vegan-easy

[vegan-easy]

Southwestern Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

[vegan-easy]

Zucchini pasta with meat-less meatballs / Recipe

[vegan-easy]

Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (GF)

[vegan-easy]

Zucchini Corn Cakes {Vegan}

[vegan-easy]

Healthy Deep Dish Cookie Pie

This pie is really good and from one of my favourite vegan blogs.

[vegan-easy]

Homemade Veggie Dogs

[vegan-easy]

Cheats Aussie Graham Crackers

I often see recipes calling for the much loved american graham cracker. These biscuits, invented by minister Sylvester Grahamstarted as part of a puritan diet that would help you to stop having fun, so I think Graham would be turning in his grave if he knew about s’more’s. The problem with these biscuits -aside from the fact most contain honey- is that they arent available in Australia and digestives, while great for tea just aren’t the same thing.

This recipe doesn’t use the traditional graham flour and there’s no need to chill the dough.

Makes 28 biscuits in size shown. Mileage will vary.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white flour

3/4 cup fine wheat bran

2 tbsp brown sugar (white works too)

generous pinch salt

generous pinch bi-carb soda

2 tbsp golden syrup or treacle

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup water

optional: pinch of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. preheat oven to 180 C. Stir together all dry ingredients, make a well in the centre and add syrup, oil and if using, vanilla extract.

2. Mix dough with a fork until it starts to come together then slowly stir in water. Knead with your hands for a few minutes, the dough should form a dense ball.

3. Sprinkle flour on a clean table or large chopping ball and using a rolling pin or even sided bottle, roll the dough as thin as you can get it while still being able to handle it without splitting or tearing.

4. Cut biscuits in whatever shape you like (rectangles are traditional) and place on an oiled baking tray. Keep re rolling and cutting the dough until you can’t get any more biscuits out of it, then if you want to stay traditional you can prick the biscuits with a fork in neat lines.

5. bake for around 8-12 minutes depending on the size of your biscuits. If your baking tray is black you might have to flip the crackers halfway through to ensure even baking. You know they’re done when they’re an even golden brown, they’ll still be quite soft when you first take them out but they’ll crisp up as they cool.

6. Cool your graham crackers on a wire rack until they go crispy then store in a sealed container for up to two weeks.

use whenever a recipe calls for graham crackers or to make your own s’mores. It’s a good idea to double the recipe as they go fast, I ate an entire batch in under 12 hours.

p.s if you like ice cream sandwiches these are for you.

[vegan-easy]

Easy vegan Ice Magic

Everyone I know loves the chocolate sauce that hardens on contact with ice cream and it's surprisingly easy to veganise

Ingredients:

100 grams of your fave vegan dark chocolate

3 tablespoons of refined coconut oil

Method

1. Break up chocolate and put it in a microwave safe bowl with the oil.

2. Microwave in 30 second bursts stiring in between until melted

3. pour over ice cream and enjoy! Store in the cupboard for up to 2 weeks.

notes:

if you can't find refined you can use virgin and it will have a nice coconutty flavour

or you can always just melt a little bit of chocolate in the microwave and only melt what you need.

[vegan-easy]

Simple Minestrone

This hearty soup is filling and tasty while low in fat and sugar and high in protein and a good source of iron (if you add the spinach), it’s a great way to get your veggies in and the entire recipe has less than 4000 kj (1000 cal).

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups or 2 cans chopped mixed veggies

As much fresh or frozen spinach as you want.

1 teaspoon minced garlic or a generous 1/4 tsp garlic powder)

1 onion

1 medium potato

1 can tomatoes

1 can beans

1 tsp chicken style or vegetable stock powder or 1 stock cube (Massel brand is vegan)

1/2 tsp thyme or mixed herbs

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 cup alphabet pasta, broken up spaghetti/fettuccine, or 1 cup hollow pasta.

-OR-

1/4-1/3 cup rice

Method

1. Chop onion and potato and add to pot with a bit of oil, if using fresh or frozen vegetables add them now. Cook stirring on high until onion is translucent and potatoes start to soften then add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

2. Add 2 cups of water, the can of tomatoes, thyme or mixed herbs and cinnamon. Bring to the boil then add pasta or rice, beans and if using, canned vegetables.

3. Cook until the pasta is done then check the potatoes, when/if they’re done add spinach and remove from heat.

4. Serve hot with salt and pepper to taste.

notes

If you don't have access to tap water use canned veggies and add the liquid from them and the beans and reduce the amount of stock powder you use.

[vegan-easy]

Tips for new vegans

Congratulations on deciding to go vegan! I hope these tips will be able to help you stick with the vegan lifestyle once you’ve committed to cutting out animal products, they’re things I learnt during my transition and some things I wish I had known before starting.

Commit to going vegan in your head as well as your heart, you may have seen an animal rights video that really made you want to change how you see the world and that’s excellent, but don’t stop there! Do some more research to find out why veganism is for you. 

