Quick Treat Involving Marzipan & Dark, Spiced Chocolate

I was feeling wicked and wanted something sweet (no change there then) so just quickly chucked this together.

Like Muchly!

INGREDIENTS

Green & Blacks Maya Gold Dark Chocolate
Marzipan


METHOD

• Chop the marzipan into chunks, make them into balls if you can be bothered!

•  Cube the chocolate, put in a bowl, then melt in the microwave; careful not to burn it, it's precious!

•  Dip and turn the marzipan chunks in the melted chocolate. 

•  Put the dipped marzipan onto some parchment paper, on a flat tray.

• Refrigerate until the chocolate is set. 

•  Eat. it. all.

 
ok.... I couldn't eat them all...
 
 

Quinoa, Courgette, Asparagus & No Spoon...

Dinner for tonight!

Another like! I'm quite chuffed, it's been a while since I've made a total disaster or something not worth eating! haha! Ahhh.... I'll have spoken too soon now!

INGREDIENTS
(for 1.5 people)


200g courgettes
2 Asparagus Spears
Teaspoon Grapeseed Oil
1 large white onion, finely sliced
 A few sprigs of thyme
1 Large garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup quinoa
Tsp Powdered Veg Stock
a good handful of flat-leaf parsley, rocket, spinach & watercress roughly chopped
a squeeze of lemon juice
20g pine nuts, lightly toasted
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

• Prepare all the veg: Cut the courgettes into halves and then slice. Do the same with the onion, diagonally slice the Asparagus into 4cm lone pieces and finely dice the garlic.

• Pour your 1/2 cup of quinoa into the pan you're going to cook it in and cover it in fresh water.

• After heating the grapeseed oil in a deep frying pan, add the onions, courgettes, asparagus & thyme. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the courgettes are tender and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes.

•  Whilst the courgette mix is cooking, rinse the quinoa well in a sieve with cold water and then transfer to a saucepan covering with plenty of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender. Drain and leave in the pan to reduce the excess moisture for 5 mins. 

• In a small pan, get the pine nuts toasting.

• Add the drained quinoa to the courgettes, along with the chopped parsley, rocket etc. and lemon juice. Stir well, then taste and season to taste. Serve scattered with the toasted pine nuts. 

Soya Mince & Cinnamon Rice

So! What is Soya Mince I hear you ask. Well, it looks like this:

 

It's also known as TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein. If I were to liken it to meat (it's nothing like it) I would say that it's closest to minced meat... funny that!

It comes in light and dark. This is light.
It is soya flour with the oils removed and has the same protein content of meat but at a fraction of the price and you can keep it in your cupboard for weeks!

So! On to the recipe!

Tonight's meal had to consist of store-cupboard goods. I've got veg that needs using, tomato sauce that's threatening to mould and it's still too cold to go the 5 yards to the corner shop.

So, had a raid of the fridge and ended up doing this:

INGREDIENTS

[for 1.5 people]

Rice

1/2 cup of long grain rice

1/2 tsp turmeric

Heaped 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp veg stock

Tomato & TVP Sauce Mix
1 tsp coconut oil (to cook with)

1/2 red onion

1 garlic clove

1 stick celery

1/2 courgette, cubed

1/2 cup cubed aubergine

1/2 cup TVP/ Soya Mince

1 cup of passata
1 tsp medlar jelly

METHOD

Put the turmeric, cinnamon & stock into a non-stick pan. Tip in the rice and pour boiling water to about 3/4 inch above it. Set to boil and let it do it's thing until all the water is absorbed.

Next, sweat the onions, garlic & celery in the coconut oil until translucent.

Throw in the courgette and aubergine, mixy mixy.

Then add the TVP and passata. Give it a good stir.

Add a bit of boiling water to loosen if required.

Cook for about.... ooooo...... 15 mins? and to a consistency that you like.

I like sweet dishes, so added a bit of homemade medlar jelly.

Bravissimo!!! I liked it and my little Sprogette finished it all to! Result!

