What's cooking?

Happy Sunday! It's going to be a pretty chilled out day for me here. I'm going to spend some time going through some of my magazines picking out some yummy meals for the next couple of weeks.

I am also super excited because my copy of Chloe's Kitchen arrived!

Ever since I saw Chloe's win on Cupcake Wars with her Vegan cupcakes; I have admired her. Trying most of her recipes on her website I knew this Vegan cookbook was going to be amazing. I'll be posting pictures and reviews of some of the recipes on the blog and cannot wait to go through it properly today and plan the first one's I'm going to try. Check out a quick video below of a great easy recipes from Chloe- perfect for summer with a nice glass of wine :)

Another great resource is Just the Food. Joni is great and on Saturday I tried this recipe and wow! AMAZING! Must make some more asap!!!! They also in my opinion taste extra better the day after.

I  love nothing better than to cook vegan meals for my non vegan friends and family. I love to show people that I'm not missing out! What I can never understand is when you mention it's Vegan people sometimes turn their nose up at it. Now surely it's better to enjoy something delicious and know that in the process not animals were harmed? Do me a favour if your not vegan/veggie try and cook a vegan dish this month. Let me know what you think! I'll post a couple of great recipe resources and tips below so you can choose something yum!

Vegan Recipes

Chef Chloe

Peas & Thank You

The Vegan Zombie

Vegie Head

The Compassionate Cook

Tips for UK 

*Vegan butter- The two main brands are Vitalite and Pure but all the main supermarkets do their own versions.

*Cream Cheese- the brand I use is Tofutti and you can get it in most Holland & Barrett shops.

*Cheese- in the UK we don't yet have the amazing Daiya vegan cheese. The brand I use is Cheezly and they have it in Holland & Barrett and most Tesco & Morrison's stores

*Egg replacer- I use Ener-G egg replacer from Holland & Barrett and I have also used Orgran brand from H&B

*Chocolate- a lot of dark chocolate is vegan, just check the packet. Sainsbury's also sell Bloc chocolate chips which is vegan

Valentine's Day and Spicy Butternut Squash Soup and Happy Birthday Tom!

I love Valentine's Day. I know we don't need an excuse to tell someone we love them but for me it's an excuse to get balloons out!!! Yay.

We spent our Valentine's eating in as having to watch the pennies.  I made the table look a bit cheesy :)

And Phil left me a little note before he went to work :) This little board we always update with little messages. 

And for dinner we had Sweetcorn fritters with Mango & Avocado salsa (I made it vegan and will post he recipe soon). For main we had butternut squash, sage and pine nut pasta and for dessert strawberries dipped in dairy free dark chocolate- yummy. Oh and lots of wine.

Butternut squash is one of my favourite things to use in soup so here is a nice warming soup that's so easy and doesn't have loads of ingredients.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup (Vegan)

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 butternut squash peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks

1/2 large onion chopped

1 pint vegetable stock

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1.2 tsp paprika

3 tbsp dairy free cream ( I use alpro soya cream and it's great)

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. In a large pan heat the olive oil and place the onion and butternut squash in. Cook for about 5 minutes making sure to stir. Add the cayenne and paprika and coat the onion and squash.

2. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes until the squash is tender. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Mean while heat another small pan with oil and fry the sage leaves until crispy- about 2-3 minutes. Then transfer to some kitchen paper to soak up the oil. Set aside.

3. Add back to the pan and add in the cream and salt and pepper to taste. Serve into bowls and sprinkle with the crispy sage.

One last thing before I go. Just want to wish my baby brother a Happy Birthday. 

Here is his birthday cake I made

Here he is a few years back...

And here he is now, not so much a baby anymore.....

Happy Birthday Tom xx

Recipe Post- Asparagus Curry (Vegan Friendly)

Happy Tuesday guys. I want to Start off by congratulating Gina and Tom on their new arrival. You can check out Gina's blog here.

Now I had a curry from one of our local curry houses, it was an asparagus curry and it was awesome! I loved it. But with trying to cut down unnecessary spending I wanted to try and make it at home for much less.

So I made it last night and loved it- and have some left over for lunch today :)

Asparagus Curry- Serves 2

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus- I had about 10 spears

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cashew nuts

1 tbsp almond flakes

1/2 Green chilli de-seeded (more if you like extra hot)

2 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Tumaric

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1/2 onion chopped

Handful chopped coriander

1/2 can chopped tomatoes

1/2 can coconut milk

Method

1. Start by washing your asparagus and cutting off the woody ends. I simply do this by snapping them where they naturally snap. Chop asparagus into small pieces. I did mine in about 0.5 cm rounds. Place into a microwavable bowl with 2 tbsp water and heat for 3 minutes and set aside.