You don’t have to go cold turkey. Go about it whichever way you feel is working for you. If this means first switching to a vegetarian diet for awhile or cutting out animal products one by one over weeks or months then do that. Don’t feel guilty for not dropping every non-vegan product in your fridge, pantry, and skincare drawer all at once, it’s much more important to stay vegan than to be able to say you’re vegan right away.

Don’t go on a health kick the same time you transition to eating plant based or you’re likely to lose motivation. Eat how you normally would, if you’re used to a cooked breakfast try baked beans on toast with cooked tomatoes and a tofu omelette, don’t suddenly start drinking cold kale smoothies. If you’re a fan of cereal for brekkie you’ll find that a lot of cereals are already vegan, you may just have to switch out cows milk with one of the many non dairy milks avaliable.

Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up in the beginning, we all do it and I promise it will only get easier as you learn more. Your vegan card isn’t revoked over a missed salad dressing, so don’t throw in the towel, just make a conscious decision to do better next time.

Come up with a statement you can use to quickly and succinctly explain why you’re vegan. This may seem hard, after all there’s so many reasons for veganism, but being able to outline your lifestyle in a sentence will help you deal with rude omnivores and start helpful discussions with possible vegans. The phrase I like to use is: “I’m vegan because I’ve realized that it’s neither ethical, moral or sustainable to capitalize off the suffering of others”. For me this shows that I take my veganism seriously while opening the gate for questions from people who actually have an interest.

Don’t get disheartened, the people around you may not share your enthusiasm for the new way you see the world and they may even mock you. Don’t lose heart because the people around you don’t understand. As time goes on and they’ll see that veganism isn’t weird or scary. And the emotional benefits of knowing you’re doing good for the world definitely helps when facing negativity 

Be prepared for an onslaught of questions and maybe even snide comments, the general population sees vegans how the media portrays them: Dirty, anemic hippies who splash red paint around at fashion shows and fast food joints. Most people will expect you to know the name of every food additive and be able to recite quotes on demand. At first it will seem impossible to deal with the ridiculously high expectations people will have of you, but as time goes on and you learn more, navigating tricky conversations will almost become second nature. 

And lastly, do your research, watch the documentaries and/or read the blogs and studies, this will really help you with explaining veganism in an appealing way and sticking with your decision. Remember a quick google search can answer almost any questions you have and there are always plenty of vegan bloggers wiling to help.

And however you go about your transition always remember that you are making a positive influence on the world and literally saving lives just by existing.

If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me a message and i’ll do my best to help.

Thanks for reading and good luck!

[vegan-easy]

How to make soy yogurt without a yogurt maker

This yogurt recipe may seem complex but it’s so easy that after you've made it once you probably wont need to look at it again. I wanted to fiind a way for making yogurt that’s cheaper than store bought and doesn’t use any fancy equipment. My method for yogurt making replaces the yogurt maker with an esky or styrofoam box and the thermometer with your hands. This yogurt doesn’t need to be warmed on the stove as the heat pack or hot water bottle bring it up to temperature

Soy yogurt doesn’t taste exactly the same as it’s dairy counterpart but it’s just as good, smooth and creamy with a mild tang that works wherever you’d use natural yogurt.

Makes around 1.25 liters, try halving the recipe the first time you make this and remember to save some of your yogurt to use as the starter for the next batch.

When I first made this yogurt I ordered a plain soy yogurt with live cultures online but if you can find one in a supermarket use that, just be sure the carton explicitly states that the yogurt contains live cultures, otherwise use a vegan yogurt starter. Here’s a link to the plain yogurt I ordered and a yogurt starter.

The cashews in this recipe give the yogurt a thicker texture and creamy taste, if you don’t mind slightly thinner yogurt or if you’re allergic or don’t have a blender you can leave them out, this recipe will still work but if possible use full fat soy milk

.I usually make this with a reduced fat soy milk as the cashews up the fat content, but if you want to use this yogurt for a dessert or if you want a really thick and creamy yogurt use full fat soy milk.

Ingredients

Unopened 1 litre carton of soy milk, low or full fat as long as the protein content is around 7 grams per 250 ml.

1/2-3/4 cup of unroasted, unsalted cashews, soaked overnight

Either 1/4 cup soy yogurt with live cultures or a vegan yogurt starter

Equipment

Insulated cooler/esky or styrofoam box (make sure your jars and heat source fit with the lid on)

Glass jars with lids (old pasta sauce jars are perfect)

blender (I use a generic brand magic bullet that was about $40)

Heat pack or hot water bottle

Microwave

Pot of water

Metal spoon

Method

1. The first ting you want to do is sterilize everything that touches the yogurt as best you can with boiling water. To sterilize the jars add a few centimeters of water to each jar and microwave on high for 2 minutes, allow to cool before removing the jars and discarding the water. To sterilize the jar lids, spoon and blender blades and cup either submerge them in a pot of boiling water for a minute or boil them in the kettle. If you have a traditional style blender carefully rinse it with boiling water.

