vegan, sixteen

2010-01-27T10:53:00.000+10:00

hello kidlets. THIS is my new blog if you're interested.

WORDPRESS up & running

2009-11-28T08:44:00.000+10:00

Actual goodbye

2009-11-13T08:06:00.002+10:00

... But not from blogging!

Okay, so you'll all recall that I was told not to food blog any more. Recently I visited her and, seeing how well I've been doing, this was revised. So, cautiously, I'm going to re-start, and if any bad comes of it, it'll be buh-bye food bloggies for good this time.

So where does the "actual goodbye" part come into this, if I'm going to start food blogging again, you ask?

Well, you may or may not recall that I wanted to move to WordPress but had no clue how to do so. With a little persistence I've finally (kinda, sorta) figured the place out, so I will be blogging from there from now on. At the moment it's set on private because I'm still setting a few things up, but keep checking back - I may have a post up later today!

www.bellpeppergirl.wordpress.com

^ Clicky clicky.

Ciao bellas, see you on the WordPress side!
- Liz

New directions: vegan shoes

2009-11-05T13:08:00.002+10:00

Hola, bloggies!

So assuming you've all read my last post, I won't be needing to explain why 1) I've been absent from the blogsphere for a few weeks, and 2) this post will not be food-centric.

I've been faced with quite a dilemma, in fact - what to blog about now? Surely I couldn't just ramble, I'm positive my life's not interesting enough to warrant that. What about my veggie garden aspirations, you ask? Well, those plans haven't quite unfolded as of yet. I am decidedly lacking in seeds to plant and haven't had the chance to buy any yet (I'm adamant that my seeds my organic, therefore limiting the places I can actually buy seeds from). Hopefully this situation will be remedied come Saturday, which happens to be a Super Saver Saturday at my local Mrs. Flannery's aka. Super Happy Funtimes. I don't know if I can quite express how much I love Super Saver Saturdays, but I sure don't love typing all that out. Let's call them Supahs? Kay.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand! So if I couldn't blog about my lack of veggie garden... what did that leave? I still wanted to keep this blog vegan focused, though I'm sure I could blog about a whole host of other things. Passing ideas have included books, my room makeover (currently in progress), movies... and then it hit me. Vegan fashion!

So, I bring you the first of what I am positive will be many posts about vegan clothes, accessories, and - for today specifically - shoes:

Aren't they heavenly? I have to admit, I am a complete and utter sucker for ridiculously tall heels. Especially if they're super pretty (and that goes double if they're pink). I guess I'm just a total girly-girl at heart... but how can anyone resist THIS?!

Gratuitous detail shot, anyone?

And, best part: they're vegan! Proofs:

...if you can read that. Anyway! Review time!

London Rebel Pink Heels Review
Obviously these are some seriously attractive shoes. Lovely platforms on the ball of the foot and sky-high heels that are juuuust the right thickness - not clunky, but not like a stick either - with a gorgeous vibrant colour and cute little cut-out deets plus an adorable ankle strap to hold them firmly in place. I was so smitten with these that I wore them out to the city the other day to meet up with my friend (who was actually ~~the one who talked me into another pair of shoes I didn't need~~ with me when I bought them). As soon as I left the house to walk to the train station, I knew I was going to regret my choice of footwear. Not only are these shoes a major challenge to walk in without falling over/rolling your ankle/plodding along looking like a total idiot (ALL of which I did), they're not exactly painless. By the end of the day my feet were covered in sores (the ankle strap actually CUT IN to my feet!) and sore as hell. I was very thankful indeed that my meeting with my friend was short - not that I don't love spending time with her, but godDAMN, as I was walking around trying desperately not to DIE I was cursing the day I spent a surprisingly low amount of cashola on The Shoes, cursing my stupidity for deciding to put fashion before comfort, and wondering why in HELL anyone EVER wore heels at all... and then we'd walk past a reflective surface and I'd catch a glimpse of The Shoes. Oh. That's why.

Aesthetics: 9/10
Comfort: 2/10
Price: 9/10
Versatility: 6/10

Aesthetics score for obvi reasons, same goes for comfort (given a 2 and not a 1 because I did manage to walk around for about an hour and a half with them on, without killing myself - god I hope they just need to be broken in!), price was very very good as they were originally $60 but they were 50%, heck yes! And versatility is a little so-so because the actual style of the shoe is pretty neutral, but the outrageous colour means they won't go with everything.

Be sure to check out shoes by London Rebel. I can't vouch for 100% veganness, but they're not especially expensive or high-brow shoes (yet are absolutely gorgeous - can you tell I LOVE this brand?!) so I wouldn't think many of their designs are leather, if any at all.

Next up; seeds for the veggie garden!

- VS

So long, farewell...

2009-10-26T18:19:00.002+10:00

*Sigh*

Literally on the SAME day that I've just posted about how often I'll be able to post now, I had an appointment with my dietician/psychologist and this is the awful, horrid and downright depressing sentence she has passed down to me:

Don't food blog until you're much further down the recovery track. Also, limit your reading of food blogs and read cookbooks only under supervision for limited amounts of time.

Seriously? This is going to suuuuuuuck. Big time. I mean, of course I understand why - it's about taking my mind off of food 24/7. But food blogging has always been such a POSITIVE for me! It's seriously actually HELPED me so much this far. Le sigh. I guess there's nothing I can do.

The good news: I *can* continue to blog. Just not about making food. I am, however, permitted to write about GROWING food! With all this newfound time to myself i've decided to make a little project of making a veggie garden. So, I'll be blogging about that from now on, as well as any other vegan-related, or just Liz-related topics. I want this blog to reflect who I am as a whole person, if it can't be a food blog for a while. Don't worry though - I'll start posting about food at some point again! I'll let you know when it looks like the day I can resume food bloggery is nigh.

Anyway, I'm considering moving to wordpress, but this is what's stopping me: I cannot for the life of me figure the damned thing out! Anyone have any tips?

Thank you so much, everyone, for all your lovely comments and sincere compliments - on my food, photos, writing, or just plain old me! I can't tell you how much it's meant to me to be a part of such a kind, funny and supportive community! But please don't all assume me a lost cause just cos I can't blog about food anymore - I wanna be kept in the loop! Let me know about meetups, care package swaps, new recipes you think I'd like, anything to do with oatmeal/dried fruit/larabars, you know the drill. Even though I'll be reading less of your blogs, I'll still comment from time to time!

Once again, thank you all. The next time I post, it'll be about my garden! Any seedling ideas?

xx
- VS

Freedom

2009-10-21T16:20:00.004+10:00

Just a quick li'l heads-up, chickadees: I now only attend school part-time. To cut a very long story brutally short, I have not been coping with the energy that my school requires in order for me to survive as a student there - talkin' physically & emotionally here. Plus I've completely lost passion for the subject I am even in school at all for: Theatre, so I'm feeling pretty lost at sea where my life focus is concerned. Top it all off with an ongoing recovery period from anorexia nervosa (yikes, I've hinted at it here before but never quite been so blunt - sorry if that freaks anybody out) and you've got yourself a vegan, seventeen who really needs some honest to God off time. So instead of five days a week of school I'm doing two, without the stress of having to worry about homework & assessment - only for this last term, and then next year we'll see where my head's at.

So, moving on. What does all this mean? Copious amounts of time all to myself? Check. Parents and principal heavily encouraging me to be social and go out? Check. Is this a dream? Nope, it's all too real, and what it means is this: I can blog properly again!

Now, I can't be putting pressure on myself to replace all the pressure I've just had removed, so I'm not promising daily postage. But I'm thinking it'll at least be more frequent than it has of late :D

So! My first post as a part-time school-attender, on my second day of non-attendance. It's been pretty fantastic so far, very relaxing and such. I've been snacking on beauties such as this:

Yes, I still have Cinnamon Cashews left over from Sydney. With organic strawbz + topped with Ricemellow Creme. Loves. And speaking of Sydney, I believe I hinted at a review?

Review: Syndian Roasted Vege Lasagna
Woe betide she who gives a negative review to a vegan product, right? I feel awful in saying this, but this just did not do it for me at all. In fact, I downright disliked it. Now y'all know what a big fan I am of Syndian's bites and burgers, so you can probably take a guess at how disappointed I was by this lasagna. See the sorry-looking sheet of tofu ricotta on top of all that thinned-out tomato sauce? It was so bland! It was like eating soggy paper. No taste at all. The tomato sauce was better flavour-wise, but lacked in the texture department and did a very bad job of staying between the sheets of pasta, preferring to run all over everything like water. As for the actual vegetables, well, they were good tasting but only because vegetables are pretty much always good tasting. No interesting seasoning or anything - plus they were cut into such BIG sizes and kept tearing off all over the place, and they were all cooked to different stages - some were supah soft and fell off my fork, and others were hard and crunchy. Eating this thing was a MESS. I won't be getting this again. But don't worry, I still love you, Syndian. You've already won me over for good with your delicious falafel bites :)

With all my extra time, I decided to try out a few recipes from VWAV I've been meaning to cook up for a while now. Presenting:

Ginger Roasted Vegetables with Orange Glazed Beets, alongside garlicky spinach and pine nut couscous. So. Effing. Yummmm. I added a ton more salt to the beets than the recipe said because I didn't want to overload on sweetness for dinner (seeing as the roasted veg dish has copious amounts of maple syrup in it) and it turned out amaaazing. Salt + maple + orange + beets = yumtastic.

Anyway, tonight's very exciting because I get on a plane to Melbourne! I used to live in good ol' Melby when I was just a kidlet, but I don't remember it very much. I'm super excited to see my dad's new house plus explore around town - not to mention visit some amazing vegan restaurants and cafes! So far I've got my heart set on going to Vegie Bar and Lord of the Fries (I've heard it's gone downhill, but vegan fast food is so scarce I figure I've gotta try it once, right?). Any other recommendations?

See you in Melbourne!
- VS

Abandonment issues

2009-10-11T20:31:00.006+10:00

Sheesh. As soon as school starts up again, this blog gets abandoned like a xmas present puppy. Oh my gosh, that was in such bad taste. Sorry. Speaking of irresponsible pet owners, though, today I went looking for a new water dispenser for my chickens - theirs is broken :( and I was at the Pet Hypermarket resisting the urge to adopt every single mill-bred puppy in the store when I saw a couple looking at a turtle. The man obviously wanted the turtle, badly. The woman said, "But we barely clean the bloody house, how are we going to find time to clean that huge tank?" and he replied simply, "If we get sick of it, we can just set it free." She agreed and they went to find a staff member. I wanted to tell the workers NOT to sell that turtle to the couple under ANY circumstances. It was so sad to see that process of "Oh it's so cute" one day, to "Dumped on the side of the road" the next, in process. Made me want to cry. Have you ever had a similar experience?

Anyway, end rant. This week has been a mixed bag, eats-wise. Some things have been marvelous, and others have been absolutely ordinary (read: lazy dinners). I whipped up some more recipes from VWAV: Jerk Seitan and Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy!

