A quick lunch - Vegan hotdogs with a twist

Vegan Hotodog - With a Twist

Vegan hotdog - in a corn tortilla

Out of sheer desperation, I searched our cupboards and fridge and couldn't find anything to make for lunch! **shopping day woes**
Finally, I looked in the freezer and found a packet of vegan sausages that I'd bought on a whim a few weeks ago, and half a packet of corn tortillas from last week..  et voilà! A delicious and QUICK lunch - vegan style :-)

Vegan hotdog - in a corn tortilla

I used:

• A corn tortilla - fried with some Canola oil spray
• Vegan sausage - Sanitarium brand - cooked under the grill
• Coriander (cilantro)
• Barbecue sauce
• Mustard
• Yeast flakes
• Fried Shallots 

Enjoy!

Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe

So I thought I should post the recipe for the cashew cheese I used. I had seen lots of recipes for it, and thought it looked easy enough, so I tried my own :)
I used my food processor for this, but I think a good blender would work fine too, you may need to just stop and start a little more than with a food processor, just to push down the sides.
Also, I used a herb in mine to make it a little tastier.. for some reason I had seen dill at the supermarket and thought it would be nice, but as with most cheeses, any fresh herb would suffice!
I found that this cheese ended up tasting a like a ploughman's cheese. I used to love one certain brand, and this is very close to that! I was very pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients

Raw cashews - 1 1/2 C
Nutritional yeast - 1/4 C
Garlic Salt - 1t
Onion Powder - 1T
Juice from 1/2 lemon - be careful with not adding too much to make it overly lemon-y.
Canola oil - 1T
Dill (or other fresh herb) - diced - 2T

Method

• Soak the cashews - I've read a lot of people saying overnight, I only soaked mine for 4-5 hours, so if you know you want to make it that evening, soak in the morning, or if you want to the next day, then do it the night before :) easy. (I am very poor at remembering to soak things the night before, which is why I generally opt for the day soak)
• Drain and rinse the cashews, and place in the food processor or blender with the nutritional yeast, lemon juice,  garlic salt, onion powder and oil.
• Blend - scraping down the sides of the food processor every minute or so.
• Keep processing until it becomes smooth.
• Add in the fresh chopped herbs and blend until combined.
• Serve in a cute bowl, and eat with EVERYTHING! I stored mine in the fridge overnight covered in some plastic wrap and it tasted just as good the next day.

So far we have served it on fresh bread, toasted bread, crackers, and on our yummy Vegan Burgers!
Also, stay tuned to see how this cheese turns out in my Lasagna this weekend!

Check out my Instagram and Pinterest for more!

Vegan Burgers!

I love food that is quick, with little mess, and can be eaten with your hands. It is my favourite kind of food.

I had seen a few vegan burger recipes floating around the web, and decided to make my own a few months after going vegan, just to see if I could.. and surprisingly enough they turned out delicious!

We have eaten these quite a few times now, and it has turned into a weekend treat for us. 

I always use my signature bean for the patties - Kidney beans -  only because I always seem to have a can of them floating around somewhere. Lentils also make an appearance for this recipe, not sure why I used them, but I think they help with the texture of the patty.

This is one of Travis' favourite meals of mine, and I hope you like it just as much! It is simple, and rather painless, so I'm sure you will do fine :-P

Vegan Burgers

Kidney beans - 1/2 can
Lentils - 1/4 can
Mushrooms - 4-5
Worcestershire Sauce - 2T
Cumin - 2t
Paprika - 2t
Onion powder - 1t
Oil - 2T
2t chia seeds + 2T water - mixed to a paste
Avocado
Tomato
Burger buns - Turkish seem the best so far

• Combine the lentils and kidney beans and mash them in a bowl with a fork until there aren't very many lumps.
• Add the worcestershire sauce, the cumin, paprika, chia paste and the onion powder (or fresh onion can be used), and mix through the patty mixture.
• Chop up mushrooms, and cook in 1T of the oil until brown, then set aside. 
• Make 2 patties out of the beans and lentil mixture, and place in 1T of the oil in a fry pan - they will not hold together very well, so you will need a good metal spatula to scrape and mould them.
• Flip the patties once they start to crisp on the bottom
• Cut up the avocado and tomato, and anything else you like to put on burgers.
• Halve the buns and place under the grill until crisp

Serve as you like! (I also added a little of the cashew cheese i made yesterday..mmm)


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Why I love weekends! (And my Scrambled Tofu recipe)

My weekends are precious to me. Not only because I get to spend some time with my lovely boyfriend (Trav works every second weekend), and adorable pets, but because I get some time to spend to myself - cooking, reading and relaxing!
My favourite time on the weekends is when I get to make us a big vegan breakfast. YUM!
It's great, because it's the time when breakfast can become lunch, and you actually have the time to savour your food, you're not rushing to eat it because you're at work (check out my "desk breakfasts" here), and you have a chance to sit and decide what to do for the day over a cup of yummy tea or coffee.