2. In a large pan heat olive oil and add onions and all spices. Gently heat until onions are soft. Meanwhile place cashews, almonds, green chilli and 1 tbsp olive oil into a food processor and mix until a paste.

3. Add nutty paste to pan and cook for 1 minute. Then add chopped tomatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes. Then add the coconut milk and chopped asparagus and stir continuously on a low heat for 5 minutes. 

4. At the end of cooking add in some chopped coriander and serve. I served mine with rice and a chapati

Happy New Year!

So Christmas is over :( But we have a new year to deal with. Hopefully lots of positivity in 2012.

As I may have mentioned before I am now working full time for myself. I'm running Jessica's Cupcakes still but have also set up my new business Pink Chilli Virtual Assistant. So exciting times ahead. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

This week I'll be working on my 2012 inspiration board which I'll share with you all :) We'll talk about goals and aspirations.

So I didn't post what we had for Christmas dinner- Vegan Style! So better late than never!

To start we had Tempura Vegetables

Main was Chestnut and Mushroom Wellington with lots of vegetables and Vegan Yorkshire puds!

And dessert was this amazing Pumpkin Tiramisu from Chef Chloe Coscarelli

Even Phil who's not vegan didn't feel like he was missing out.

Mama Pea over at Peas and Thank You has done a great post on taking 5 recipes and creating 25 dinners. Check them out.

I'm off to do some housework then get started on the inspiration board :)

Jess
xx

Recipe Post- Healthier Cake Batter Smoothie (Vegan)

There are loads of cake batter smoothie recipes. This is just my version- the beauty of smoothies is you can have fun mixing and matching ingredients. I'm a bit smoothie obsessed at the moment so be prepared for lots of smoothie recipes!!! I've purchased a screw top beaker so I can mix up a smoothie to take to work :-)

Cake Batter Smoothie
Makes 1 smoothie

Ingredients

2 tbsp Porridge oats
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 small frozen banana *
1 handful baby spinach
200 ml/1 cup almond milk
1 tbsp nut butter (use either peanut, cashew, sunflower or almond)
1 scoop protein power (optional)
1 tsp Xanthan gum (optional but gives it a thicker consistency like ice cream. Most supermarkets do it in the baking section)

Method

1. Put everything into a blender and blend until everything has combined
2. Serve either in a glass or in a bowl with a spoon and if you like put some sprinkles on top!

* I always have frozen bananas in the freezer. Just cut them into chunks and pace them into a freezer bag or box. Great to always have some on hand for smoothies or vegan ice cream!

A Vegan Eating out

Not living in a city and being Vegan can be hard. Eating out I have often ended up with a bowl of chips or a bowl of plain veg. Most restaurants will have 1 or 2 veggie options but 9 times out of 10 they aren't Vegan and will have eggs, cheese, milk, cream etc in them.

I decided that this bank holiday I would find somewhere not too far away where I could have more choice. I found Veggie World. Only a 45 minute drive from where we live we decided to spend the day in Milton Keynes shopping then head on to the restaurant.

The location was not great- kind of stuck in the 90's and the restaurant wasn't snazzy decor but I wasn't looking for that. When we were given the menu I was pretty taken aback that I could choose 98% of the menu! I've not had that since I went Vegan. The restaurant is Chinese cuisine which was fine by me as that was one of my favourite pre-vegan. You can see the menu here.

We ordered the mixed starter first of all which consisted of crispy seaweed, veggie spare ribs, veggie "chicken" satay, wontons and veggie spring rolls. All brilliant!!!!

Next we shared the Veggie crispy "duck". Now when I went vegan Crispy duck was one of the things I knew I would miss a lot. Not now!!! This stuff was amazing, it had all the flavour and all the crisp! 10 out of 10.

I had Satay "prawn" with rice for my main. Now I knew it wasn't prawn but it really hit the spot. It's hard to explain really. But I really enjoyed it.

Phil had Crispy Chilli "beef" with rice. No joke this tasted exactly like real crispy chilli beef. Seriously.