Kay, it LOOKS pretty ordinary, but lemme assure: absolutely mouthwatering. I was a little worried that the jerk marinade wouldn't "go" with the gravy. But I was proven wrong, and I don't think I was ever happier to be wrong in my whole laaaiiife. I'm loving me some sauces over the top of my dinners lately; case in point: Cheezy Sauce from V'con over roasted sweet potato slices, mashed pumpkin, steamed haricots verts & broccoli, sauteed chard & ginger, plus two glorious slices of homebrand garlic bread (yes, as in from the fridge section of my local Woolies - somehow it's vegan! Rejoice!). Food courtesy of l-o-mum. No picture courtesy of my awful memory. I added a fair whack of pine nuts into the sauce, just to up my protein intake (because we all know how DIFFICULT it is to get vegan protein...). It was a stellar addition, adding a lovely extra texture to the sauce, but next time I think I'll toast them first? Yes indeed.

But wait! There's more! Only, not food. Instead, shiny new kitchen things!
Haul from cute little stall called Chalet:

I found a spiralizer for $50!

Somehow, noodle-fying vegetables make 'em taste even better.

And finalllyy, for my school's semi-formal last night I volunteered to bake some vegan & gluten-free cupcakes - there's a girl in my year who can't have gluten or cocoa. I know! I'd hate being without my cocoalove. So, my original plan was to make Gluten Freedom Vanilla Cupcakes with All-Natural Agave Icingfrom VCTOW to accomodate. But on the night before the semi, I discovered that our cupboards are lacking in quinoa and brown rice flours, two very key ingreds to the said cupcakes. On the verge of a mini stress attack, I suddenly spied our packet of Orgran All Purpose Gluten Free Flour... and our newly purchased packet of Organic Carob Powder. Suddenly I was fishing all over the cupboard and joyfully discovered that we already had ALL the ingredients I needed to make...

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes! Dusted with powdered sugar, carob powder, and cinnamon. At the semi, these disappeared so quick I only got to have one - but what a ONE it was! These are seriously delish. It's sort of like a cinnamon/spicy/fudgey/brownie cupcake with a delicious crunchy border around the top which tastes AMAZING with the simple topping. If you have this recipe book, make these cupcakes.

Anyway, because of my abysmal lack of postage throughout this past week (theatre rehearsals plus school hours plus homework), I've decided to draw inspiration from my fellow bloggies for my next post - and I've got a review to post plus several new foodie dabblings of mine - and an upcoming trip to Melbourne, vegan capital of Australia! Stay tuned!

- VS.

One short day...

2009-10-04T20:13:00.003+10:00

Sorry about the lateness of this post everyone! It's been a very big day. But not as MASSIVE as yesterday!

The day began with carby carby goodness.

Nature's Path Maple Nut Instant Oatmeal plus a hunk of corn bread, cut in half, zapped in the microwave and topped with oozey delicious AB. It was the carbiest sugariest breakfast ever and kept my tummy happy for a very long time. Which was a good thing, because...

I only had time to down this li'l fella before racing out the door, all dressed up, to Wicked! We arrived with about half an hour to spare, so on Amy's good advice I talked my dad into buying me an Ozmopolitan...

Can I just take this opportunity to say I do not condone underage drinking at any time ~~unless delicious fruity cocktails are involved~~. But srsly. Soooo delish. It was pretty cold though, so I didn't feel up to drinking even half of mine. I offloaded it to my very welcoming step-mum. Then it was in the theatre doors and into our fourth-row seats!

The show was absolutely in.cred.ah.bul. I'm being completely serious in saying if you have not seen Wicked yet and you live in Australia, fork out your dough and get yourself there. I don't care WHAT city you live in. Anyway, rumor has it the show's coming to Brisbane at some point. Would I go again? You betcha. The set, the costumes, the singing, the acting, and even the American accents were all perfection! Of course, I wasn't shocked by the actual storyline, being very familiar with the songs & script - but all those other elements made a real, lasting impression. My family loved it too! So much, in fact, that we totally overstocked on the merch. I got a purple I heart Oz tee, a mug, a program, a CD and a keychain. Yay, material possessions!

But the fun *so* did not stop there. We piled into the car and drove to Newtown! On the way, I scarfed down half of this:

I loves me my LEDA. Banana flave is definitely my one and only. Apricot and Apple just ain't gon' cut it.

We parked right across the street from The Green Gourmet and realized we had about an hour and fifteen to murder salaciously. Then my step-mum spotted an incense-y jewelry shop and that was almost half an hour gone. Not that I minded - I got a pair of gorgeous earrings out of it, to go with the dress I was wearing (which also happens to be the dress I intend to wear to my semi-formal in two weeks time!). We left the shop and dad suggested getting a coffee or a drink before heading to dinner. I, however, had other plans.
Me: Dad, is it okay if I just go look in the Vegan's Choice Grocery?
Dad: Uh, sure... but we've got forty minutes before our table's available. And it looked really small.
Me: ... Yes?
Dad: Well, you're not going to spend forty minutes grocery shopping, are you?
Me: You have no idea.

So armed with some moolah I practically skipped into the grocery while dad and step-mum enjoyed some 'ccino. Upon entering I couldn't wipe the smile off my face... everywhere I looked, vegan this, vegan that, vegan pies, cakes, tarts, quiches, brownies, cheesecakes, cookies, nougat, bars, slices, cheeses, meats, pretzels, chocolate, ice cream (and waffle cones!), sauce, jam, desserts... EVERYTHING VEGAN. And there were people in the shop with me WHO WERE VEGAN. I realize that to some people this is hardly a big deal. But I've never really met another vegan before in real life! To think I was sharing a room and a philosophy with these people was enough to make me giddy with delight. I nearly ran out of time just looking at all the store had to offer. Eventually I settled on vegetarian mini-steaks, TVP chunks, Parmazano, Smoked Cheddar Sheese, Salt & Pepper Nori Tofu and a Syndian Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. That cleaned me out of cash and room in my freezer bag I planned to take home with me on the plane to Brissy. MORE than satisfied, I ran to the nearby gelato place to meet up with my dad and step-mum, where they had just finished their coffees. I felt an innate sense of excitement and unexplainable PRIDE as we stepped through the doors and took our seats in The Green Gourmet.

And now, to the FOOD!
Starters...

First, Chestnut San Choy Bow - dad specifically wanted this. To my absolute delight, he and my step-mum declared it "hearty" and "meaty" - the best two words omnis such as themselves could have used to describe vegan fare. I agreed with them, too - it was amazing. I only had a few bites, though. Then we had Steamed New Moon Spinach Dumplings - my request. I only ended up having half of my dumpling, but it was so tasteh! Recommended.

We were having a really hard time decided on our mains, so we got four, expecting quite small portion sizes. Instead we got four MONSTER SIZED plates and wound up doggy bagging a fair whack of our food! Not that I was complaining. Food = good.

In order of appearance: Salt & Pepper Calamari that tasted scarily like the real thing, some kind of potato-tofu curry that was deliciously creamy (with yummy Five-Grain Rice in the background), Five-Spice Mushroom Tempura I could have eaten all day long, and then, the piece de resistance, Sweet & Sour Taro Fritters.
Never having been a meathead myself, Sweet & Sour Pork was my one meaty downfall. My Achilles' heel, if you will. My Pandora's Box. My... okay, you get it. I frickin' loved the stuff. So I had HIGH expectations and was praying like crazy that they'd be met.
And oh. My. God. Were they EVER! I could eat that stuff for breakfast lunch & dinner every single day for the rest of my life. It's that good, trust. To prove, here is the AFTER shot of that particular dish keeping in mind we had FOUR mains we couldn't finish:

See?

We were all incredibly full after dinner but I was adamant that we try dessert. Not wanting to get something I could have just anywhere, we decided on two desserts to share: Black Sticky Rice with Coconut Milk & Steamed Banana, and Vegan Crispy Custard Crepe with Purple Taro Ice Cream.

I loved it ALL kidlets, though I only really had a taste of each component of both desserts. Apart from the ice cream. That, I practically devoured all by my lonesome. Though it was described on the menu as "tofu" ice cream, I could not detect even the tiniest hint of soy. It tasted exactly, EXACTLY like creamy delicious full-fat dairy ice cream. Plus it was a funky color. What more could a girl want?

The ride home was full of exclamations from my dad and step-mum about how great the food was, how if I'd blindfolded them they'd never have known it was vegan, how they MUCH prefer Green Gourmet to their usual Chinese haunt (which is BIG coming from them, they go there at least twice a week!). Needless to say, I fell asleep that night a deliriously happy vegan, with visions of taro fritters dancing in my head. Ever taken an omni out to a vegan place? What was their reaction?

Until next time, lovelies!
VS.

Relax

2009-10-03T08:08:00.002+10:00

Happy weekend bloggies! Yesterday began with proof that my sprouted bread cutting skills are DEFINITELY improving:

Outta sight, right? Spread with almond butter plus bluebizzles. Gotta have it. AB & bloobz were made for each other, period. Plus peppermint tea, naturlich.

My BP continues to mess with my ability to stand up straight, apparently! I downed SEVERAL ~~glasses~~ buckets full of H2O before making good on my promise to walk Billy again while my step-mum was at work. Upon feeling like I may be able to walk fifteen minutes without dying, the Billster and I were outtie.

My day got better during our walk because of two things. Thing one:

Now, generally I'm strictly a caffeine-free girl. But put me smack in the middle of a household that runs on coffee and I'll welcome my old caffeinated ways back with open arms. Before yesterday I had been running on empty for three days straight. My liquid gold, aka Large Takeaway Long Black No Sugar, fixed me right up :) Now for thing two:

MULBERRIES! As a kid around Brisbane, my friends and I would play in the park by the river and pick and eat these berries until we practically puked everywhere. Kay, no puking was involved, but you get the picture. Finding this tree on my way back from the beach made me jump up and down with glee as memories flooded me with nostalgia for purple-stained fingers and those delicious berries. So I ate every ripe one I could see. Obvi. But that wasn't very many.

After dropping Bill back home I dashed right back out to my beloved Harbord Growers. I realised with quite an upset that this would probably be my very last visit until I returned to Sydney once more, seeing as I had Wicked scheduled for Saturday and was flying to Brisbane around 10.30 on Sunday. So I resolved to buy the essentials as well as grab a few things I'd had my eye on for a while.

L-R: Nannerz (must have!), Mango Tapioca (how could I not, after how amazing the Apple-Cinnamon was), dried pineapple rings, and a strange, un-juiced POM Wonderful ;)

My tummy immediately demanded dried pineapple. Who am I to say no?

Why do my hands always look weird in food photos?

I was super excited to try my pomegranate, having never had one (apart from the juice) before! I still had leftover pasta from last night's salad, there were neglected portobellos in the veggie crisper, and my lunch go-to green: baby spinach. An idea began to form...

And so, here's another almost-recipe! Another pasta salad... sorry!
Bitter Balsamic Triple P Salad (Pom, Pasta, Portobello... get it?): Serves one; 270 calories
20g pomegranate
30g baby spinach leaves
One serve Orgran Rice & Corn Spirals, cooked & cooled (or any pasta you prefer)
1 portobello mushroom
15ml balsamic vinegar

1. Put the mushroom in a bowl upside-down and drizzle the balsamic vinegar over it. Use your hands or a brush to distribute the vinegar all over the mushroom and place in the fridge to marinate for ten minutes.
2. Toss the spinach, pasta and pomegranate.
3. Retrieve the mushroom from the fridge and cook on a hot non-stick skillet until blackened. Make sure to pour any balsamic vinegar in the bottom of the bowl over the mushroom while it cooks.
4. Top your salad with the cooked mushroom. Toss the salad around a bit so the spinach and pasta get a coating of vinegar. Enjoy!

