Eventually, We All Expire.

Did you know that I've spent several years thinking that paprika didn't have a stong smell,
and mostly no taste at all?

Turns out, once we cleaned out our spice rack,

that the paprika I had been using had a best before date of:

 'AUG 94'

I've now bought more paprika and can safely say that it does have a smell. And a taste.

Use fresh products, people.

Don't Become A Vegan To...

It's just over a week since Valentines Day and the thought occurred to me that I should post this Valentines Day-themed drawing I created a month ago.
Perhaps I didn't post this on Valentines Day because I was too busy crying alone in the bathroom, surrounded by my 15 cats, whilst listen to Adele on repeat...

"...never mind I'll find, someone like you..."

...or perhaps I was too busy living the good life. You decide.

There are many reasons to become a vegan... but this is not one of them.

How To Win Friends And Influence Carnivores

As sure as the sky is blue, any vegan has started out with skeptic friends.
To be fair, they probably tried Tofu as an impressionable 8-year old at their Primary School's Multicultual Day (cue: hippy parents) and thenceforth...

(side note: isn't that the best word ever?)

...decided that all food void of animal products tasted like raw sponge.

It takes a great many experiences to rewrite the impressions made by this one. I would know. That kid was me.

However now in my arsenal of facts and figures and statistics, I also have one recipe guaranteed to draw a concession that maybe, perhaps, just this once... a vegan option is better than a dairy one.

Clearly this recipe does not usually include meat.

#carnivoresconceednothing

Here we go...

Vegan Banana Bread

(recipe borrowed/stolen/altered from here)

Los Ingredientes:

2 cups plain flour

3/4 cups raw or white sugar 

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup soy milk

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

4-5 (over) ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, whole or broken

1/4 cup pepitas

1/4 cup sesame seeds

What to do...

One. boring prep stuff

Preheat the oven to 180 C, fan-forced. Oil up a 9"x5" loaf pan.

TWO! Sift-sift-arama

 Get your mediumest bowl and add (sifted!!) flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Then the sugars. 

Sift the dark brown sugar last because it sifts poorly and leaves a powdered sieve.

Three. Sir Mix-a-lot

Find your large mixing bowl and add the milk and apple cider vinegar and WHISK your heart away. Maybe sing some Julia Andrews while you do so. I enjoy a little 'Climb Every Mountain' with my mixing. It inspires me.

Once mixed, LEAVE. Not the room, just the milk solution. Let it rest for 2 minutes. I'm timing you...

Fooooour. Addition and subtraction.

To the milk solution, finally add (you've been waiting for this) the mashed banana, maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract and whisk again. Add the dry ingredients and whisk/mix, but this time, not until your heart is content. Just until your heart is barely satisfied and your ingredients are just mixed.

5ive. (Remember the boyband?) Nuttyness.

Fold in the walnuts, pepitas and sesame seeds. The latter two ingredients are not essential, but as a vegan it's an extra dose of iron (pepitas) and calcium (sesame seeds) and that's never a bad thing. Pepitas add great texture, sesame seeds finish unnoticable and they add nothing bad to the taste.

6ix. (The lesser known spin-off boyband). BAKE SALE!!

Pour your mix into the loaf pan, chuck into the oven for 1 hour and 25 minutes. A little burntness adds crunchiness, I always say, and charcoal aids digestion. That being said, start checking it from 1 hr 20 minutes but be prepared for it to need up to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Once it is tolerably touchable with oven mitts, tip out and let sit/stand/precariously perch on a wire rack to cool.

Seven. Cut Up And Eat.

Cut up and eat.

From the many superstars who've ventured to try this alternative, the result back is unanimous.

#ican'tbelieveitsvegan

#tastesensation

#betterthantheoriginal

...just like Back To The Future II.

The walnuts decided to run out, so this vegan banana bread is topped with pepitas.

Hey Pesto!

I met a herb the other day.
Basil The Herb.
And now, we're in love.

Just how was it that I'd gone through my 26 years of existance and never once come across basil?
I've lived a sheltered life, I'm sure.

