What I'm eating: kinda bacon

Another of my new treats from my Everything Vegan shopping spree was this packet of 'Kinda Bacon', bacon bits made with coconut (of all things!).

Oh. My. God. Salty, smokey, crunchy, fatty, amazing.

I never was a fan of bacon. I never really ate any pork products as a child in fact, excluding certain thinly sliced, extremely lean ham, even then I wasn't really a fan of it. However, I was always an avid muncher on bacon bits, which used to be produced by Masterfoods (and were vegan), but sadly they stopped making them a couple of years ago.

I've been very upset about this for a long time, I even wrote on their facebook page begging them to bring the bacon bits back (sad, I know). However, I think that Kinda Bacon has healed my broken fake-bacon heart.

Totes amazeballs is, I think, the only accurate way to describe them. The smokiness is so yummy, almost spicy, and my God, they should come with a warning as they are highly addictive! Jeff had to actually physically remove me from their presence as I couldn't stop myself from going back for "Just one more little bit". It was the only way to stop me!

After that, I managed to control myself and I tucked them into the back of the pantry so they'd stop looking at me. I succeeded in saving them until we made baked potatoes and then I again relished their salty, fatty, loveliness. On our baked potatoes we also put Nuttelex, capsicum, pineapple, cashew sour cream (homemade), and grated strong cheddar Sheese:

I just had another "little bit" of these bacon bits before sitting down to write this post.

Just so that the taste was fresh in my mouth so I could write an accurate review.

I fear they may not last much longer...

Happy eating! :)

What I'm eating: Redwood Thai fish cakes

One of the things that I picked up during my recent shopping spree at Everything Vegan was this packet of Redwood Thai fish cakes:

We had them along with some steamed vegetables and rice and they were quite yummy. The texture was fish-like but the flavour wasn't very fishy (this might have been a good thing as I'm not sure I could stomach fish after 7 years of not eating it!). The Thai flavourings were very nice, though they were quite spicy so if you're not into that or you're looking for something to serve to little ones then this product might not be for you.

On the whole, B+, would eat again.

Happy eating! :)

Everything Vegan shopping spree

Yesterday I was very lucky and my lovely mum treated me to a shopping spree at Adelaide's vegan supermarket, Everything Vegan (if you don't live in Adelaide, you can buy from their online shop at Vegan Online).

Though I have bought from them online before and my mum is a regular customer, it was the first time I'd actually been there myself. It was really cool and pretty reasonably priced considering how much we got. Most importantly, the owners also own and run Freedom Hill Sanctuary, the only farm animal sanctuary in South Australia, so I'm more than happy to throw money at them (even though in this instance it wasn't my money!).

I got a few old favourites and staples (such as savoury yeast flakes, Amy's Soups, Soyatoo whipped cream, Cheatin' Chicken and my favourite lip balm, Yaoh hemp seed oil in blueberry), and also lots and lots of new things to try. So watch this space as I'll be reviewing the products as I try them. Mmm... I'm looking forward to it!

Happy eating! :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Besides getting chocolate for breakfast, Easter is really a non-event in our family. However, this year my mum had us over for a special Easter Sunday breakfast, which was very nice.

When we arrived, the first priority was the Easter egg hunt! Yes, I am in my mid-20's and I did move out of home several years ago, but the Easter bunny still visits (as does Father Christmas for that matter). I guess that's what happens when you're really really good...

He left little clues everywhere...

Until finally I found this beautiful basket full of vegan Easter goodies!

After that, we all settled down for a lovely breakfast. My mum had made her own hot-cross buns from scratch for the first time and they were delicious. She made chocolate ones and fruit ones, and also had fruitless ones from Bakers Delight (theirs are vegan as are Coles brand) because she knows that I don't like the fruit ones. However, her fruity ones were delicious and I didn't eat a single fruitless one! We also had these great big juicy strawberries, and lots of cups of tea.

After spending time at my mum's house, we went to Jeff's parents house where I received a whole tonne more chocolate plus a box of Ogran Itsy Bitsy Bears which are basically vegan Tiny Teddies. I think this lot will keep me going for the rest of the year!

