Creamy vegetable pasta recipe

This creamy vegetable pasta has become a new favourite in our house. The only downside is it uses 3 saucepans, however, on the plus side it's delicious and flexible - you can use whatever vegetables you have handy.

Serves 4

Enough cooked pasta for 4 people - spirals or penne works well

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 capsicum, finely sliced

1 zucchini, finely sliced

1/2 broccoli, cut into small florets

125g tin corn

1 cup water

1 tbsp Nuttelex

375ml soy milk

1 1/2 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

1-2 tsp chili flakes (depending on your preference)

Salt to taste

1. While boiling the water for the pasta, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan and fry onion, garlic, capsicum, zucchini, and broccoli for 5 minutes.

2. Add water, stir and cover. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring twice, until the onion is soft and the water is gone. Remove from heat and keep covered.

3. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt Nuttelex, then add cornflour and mix until a paste is formed.

4. While stirring, add the soy milk and stir until flour paste is combined. Then add nutritional yeast, chili flakes, and salt.

5. Increase heat, stirring continually, until sauce begins to boil. At this point, it should thicken considerably. Remove from heat.

6. Drain pasta and return to saucepan. Pour sauce over vegetables and mix until thoroughly coated. Pour vegetable and sauce mixture over pasta and mix until combined. Serve.

Happy eating! :)

Chocolate, prune and bran muffins recipe

Having trouble getting little ones to eat food that's good for them? Or maybe it's your own mouth you're wanting to trick. Either way, these chocolate muffins are yummy AND good for you! Perfect for lunch or a snack.

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 1/2 cups wheat bran (not flakes or pellets, just regular bran)
1 tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp soy milk
1 cup prunes

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C and grease a 12 hole muffin tray with a little vegetable oil.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, bran, cocoa, bi-carb, and sugar until thoroughly combined.

3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the vegetable oil, vinegar, soy milk, and 1 1/2 cups of the water. Mix until just combined.

4. In a food processor, process the prunes and the remaining 1/2 cup of water until smooth. Add to the bowl and fold in.

5. Spoon mixture into muffin tray and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, but with a few crumbs still clinging to it.

6. Leave to cool in the tray for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on an airing rack.

Happy eating! :)

Everything Vegan and Freedom Hill Sanctuary

Yesterday my mum visited a newly opened vegan store called Everything Vegan. Located at 270 Wright Street, Everything Vegan is Adelaide's first all-vegan grocery store. Apparently it is amazing, mum came away with lots of goodies for me and I'm planning a visit there myself soon. A quick look at their facebook page has got me very excited indeed! These are the presents that my lovely mum bought me:

Tofutti 'Marry Me' chocolate covered vanilla ice-creams, Tofutti Flowers chocolate covered flower flavoured ice-creams, Linda McCartney Country Pies, Fabulous Fudge Factory Dairy Free Fudge, Lentilicious Lime Time lentil meal, Fresca Ocean scented deodorant, and both Maple flavoured and French Vanilla Spun Fairy Floss.

But wait, there's more! Upon talking to the owner of Everything Vegan, my mum discovered that she runs a farm animal sanctuary a la Edgar's Mission (which I mentioned in this post) called Freedom Hill Sanctuary (you can also find their facebook page here) which is located in Woodside in the Adelaide Hills. Freedom Hill is the only farm animal sanctuary in South Australia and I cannot tell you how over the moon I am to have discovered it! I am so glad that places like these exist and since discovering Edgar's Mission, I had been wishing that there was a similar sanctuary here in South Australia. The sanctuary takes in abused and abandoned farm animals and their website shares the stories of the residents and how they came to be rescued. You can also donate money that goes towards animal care and vet bills, sponsor a sanctuary resident, or volunteer so if you think any of those things are things you might be interested in doing, please pop on over to their website.

But wait, there's EVEN MORE! I quick little wander in the realm of the Internet also informed me that the VERY SAME PEOPLE run Vegan Online, an online vegan grocery store that I have made many a purchase from and blogged about previously.

THESE PEOPLE ARE THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!

Happy eating (and shopping)! :)

Overnight oats recipe

I love making overnight oats for breakfast because they are so satisfying and yet require so little effort. Just mix it all together before you go to bed, and the work is all done while you sleep, excellent. This recipe is a veganised version of one in Beverly LeBlanc's excellent cookbook, The Student Vegetarian Cookbook.

Serves 1

30-40g rolled oats
Soy milk
Salt

1. Measure the oats out into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, then at least enough milk to cover the oats (experiment over a few days to find out what kind of texture you prefer).

2. Mix thoroughly, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight.

3. Remove from fridge, and stir in whatever toppings you want. I have used a variety of fresh and dried fruit, agave syrup, and my favourite additives: brown sugar and cinnamon, as shown below.

Happy eating! :)

What I'm eating: vegan sushi at uni

For the times, they are a-changin'... The other day I wandered into the cafeteria at uni and discovered that they have begun selling vegan sushi, yay! It's so nice when you see little changes in the world like this that represent a larger change in society. And the sushi was nice too.

 

Happy eating! :)

Crispy garlic bread recipe

A quick, easy, and very tasty accompaniment :)

Serves: as many as you make it for!

Pita bread
Garlic clove(s), peeled
Nuttelex or another vegan margarine, melted
Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

2. Rub one side of the pita bread all over with the garlic.

3. Cut the pita bread into smaller pieces, as you would a pizza.

4. Brush the bread pieces with melted Nuttelex or other margarine, sprinkle with salt, and put on a baking tray.

5. Bake for 5-10 minutes until hard and golden.

Happy eating! :)

What I'm eating: Leda gingernut biscuits

Once a week I go and visit the family pets that I left behind at my mum's house when I moved out. Though I have my lovely mice, Calvin and Alex, at my house, I miss my other pets a lot. However, it was better for them to all stay together with the rest of the family, and besides, we can't have cats or dogs in our rental property. Anyway, so once a week I go to my mum's house and take the dogs for a walk and sit down with the cats for a while and give them all a big pat.

The other day when I went there, it was such a lovely afternoon that I made a cup of tea and sat in the back garden. My mum had bought some Leda Ginger Nut Biscuits and left them out for me, so I had some of them as well. I hadn't had a ginger nut in years and I'd forgotten how great they are, especially when dipped in tea! Surprisingly, one of my cats loved them too! He tried to steal them off my plate and then when I gave him a little bit to show him that he wouldn't like it, he wolfed it up and tried to steal more.

So I highly recommend having a few Leda Ginger Nut Biscuits with your next cup of tea, though perhaps make sure there are no cats nearby.

Happy eating!