Last night I made a Basil Pesto,  serving size for an entree.... about 4.
I ate it all.
I love Basil. Did I mention that?

Pesto is a really easy spread to make and it's perfect for pre-dinner snacks on crusty bread, or mixed with pasta for an italian mains.

Check it out...

2 cups of Basil leaves.
3 cloves of fresh garlic
1/3 cup of pine nuts
1/3 nutritional yeast (this is the substitute for parmesan cheese... and it's great!)
4 or 5 sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup of olive oil or flaxseed oil or sesame oil*
salt & pepper & sesame seeds

*I usually keep the oil from every jar of sun-dried tomatoes I finish and create a little tasty oil culmination. This spread is a great place to pour that in.

Add the salt and pepper to taste, the sesame seeds don't add too much flavour so add them for an excellent source of Calcium.

(It's quite a forgiving recipe in terms of ingredients; feel free to add walnuts/almonds/cashews instead, or as well as pine nuts... add chia seeds for Omega 3... remove the sun-dried tomato for a less sweet pesto.)

Step 2:
BLEND.

And hey pesto, you're done!

Freshness Tip Of The Week

When choosing the freshest carrot, go with the one that is the least floppiest.

Aching For Some Bacon?

Most people, when I tell them I'm vegan, can pretty quickly tell me of the one or two foods that they  simply could not give up.

Steak.

Cheese.

Mochas.

(That was me)

Corn chips.

(...umm, you can still eat them.)

Beer.

(...Do you even know what a vegan is?)

Two things are involved here: the first is habitual eating, which are statements that begin with,

"I always..." or "Whenever..."

"I always have a steak once a week with mates from work."

"Whenever I'm bored, I eat chocolate."

These are the actions that require no thinking, and just eating. Breaking these habits takes time, which is why I wouldn't suggest anyone try a vegan diet for less than three weeks, but if adequate substitutes are replaced consistantly, soon your mind will do the work for you. It will retrain itself to make the connections between the trigger and food you allow yourself to eat. Habitual eating, once changed, is easily maintained.

Number Two reason for Foods I'd Never Give Up is cravings. You know the ones... where all you want in the world is that piece of gooey soft cheese. Or a hot chocolate. Or a chunk of red meat.

Give me that chocolate, and no one gets hurt!!

Should we practice extreme self-denial in these situations and block our ears to the evil inner voice whispering of culinary delights....?

Actually, I don't think we should.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Yeah, nah, I don't.

And this is why.

THE ILL-FOUNDED THEORIES OF ONE PRACTISING VEGAN

This heretical notion is based on the idea that your body will know what it's lacking and try to communicate it to us. It's like Lassie, trying to get us to come help, except, most of the time, we aren't fluent in Dog.

What is it, Lassie?

We pick up the signal that something is wrong, but we go about fixing it incorrectly.

And here's my theory.

If you crave....

Chocolate, candy, exceptionally sweet items...

... your body is really wanting vitamins.

SOLUTION: Want sweets? Cut up red and orange and yellow capsicums. Carrots. Oranges. Tomatoes.

(Add leafy greens to the little salad and you are set).

Eat a good portion size of this and if, once you have finished you still want chocolate, go for it.

 If you are starting as a vegan and allowing yourself some slack, then sure, grab cows' chocolate.

Otherwise another option is soy chocolate. It's not as good as cows' (IMO) but hey, it's sweet.

And that's what you want, right?

Milk products...

... your body is wanting protein.

Nom Noms.

SOLUTION: The best thing you can do, expecially if you crave this at similiar times each day, is to include a little more protein in the meal before (it'll keep you fuller for longer).

Quick sources of protein are nuts and seeds, but lentils also don't take too long to cook, and up the portion size for beans and chickpeas in your next prepared meal.

Also, soy milk. Almond milk. Oat milk. Rice milk. Hazelnut milk.

(Cue: Meet The Parents - "Oh, you can milk just about anything with nipples"

.. only, cross out the nipples bit and replace it with any plant-based product)

Red meat...