 

Always save the left overs, no matter how small! Sandwich tomorrow!

Tiny Tempeh

Uncooked Tempeh

I've had a block of Tempeh in the freezer for about... ooo... 2 months! I bought it and then didn't really know what to do with it, it seemed a little bit alien. So I thought we'd get used to living in the same house, get familiar and then I'd eat it!

I took the block out of the freezer the day before yesterday and moved it into the fridge to get acclimatized to the conditions in the flat - it's only about 2 degrees C above the fridge temperature.

This meant that I had to use it soon... and today was that day. I scoured the net this afternoon, only to find that every recipe I liked included ingredients that I would need to go to the shop for!

This was no good to me - I wasn't about to subject myself to minus 10 degrees (+2) to try to find products that my corner shop didn't stock, so I went with a random concoction, which turned out alright, but I'd definitely tweak.

I discovered that Tempeh - probably because it's fermented - tastes slightly bitter - no wonder all the recipe's slather it in some kind of marinade or sauce! If I used it again (and to be honest, I shall be in no big rush) I would cut the chunks smaller and create a thicker, more plentiful sauce.

It's certainly a filler, I couldn't finish mine and I'm stuffed now!

Soy & Agave Marinated Soy with Green Veg & Noodles

Ingredients

1/2 a block of Tempeh (I used the whole one, waaay too much!)

3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
1.5 tbsp Agave Nectar
1 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce

1/2 Onion
1 Garlic Clove
2 tsp Grated Fresh Ginger

1/2 a courgette
Handful Mange Tout
2 Asparagus Shoots
Handful of Frozen Peas

Noodles of choice

Method
Cube the Tempeh.

Mix the Soy, Nectar and Sweet Chilli together and pour over the Tempeh (make sure it's in a bowl - otherwise you'll make a mess!)

Next, get a pan of water boiling on the stove, ready for the noodles and blanching the green veg.

Then sweat the garlic & onion in a separate frying pan until translucent. Add the courgettes.

After frying the courgettes for a minute, add the Tempeh and brown.
Meanwhile, throw the asparagus, mange tout & peas to the boiling water. After 2 mins, take out the water and add to the Tempeh.

Then add the noodles to the boiling water.

When the noodles are cooked, you're done! Et Voila!

Lunch Tortilla... not a spoon in sight

Sometimes lunch seems to be the hardest meal for a Vegan. Sandwiches seem to require a bit more thought than just bunging some ham and cheese in between two pieces of bread.

Well, I don't really buy bread any more; I rarely eat it, so by the time I get around to eating my next couple of pieces, it's usually gone mouldy!

It's still cold outside, so I wanted some warmth but not a full-on hot meal, so here's what I knocked up out of fridge food :)

Tofu & Beetroot Tortillas

Ingredients
1 Tortilla
Some Firm, Smoked, Sesame Tofu
Yeast Flakes
Oil, a little, to brown the Tofu
Hummus*
Beetroot, Cubed
Cherry Tomatoes
Mange Tout
Sweet Chilli
Coriander

* A little factoid for you:
Hummus is an Arabic word (حمّص ḥummuṣ) meaning "chickpeas," and the complete name of the prepared spread in Arabic is حمّص بطحينة ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna, which means "chickpeas with tahini".^[2][3] Spellings of the word in English can be inconsistent.^[4] "Houmous" is the standard spelling in British English. Among other spellings are hummus, hummous, hommos, humos, hommus and hoummos.
Wikipedia

Method

I'm not going to teach you how to suck eggs - how to construct a tortilla - but I will just tell you what to do with the Tofu and Yeast Flakes, because not everyone has cooked with these ingredients before. I've only started this last year!

Slice the tofu into 3mm thick slices. 3mm exactly please... get your ruler out.
Heat some oil in a pan
Fry the tofu until it starts to brown
Throw in about.... a tablespoon.... of yeast flakes, covering the tofu and brown that too. Set aside whilst you construct your Tortilla.

 

 

Spoon Helps to Ice Carrot Cake!