I had my salad alongside this yummy ramekin:

Sydnian lentil bites + baba ghanoush. So. Freakin'. Good. I am gonna miss these babies in Brisbane.

Given my recent troubles with my blood pressure, and how much I've been stressing over school, myself, and a whole bunch of crazy stuff I won't bore you with here, my step-mum (who has a massage/healing business) offered to do a massage and energy healing session for me. I'd never had either, mainly because I didn't know there was any such thing as an energy healing session and the idea of a stranger rubbing me down just always freaked me out. But knowing just how much tension I carried - in my shoulder AND emotionally - I said yes. But not before afternoon tea.

The Mango Tapioca was soooo yumlicious. Specially when scooped up with a date. Perfection I say.

My massage was very relaxing, although my arm did go all floppy at one point which was kind of disturbing. However, it was the energy healing that really left an impact on me. I held a crystal in each hand, and there was one at my head & feet, and my step-mum did a "guided meditation" for me where I communicated with three angels I'd chosen from a deck of tarot-like cards. Now, I don't know how much belief I actually have in this sort of thing but what I do know is how amazing the entire thing felt. I felt very safe, supported and like I definitely wasn't alone - besides my step-mum being there, that is. After the session I felt more energised than I had in months. So, something worked! Have you had any experiences with this type of thing? If not, what do you think of it all?

Full of energy, I got cookin' dinner. My step-mum specifically requested Isa's V'con Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa stir fry. I decided to change things up a bit and invert the recipe to make...

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers! So naturally I didn't put any bell pepper in the actual stir fry, I just made it up without that and then stuffed two de-seeded peppers with some quinoa mix and popped it in the oven for about ten minutes to soften. It was fantastic! I'd always wanted to have stuffed peppers. Dream come true? Yes.

Although I felt a lot less like sleeping than usual, the energy boost from the healing session was starting to wear off at around ten. So, I grabbed me some eats and snuggled into bed with Almost French again. I'm not sure whether it's bc my mind was skittering all over the place but I just didn't enjoy reading it as much yesterday. Ah well.

Dayum. I was lovin' my bloobz and pineapple, wasn't I?

Next post: a review of The Green Gourmet and Vegans Choice Grocery! Plus I'll tell you all about Wicked. So excited!

- VS.

Life's a beach

2009-10-01T16:02:00.005+10:00

So, remember how I was making some whiney noises about the cold, windy weather here in dear old Sydney?
That weather was HISTORY yesterday! I didn't realise until I stepped outside since the house is so well-insulated (read: freakin' freezing), but it was hot hot hot! Cloudless blue sky, cancer-causing UV rays beating down mercilessly, gusty hot breeze... perfect beach weather ;)

The day's eats started off very well indeed! I had the remainder of my homemade berry-tofu-yoghurt, which had set nicely in its container and had a consistency reminiscent of greek yoghurt. I was delighted to say the very least: I loved me some greek yoghurt, as a pre-gan. Alongside this I decided I needed some carby goodness, so I heated up a bowl o' leftover brown basmati with a sh!t tin of cinnamon & drizzled with some AB. Bliss.

Blurred cinnamon rice anyone?

Before heading to the beach, I knew I needed some anti-dizzy-spell magic. Luckily for me, there was some lemon-lime electrolyte powder in the kitchen cupboard. Perfecto - I could have picked up a bottle of Gatorade, but all that sugar for a little hydration? No thanks.

It tasted pretty good, surprisingly. Just like the supah-sweet cordial I downed by the gallon as a kid. Except for a weird, gross bitter part at the very bottom of the cup. Ah well, I didn't really care. The icky remaining drink went down the sinkhole and I went down to the beach with my step-mum.

I was so hot by the time we got there I wanted to jump straight into the water. Lucky I didn't, because when I waded in the water was FREEEEEZING! Seriously, icicle-worthy stuff. Apparently hot sunny day does not equal perfect water temp. Dang. I opted to ~~be sensible and apply lots of sunscreen before lying around in the sun~~ tan instead.

A little browner than when we arrived, step-mum and I made off for the Harbord Growers to get a red bell pepper, some pineapple, bloobz, and a mango. Oh happy day. Upon reaching home I was staaaaarving so I made me some lunch.

Wrap = Syndian Aussie Fusion burger patty mushed up with some pineapple pieces & baby spinach in a wholemeal tortilla. Plus 'bouleh. I'm gonna miss the convenience of having a salad deli right near my house when I go back to Briz. The patty was pretty great! Aptly named, too - there was definitely beetroot in there, and we all know beetroot + pineapple = aussie burger, right? Well, sort of anyway.

The afternoon was upon me when I realised I had absolutely nothing to do. No Gossip Girl to watch, no more taped shows... nada zip zero. Okay, I could have learned my lines for the play we're doing in Theatre Arts this coming term... but I'm on 24/7 work-avoidance detail and that just wouldn't do. I resigned myself to finishing off Twilight for the millionth time (I'm aware of how awful the books are but it doesn't stop me loving them to pieces), accompanied by a fruity snickety-snack.

This is the reason I love it when the weather gets warmer: all the best fruit comes into season! Fresh mango, bloobz, and a dried paw paw spear. Nature's candy: who needs the manufactured stuff? What's your fave fruit? I have no IDEA how to pick just one. I love them all! Lychees, plums, peaches, apricots, apples, pears, bananas, watermelon, rockmelon, honeydew melon, pineapple, papaya, coconut, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, mulberries, grapes, goji berries, cranberries... oh man. I could so easily be a fruitarian, but I love my veg too!

Given my utter neglect of dinner cooking I figured it was high time I do something that half-resembled a recipe. It was still hot enough, in the noontime yesterday, for me to shun all ideas of a hot dinner. So pasta salad it was! In the spirit of the first day of MoFo, I've even posted a (pretty shoddy) recipe! Proud o' me?

Super Simple Pasta Salad: Serves 4; 300 calories per serve
One four-serving package pasta spirals (or any shape you like, I used Orgran Rice & Corn Spirals)
1 medium avocado (about 140g without the seed or skin)
180g red bell pepper, chopped into cubes
100g sugar snap/snow peas, chopped into small pieces
Optional: Any other veggies you want - or you could add tofu, tempeh, seitan etc to make a more substantial meal :)

1. Cook pasta according to packet directions. Drain and place in a bowl. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour.
2. Mash the flesh of the avocado in a medium-sized ramekin. Transfer the mash to your cold bowl of pasta and stir vigorously for about ninety seconds to combine.
3. Place your chopped veggies/other optional ingredients in the bowl and stir well to combine.
4. Hey presto! You've got ridiculously easy pasta salad.

Okay, I know that wasn't much of a recipe. But give a girl some cred. I'm trying here. And for the record, I ate my helping of pasta salad with a LOT of vegetable salt. Gotta love hypotension.

And finally, to finish off the day, I decided to be more than a little bit unhealthy. What I TRULY craved, banana soft serve, was not an option as we were (gasp!) out of nannerz. So I grabbed the next-best thing: a vegan chocolate coconut cookie, cinnamon cashews, and more bloobz.

I munched on dessert while reading the book underneath the ramekin that my step-mum leant me: Almost French by Sarah Turnbull. It's apparently a true story, almost an autobiography of sorts. I'm an avid reader and recently have been stuck in a Harry Potter-Twilight-Harry Potter again cycle. I love my comfort reads but I do like branching out. While this book isn't challenging as such, the story of the cultural transition of an Australian girl who goes to live in Paris on a whim motivated by a handsome stranger is pretty engaging and I'm liking it more than I'd anticipated. But I do need to go book shopping asap for the sake f my sanity - I need good books to keep me happy and I can't technically claim this book as mine, it belongs here in Sydney. Any recommendations for me?

Tomorrow, I promise another recipe - although not one much more involved than today's!
Love,
- VS

Unadventures...

2009-09-30T20:11:00.006+10:00

Inadventures? Nonadventures? Whatever, it's a word now.

On the very last day of OzMoFo, I was pretty excited to get out of the house yesterday and into the city, finally! After a quick breakfast of the following (and by quick I mean slightly faster than my usual tortoise-like pace but still fairly lethargic), I chucked on a pair of jeans, singlet, keds and hoodie and threw my bag over my shoulder, waiting to be picked up by my grandparents. It was art gallery time!

Blur it up. Bowl o' fruit (nanner, kiwi, pineapple) plus a slice of plain sprouted toast. I swear that bread does not NEED any condiments, I prefer it straight-up. Granted, it was the size of one-and-a-half servings of bread, but don't my cutting skills look like they may have moved up a notch?

Around ten in the a.m, my grandma swung by and we drove around to collect my grandpa before walking to the ferry and taking it across to Circular Quay. The boat was supah-rocky! Iused to have good sea legs... apparently not any more.

Upon arriving we started walking on up to the gallery. We passed an Iku Cafe that I desperately wanted to stop at, but my subtle hint (read: "Hey, I've heard so much about that place! Everything they sell is vegan!") didn't gel and we kept on moving. I started to feel very dizzy and just generally out of it, but told myself it was the heat and kept on truckin'.

After checking out the art at the gallery for a solid ten minutes and feeling worse by the second I decided to speak up, and the grandparents decided it was time for lunch. The cafe only had pre-made wraps so there was no cheese-free option for me, plus the upstairs restaurant didn't look promising either. So we headed across to the restaurant in the park directly opposite the gallery and were assured the chef could do something for me. Et voila, my something:

C'est tres jolie, non? I almost didn't wanna wreck it with my destructo-fork. Almost but not quite. I was sure that the impending lunch would solve my lightheadedness. I dug right in and revelled in the simple tastes of roasted eggplant, bell pepper, spanish onion, tomato and zucchini. I'm pretty sure that's all it was, with some olive oil. But I was so not complaining. I'd missed my plain roasted veg mucho since arriving in Sydney and this really quenched my thirst. Whetted my appetite. You know, whichever. But it didn't entirely substantiate a meal since it was just a few glorified veggies so I downed the last of my Larabar supply:

Sad to see it go. Time for another stock-up, methinks? Any fave flavas you wanna clue me in on? I've tried everything except Tropical Fruit Tart, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Peanut Butter Cookie, Lemon Bar, Pistachio, and Coconut Cream Pie. Oh and I've tried all the Jocalats apart from Hazelnut, German Chocolate Cake, Orange and Cherry.

Anyway. After lunching we got up to leave... and hey presto, my head spun right round baby right round like a record baby right round round round. Sorry. But it did. I did try to suck it up and enjoy the gallery for about another hour, and we saw some amazing prints from their "Prints in the time of Romanticism" exhibit, but after that I had to draw the line and we got a cab home. Only on the way back did I suddenly realise what this dizziness probably meant.

THE RETURN OF THE LOW BLOOD PRESSURE!

When I thought of it, I hadn't had much sodium at all and probably have almost reversed all the good work I did on jacking up the old BP. Nice one, Liz. I was bedridden with utter exhaustion the whole rest of the day, abruptly ending my city escapades and thus producing an unadventure. So obviously, to accompany my Gossip Girl-ing (what ELSE would I do stuck in bed all afternoon?) I needed a salty salty snack.

