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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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**
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? :)
