Halp!

Hello everyone,

Our good friends at BARN are in desperate need of volunteers to help out as phone operators, animal picker-uper-ers and carers.

If you would be interested/able to help out please check out this advertisement and contact Natalie!

On their site they also have other ways you can help out, like donations or designing their website banner.

Take a look and please help out if you can :)

I call them 'Frankenstein Scones'

This is the transcript of my msn conversation with Andy (previously know as 'The Boy') as I put my scones into the oven:

| m i c h e ll e | --- says
ive created monsters
terrifying monsters
i feel like a mother who just realised she gave birth to the spawn of satan
bad things happen in this kitchen
Andrew says
awwww
its ok
| m i c h e ll e | --- says
im scared andy
comfort me
COMFORT MEEEE!!!!
Andrew says
its ook    
| m i c h e ll e | --- says
no one can comfort me now
its too late
Andrew says
happy happy happy
im soo happy
that is yoou, were so happy

It may have been a little over dramatic, but honestly, as I sat waiting in the kitchen seeking comfort at my computer, in the corner of my eye I could see them maturing in the oven, growing strength and size until they would leap out and take over the world!  They were even supposed to come out of the oven AT MIDNIGHT! What a terrifying omen. 

Anyway, they were actually supposed to be a mix between a red velvet cupcake and a scone... I mean, I probably could have pulled it off if I weren't such a retard at following recipes :\ So yeah, I'm not giving you MY recipe because it failed horribly!

But some lessons from this: 

Firstly, mix all dry ingredients and all the wet ingredients together BEFORE combining them, this includes extras like say, vanilla essence and food colouring.

Secondly, remember that scones are a DOUGH not a batter, therefore, do not mix them with beaters. 

Thirdly, make sure you have enough essential ingredients, like say, flour for instance.

Anyway, they turned out pretty horribly, as predicted, although they were edible with jam. But I guess that's kind of what scones are normally like, they need jam to be complete :)

Pumpkin polenta and creamy veggies

Okay, I know it looks pretty lame, but its really very tasty! This is actually the first meal in some time that I've actually been proud of - another throw together, but this one actually tasted good!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of diced pumpkin aprox.
• 1/4 cup of polenta aprox.
• Rosemary 
• Ginger

• 1/4 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small zucchini
• 3 mushrooms
• 1/4 tomato 
• 1/2 cup of some kind of beans - I like chickpeas :)
• Tbls wholegrain mustard
• Cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup of coconut cream
• Some leafy green types (lettuce/spinach/sprouts)

Method:

1. Dice the pumpkin and place into a saucepan. Fill with water until pumpkin is just covered and add stock/veggie salt. Bring to boil and then simmer until pumpkin gets soft (10-20 mins)
2. Meanwhile, dice onion and garlic. Cut mushrooms thickly and the zucchini into sticks while you wait for the pumpkin to soften.
3. Once the pumpkin is soft mash it up. Then add polenta, rosemary and ginger. I kinda go by ear with how much polenta, but you're not going to want more polenta than pumpkin. Keep at a simmer until polenta is cooked (you may need to add more water).
4. In a separate frying pan, caramelise the onion and garlic. Do this by heating a little oil in the pan before adding onion and garlic. Then add a little sugar (a pinch) and keep at a low heat. 
5. Once they have began to brown add zucchini, mushrooms and beans, increase heat and lightly fry (1-2 mins).
6. Return to a low heat, add tomato, mustard and pepper.  Also add the cream, again I played the quantity by ear, but I like the veggies too be swimming in it. Leave simmering until the cream is absorbed by the veggies/evaporates and is not too runny. 
7. Before you take it off the heat mix in the greens so they just begin to wilt. Remove from heat.
8. Serve the creamy veggies on a bed of pumpkin and polenta, yum!

Vegan Outings: Green Earth Day

Today was the second annual Green Earth Day festival in Brisbane coordinated Brisbane’s local vegan celb Leigh-Chantelle of Vivalavegan.  Held at the Albion Peace Centre the festival was a free, non-for-profit, community event to promote awareness on environmental issues; there were speakers, workshops, performances, stalls from activist groups and local eco stores and not to mention (the best part) FOOD! And aaaall vegan! Yey yey yey yey!

Unfortunately The Boy and I both had uni stuff to attend to this weekend so we could only hang around for about an hour but we got to have a look at the stalls, try out some food and attend the cooking demonstration by Sydney’s vegan cook and author Leigh Drew.  The demonstration was in an old hall which had chairs set up on either side and a table out the front for Ms Drew to do her thang, it was very intimate. She made two flavours of these melting moment type biscuits; chocolate and passionfruit. They were AMAZING, so amazing; we got to taste test two, however, I would have had so many more if I could have.  I would really have liked to attend some of the other demonstrations and talks; there  was quite an impressive list of speakers including ex-Democrats Senator & Brisbane Greens candidate Andrew Bartlett and Mr Universe 2009 Billy Simmonds! 

We also tried out some Funky Pies; they were quite popular so by the time we got there they were sold out of a few flavours but I had the ‘G’day Satay’ which has pumpkin, kumera and potatoes in satay sauce, yum!  The Boy had the ‘Chilli Non-Carne’ which has mushroom nuggets, red kidney beans, capsicum and tomato salsa; I found that the mushroom nuggets were a bit too meat-like in texture for my hyper-sensitive vegan mouth, but aside from that they were both very tasty and served on very cool recycled cardboard plates!