Pretz + hummdog = loves. During the time in which this snack was consumed I finished season two of my beloved GG. Sorry to spoil for anyone who hasn't seen, but in the last ep (if you're not up to this restrain yourself from reading!) I literally JUMPED OUTTA MY CHAIR when Chuck told Blair he loved her. I said "Yay" times a million and got so excited that it's probably sad, considering this is over a tv show and all. Can't wait to start season three now!

After two consecutive nights of almost-recipes for dinner I decided I was allowed to be even lazier and just have savory lentils from a can plus greens and corn bread. Yes, I suck, I'm aware of it. I should be cooking up fantabulous feasts for you all to marvel at! But thing is, my step-mum and my dad have spent mucho moolah on convenience foods for the vegan and I feel pretty obliged to use it all. So I'm a girl on a mission.

There ARE lentils under my garlicky spinach, that's not just a massive hunka corn bread! But I totally could eat a slice that big. Corn bread is way too good. Probably all that delicious raw sugar. I've been having a very unbalanced diet of late. Gotta get that sorted out... hmm. I'll be back on track 100% come Monday at least, since I'll be back in Brissy. Dessert was semi-healthy bc of the guilt that comes from essentially eating glorified cake for dinner:

Hehe, see what I did there? I'm *so* funny. Apple slices, with cinnamon and AB. And salt. I ain't going to no hospital. The salt added a surprising pleasantness, actually. I recommend trying cinn + salt on fruit. With the nut butter of your choice. Speaking of which, I need to try and make some nut butters of my own when I get home to my darling food processor!

Until tomorrow, my loves! The REAL MoFo begins - maybe I'll actually post more this time, sans exam block!

- VS

Lockout!

2009-09-29T19:34:00.003+10:00

I think maybe, when I'm on holidays, my brain goes on to auto-pilot. Only my auto-pilot sucks.

Yesterday started out like any other, really - except I had a larger-than-usual sugar craving. Sup with that? I ain't one to ignore signs, though, so for breakfast I had more than my fair share of sweetness.

Good old reliable wholemeal bread with a mashed banana, plus a mug full of soymilk & froot loops! Man, I hadn't had junky cereal in such a long long time, and this really hit. the. SPOT.

Next thing I know my step-mum's outtie to meditation class and I volunteer to walk Billy, their (our? my?) dog. Bills and I are fully tight and all, but he is a hefty six-year-old staffy who weighs more than half of me, all pure muscle. I was a tad apprehensive about this walking expedition, especially since I had a long black coffee in one hand. But, I'd promised, so I got walking. It was pretty pleasant - Billy didn't drag me all over the place like I thought he might, and my cuppa didn't spill once! The only not-pleasant part was the part where B decided to take a very very big doo-doo right on a grassy curb in the middle of a very public place with lots of people watching, which I then of course had to scoop up. Thanks Bill.

Anyway, I returned to the house with Billy and my step-mum was still at her class, so I whipped out my phone to read the memo I'd written to myself that contained the combination to the lock on the front door. I punched it in... and nothing doing. I figured, oh well, I'd rather go for another walk anyway. I'm sure when I come back it'll open properly, or maybe Samantha will be home by then.

So, I headed straight back out to Harbord Growers. Let me tell you something, kidlets: I LOVE that place. There is an entire freezer full of Syndian vegan products, EIGHT different brands of hummus, and fifteen shelves entirely dedicated to dried fruit & nuts. It's what VS dreams are made of. Did I mention their deli also does an awesome chickpea & pumpkin salad? After spending a good two hours browsing (I love grocery shopping a bit too much...) I filled a basket with baba ghanoush, apple-cinnamon tapioca pudding, tabbouleh from the deli, an avocado, Syndian lentil bites and cinnamon cashews and walked home.

No car was in the driveway, so I tried the doorbell in case Sam had parked in the garage. No answer. So again I pulled out my phone and punched in the lock code. It still wouldn't open. Fail. I tried calling my dad, but in vain. I didn't have Samantha's number. My cold groceries were meellllting. I was locked out!

I quickly dashed down the side of the house and put my groceries in the cooler, mercifully open laundry. Upon doing this, I spotted the side door and tried it to see if it'd been left open. Nope. However, there was Billy's dog door... but just a word of caution, bloggies: human shoulders are too wide for such openings. Do not try to squeeze your way through. You'll get stuck and look ridiculous.

And so I sat and sat and sat. Lucky Billy was there to keep me company. At one point, I was sitting up on a chair and he was on the floor at my feet, looking lonely. I decided to get down on the concrete and join him. As soon as I sat down next to him, he jumped up onto my just-abandoned chair and looked at me smugly. You win, Bill. I did manage to take an incriminating photo of him licking out a nostril though, so I can blackmail him into giving back my chair should this event ever repeat itself:

And yet he is still utterly adorable. How? If you got a pic of me doing that I'd look a few (dozen!) sandwiches short of a picnic. Ah well.

After about an hour my phone rang. It was my dad. Our conversation went something like this.

Dad: You're locked out?

Me: Yeah! I have the code, but the door hates me and won't open.

Dad: You need to press the first key really hard so it clicks.

Me: That's what I've been doing but it's still not working :( (yes, I can communicate emoticons through tone of voice)

Dad: Punch it in again.

Me: *sigh* Okay...

Dad: Now turn the lock REALLY hard.

Me: ... Oh. Um. Thanks Dad!

So classically me, this. Getting "locked out" because I wasn't turning the lock hard enough. What's your worst or most shameful "locked out" story? Trying not to feel very embarrassed indeed, I put my sweating groceries away in the fridge and made my rumbling belly some much-needed lunch! I wanted more salad than carbs, given the day before's redic comfort bowl.

Spinach, red bell pepper, carrot, bean sprouts, broccoli slaw, pickles, tabbouleh. Topped off with Syndian lentil bites and delish baba ghanoush. That stuff is just as addictive as hummus!

After the morning's adventure I was more than happy to retire to an episode or four of Gossip Girl. So, I grabbed some Cinnamon Cashews to accompany my viewing, continuing my sugar kick from breakfast.

Woaah, blurry enough? Let me just say: if you live in Sydney you NEED to buy these now. The company (I'll post their name later!) makes a range of flavoured nuts but these are the only ones I saw that are vegan. Others contain honey, milk powder, etc which is a shame because they also make Indian Chai Almonds. Dang. Maybe I can try making my own at home in Brissy?

After GG my step-mum was home and she suggested a marathon of taped TV shows that I am too wussy to stay awake for (ie. anything on past nine - I know, I'm hopeless). I skipped off to find more sweet, tooth-decaying eats and returned to the couch with my Apple-Cinnamon Tapioca to watch The Vampire Diaries, Little Britain USA, and Nurse Jackie (purely because of Peter Facinelli).

This was GOOOOD. So good! I'd never had tapioca before apart from in Bubble Tea but of course I never ATE the balls and assumed they'd be hard (yes, I know what I just wrote). But they're not! They're all squishy and soft and this tasted incroyable (I know, I know, I'm trying to be mature and not giggle out loud at what I'm writing and failing miserably). I inhaled this! There was another flavour on the shelf next to it, I think it was Coconut Cream or something. Definitely on my to-try list!

During the marathon, l-o-mum called! She and o-sis are now back in the country and very tired and laden with merch from Kyoto. They loved it over there and are talking about how to adopt the Japanese way of life! Mum's seriously figuring out how we can go grocery shopping on bicycles. I'm a little apprehensive, I ain't gonna lie. I am ALL for enviro-friendly living, and I know usually we don't buy much at Woolworths (we get organic local produce delivered) but I LOVE grocery shopping and, well, simply lack co-ordination on a bike. There are hills around the supermarket. I'm sure I'd end up dead if I tried riding around there, much less with a basket full of groceries!

Oh well. After I got off the phone, Dad had returned home and was waiting for a taxi to take him to his flight to Melbourne. I was a little sad, to tell the truth. I wanted more time with him seeing as we were getting to bond so much. But he'll be back late on Friday night, and then on Saturday he's taking me to see Wicked! I'm so excited; I've wanted to see this musical for literally three and a half years now. It's a late birthday present :) and yesterday I was told some even BETTER news! Well, at least EQUALLY GOOD news.

Susan strongly suggested I get myself to The Green Gourmet in Newtown. Well, guess who's going there for dinner after the show on Saturday!? I'm super happy, I've wanted to check this place out for soooo long. Can't wait to try their Sweet and Sour Taro! (Yes, I did download a PDF of their menu). But I'm even MORE excited to go crazy in The Vegan's Choice Grocery right next door! My step-mum has told me I can take frozen/cold stuff back to Brisbane with me in a wine cooler, so I'm not gonna hold back!

Come dinnertime, I knew I wanted cornbread. Luckily I'd made up my Orgran packet mix of it that afternoon. I felt like Neil Buchanan on Art Attack!, you know, here's one I prepared earlier type of thing. I sliced up that big ol' block of yella and made some VERY quick Maple-Mustard tofu. Again with the not-recipes? I just whisked 10g dijon mustard with a tbsp. pure maple syrup and browned my cubed tofu in a hot skillet for a while, before adding my sauce and allowing it to caramelize while my cornbread heated up in the microwave. Once that was done I scooped it on to my plate with a heap of tabbouleh. Mixed cuisines, anyone?

Superyum, though. The cornbread was SO thick and rich and the tofu cooked up nicely. I felt a bit naughty eating so much sugar for dinner. But I promised myself, dessert will be different.

Well - it is KINDA. No refined sugars as such. Just fructose. Heavenly, heavenly fructose.

With the promise of eating lunch out tomorrow (going to the art gallery with my grandparents) I headed to bed, but not before one last ep of GG. Loves it.

- VS

When you're on a holiday...

2009-09-29T07:18:00.003+10:00

I'm still at a total loss as to what to do with myself these holidays! Pour exemple, yesterday. I did nothing. However, this nothing was in itself pretty liberating. I never do nothing. It's kinda fun. Hopefully I'll get down to the beach today, though - there's plenty of local talent around! And by that I mean surfing talent, naturally ;)

It was cold yet AGAIN in the morning yesterday, but I was a girl on a mission. No way was I letting the weather come between me & my potential breakfast two days in a row. I whipped up some impromptu yoghurt and dang was it tasty.

Eated alongside two slices of sprouted spelt, spread with almond butter plus a mug of peppermint tea. I could post a recipe for that yog but I'd feel a bit redic. It's just silken firm tofu, mixed frozen berries and strawberry jam all blenderised together. Simple but gooood.

When lunchtime rolled around it somehow felt even COLDER. Why? Why? And so I grabbed everything comfort-esque and made a meal of it. It was messy, disgusting and delicious.

In the bowl: spinach leaves and bean sprouts (hey, when you eat something daily it's bound to become a comfort food), refried beans (from an Old El Paso can), leftover brown basmati rice, a ripped up barley tortilla wrap, brown rice & vege bites and a LOT of hummus. Mixing this stuff up with a spoon was tough. So tough I resorted to using my hands. Like I said, disgusting.

But so tasteh.

