Vegan Spinach and "Ricotta" Cannelloni

I made this to take to Cam's parent's house on Monday ('twere a public holiday in BrisVegas).

The recipe basically comes from Nonna's Italian Kitchen - the spinach and ricotta filling with Isa's pizza sauce from VWAV (is there anything I can't put that sauce in - it's very versatile).

Here's the before photo:



And the after (cooked photo):



It was REALLY tasty - I can't believe I hadn't thought of making this before. Anyway, if you have about two hours free, you should try this.

On other matters, I'm (Amy) trying to get some work done on my thesis - it's going okay, but I really need to pull my finger out (and the PPK forums are way too distracting). Um, everything else is good I guess. It's Mother's Day this weekend, and I'm involved in the AU Cookie swap (I organised it on PPK), so I expect to do a fair bit of baking this weekend.

I'm not quite sure what kind of cupcakes to make for Mother's Day. I was thinking the margarita cupcakes, but my nephews (they're all under the age of six) will be there. I want to try something other than the chocolate ones with peanut butter icing (it's like eating a tub of solidified oil - a tasty tub of solidified oil).

Expect cupcake and cookie pictures on the weekend. It's an RDO for me on Friday, so I'll be procrastinating as usual. I have plans to make lasagne, but I've posted a picture of that tastiness already....

No food, but some animal friends

We went on a picnic on the long weekend & we had a few animal friends visit us. This guy was swooping around and looking generally gorgeous.
There was also a spider on the table - Cam took this very artistic photo...



Food soon!

Geekiest Pantry Ever

Cam's very proud of our organised cupboard - everything (and I mean everything) is labelled - the joys of a label maker.... He wanted me to share this with the world. :)

Spicy Seitan Pasta

Spicy seitan pasta, based on a local italian restaurant's non-vegan pasta - I loved this dish back when I ate meat.... It's basically Isa's pizza sauce (VWAV) spiced up with chilli & mushroom & grilled seitan o'greatness. Man that roll lasts a while!!! I still have about a third left....

Easy dessert - coconut ice-cream!!!

I wanted icecream, but I was also craving coconut (another PPK forums idea). It's a mixture of creaminess & chewy goodness. It's just icecream (in this case Sanitarium SoGood Bliss Vanilla & Passionfruit) topped with grilled dessicated coconut (make a "tray" out of folded over alfoil & put a handful of coconut on it & grill for about 2 minutes - keep an eye on it - it likes to burn)......

Fried Rice

This one's another recipe we were shown by the lovely folks who used to own the ID Cafe in Fortitude Valley (RIP).....



I got the idea for an "in your face" photo from someone on the PPK forums....

I'm behind the times - Seitan O'Greatness

I'm normally behind the times on all the cool vegan stuff, but I finally found gluten flour in Brisbane (it's known just as gluten flour in Australia - you can find it in lots of health food stores). Thus, I was FINALLY able to make the Seitan O'Greatness - the recipe was posted on the PPK forum last year(Lachesis' recipe)....

Here's my first attempt - I've cut it into slices:


And put it on a pizza! (Sauce is from VWAV - so much cheaper than buying pizza sauce BTW):

I love making pizza from scratch - the base is so much more tasty & healthy this way (and I get "cheese" - this one uses Cheezly & it looks a bit like pinapple chunks)..... YUMMO!