My usual weekday breakfasts 

I came up with my own version of scrambled tofu - as everyone does - and I think what I like about it best is that it incorporates most of the foods I love into one meal!

Scrambled Tofu

My Scrambled Tofu! 

Tofu - around half a block depending on how hungry you are!
2 T Oil - I used olive this time because I ran out of coconut
Cumin 1tsp
2 cloves Garlic
Vegan Worcestershire Sauce - 1T
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Mushrooms - 4 medium
Savoury Yeast flakes - 1tsp
Sunflower seeds - 2 tsp
Crusty bread
Soy Margerine
Baby Spinach

Method

Roughly chop or break up the tofu and place in a medium sized bowl.

Sprinkle with Cumin, and pour in Worcestershire sauce - stir through the tofu. 

Add in the sunflower seeds and soy sauce.

Chop up the garlic, and heat the oil in a fry pan on medium heat.

Add the garlic to the fry pan, cook for a minute - stirring constantly - then add mushrooms and fry until browned around the edges.

Add the tofu mixture to the mushrooms, and cook until the tofu is cooked through and brown on most sides, then set aside.

Cut your bread into thick slices and toast (I like mine extra thick and cooked under the grill - mmm)

Butter your toast, place baby spinach on each piece then finish with the tofu and mushrooms on top - Et voilà!

(Best served with a delicious cup of coffee, or if you're me and constantly forget to buy coffee every time you're at the shops you will have a Chocolate So Good. )

Foods I'm Craving This Winter - and other things I generally can't live without

So Sydney does not get that cold.. But Sydney-siders like to complain about the cold as if it were Siberia anyway, and I am one of them. I can whinge with the best of them, and with feet that are permanent icicles in winter (it's true, ask my boyfriend), I like to keep myself nice and toasty with yummy comforts.... and bed-socks.

Some things I cannot live without in winter:

• Toast - with lots of soy butter and vegemite/peanut butter - mmm
• Chocolate - I am loving Sweet Williams individual mini chocolates at the moment
• Porridge - I soak my oats overnight in a jar with some soy/almond milk and add other yummies like dates, cinnamon, maple syrup, chia, blueberries and always banana
• Coffee - it keeps my hands warm!
• A huge printed scarf
• Vegan shepherds pie -there is nothing better than this dish when it's miserable outside! (I'll post my recipe soon)
• A good umbrella - one that's small enough to fit in a handbag!
• Waterproof pleather boots
• Individual chocolate mug cakes
• Lip Balm! The current favourite is Bonne Bell Baby Lips - Pink Lolita 

Don't forget to check out my instagram and pinterest!

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

 As soon as I saw the clouds this afternoon i knew this was going to be our dinner for tonight. 

For some reason every time it gets cold I crave this meal. It's easy, relatively quick (depending on how many distractions you have at the time), and totally hits the spot!
There is something completely retro about this meal, it is something my mum or dad would have cooked for us when we were really little, and it always reminds me of the 80's and 90's.. It might just be me, but I love that it makes me think of that time.

(Sorry about the poor quality of the photographs, I am not a photographer, and only have a point-and-shoot at the moment, and not much time for editing. I am hoping to improve with practice, so please be patient with me!)

 I like to cut my vegetables fairly rough, because I like to be able to see all of them when I cut into my pie, but you can do it how you like... That's the best thing about this recipe, it can be adapted to suit your own personal tastes. 

 

Ingredients List

• 4 Potatoes - washed, peeled and chopped
• 1 small Sweet Potato (prep as above)
• 1 Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 Cup Vegetable stock
• 1 Carrot - Peeled then diced or grated (as you prefer)
• 1 Can Diced Tomatoes
• 1 Can Kidney Beans
• 1 Can/Container texturized vegetable protein (I use Sanitarium brand)
• 5 Mushrooms - sliced
• Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
• Frozen Peas and Corn
• Cumin & Paprika
• Savoury Yeast flakes
• Garlic Salt

Method

1. Boil water in a medium pot and place in potatoes and sweet potatoes until soft enough to mash.
2. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot and add chopped onions and garlic. 
3. Once the onion is clear add in the spices. 
4. Add the tvp and stir to mix through the garlic and onion. Leave to cook through for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the rinsed kidney beans and tinned tomatoes, then let the sauce simmer on medium until most of the liquid has evaporated. 
6. Add the chopped vegetables and frozen vegetables, then the vegetable stock, and leave on a low heat until the vegetables are cooked. 
7. After the vegetables are cooked, add the worcestershire sauce and taste to make sure no added seasonings are needed at this point. If so, add more paprika and cumin to taste. 
8. Drain and mash the potatoes while the sauce simmers, adding the vegan butter and soy milk until it is just fluffy enough. 
9. Ladle the mixture into bowls, spoon the mashed potato on top and sprinkle with the savoury yeast flakes and garlic salt.
10. Place the bowls in the oven, and cook on high for 5 minutes, or until the potato is golden and crispy on top.

Enjoy!

Erin xo

Dont forget to check out my Instagram for more photos of my food..