My dad got back from working at Botany (he's going back to Melbourne tonight) at around two. I was thankful for the chance to have some human contact, as I'm pretty sure watching Serena Van Der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf for hours on end doesn't count for being social. We talked for about an hour, and snacked on this:

I'm a pretz fan fer sure (for the record only half of those were mine!). And dried paw paw is so sweet and perfect... I'm a dried fruit aficionado, though. I love dried anything.

Anyway, it was really welcome, that chat with my dad. I feel like although I've always known him to an extent, I actually have gotten to know him just as a person and on a whole new level, rather than just as my father. It's so weird - in a good way! I found myself thinking, Wow! So you're an actual human being, huh? I know that sounds terrible, but it was just because I guess I had always lumped him into a different category: parent. And now I find out he's just this guy. It's not disappointing, though - it's great! I feel like I understand him more and we're closer than ever. When's the first time you realised parents are people too?

So you'd think with all this extra time and all my cookbooks lying around the house here in Sydney I would get up & start cookin'. No dice, kids. I guess once I get lazy, I get reeeeally lazy. Last night's dinner was even less involved than the night before!

Udon noodles (they were fresh off the shelf, pre-cooked. All I had to do was heat them for two minutes!) combined with frozen peas, again. I covered the whole thing in five-second peanut sauce which is another case of I could post a recipe but I'd feel dumb. It's just a tablespoon of PB, covered with soy sauce and a touch of ground ginger, stirred together with a spoon. I think it could have used some chili, but it was pretty stellar just like that. Anyway, after heating my noodles and peas I added more spinny. I love me some greens.

As I'm sure you noticed, the image quality in this post is just as shocking as that in my last, thanks to my... less-than-amazing camera. But come dessert time I had a stroke of genius! My phone had a very good camera, did it not?

Voila! MUCH better. Not stellar, but at least no icky over-exposure or the like. I'll be sticking to this method of taking photos for the rest of my time in Sydney. Anyway, dessert was pretty basic but very yum. Whittaker's dark chocolate and strawbs. How can you miss?

When I see you all next, I'll have more (quality!) photos to share (and not just of food!), a recipe and some very good news! Until then, bloggies!

- VS.

Hola from Sydney!

2009-09-25T17:51:00.008+10:00

Okay, so here's how my week played out - on Tuesdee morn', my nanna took me to the GP to check up on the old blood pressure. Good news: it's up ten points so no hospital for me yet! Bad news: Doc thought being at theatre camp was going to be a bit of a danger to me, in terms of falling back into some less-than-stellar eating habits (or lack thereof) which is the last thing anybody wants. So he said, don't go back. It's a shame because my mum forked out a lot of dough for me to go to the camp, but tbh I honestly wasn't enjoying it very much anyway, and was kind of glad to leave. No clue why - I used to love it! Maybe the immense focus on theatre at my school has taken the fun out of it. Not good. Anyway, after going home I was alone since l-o-mum and o-sis are in Kyoto as I'm typing this, and my dad, bless him, decided he wouldn't have that at all (although I wouldn't have minded a little solitary time) especially not in light of me being at risk of a relapse. So it was onto a plane to Sydney that night, and I've been staying with my step-mum ever since since dad's been in Melbourne working all week. He's home now, though!

Whew, that was a lot. So far my time in Sydney has been amazing, food-wise! My step-mum was kind enough to buy a ton of vegan stuff for me - she got falafel bites, brown rice & veggie bites, Aussie-style burger patties, chickpea & pumpkin salad, lebanese lentil salad and mini avocado nori rolls! And that was all even before we went grocery shopping. Now I'm totally stocked up on chickpeas, hummus (love!), fresh dates, fruit, wholemeal tortillas, quinoa, you name.

I decided to make Isa's Cashew-Pineapple-Quinoa stirfry from V'con but unfortunately by the time I remembered to take photos we were clean out. It was an instant hit :)

I've also eaten out at Yok again (I got Tom Yum this time!) and Emilia's, a vegetarian restaurant near South Curl Curl Beach with a LOT of vegan options - highly recommend, kids! PS. If you love you some hummus the way I do, get the Lebanese Platter as a main. Half the plate is covered in the stuff. The other half is covered in baba ghanoush. It's all topped with tabbouleh, falafel, dolmades, carrots, cucumber, tomato, jalapeno, olives and tzatziki (not vegan, I avoided it). Served with a side bowl full of lebanese bread = deeeelish. They also do a vegan apple "crumble" (basically baked apple topped with brown sugary oats, very tasty though) and have chocolate/vanilla soy ice cream too. Very naaaiice.

So, to make up for my abysmal lack of photographs I resolved to snap shots of EVERYTHING that passes my chops (excluding boring things like water or if I chew my fingernails or something) until I leave Sydney. Okay, okay, it's ambitious, but I think I should be able to do it!

To start things off, today's eats...

When I woke up, it was cold. What gives? It's supposed to be Spring, therefore warming up! Unfortunately it's been chilly and windy here in Sydney and I packed attire such as singlets, shorts and bikinis. Sigh. Thank goodness for my obsession with black tights - they've kept me warm. Anyway, I had been planning on making tofu yoghurt for brekkie, but there was just no *way* I could stand to this morning. I needed comfort in a bowl, pronto. I needed warmth. I needed carbs. I needed mushy, microwaved bran straw cereal with hot soymilk & melted banana.

With a healthy dollop of almond butter. Me loves. Oh, and sorry about the shoddy image quality again, everyone. Sis and mum have the nice camera.

Anyway, after downing that in 5.4 seconds flat (seriously! I'm normally a very sloooow eater but not this morning, apparently) I opted for a very badly-cut, toasted slice of Pure Life's Essene Sprouted Spelt Bread.

I wasn't kidding about the "badly-cut" bit. Hey, is it my fault if the knife is blunt? No. However I do think maybe slicing heavy breads is a talent I lack. Eating them, however, is an entirely different matter. I've fallen crazy in love with this bread. It's as decadent and filling and moist as a piece of cake, only not sweet and a million trillion times better for you. If that made sense at all, to anyone.

Lunch was at the boat club that my grandparents are members of. They were a little worried I wouldn't be able to get anything, but I assured them I can find SOMETHING anywhere. And I was right! Whilst the fam chowed down on Lobster Mornay, I stuffed this down my gullet:

Salad & avocado sandwich on verrrry thick toasted white bread. I know, refined grains - boo hiss. But it was all they had, and much and all as white bread ain't good for ya (I never eat it, ever!) it tastes gooood. Oh so fluffy. There was a tad too much avo on my sammich, so I took some off. It came with a side of crunchy slaw topped with a very yumlicious mustard-balsamic dressing.

I spent the afternoon lazing. Translate: I spent the afternoon on Facebook playing Farmville. Dear god I can't believe I just admitted that... if you don't know what Farmville is, do yourself a favor and do NOT google it. Much like my pre-Gossip Girl-addict days, I once scoffed at the idea that a silly virtual farming game could ever suck me in to its vortex. How wrong I was.

Anyway, my sammie was decidedly protein-free and so I needed beans. Or that was my pitiful attempt at justifying a big ol' glob of hummus, anyway.

Alongside carrot sticks and salsa from an Old El Paso quesadilla kit, plus a nice li'l ramekin of pineapple chunks & a medjool date. Nom.

Come evening, my dad and step-mum had decided they were going to get Chinese takeout. I was a little apprehensive at the idea of asking yet more questions... "is there fish stock in this?" so I opted to cook up something super simple for myself. Not wanting to miss out on the cuisine, I grabbed some brown basmati rice, red bell pepper, mushrooms, peas and nasi goreng seasoning sauce and whipped up some very non-authentic fried rice...

... and topped it with a delish Eatwell satay burger patty. And I LOVED it! The neutral savory taste of the burger cut through the super-spicy goreng sauce perfectly! Who'da thunk it?

My palate still quite spiced-up and peppery, I knew there was only one thing I wanted for dessert. Are ya ready kids?

Banana soft serve in all its creamy, icy, sweet glory! I was actually craving sugary goodness more than usual, so I mixed a few Dandies into my nanner (which I know you probably can't see due to the ridiculous over-exposure of this shot. My camera needs to be replaced, stat!) Seriously, I know evvverryone and their mama posts about this stuff - but that should be an indication to all those who haven't tried it yet: FREEZE A BANANA AND BLEND IT ALREADY. Yumtastic.

So, tomorrow: another all-encompassing post! It'll be a pretty lazy day, I think - no eating out or the like. I may just order vegan pizza... but more about that later. I'm finding that much and all as I looove lazy holidays I'm getting a bit bored! What do you do to shake holiday boredom?

Look forward to hearing from everyone - and to another day of snapping pics of all my food!

- VS

Calm before the storm...

2009-09-19T19:12:00.004+10:00

That's kind of what today felt like! After two weeks of crazed assessment and stressful exams, I spent the entire day reading, writing and Gossip Girl watching (by the way, I'm so glad I'm not alone in my guilty pleasures, TV-wise at least - I seriously encourage you all to watch GG though! It didn't grab me at first either but on a friend's advice I persevered, and well... now... Hi, my name is Liz, and I'm a Gossip Girl-a-holic). I'm now up to Season Two and seriously wish I was an Upper East Sider :)

Anyway, my day's reading did not consist of Harry Potter or even Twilight. No, I lazed around on the couch reading blogs and MY THREE NEW COOKBOOKS!

That's right, they've finally arrived - actually I use the word "finally" loosely since they're about half a month earlier than I expected. So now I'm the proud owner of Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance, and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I am feelin' the Moskowitz/Romero love.

So, inspired by all the delicious-looking recipes I got cooking. First up I made Isa's plain ol' Pancakes recipe from VWAV for myself and mum. I tend to dodge the oil in recipes and cut it out where possible, but I wanted to taste the authentic VWAV pancake taste and fully planned to use it. However, out of sheer habit my brain switched to low-fat mode and I forgot to put it in! It didn't matter though, as you can see. These two (well, one and three quarters) pancakes are the sorry, sad final ones of the batch...

And I totally ate them. They were reeee-dic.

For lunch, I was feeling a little more lethargic and less inspired. I vaguely skimmed the Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing recipe in VWAV but couldn't be bothered to actually follow it. Instead I just sauteed a clove of garlic, added the kale and some water and whisked some tahini & balsamic vinegar together. We're running WAY low on produce and haven't stocked up since I'm off to Theatre Residency tomorrow and my mum and sister are jetting off to Japan. So my lunch choices were limited to say the least... but I scrounged up some mushrooms and red pepper and grilled them, then finished off the couscous and added some chickpeas to my kale/tahini dressing mix and put it in my fave bowl.

In the background, salt. I've been having a LOT of salt on my doctor's orders of late. Apparently my blood pressure has decided to be 85/60 and continue dropping. Boo. Sodium = hypertension instead of current hyPOtension. I have a check-up on Tuesday morn' part way through my theatre camp, at which time it will be determined if I need to go to hospital. Uh, no thanks. I hate hospitals. Pass the salt.

Speaking of which: what's the weirdest food-related piece of medical advice you've ever received, or heard of? Not that getting told to eat sodium to increase blood pressure is weird as a general thing, it's just that I never eat much salt at all anyway so it's a vaiiir big change. I'm guzzling down the H20.