How did you spend your Easter? Did the Easter bunny come to your house? I hope he was as generous to you as he was to me.

Happy hoppy eating :)

Pink milk smoothie

If you've ever seen Charlie and Lola or read the books, you'll know that pink milk is very very special. Unlike normal pink milk though, this yummy smoothie is also very healthy.

Serves 1

1 banana

handful of fresh raspberries

1-2 handfuls of strawberries

4 tbsp coconut yoghurt (I use Coyo brand)

Amber agave syrup (to taste)

250ml soy milk

1. Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Take in that pink milk deliciousness.

Happy drinking :)

Adelaide Festivities Part 2: WOMADelaide

Missed the last installment? Click here: Adelaide Festivities Part 1: Soundwave

Being unabashedly hippy, one of my favourite events of the year is WOMADelaide, a 4 day celebration of world arts and culture held in Adelaide's beautiful Botanic Park. Also, being brought up by an unabashedly hippy mother, I've been attending WOMADelaide since I was a child!

Psst... that's me dancing

The festival is very family friendly, there's a great kids' section with lots of activities and performances, all stages and stall areas are 'no smoking' areas, and it's a very relaxed and positive atmosphere - no drunk swearing people, and no one asking you to breastfeed in the toilets. Oh, did I mention that children 12 and under get in for free?

Plus, I think it's great for children to experience the world and all of its magnificent cultures. All around there are children laughing, playing, dancing, and climbing trees. You hear them discussing the music, performances, and ideas being presented, and adding in their own perspectives. Being a massive hippy and also an early childhood educator, I just think that it is so important for children to be exposed to these things. It really shapes them into the inclusive, worldly, ethical, conscious, and active participants in society that we want them to be (or should want them to be!). I am lucky enough to have a much younger sister (she's 12) and I have really enjoyed watching her become the wonderful person she is today through experiences like WOMADelaide. I had a very proud moment this year when she headed off towards the social justice and activism area saying "Now, let's go sign some petitions!" (For Christmas last year she also donated money to OXFAM instead of buying us presents).

There are so many fantastic acts to see, lots of stalls, and even workshops that you can do with the performers. This year, they were also running hour-long yoga sessions in the mornings. I jumped at that opportunity and found it such a lovely way to start the day; doing yoga under some beautiful shady trees while fruit bats chattered in the branches above. What a relaxing experience!

However, as my sister put it, "WOMAD, you come for the music but you stay for the food". How right she is. WOMADelaide is the biggest eating event on my calendar. In fact, Jeff and I save up money specifically so that we can gorge ourselves on the abundance of delicious sustainable and multicultural food.

This year the event attracted 90,000 people over the 4 days. That's 90,000 educated, ethical, environmentalist, barefoot hippies like myself so you can bet your life that there was a lot of vegan food on offer!

Here's what was going down, down to my belly that is:

First off, a lovely warm chai, which was followed by many more. All chai sold at WOMADelaide is made with soy milk.

Next, a handmade spring roll filled with some kind of mushroom. I noticed the nice texture that the mushroom gave the spring roll but mushroom-hater Jeff didn't and ate his all up saying how delicious it was. Little did he know his nemesis lurked inside...

I also had some mushroom in these tofu cold rolls. My goodness they were yummy, and filling!

Something that I find such a novelty, the drinking coconut. These were very popular. The coconut water inside is so refreshing and then you can scrape away the coconut flesh inside with your spoon and eat it, a big hit with the children of WOMADelaide! I really like the texture of the fresh coconut flesh.

I paired my coconut water with this cinnamon and sugar bread AKA cinnamon doughnut. I was so glad that the stall selling these was back this year, as they weren't there last year.

In the evening, I had a sago and fresh fruit dessert (you can find a recipe to make your own sago here).

Lastly, I couldn't go past the Hare Krishna's feast of rice, vegetable curry, and kofta with tomato chutney, even though I'd just had one the week before at Soundwave!

Happy eating! :)