If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. ~Paul McCartney

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Vegetarian Mince - Yay or Nay?

I picked up this packet of organic vegetarian mince a few months ago (doesn't expire for over a year anyway) and finally decided to cook it up the other night into a bolognaise sauce. 


I thought that it is only fair I do this blog to be honest and let you know that some vege supplements are complete crapola!


Okay this stuff is easy to cook, compared to real mince, you don't need to defrost it, you just pull it out of the cupboard and basically just add it to your meal. Simple.


It really is the taste that is the let down. It tastes like NOTHING. This just felt like an unusual texture in my mouth that had no flavors and just felt purely fake.


I am all for vege supplements, though I try to keep them in my diet as a minimum because they are unhealthy, but this one is one to miss.


But is it just me? Is it just this brand? Let me know if any of you have had a good experience with Vegetarian mince, or tell me if you had a bad one.


P.S. Served with brown pasta spirals, of course. 

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Homemade Vegan Pizza

Before becoming vegan, the bf and I really liked to order in pizza and we still do. But our favorite pizza to order? It was BBQ Meatlovers. Yep. All that cheese and sometimes 7 different types of meat. Disgusting! So as you can imagine, giving this up was a bit of a change.

Next time we ordered pizza we started ordering Domino's vegetarian pizza without cheese... not bad. We then discovered Eagle Boys Vegetarian pizza, no cheese and with meditteranian veges... pretty good when you can't be bothered making your own, but a bit pricey. 

THEN we discovered our fridge and pizza bases :) We had that AHUH moment and we started making our own pizzas. Fresh veges, exactly what we like and about half the price! Not to mention super easy.

We buy pre-made pizza bases from the supermarket. But by all means, if its easy for you to make your own, go ahead!

Next we throw on some tomato paste and then follow it by any toppings you like! On the pizza below we have:

- Kalamata olives
- Pineapple
- Mushrooms
- Sundried Tomato
- Red Capsicum (aka peppers)
- Spanish Onion
- Homemade pesto 
- A bit of BB sauce

Throw it in the oven for about 15 minutes and it will come up all crispy and tasty. I did this on about 160C oven and perfection!

BEFORE:

AFTER: (throw on some fresh rocket!)

My quick and simple Hot Chocolate

I looooooooooove chocolate and I promise that not all of my recipes are going to be chocolate only related! I have one coming up on pizza :D 


Tonight I wanted a yummy hot chocolate considering today I made my OWN almond milk (yes that is correct, home made almond milk, video on that some time when I get a proper nut milk bag)! I asked the bf, "Would you like some hot chocolate?"


The bf said, "Ummm hot chocolate? That isn't really healthy!"


"But yes it is! I am going to use my almond milk silly!"


"Okay can we have some of those Fudge Baby things with it too?"


And then I created my hot chocolate and made another batch of Fudge Babies! (See previous post).


In my hot chocolate?


1 cup of non-dairy milk. I don't really measure this, I just put as much a my mug will take without overflowing.
1 tablespoon of cocoa.
1 teaspoon of maple syrup. I am sure Agave nectar is better to use, but I am out!


I put everything in the mug, put it in the microwave for 2 mins, stirred, another minute et voila! (Yes yes, microwaves aren't a good idea but I already had a huge pile of dishes in the sink without creating another pot full of hot chocolate; though recommended if you aren't lazy like me!)





Thursday, February 18, 2010

Choc Fudge Heaven made with DATES?!


I am finally posing something on this blog! But yay for an awesome recipe I want to share with you all! 

Last night I discovered this blog called chocolatecoveredkatie and she makes amazing vegan food that is SO healthy!

She calls these little balls "Fudge Babies" and it is such a cute name!
When I saw the recipe I HAD to go get some dates to make it! So that is what I did today and this is what I made...

                  

So here is the recipe:

1 cup of walnuts (feel free to use any nuts you like!)
1 and 1/3 cup of pitted dates (I bought mine from the fruit and vege store but you can find them in the supermarket)
1tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons of cocoa powder 
A bit of rice milk (or whatever non-dairy milk of your choice) if you find that the other ingredients are a little dry!
1 tablespoon of peanutbutter? My little extra touch.

Mix everything together in a food processor, add the milk if your mixture is very dry. Then take out little pieces and roll them into balls! These babies are so fantastic, I dare you to not eat any when you are rolling them! I failed that one.

I really think you need to check out the blog! It is so good!

Im going to go eat a little Fudge Baby now!


I also put about 


OH btw the best bit is at the end when you have rolled them and you get to lick all the mixture off your hands...

Friday, February 5, 2010