I think my cooking enthusiasm continued to dwindle throughout the day because I chose a very lazy dinner recipe, albeit one that my family loves. Tempeh nuggets recipe hier!

Mmm, tempeh. So different from tofu, which I also love. I could never say which I love more.

I do tend to modify the recipe for these quite a bit, though. Because never once have we had ALL the required spices. Tonight's impro brought to you by thyme, coriander and cardamom. Served alongside boiled beetroot, stir-fry greens, and mashed avocado. And salt. I think the shaker trembles when it sees me coming. It knows I do not come in peace.

Anyway, tomorrow the storm begins! I pack for theatre camp, which involves packing up several of the lovely sweets I bought from the States a while back. I haven't sample the Dandies yet!

It'll be, oh, about a week before I post again. Sorry! No internet access at theatre residency :( and when I do return, expect product reviews, LOTS of vegan eating out, plus Isa Chandra goodness! Not to mention crappy photos, since mum and sis are taking the "good" camera to Japan and I'm stuck with the crummy old one (that happens to be mine). Oh well, better than nuttin', right?

- VS

ps. Also tried Banana Soft Serve this week! It was incredible... but that's a story for another day ;)

Almond Joy

2009-09-13T19:45:00.003+10:00

Operation Pecalmond didn't go so well today. I only had almonds and breakfast & lunch, before running out of creativity just in time for dinner and resorting to stir-fry vegetables and falafels (always a favourite).

Nonetheless, I tried out a really nice almond-y bowl for breakfast from an old recipe booklet from La Mancha Health Retreat that my step-mum gave me when she learned I'd gone veg. She said she'd been there and it was really cool, apparently they only use pure, whole ingredients for each day's menu that they grow & harvest themselves, all organic. I'd had my eye on this "recipe" for a few days and was pretty much dying to try it out. My Pecalmond pursuits gave me the perfect excuse!

It was really fantastic - the almonds weren't raw like I usually have, but dry-roasted which gave a nice almost smoky kind of flavour, and the banana melted through and caramelized the entire thing. Note the quotation marks around the word recipe above - it's not all that hard to whip up just from looking at the picture. But here's what the booklet says:

Banana Almond Breakfast for one: 308 cals

1 serve cooked brown rice (I used basmati)

1 large banana, chopped

10 almonds

Melt the banana (either in the microwave or on the stovetop). Grind or process the almonds until they are in small pieces. Mix the banana & almonds through the rice and serve hot.

See what I mean? Not exactly rocket science.

Anyway, lunch was my usual massive Hugh Jass salad (too hugh jass for my little vegan bowl!) - consisting of shredded spinach, cukes, red bell pepper, celery, raw corn, steamed carrot & zucchini, sun dried tomato, roasted eggplant, chickpeas, almonds (yay!), goji berries, brown basmati rice (again, I was feelin' the rice today) and a little cilantro to garnish :)

The almonds are under there, somewhere...

But like I said, unfortunately Operation Pecalmond has effectively failed, since I didn't manage to finish either the almonds or the pecans. In fact, due to my Larabar snackage I haven't even finished the dried fruit salad or apricot bites! Ah well - at least I made a decent dint in everything, right?

And just so you all know - I did actually stick to my word and stop studying after midday today. It's been a bit tough - I kind of really want to pull out my books and cram before my exams tomorrow (English and French) - but I promised, and I keep my promises. I loved reading about all the wonderful things your teachers have done for you and how they've impacted you! You've all been very blessed to know such amazing mentors - much in the same way I'm blessed to have a principal who cares so much about me.

At least I got about five hours of revision in this morning! Phew, it was a lot to do all at once... but afterwards I got to laze around watching Gossip Girl (up to Season 2 now!), so all's well that ends well. Does anyone else watch Gossip Girl? If not, what's the trashiest guilty pleasure you've got - TV show or otherwise? I'll happily admit to being a newborn GG addict, but much like my Twilight habit, there's no way I'll ever try and convince anyone that it's a justified habit or anything more than completely insipid... but it's sooo fun to watch just the same ;)

I probably won't post for the next two days due to exams - but after that all I have to worry about is Math (eek!) and I'm sure I'll have SOMETHING interesting to share. Until then, lovelies!

xo xo (sorry, couldn't resist)

Cookies and Carbonara

2009-09-12T19:08:00.004+10:00

I really enjoyed reading about all the vegan products you'd love to try. There's so much variety out there these days, it's crazy!

Yes, I know. I suck at blogging like a MoFo. But hey, I've got exam block on right now, so at least I have a semi-legitimate excuse, right?

Actually, I've been under a lot of stress with these exams. In the long term (as my mother and principal keep reminding me) they don't count for anything, but I'm a perfectionist - so I tend to make stakes seem way higher than they actually are, in my head. With all my studying/worrying/Gossip Girl-ing (note to self: exam block is a BAD time to decide to finally give in to curiosity and peer pressure and watch trashy yet addictive tv shows) I've been neglecting my blog pretty badly. And to make matters worse, next week I'm going away - for two whole weeks - to theatre residency week (which is lots of fun, and this'll be the first time I go as a vegan so it'll be interesting to see what they dish up for me) and then to Sydney for a week (I promise to take a million billion photos and visit Funky Pies at least once).

But I digress. Tonight (or today, or even yesterday, depending on your time zone) I want to share with you two wonderful discoveries of mine.

The first one is breakfast-related (is anyone surprised?) and I can't claim credit for the idea at all - I found it here on Fitnessista. Yes, the wonderful magical Breakfast Cookie.

I basically followed the Fitnessista's recipe guide, using Chocolate Nature's Way Soy Protein Powder and a few sultanas, plus a dash of stevia and vanilla essence, to flavour my lovely creation.

It was fantastic - although not really like a cookie, since I got lazy and just kept it in the bowl I made it in, rather than flattening it on a plate. O-veg sis also made one and enjoyed hers just as much. I ate mine with a healthy dollop of organic natural cashew butter and a few frozen raspberries on the side. Highly recommended, kids :)

And now to the big guns. So, in relation to my self-induced stress fits, my principal called me into his office and chatted with me about a bunch of things. Somewhere in our discussion, I mentioned that my favourite food was dried fruit - all kinds. Later that day he presented me with a bag full of dried fruit salad, apricot bites, pecans and almonds and told me not to do any work that night or after midday on Sunday and eat all of the food he'd given me - by Monday.

Yes, I'm aware that my principal rocks. I was, however, a little apprehensive - eating dried fruit salad and apricot bites in two days is child's play in my eyes, but all those nuts? How am I going to do this? I wondered.

And my predicament is of such epic proportions that I'm going to give it a super official name:

Operation: Pecalmond.

Okay, not the most creative name... but whatever. Operation Pecalmond commenced this morning, with some French Toast that I actually did crust with chopped pecans - and instead of fresh fruit, I ate it along with some dried fruit salad (pears, apricots, apples, peaches).

My pecalmond pursuits continued at lunch time, with my usual Hugh Jass salad that consisted of baby spinach leaves, red bell pepper, raw corn kernels, cucumber, celery, dried cranberries, steamed zucchini & baby carrots, couscous, chickpeas and - pecans. Yup.

And I could have had a peca-licious afternoon snack but instead ate a Cocoa Mole Larabar. I liked the spiciness, but otherwise not my fave - definitely nothing wrong with it though.

The question of dinner was becoming imminent. I felt a little guilty at my pecan-lovin' antics whilst blatantly ignoring the lonely packet of almonds in my cupboard. A bit at a loss, I opened my fridge and met nose-to-carton with some SoyaToo Topping Cream. I stared at it. It stared at me. I looked down a few shelves and spotted an open packet of Sanitarium "Bacon" Rashers. I pushed aside the abundance of cos lettuce and silverbeet another shelf down and grabbed the brown bag of mushrooms. Then I ran to the cupboard and snatched some rice & corn spiral pasta and my pecans.

We were going to have pasta carbonara.

Now, I never really ate creamy pasta dishes all that often, in my pre-gan days. But carbonara was one that, although I'd eaten a total of two times, I loved. So by gum, I was going to veganise it. I wasn't too sure if the SoyaToo would work as a savoury cream, and my mum did deem it too sweet - so feel free to use whatever non-dairy cream substitute you like. Same deal with the "bacon". I usually don't like to use so many "fake" ingredients in a recipe but this was, in my humble opinion, way too good to keep to myself.

Pasta Carbonara - Serves 4: 425 cals per serve

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

90g button mushrooms, sliced

4 rashers Sanitarium "bacon"

150ml (half a box) SoyaToo Topping Cream

50g pecans, finely chopped

1 packet Orgran Rice & Corn Spiral Pasta (or any pasta packet that contains four servings)

1 tsp. coconut oil

Cilantro (coriander), as a garnish

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil (about six or seven cups of water). Add the pasta, cover and allow to cook.

2. In the meantime, melt the coconut oil in a medium saucepan. Once melted, add the onion and cook until soft and translucent.

3. Add the "bacon" to the saucepan with the onion and cook for 90 seconds, stirring constantly.

4. Put the mushrooms in the saucepan with the "bacon" and onion. Continue stirring until the mushrooms are soft and browned.

5. Add the soy cream to your sauce mixture (if you've used SoyaToo it'll be kind of solid, so stir it through until it's all melted).

6. Once cooked, drain the pasta, empty the large saucepan of water and return the pasta to it.

7. Add the chopped pecans to the cream sauce, stir through, and remove from the heat. Pour the sauce onto the pasta, and stir gently through, taking care not to break the pasta shapes.

8. Serve garnished with cilantro if desired, which you should because it tastes amazing like that.

Actually, it tastes amazing, period. At least I thought so - my mum loved it except for the sweetness of the SoyaToo, and my sis is not a mushroom fan and discovered she hates fake bacon. Oh well - win some, lose some. I highly encourage everybody to get in the kitchen and try this - tinker with it however you want, seriously! I think it's perfect as is, but let's see if we can rally together and create the PERFECT vegan carbonara!

Tomorrow: Operation Pecalmond recommences. This time, I'm going to try and incorporate almonds into every meal I eat... in different ways, just like how I never ate pecans the same way twice today. I'll definitely keep you all posted, since after midday I'm on a study/homework ban courtesy of my principal and can procrastinate sans guilt :)

But in the meantime, get cookin' those carbonaras, and tell me because I'm curious: What's the nicest thing your teacher/principal has ever done for you?

- VS

MoFo #2 - My goodies

2009-09-08T20:37:00.005+10:00

Remember how it was my seventeenth birthday last month? Well, I acquired a veritable cash-stash from said festivity. I decided to blow it all on some overseas goodies, and cookbooks too (but the books don't arrive till next month).

I ordered a few things that could have gone melty and just plain YUCK whilst shipping, so I was on tenterhooks for about four days, wondering if my packages were lost, damaged or scared. Finally, box number the first arrived, containing this:

Above, the cutest darn thing you ever did see.

I now eat every meal out of this bowl. Well, except for school lunches, of course. But everrrything else goes in the Vegan Bowl. I love it - probably more than a person should love a bowl.