So I've been meaning to make a vegan carrot cake for aaages. It seemed like a good idea - carrot cakes are moist and fairly heavy as cakes go, so what's the chances of it being to different to one with eggs in?

There are hundreds of recipes online, so just had a look around and got a general idea of what I should be doing and then decided to wing it!

So here goes!

Ingredients
2 large carrots
a few bits of sliced dried mango
A tea spoon of: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Vanilla Essence
200g Sultanas
200g soft brown sugar
200ml Orange Juice
200ml Groundnut Oil
250g Organic, unbleached, Self-Raising Flour

320g Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
As much OJ as needed!

Method

Grate the carrots - not your fingers - throw them into your mixing bowl.

 Me.... grating carrots

Throw into the bowl the sliced dried mango, spices, sugar.... everything up until the flour and combine well.

 

Me... weighing the sugar

Have a rest, you've worked hard. Drink some of the Orange Juice that you squeezed fresh
(who am I kidding, I bought a carton)

 Mix before the flour's been added

Add the flour to the mix, don't over-mix, a max of 10 stirs

Put the mix into a shallow tray and bake at 170 degrees C for... 30 mins. Until cooked.

For the Icing.....

Put the icing sugar into the bowl with the Vanilla Essence. Add the Orange Juice until it's stiff but you're able to pour it. 

 

You know the cake is cooked when you stick a skewer in it and it comes out clean. Tip it onto a cooling rack.

Now.... Make it look Beautiful. With the help of your special spoon :)

I am not entirely impressed with this, too many sultanas and not enough.... cake?! But tastes ok. I have high standards though....Ha ha! I shall try another one soon with less sultanas!

UPDATE! 2 Days later....
Well, I am happy to say that this cake gets better with age, it is amazing now, moist, full of flavour and impossible to walk past without slicing off a piece! I have removed the knife for my own safety! I'm less likely to grab a slice if I don't have an implement!

Spoon Can Do Pancakes Too!

Picture heavy post today! These were immense!

It always pleases me when I make something genuinely tasty, especially if it is the first meal of the day!
Last night I had a craving for something other than porridge for my breakfast, but I still wanted something to keep me toasty warm when it's snowing outside. So the decision was made to make pancakes. I'm on my own, so I wasn't too sure about such an indulgence, however, the thought process - all in all - took me about 3 seconds. It was done! Pancakes for breakfast - whoopee!

Makes Enough Pancakes for 2 people, 3 if you have a banana with them!

Ingredients

100g Self Raising, Organic, Unbleached Flour
Pinch of salt
250ml Almond Milk (You can use soya, oat...)
1.5- 2 tbsp (Groundnut as flavourless) oil
1 banana
1.5 - 2 tbsp Unbleached sugar.

Method
Simples!
Put the Flour into a bowl, sift if you like (Pffff, that just means more washing up and a sieve to clean - no thanks!)

In a separate bowl, mash the banana and then blend in the milk, oil & sugar until combined.

Add the wet to the dry mix.

Heat some coconut oil or other cooking medium into a shallow pan and when almost smoking, pour in the pancake mix, tilting the pan so that you create something not far off a circle.
Wait until it's bubbling and brown on the pan-touching side, then turn*.

* Note - These pancakes are less elastic than egg-containing ones & therefore more fragile. Take care when turning.

Also - I don't think you'll ever get these like a French Crepe, but no bother, they are amazing anyway!

Serve with whatever you like. I did A bit of Agave Nectar, cinnamon and some soya vanilla yoghurt. Immense!

Here is a little Gallery of how things went:

 

Korma!! A Fave of Mine

Best meal of the day Right. Here!

Ingredients
Long Grain Rice
Vegetable Stock
Cinnamon
Turmeric

1 Garlic Clove
1/2 Red Onion
Coconut Oil
Korma Curry Paste
Tomato Pasta Sauce (it was left over in the fridge!)
Fresh Coconut
Red Pepper
Slow Baked Sweet Potato
Aubergine
Coconut Milk
Almond Milk

Method
Put the rice in a pan with the turmeric & veg stock (and a cinnamon stick if using that). Fill to about 3cm above the rice. Boil until cooked and all the water is absorbed, add some ground cinnamon is you didn't have the stick.