The Smoothie Cycle was also there. It’s a smoothie stall where they get you to pedal on a stationary bike which is hooked up to a blender and you blend your own smoothie. I was too intimidated (read: vain) to have a go myself, but they have a lovely, energised menu so I’m kind of regretting not trying one now.   It was also a very family friendly affair; they had a ‘kid zone’ where there was constant kid friendly entertainment. I even saw some kids running around with free plants; The Boy and I were v. jealous – I want free plants!

All in all it was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday! I know Leigh-Chantel had been working super hard with her volunteers to get it altogether; I’ve been following her tweets and she is one busy, motivated lady! I think I will volunteer to help out next year; it would be great to be part of the movement!  Hopefully the festival has been successful in its awareness raising goals!

Compelling reading

French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano, Why The Chinese Don’t Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold and Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

It’s been Uni holidays for about a month now; this means I have a lot more time on my hands but I haven’t found myself getting bored.  I’ve been catching up on movies, working, cooking of course (although I’ve been fairly lazy about taking photos blogging – must re-motivate!) planning Christmas (!!!) and reading. 

I’d say that I’m quite passionate about food; I think about it a lot. I’m either eating it, reading about it, looking at photos of it, taking photos of it, browsing (or should I say fantasising in) kitchen and homeware stores. In fact I’ve often barely finished a meal before I find myself thinking about the next.  Honestly, I started planning our Christmas breakfast in November – case in point (I’m planning on creating a Vegan Christmas menu – so stay tuned!).  So rather unsurprisingly, my summer reading list has consisted of books about eating. 

While they both sound like dieting books, Why French Women Don’t Get Fat & Why Chinese Don’t Count Calories are definitely not.  Instead, they are two different cultural perspectives to approaching and thinking about food and eating.  You may think also that they would be completely at ends with each other considering their cultures are so different.  Yet I found most of the key ideals resounded in both books, ideals which are important not just in omnivorous diets but also (and some would argue more importantly) in a vegan or vegetarian diet, like eating wholesome, satisfying and varied foods. 

Here are some of my other favourites:

• Strive to have the freshest ingredients – best achieved by doing frequent little shops throughout the week and by favouring markets. This ensures not only that your ingredients are fresh but markets are also generally cheaper than supermarkets. Likewise, many markets have a larger variety of organic produce to choose from.
• Only eat produce that is in season – this resonates with recent environmental efforts to reduce transport emissions and support local farmers.  The French also believe that by limiting a foods availability one’s appreciation for it will increase.
• Avoid processed foods – this has been advocated by health professionals recently but the Chinese believe that the intrinsic energy of food is removed during processing and with it the benefits it naturally contains.
• Make meals and eating an event – this pretty much means that diner in front of TV is out.  Both the French and Chinese encourage mindful eating which means really taking time to appreciate and savour food. Modern science has found this to be helpful with digesting and reducing appetite.  I personally think it’s quite romantic, taking the time at diner to set the table, everyone sitting down together, a delicious (hopefully) meal which everyone shares their day over. Eating is important and why should a nicely set table be a luxury or for ‘fancy’ occasions?  Perhaps it will create a little more washing up, but I’d say your elevated mood will more than make up for it.

I would definitely recommend reading these books for anyone who is interested in eating and food (they both also include traditional recipes!) or someone who is looking to create a healthier lifestyle. 

Finally, I’m currently reading Eating Animals (which is definitely more Vegan-y) by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I’m not yet finished reading so I’ll leave a detailed summary till then, but I’ll just say now that this book is very compelling reading.  Foer has explored and reported on the American meat and dairy industries quite objectively.  He also discusses the issues, tensions and conflictions faced by omnivores as well as vegans and vegetarians.  Even before finishing I’ve finished reading the book I recommended to anyone, even meat eaters (or perhaps especially).

Vegan Comfort Food - Tofu Scramble

I'm not going to lie, I totally miss eggs.

I miss the tastes, the textures, the protein... but mostly I miss the versatility.

Being vegan takes a level of creativity, experimentation and curiosity. You can definitely substitute eggs to (basically) achieve the same results and a lot of this people's experiments with this have been documented on the internet, like here.

I really wanted to make something quick and easy - tofu scramble.

It's got all the perks of a traditional scramble, you can use whatever you have, you can tailor the taste to whatever you want (spicy, 'erb-y, salty, sweet and sour), it's quick and it's yum; just minus the egg! Win :)

Ingredients:

• Tofu (I've used silken)
• Whatever you want! - but I've used: 
• Baby Spinach
• Carrot
• Onion
• Mushroom
• Tomato
• Bok Choy
• Beans
• Rosemary + Salt & Pepper

Method:

• Basically the same as scrambled eggs. Heat oil in fry pan, add seasoning and onion and fry till brown
• Gently fry other ingredients
• Add tofu - cook till you just have to eat it! 

I've served mine with Quinoa and Rye bread toasted with avocado and wholegrain mustard - Yummers xD

Linky-links

A photo essay on amazing animal intelligence  - below is the elephant video it links to, watch it, it's so cute!



And this one on pedigree dogs and what effect the restrictive breading is having on them.



This one is quite sad and it shows some gross stuff, so be warned!