2. Next quickly rinse the cashews with the boiling water and add them to your blender, add enough soy milk to cover the cashews and blend on high until the mix no longer feels gritty when you smoosh it between thumb and forefinger.

3. In the pot you used to boil your equipment combine the cashew mix with the rest of the soy milk and stir through the yogurt or starter with your clean spoon.

4.  Now pour the yogurt mix into your jars, filling about 3/4 of the way, then screw the lids on and put your jars into the cooler or esky, I use the cooler box that my yogurt was shipped in.

5. If using a heat pack microwave for 2-3 minutes until it’s hot, if using a water bottle prepare as normal, add your heat pack or water bottle to the esky with your yogurt jars, make sure that all your jars are touching the heat pack/water bottle and make sure the lid fits on.

6. For the yogurt to set the jars have to sit at around 37-43 degrees celcius (100-110 F)for about 7-8 hours, the first time you make this you might want to check on your yogurt hourly to make sure it isn’t too hot or cold, and you may have to rewarm your heat source. To test if the yogurt is warm enough wrap your hands around the jar, it should be warm enough for you to feel the heat but not so warm you would sleep with it on a cold winters night.

7. After your yogurt has set leave it at room temperature for around half an hour to cool before transferring to the fridge overnight, in the morning use a boiled spoon and jar to save around a 1/4 cup of your yogurt as a starter for your next batch.

You’ve now got your very own yogurt to use how you want, you can add sweetener or flavourings if you want, or you can make Greek yogurt by pouring your yogurt into a sieve lined with cheesecloth or an old tea-towel, place the sieve over a bowl and leave overnight. All the excess liquid will drain out and what’s left will be thick Greek style yogurt. 

notes:

If you think the yogurt is getting too warm take it out of the cooler for about 10 minutes to cool down.

you’ll know your yogurt is set when you see a clear liquid pooling in the jar and your yogurt starts to looked ‘cracked, If it isn't set in 10 hours the temperature was either too hot and killed the bacteria or to cool to encourage growth.

be careful if you reheat your heat source not to get it as hot as in the beginning as this may overheat your yogurt and kill the bacteria

if you want to make Greek yogurt I recommend using the cashew yogurt as the non-cashew stuff doesn’t get as thick.

If you do happen to have a yogurt maker and/or thermometer feel free to use this recipe with them. 

If you can only get a hold of flavoured yogurt the flavour should fade out by about the fourth batch.

[vegan-easy]

Hey thanks for visiting my blog, it's a bit bare at the moment but I hope you'll stay with me as I get started. 

[vegan-easy]

Cheats lentil curry

This dish is easy, tasty, gluten and nut free and a great way to use up leftover veggies, plus it all comes together in under half an hour. I love making this when I want a quick yet tasty lunch or dinner without too much effort.

This curry makes 2 small serves with rice or 1 large serve without. If you double the recipe it makes 3 large serves with rice.

The yogurt is highly recommended and i’ll make a post explaining how to make it yourself.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 1/2 cups of chopped raw or frozen veggies (my favorites are carrots, cauliflower and zucchini)

1 1/2 tsp of your favourite brand of curry powder or if you have it you can use a garam masala spice blend

1/3 cup of canned coconut milk/cream (lite or full fat) You can substitute milk from a carton if you like just use a little over half a cup and skip the water, be warned though this will alter the flavour.

1/4 cup of water

1 can lentils, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 tsp (or to taste) of golden syrup, brown sugar or honey substitute 

1 tsp of lemon juice

optional but recommended: 1/4 tsp each ginger and chili (paste or powder)

parsley or cilantro for garnish

plain soy or coconut yogurt and rice to serve

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.  If you’re cooking your rice from dry bring 2/3 of a cup rice to a boil with 1 1/2 cups of water, stirring so it doesn't stick, then turn it down put a lid on and let it simmer while you cook the curry.

2. Chop onion how you like it and add it to a deep pan or a pot on low heat, doing this gets the onion out of your eyes while you chop the rest of your vegetables and garlic.

3. Turn the heat up and add your vegetables, cook stirring frequently until the onion is translucent and the veggies start to soften (about 5-8 minutes), then add your garlic and spices and cook for a further minute or two.

4. Turn the heat to low and add your lentils, coconut cream and water, stir to combine then add in sweetener and lemon juice. cook on low for about 10-15 minutes or until lentils are mushy and the veggies are cooked how you like them, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Serve over rice and garnish with parsley or cilantro and plain soy yogurt.

notes:

If you want to use cooked veggies instead add them in during the last five minutes of cooking

you can always replace the water with more coconut cream if you want a super creamy dish or add more liquid for a saucier curry

to up the nutritional value try adding some chopped spinach or other dark leafy greens and using brown rice, I just use microwaveable brown rice for mine.