In a deep frying pan sweat the garlic & onion in the coconut oil.
Bing in the fresh coconut and curry paste.
Add the red pepper and aubergine and cook for about 5 mins, stirring.

Then add the tomato sauce, a tablespoon of almond milk, about..... 200ml? of coconut milk and reduce down until not too sloppy.

Throw in the sweet potato, cubed, right at the end.

I quickly fired off a couple of tortillas in coconut oil just to add something a bit different texture wise at the end.

Garnish with coriander and devour.

Spoon Avoids Supermarket Journey

So, seen as I've got my Darling Daughter for a couple of weeks and seen as I'm back on track, eating properly again, I thought I'd do a proper shop. I also want to make a Vegan Carrot Cake, so needed some ingredients for that.

It's been a while since I've spent more that £40 in one go at the shops, just out of laziness really and I've been eating out a lot, which mean that any food I buy just goes to waste, which is not good!

What. a. shocker!

Not an ounce of rubbish, barley 3 (small) bags of shopping and that's me cleaned out for the rest of the month!

£96 in the end!

This is what I got:

I envisage this lasting me... pfff... 3 days! lol!

Ok, longer than that but I'm going to have to top up with fresh, day to day stuff.

Ninety Six Great British Pounds.....

Spoon Faceplants Tomato Orzo

This was a bit of a mash really! My timings all went to pot today - we were supposed to get out the house before lunch, come back and eat but that didn't happen (don't ever trust a 3 year old to get themselves ready!)

So I did a cupboard raid and it actually turned out quite well!

I love orzo - you get the same kind of effect as risotto but in a fraction of the time and with a lot less stirring!


Ingredients
Orzo
Ratatouille
Chick Peas
Tomato Puree
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Cornflour
Soya Milk
Vegetable Stock

Method
Throw the Orzo into some boiling water with the veg stock in it and let that cook and absorb all the water.

Meanwhile, put the (tin of in this case) ratatouille in a pan with the puree. Mix it up.
Add the chick peas and soya milk just to loosen a bit.
Add a little sweet chilli to taste and some salt to season.

Once it's cooked, add the orzo to the sauce and taste. Adjust seasoning/puree/sweet chilli to taste.

I added a bit of cornflour to thicken a bit because I didn't have time to be reducing and I wanted a fair bit of thick sauce.

And thassit!

The Monster ate it, so it must have been ok!

Good Morning Spooon!

So, a simple start, nothing too exciting but just to show you all that Vegan doesn't automatically = weird, here is my perfectly normal but very tasty breakfast!

Porridge!

Ingredients
Porridge Oats (p)
Soya milk ( p x 2)
A Fruit pot
Half a Banana
A Sprinkling (or a dumping in my case) of Cinnamon
A Squeeze of Agave Nectar

Done and Devoured!

Introducing the Special Spoon

Food Blog commencing!

So what is this Special Spoon I am talking about?

Well! It's a spoon that's been around longer than I have been on this planet! I adopted it when I was still living with my parents, at (I estimate) the rough age of 10.

It is a perfect spoon! Ha ha! It is a soup spoon that perfectly suits my mouth - it isn't too deep, too narrow, too thick, too thin.... it is perfect!

I thought it would be funny to post a picture of it on my Facebook profile one day (I was feeling random (not unusual for me)) and then it got me thinking!

People take teddy bears etc on holiday with them, travelling and such like, take pictures and make it a "thing". So this is what I am going to do with my spoon.

I'm vegetarian & very interested in - but not fully - Vegan at the moment but I love dabbling and experimenting with new tastes, ingredients and recipes & am working my way towards cutting animal products out of my life completely one day.

One way to keep track of what I've done is by creating a Blog about it, so that's what I'm going to do!

So, here starts my food Blog! Like there aren't enough of them already!

Hoorah to the Special (Vegan) Spoon!