Anyway, the next day, box number the second turned up on my front porch. And this is what was in it:

Health Valley Amaranth Graham Crackers, Ricemellow Creme, Dandies, PB & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, Living Nutz Rawzins, Sweet & Sara Rocky Road Bark, Road's End Cheddar Chreese, Chik-Flavoured Minit Meat (for my seitan-worshipping sister's benefit), and LOTS of LARABARS :)

See them? They're mine. Alllll mine. Sometimes I open the cupboard and just look at them, and smile. There aren't that many of them left now, though. So far I've eaten...

Pecan Pie: This was very nice and moist and yum. I said to my mum, "I've never had pecan pie... but this is exactly what it tastes like. I just know."

Cashew Cookie: Now THIS was good. I literally felt like I was eating a cookie. Cookies are pretty golden in my book. It had big chunks of cashews in it, mmm.

Cherry Pie: I've read a lot of bloggers who like to bash the sh!t out of Cherry Pie. I don't get it. This is probably the best flavour in the whole entire world. No, it's not as sweet as a piece of candy... quit being a five year old and eat your freakin' Larabar. Tartness = goodness. And I just found out The Cruelty Free Shop stock this flavour now, along with Cinnamon Roll and Key Lime Pie (which are also both awesome)! Guess who put in a bulk order...

Jocalat Chocolate: Well, the label said chocolate and it delivered what it promised. I felt like I was eating junkfood, not always a good thing when you've got a not-so-healthy outlook on food/eating/your body, a la moi, though I'm trying to rectify this. But it was tasty, definitely.

Ginger Snap: Literally just finished eating this. Super flavourful and spicyyy, in a very good good way. So far I've yet to meet a Larabar I didn't like.

Anyway, I'd been living in vegan snackfood HEAVEN for a few days, basking in the glory of graham crackers which I've now become addicted to but I've never seen sold anywhere in AUS. I thought my vappiness (read: vegan-happiness, but it sounds icky, doesn't it?) had reached an untoppable peak. How WRONG I was. There I was at Mrs. Flannery's, doing my thang on Super Saver Saturday, when I happened to glance towards the freezer and saw...

Vegasm. Holymotherofcow. I've only tried the Mint Choc Chip Flavour so far, but dayyummm Africa it was so good.

Okay. That's enough of my consumeristic bragging, now. There's a food post in the works for later today, I promise, so keep your eyes peeled!

What's the best vegan packaged product you've ever tried? Or if you're in Australia, what's one that you've always heard about and are DYING to try?

- VS

OzMoFo Begins!

2009-09-04T21:27:00.004+10:00

So if you haven't heard yet, the Aussie (and New Zealander!) vegan food bloggers of the world have decided we need a MoFo (Month of Food, in case you thought I was being rude) like nowwww, to account for the fact that come October it's stinkin' hot here and we miss out on making fun winter-like recipes and have to suffer through the stifling humidity while we watch our US and UK counterparts cook up & post delicious winter yums.

In light of this, September's been declared OzMoFo, so in spite of the fact that I have exams for the next two weeks I resolved to get cooking, and not just oatmeal either.

The other night, I was craving tofu. My sister (who along with my mum recently celebrated her third week of vegetarianism!) doesn't like tofu - unless it's in a cheezecake or has been pressed & marinated within an inch of its life. Personally, I'm content with eating cold, waterlogged tofu - pretty much straight from the pack. Is that weird? Probably. In any case, given my sister's 'fu reservations we hadn't had any in a while, and I was biding my time until the rest of the fam decided they wanted an egg or cheese-based meal so I could branch out and cook for me onesies. My wishes were granted just in time for OzMoFo!

I made Cajun Blackened Tofu with Mango & Ginger Salsa from World Food Cafe 2, a vegetarian cookbook (with mostly vegan recipes). I hadn't experienced dinner-food-euphoria in a while, being more of a breakfast girl, but man oh MAN. This was soooo good.

Since I changed it around a bit, I'll post up my version of the recipe - I used more spices than the book said to, and make a few other lil' adjustments. Also because you just need to try it for yourself ASAP.

Cajun Blackened Tofu with Mango & Ginger Salsa (VeganSixteen-style, for one)

100g extra-firm tofu

8 cloves

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. black peppercorns

1 tsp. yellow mustard seeds

1 tsp. paprika

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

2 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. salt

Olive oil, for brushing tofu

1. Toast the first four spices in a frying pan until aromatic, then remove them from the heat and stir in with the rest of the spices in a bowl.

2. Cut your tofu into whatever you want (I used slices but cubes would work fine). Brush lightly with the olive oil and coat with the spice mix - it's a little challenging to do this but try and get as much of the spice mix as possible onto your tofu. You won't regret it :)

3. Preheat griddle until it's really hot, then place your coated tofu in the pan and cook until the spices blacken, then turn it over & cook the other side. While it's cooking you can make the salsa...

Mango & Ginger Salsa

1 cheek mango, diced

1 inch ginger, grated

4 mint leaves, finely chopped

Lime juice, to taste

1. Combine alles ingredients. Don't be stingy with the lime juice, it makes it so so good. Once your tofu's done, put it on your plate and top with the salsa. Serve with the rest of the lime half, or wedge, that you used to squeeze the juice from. Enjoy!

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes tropical flavours. I'm kinda sorta falling in love with them at the moment and am adding mango to just about everrrrything.

After eating this I went to bed with a very happy tummy and awoke to a very curious morning. It was too cold to have what I'd planned (cold cereal with homemade soygurt and berries), but too warm to have oatmeal. I spent about an hour procrastinating over breakfast, wondering what on earth to have. Then it hit me, and I whipped out my copy of Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. Now, I bought this cookbook because I enjoyed its original counterpart so much. However, many of the recipes in it are too rich-looking for me, and rely WAY too heavily on processed ingredients like fake meats and cheeses. But their recipe for French Toast was another story.

I'd attempted vegan french toast before, with disastrous results. I'd attempted a mixture of ricemilk, vanilla essence, salt and Orgran No-Egg (pretty much the Australian answer to Ener-G)... and gotten some very soggy results. It tasted nice, but it was ooogleh. I was hoping Skinny Bitch was here to save the day.

And man was she ever. The bread kept its firmness instead of going all gooey and gross, and the texture was perfect - crispy on the outside, fluffy-doughy on the inside, and sweet & cinnamon-y all the way through.

I didn't use the pecan crusting that the book suggested, but other than that I followed the recipe to a T. I made it just for myself, and then topped it with fresh fruit & a little more cinnamon and called it love.

French Toast for One

2 slices whole meal/whole wheat bread

125ml soy milk

2 T. chickpea (besan) flour

1 T. corn meal (polenta)

1 tsp. cinnamon (adjust to suit your own taste)

Dash of salt (tiny tiny amount!)

1. Whisk the corn meal, soy milk & chickpea flour together in a medium bowl. Add the cinnamon and salt n' whisk away until everything's well combined.

2. One at a time, dunk both sides of your bread into the mixture, absorbing all of it into the slices.

3. Preheat your griddle and when it's hot, add the slices of bread. Watch these carefully as they could burn verrry easily. Cook until golden-brown, turning once.

4. Remove from heat, scoop em onto a plate, top with whatever your heart desires and EAT!

After having that for breakfast I can honestly say it gave oatmeal a run for its money. Nothing, of course, can quite top the mighty oats for me though - sorry French Toast!

I was really surprised at how well that turned out for me, though, after my previous disaster.What's the worst recipe-failure you've cooked up?

Well, I think that's all for now - stay tuned for a post concerning vegan kitchenware and most importantly, air-mailed junk food!

Ciao :)

- VS (VeganSixteen)

Yummy yummy yummy I've got oats in my tummy

2009-08-21T08:13:00.005+10:00

Oatmeal. Call me boring, old-fashioned, or late for dinner (but never breakfast - it's my favourite meal of the day!) but I don't care: I love oatmeal more than any other food I can think of. Yup, it's the best alright.

But for a really long time, I was stuck in a bit of an oatmeal rut. Every morning it was the same: cook oats on stovetop in water. Add raisins and cinnamon. Cook it all until raisins are plump. Spoon into a bowl and eat.

Don't get me wrong. That's some tasty oats. But it gets monotonous, five - seven days a week. I was so sick of the same tired old oatmeal that I actually abandoned them for a few weeks and could barely stand the thought of eating oats again.

Then I discovered two things that have brought oatmeal back into my life: Katie's Blended Grains & M elted Banana Trick. Katie: thank you!

If you haven't checked out either of those links before, I highly reco

mmend. Not to mention - Katie also has some killer oatmeal recipes. So, as a newbie to the wonderful world of diverse flavours in creamy, creamy oatmeal I decided to trial a few of them out.

The first one? Brownie Batter Oatmeal. Unfortunately, no pics - sorry! But if you're

skeptical about a simple combination of cocoa powder, oats, banana and soymilk tasting like real brownie batter, don't be. Because it does.

And now onto Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Oatmeal, which I specifically went out and bought Sweet William's Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips for. I was that dedicated. And *incredibly* excited, since I'm a massive fan of cookie dough.

I was not disappointed.

I can assure you it's the most ridiculously tasty thing on the PLANET.

Anyway, moving forward - all this new-fangled oatmeal concocting got me thinking: why not come up with a few brand spankin' new bowls of my own?

How about... Choc Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse Oatmeal?

Yes, you say? Well, here's the recipe...

One serve uncooked old-fashioned oats

100g silken-firm tofu

70g roasted pumpkin (or pumpkin puree)

12g Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

Non-dairy chocolate chips

Cinnamon & nutmeg/pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Non-dairy milk (optional)

1. First, throw your oats & tofu in a saucepan and cook with water (or non-dairy milk). Stir so that the tofu distributes throughout the oatmeal - there will be little random bits of it, but don't worry about that because...

2. Blending time! Throw your cooked oats & tofu with the BTCC, pumpkin and cinnamon & nutmeg into your food processor. Blend it up till it's as creamy as you want it to be. If you want you could add soymilk during this step.

3. Scoop into a bowl and sprinkle with your chocolate chips and some more cinnamon and voila! Eat it until you're sick.

Variation: Blueberry Cheesecake Mousse Oatmeal! Just substitute the pumpkin, and the chocolate chips, for blueberries - and be sure to use Katie's good ol' Melted Banana Trick. Bowl-licking goodness.

But I was not content at finding just one amazingly delicious oatmeal combo (plus variation, that is). Oh, no.

Mocha Choc-a-Chip Oatmeal

One uncooked serving of old-fashioned oats

A banana

10g good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Green & Blacks Organic Cocoa)

10ml (or whatever a "serve" is) of your favourite coffee/chicory syrup (Mine is Bickford's)

Chocolate chips (for the Australians out there - use Sweet William's Dairy Free Choc Chips. They're my whole life)

Your favourite non-dairy milk (I actually enjoy the taste of fat free So Good :O)

Cinnamon (optional but so good)

1. Cook the serving of oats on the stovetop in water - or in n

on-dairy milk, whatever floats your oats ;)

2. While this is cooking, use Katie's genius Melted Banana Trick.

3. When the banana's done, stir it into the still-cooking oatmeal with a few chocolate chips and leave for about 30 seconds.

4. Turn off the stovetop and transfer your oatmeal to your food processor. Now add in your cocoa, coffee syrup and non-dairy milk. Cinnamon too, if you want!

5. Blend it up and try not to drool while you wait for this part to be over.

6. Scoop your delicious oatmeal out of your food processor and into your bowl. Top with remaining choc chips and if you want, a bit more non-dairy milk.

