon (Monday) and we had presents!!! Mel had sent us through our cookies from the PPK cookie swap (next time I'll advertise here - that's an incentive to keep you checking my site... LOL).

We opened the box and found this note:

And then under the cool orange paper we found these cookies! You can see how small my hands really are in this photo - I am a 160cm midget:

OMG!!! These were so tasty!!! She spoiled us and used white choc chips - as far as I know you can only get these on mail order in Australia. Thank you Mel!!!!!

For those of you playing along at home, this is the blog post she refers to: http://bakingbites.com/2006/06/white-chocolate-macadamia-cookies/

And check Vegetation's post on the Human Battery Cage - currently touring Oz...
http://vegetationramblings.blogspot.com/2007/05/human-battery-cage-in-town.html

Tonight's dinner and dessert!

2007-05-25T17:59:00.000+10:00

We're going out to a family get-together tonight (it's my aunt's birthday!) & all the omni's are having roast & veggies, so I thought I'd do a traditional type dish for us.

Voila! I present mini shepherds pies!

And I also made cookies for dessert, gee what a surprise! I got a cookie stamper last night (it kinda looks like a gun. Anyways, I was able to make purty flowers.... Recipe is Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies from La Dolce Vegan.

I'm snacking on a few right now with soy milk (as you can see)! Here's a closeup of the cookie magic:

I'm definitely looking forward to dinner & dessert tonight!!!

Update: everyone loved the pies (except my big sister insisted on calling them party pies - ARRGGHH!!!) and the cookies. But there's no surprise there, everyone always love my cookies. Maybe I should change the name of the blog to be Iron Chef Cookie? :)

Edit 28/05 (partly to get out of study & partly to share my easy recipe):

Contents of the pies:
Fry up a teaspoon/clove of garlic (of course I add about three, but then again, I hate vampires. No wait, I LOVE vampires!! Especially if they're on Buffy... But I digress) in olive oil. Add a whole chopped onion and fry until transparent. Add a tin of Sanitarium casserole mince (it's a wheat gluten product), half a dozen chopped 'shrooms, a handful each of frozen peas and corn, and approx three dessert spoons (heaped) of Orgran vegan gravy (available in the health food section of Coles). Add a bit of water (I'm not sure exactly, a slurp)? And stir until it looks tasty.

Add to the pie crusts that you've already blind baked in the oven (we've found that the low-fat puff pastry from the supermarket (not sure which brand) is vegan - not the butter one) and top with mashed potatoes. Make sure that your mash has extra margarine in it - it helps with the crunchy top.

Bake until you get a nice crunchy top - I usually check the pastry & chuck it under the grill to finish (I don't like burned pastry).

Enjoy!

Cam's brilliant - so we went out to dinner!

2007-05-24T20:36:00.000+10:00

Cam got his GAMSAT results on Tuesday (it's like the MCAT in the US - a medical entrance exam) and he got in the top 7%!!!!! We were very excited about this news, so we decided to go out to our favourite asian vegetarian place - Magic Wok!

Here are the evening's tasty goods (forgive the crappy photos, we were attempting to be discreet - didn't really work):

Turnip cake - it's nothing like cake, but it is deep fried turnipy goodness:

Drumsticks - I really don't like dissing food from this place, but these weren't very nice - they'd been cooked previously and were cold - which I'm guessing is what they were trying to achieve - it just didn't work for me. It was served with a REALLY good plum sauce though!

BBQ Pork Buns - we get these EVERY time we go to Magic Wok (and when it was Leader Bowl). These are without a doubt the best buns in the entire universe. When we first had them I was still omni, and Cam freaked out because they taste so authentic. We always get two each.... Isn't the veggie flower in the middle gorgeous?

Alrighty, onto mains.

I had sweet and sour pork - oh my god it was so good! I had the leftovers for lunch.... Oh yeah, so greasy & tasty. The look of this one fooled a few omnis that I work with.

Cam had Lamb Rendang - they said it was spicy, but as always, Cam has the stomach of a crazy person (he likes hot food):

If you're ever in Brisbane you HAVE to go to this restaurant. It is insanely good. We always over order on the entrees, so we can have leftover mains for lunch or breakfast the same day....

Now all we have to do is cross our fingers that Cam gets an interview for Medicine at UQ.... Everyone has to cross their fingers until September.... :)

More damned cookies (and other stuff)!

2007-05-22T17:06:00.000+10:00

It has certainly been cookie fest around here for the last few weeks. The sugar monster has awoken and demanded feasts. Anyway, here's another batch of cookies I sent off last Friday!

These are the Sparkled Ginger Cookies from VWAV:

And these are the Coconut Choc Chip Cookies from La Dolce Vegan (I promise that this is the very last time I'll post a photo of these:

And finally, I've gotten something that I've been drooling over for about a year.....

A Hello Kitty toaster! (Yes, it would appear that I am a 5 year old!!!)

We're going out to dinner at our favourite Asian restaurant tonight, Magic Wok, so I'm planning to take the camera. Mmmmm Vegan BBQ Pork Buns.....

Vegan Laksa!

2007-05-17T23:10:00.000+10:00

Here's the Laksa that Cam made for dinner. He's still tinkering with the recipe, so here's some pics in lieu of sharing the goodness. :(

The second bowl I ate - see what a mess I made? LOL...