... your body is craving iron.

SOLUTION:.... eat more leafy greens? *cowers*

Okay, don't hate me for saying it again, but leafy greens are pretty much the winners in life.

The darker the leaf, the more iron.

Also, get in the habit of throwing added extras into your food:

Sun-dried tomatoes.

Pepitas!!

Sesame seeds!!

Sunflower seeds.

Dried Apricots.

Make sure to eat these while eating some vitamin C at the same time and this will help your body absorb to maximum effect (Orange Juice, capsiums, dark leafy greens)

Also, even though it's vegan, if you crave...

Corn chips, hot chips...

... your body needs carbohydrates!

SOLUTION: Get the good stuff into you.

Up on the whole grain everything, down on the refined bleached groups.

I am of the opinion that carbs are great and incredibly essential to a healthy lifestyle,

so cutting out carbs altogether will start up the cravings for the bad stuff.

And, I don't know about you, but I don't think I have enough self-control to walk past a fish and chip shop

when I'm starving for hot chips.

So there it is. If anyone would have trouble giving up cows' chocolate, it would be me. And, for awhile it was.

But it gets easier. I started listening to my body more, adjusting my vegan diet to experiment with satisfying my cravings, and that's what I got.

So, do yourself a favour -

listen to your body

 and fill up on the good stuff.

You Can Misquote Me On That...

Misquote of the week:

"Let he who is without nutrient deficiency throw the first stone fruit."

.

Beans, Beans, They're Good For Your Heart...

Yesterday I cooked up a big bean mix.
BEANS?!

*shudder*

Possibly my least favourite texture in the world - aside from some slimey Okra I once ate during my time in Africa - beans were extremely low on my shopping list during my pre-vegan times.
But, they are protein and WHAT great protein they give!

(Kidney beans offer ~ 13g of protein/ 1 cup... I need 27-49g a day)

So, like the glass slipper left on a staircase, one good recipe can change your life. Or, at least, your attitude towards beans.

In an effort to avoid pre-mixed anything, I grabbed a bunch of spices from the shops and jumped into the world of legume cuisine feet first.

Garlic & Onion

Cumin - ("don't leave yet, I'm cumin!"... hahaha best food joke ever)

Paprika
Ground Coriander
Fry them up, add beans, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes.
If you add mushrooms, they'll absorb the flavour overnight and will be pretty amazing for that dish the next day.
Then add.... kidney beans! Yuck. But they aren't so bad. I get pretty lazy and buy them in a tin these days, although one day I'll get my act together and plan what I'm going to eat more then 6 seconds before I start...
Add borlotti beans for a runnier stew-like consistancy, or refried beans for a thicker paste. I think I like the texture of refried beans even less than kidney beans.
Add chilli flakes for hotness, and any patriotic Australians ought to add vegemite.

(actually, as a flavouring to meat sauces, vegemite is ridiculously effective. It replaces all salt and adds a depth of colour and flavour to the mix, creating an added cheesiness. I don't eat cheese, you know, cos of the whole vegan thing, so it's a life saver. Weird, but true.)

Okay, so suddenly beans are not the arch-enemy I once thought. Chuck it on tacos/enchiladas/wraps instead of minced meat... or thin it up the make the world's most delicious "chilli" - (that is, what Americans call a tomatoy meaty spicy saucy dip-like concoction. Not entirely sure of the Australian equivalent name. If you know, tell me!).

Serve with avocado and corn chips. De-light!

(P.S. dried herbs are amazing for everything so don't be afraid to add heaps.)

Boring details:

2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, diced
3 teaspoons Cumin
2 teaspoons Coriander ground
2 teaspoons Paprika
100g tomato paste
2 tomatoes, diced
4 button mushrooms, chopped
800g (combined) kidney beans, borlotti beans, 4 bean mix, refried beans...
2 tablespoons vegemite
1 teaspoon chilli paste (to taste... you can always add more, but never less!)

It's entirely possibly they this recipe will invoke farting.

Apologies to all the friends who sit close by and have to endure the smell.