7. Eat and die happy :D

The morning that I conceived the above delectable recipe (yesterday), I decided that as it was a Friday I would have oatmeal again for dinner, as a celebration of sorts. Breakfast for dinner - any excuse'll do ;)

But I didn't want to have the *same* oatmeal as I'd eaten for brekkie. That's just silly. So I got thinking.

... And came up with delicious, creamy Banana Coconut Cream Pie Oatmeal.

I can't even begin to describe how good this was. I really can't. Just... try it, okay?

One serve uncooked old-fashioned oats

One small banana, chopped up

45ml lite coconut milk - separated into 30ml and 15ml

5g dessicated coconut

1. Cook your oats in a combination of water and the 30ml coconut milk.

2. Meanwhile, use that amazing Melted Banana Trick, courtesy of Katie.

3. When your banana's melted, stir it into your still cooking oats and allow to cook through for about 40 seconds.

4. Dump your oatmeal into your trusty food processor and add the 15ml coconut milk. BLEND!

5. Scoop out into a bowl, sprinkle with the dessicated coconut, and enjoy. When I say "enjoy" I mean "pass out in ecstasy". Really.

Phew - that was a whole lotta oats! I definitely cannot say I'm sick of oatmeal, though, even after a hard week's dedication to it. Guess what's for breakfast tomorrow?

What's your favourite way to have oatmeal?

Even vegans can find food, here on Avenueeee Q...

2009-08-16T18:32:00.004+10:00

Sorry. The songs from that show are stuck in my head. It was really good fun!

My sister and I travelled to Sydney, NSW to visit our dad - who took us to see Avenue Q. And who also happens to be a little bit of a meat head. Open minded, sure! But sis and I were both a little apprehensive at the prospect of finding good eats.

We really, really needn't have been.

That, my friends, is a delectable soy cappuccino I had on my very first morning in Sydney, at the Freshwater Surf Cafe. I also enjoyed some yummy mushrooms cooked in olive oil with a side of white sourdough toast, which mysteriously vanished off my plate before the camera came out to play...

And then, a quick lunch of roast veggie and rocket (arugula to you American folks) salad, from a deli in the CBD David Jones.

At the end of the day, we went out to a lovely sit-down dinner at Manly's Yok Thai Foods. I got to catch up with my grandparents, which was nice :) and the food. Wow. My family knew the owner, Jay, personally, so she came over to chat with me and my sis about what we would/wouldn't eat. In the end, we had some VERY tasty vegan Thai, including spring rolls, Pad Thai, and a really REALLY delicious impromptu veggie-tofu-basil-chilli dish.

Way too good for words.

Now I'm back in Brisbane, and looking forward to trying out some vegan baking in the next week - keep checking back!

Vinegar, my new best friend

2009-08-16T18:23:00.006+10:00

Oh vinegar. You're the only one I can count on these days. Your sweet sour-ness is the pinnacle of my stirfry. Well, not *my* stirfry. CCV's My Cousin Vinnygar Veggie Stirfry, to be exact.

Gettin' cooked. I made it with some organic broccoli, yellow bell peppers, and zucchini (gotta love the versatility of the good ol' zucch... ini) and then decided I needed to make more of a meal of it, and chopped up a Sanitarium Thai Chilli Vegie Burger and tossed it in. I don't know how/why/where/when that amazing CCV - Katie - came up with the idea of putting vinegar in a stirfry, but I love her for it. Truly I do. Because now I'm thinking of a million ways I can use my big bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar!

So simple, so genius.

Served up with a side of leftover polenta, that I cut into "fries" and baked for about 15 minutes. Crispy yet creamy deliciousness.

... Did I mention I love vinegar veggie stirfries? This one's going on HIGH rotation from now on :)

I think I'm turning veg-a-nese

2009-08-16T15:59:00.005+10:00

I feel like how parents must feel when their kid does something really commendable, like earning the first gold star of the year from their teacher.Why, I hear you ask? Well, today (okay - actually last Thursday just gone, but bear with me here - yes, this is a back-log post) I went out to The Forest Cafe with my mum and sister, for lunch. We each ordered a burger: my mum got tempeh, my sister Rebecca opted for the veggie patty, and I got tofu. It was pretty darn delicious!

Me: Hey sis. Want a bite of my tofu burger?

Sis: You know I don't like tofu.

Me: Aw, c'mon. You've never had really well-done tofu before, just the watery unflavoured kind!

Sis: Ahh. Fine...

20 minutes later, all our burgers were finished and our bellies were full. But the tofu remained on my little sister's mind.

Sis: I think I want to go vegetarian.

Me & Mum: Srsly?!

This was a big shock. My sister is a bacon LOVER. Chicken's probably her favourite food ever. And when I asked why she said...

Sis: Well, that's the second time I've had tofu here and liked it. And what about those animals in the petting zoo at the Ekka this morning?

She was referring to the petting zoo that was situated riiiight in between a pie stand and the Beef Cattle Exhibit. Nasty.

Anyway - I was one super-happy vegan to say the least! She's a cheese FREAK though, so for now no chance of veganism for her... though I guess I would have said the same thing about her being ovo-lacto. Hey, one thing at a time.

So after our super-delicious burgers that obviously had magical veg-turning properties, we stopped by The Cupcake Parlour in order to purchase the vegan cupcakes that the BIG sign outside their store promised.

Alas, no vegan cupcakes to speak of. It made me wanna cry, but then newly-veg little sis decided she'd just have one of their vegan Cherry Ripe slices. The clumsy, clumsy girl behind the counter dropped my sister's slice onto the bench! Gasp! She quickly put a new one in the box for us and indicated the slightly-broken one she'd dropped. Did we want it anyway?

Free vegan slice? Heck yes!

Several delicious minutes later, we were in the car on our way home - chatting about the hot topic of sis's new vegetarianism. Mum bit her lip and turned to me.

Mum: I'm vegetarian too.

Me: What, like already?

Mum: You know I'm borderline anyway! I may as well be one.

Me: XD

Conclusion reached - take your omni friends and family to The Forest. Emerge surrounded by vegetarians who may just become vegans someday.

By the way. Throwing out all non-vegetarian things in your fridge and cupboard makes for super happy fun times.

Vague-n eats & URL fallacies

2009-08-09T20:13:00.002+10:00

Alright, so in light of recent events (aka my 17th birthday) - I cannot claim to be vegan, sixteen any longer. However, my blog is stuck at sixteen and much like a cruelty-free, veg-loving, cyberspace Peter Pan, it will never grow up.

That said! Boy do I have a lot, and I mean a LOT to blog about.

The aforementioned 17th birthday encompassed a humble sleepover party during which there was a half-hour trip to the local cemetery (a desperate and actually effective bid to rid me of my absolutely paralyzing fear of cemeteries/tombstones) and not a cake, so much as a stack of Oreos stuck together with organic natural peanut butter and sprinkled with candy stars. Which I gleefully dunked in soymilk.

Unfortunately, no pictures :(

Then today! My mother, sister and I went out to West End's The Forest Cafe to celebrate some pretty stellar grades. I'd googled "vegan cafes brisbane" frantically last night and was really enthusiastic about trying this one. We planned to go for morning tea and obviously it's very difficult to get vegan morning tea unless you're in a specifically vegan cafe (unless you really love fruit salad - which I do! - but this was a spesh occasion, yanno?). As soon as we arrived, I wished we were staying for lunch.

The menu abounded with tofu, tempeh and veggie burgers. There was pasta bake with a pastry crust, ratatouille, "beefless" pies, coconut chickpea curry, tofu potato dahl, beet salad and more - and all of it vegan.

Oh, not to mention the selection of vegan cakes. Blueberry swirl, beetroot chai, they all looked incredible to me. But then, hidden right behind the drinks fridge, one lonely cake caught my eye...

Peanut Butter Cheesecake. It was like someone had asked me my two most favourite things in the world and made the dessert of my dreams.

So, we ordered two slices. My sister had one, and mum and I split a piece. We also shared a really fantastic soy vanilla milkshake.

Again, I am apologetically pictureless. However, we've vowed to visit The Forest again on Thursday - yay for the Ekka holiday! And we're also keen to take a look at the nearby Cupcake Parlour, who happen to do vegan cupcakes :D

So once more, dreadfully sorry for the lack of visual food porn. Next post, this changes!

I have exciting things to show you, things like candy, homemade ice cream, ekka eats, and oh so much more.

And for those of you who live in Brisbane...

The Forest Cafe Website

Toodle-pip!

berry sorbet breakfast smoothie

2009-06-19T08:27:00.000+10:00

Oh, the joys of a ridiculously expensive, million-attachment, does-everything food processor. I will continue to explore them in posts to come... but for now, a simple fruity fat-free breakfast smoothie!

Mmm...

Berries aren't in season here, so I used frozen. What? Sue me, I think they taste just fine. Pricey, though...

Here it is, getting liquidized!

Gooey, huh?

And the final product: a satisfyingly sweet sorbet-like breakfast smoothie for the vegan!

Want one? Well, okay. It's pretty easy. Here's the "recipe":

BERRY SORBET BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE:

110g raspberries

3/4 c. blueberries

1 snack-sized tub of diced peaches in juice (keep the juice!)

1 mini-box of apple juice

1/2 c. water

Makes one.

Plonk everything in your liquidizer and blend, blend I say!

Pour into a diner-style glass and serve :)

Well, today I'm at home and am attempting making avocado sushi - so more posts to come!

hello & raw vegan brownies

2009-06-18T20:07:00.000+10:00

Ah, the inaugural post.

Let's start with the friendly hello business - I'm Liz from Australia, vegan, sixteen. Hence the blog's title :)

I like to eat as healthy as possible, which is a bit of a task when you own a (pretty illegal) cupcake business and have a major sweet tooth.

Anyway! On to the interesting stuff...

Raw vegan brownies! I love brownies. They're just about the most perfect treat food in the world. Save for cookie dough. (I found a recipe today that encompasses BOTH these things... much too calorie-crazy for me, though. If that's your thing, go here) However, I do not love how bad for you brownies are. And you can make as many low-calorie pumpkin and sugar chocolate brownies as you like, they're still awful nutritionally. Imagine my hallelujah chorus when I found these!

I tweaked the recipe a bit for my own use, mind. I didn't like the amount of walnuts going in, and substituted blanched almonds instead.

So here it is!

RAW VEGAN BROWNIES:

1 c. pitted dates, chopped

1/2 c. blanched almonds, chopped

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 c. water

(Makes 12)

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until wet and chunky. Transfer into tray and place in freezer. Chill for 2 hours before serving cold.

Now you may notice my addition of the word "chopped" to the ingredients list. This is for a very good reason: my food processor actually broke while trying to make these for the first time. Do the ingredients *need* chopping, or was the processor just past it? Difficult to say, but next time I'll chop them to stay on the safe side. (We have a brand new million-function processor now, so I'll be making these again soon!) Also, the water helps them to be more mix-like, I find. And I added an hour of chilling to help them bind. Feel free to omit the water, replace the nuts with something else, use prunes instead of dates... the possibilities are endless!

All I know is, brownies that are 86 calories each (if you follow my variation) and actually have nutritional value are gold in my book.