I'm free!!!

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 .="." span="span">


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?

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

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!

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

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