I'm so glad we decided to go there. I now know there is somewhere i can go without feelling awkward, having to explain to ignorant waiters what Vegan is, feeling people are judging me for the way I want to eat. I can't tell you how happy it made me. The best thing is that Phil (meat eater through and through) loved it. I think it blew his mind a little. I know deep down he expected it to be substandard. I'm so glad we both could go out and have a great meal together. it cost about £30 for both of us with a couple of drinks. I can't wait to go back :-)

Recipe Post- Vegan Pancakes

For vegans and non vegans these pancakes are delish! They are nice and fluffy and go with pretty much anything. Here I have done them with bananas and a peanut butter and maple sauce but try them with a blueberry sauce, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce- anything!

As with a few of the recipes these are measured in cups- I find it a lot easier than weighing everything out. Weekends are for relaxing! Most cookshops sell cup measurements now.

Vegan Pancakes
Makes about 8 pancakes


Ingredients
1 Cup plain flour (I use half white plain flour and half wholewheat pastry flour)
1 tsp Baking/bicarb soda
1tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
1tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 large banana sliced

Method
1. In a jug place the milk and apple cider vinegar and leave to curdle for 5 mins then add the oil. Place peanut butter and maple syrup into a heatproof bowl and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until mixture is of a sauce consistency.
2. In a bowl sift and mix all dry ingredients.
3. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
4. Heat a non stick pan and spoon some mixture into the pan. Cook for 30 secs to 1 min then flip over. Once cooked place onto a plate and spoon over the peanut butter maple sauce and add slices of banana. Continue this step until you have 3 pancakes piled on top of each other.
5. Enjoy!

Recipe Post- Frushi

This weekend I wanted to try a new recipe out of The Vegan Table by Coleen Patrick Goudreau. And as I had some strawberries I decided on Frushi. It was so yummy, kind of like rice pudding with jam on. Great idea to serve at a dinner party.

Here is the recipe. I just used strawberries and didn't use the sesame seeds and they were still great.


Ingredients
1-2 T sugar
pinch salt
3 ripe peaches
¼ C fruit preserves (I used strawberry jam and heated it in the microwave for 10 seconds)
1 pint strawberries
½ pint raspberries or blueberries
mint leaves
2 T black sesame seeds

for reduction sauce
2 C diced strawberries
½ t black pepper
2 t orange juice
½ C water
1 T balsamic vinegar

Method


1.Cook rice in water and coconut milk. After rice has cooled, fluff and stir in sugar and pinch salt.

2.Combine all sauce ingredients and cook down over medium heat until a syrup, strain out fruit particles.

3.Blanch and peel peaches, then slice into small half moons.

4.Form rice into small oblong shapes and place on plate. Spread thin layer of preserves on rice shapes. Top with slice of peach, slice of strawberry and a raspberry. Drizzle with sauce then garnish with black sesame seeds.

Hot Cookie Dough Dessert

Right this is a new thing for me and I can't understand how I've gotten so far through life without having this! I was inspired after a trip to Pizza hut by one of their desserts on the menu- Hot Cookie Dough Dessert!

It is totally amazing!

Now I'll give you a vegan version but you could do this recipe non vegan as well if you wish.

Vegan Hot Cookie Dough Dessert

Serves 2

Ingredients

• Batch of vegan cookies. You can use this recipe here  or for non vegan you can by those ready mixed cookie boxes.

• Dairy free ice cream enough for 2 scoops each. You can buy this or I have a recipe here. Or for non vegans just use regular ice cream

• Some dairy free chocolate melted to drizzle over the top. For non vegans use regular chocolate sauce.

Method

• Make up the cookies to the box/recipe instructions but don't cook them all the way through. Take about 3 minutes off the cooking time
• Stack cookies in the bowl
• Add ice cream scoops and drizzle chocolate sauce
• ENJOY!

Recipe Post- Vegan Maple and Walnut Cupcakes

One of my new purchases was Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Now as an owner of a Cupcake business I'm looking forward to trying lots of new recipes.



The first one I decided to do was Maple and Walnut Cupcakes. However I used my own recipe for the frosting.

I must say these cupcakes are lovely and are great with a cup of tea. Don't be put off that they are vegan as my other half who isn't vegan loves them!

This makes about 12 cupcakes.

Candied Walnuts

1 cup walnut halves

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp maple syrup

a pinch of salt

a large pinch of ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 275F. Arrange walnut halves on a tray and toast walnuts for 10 minutes, until the are fragrant and golden brown. Leave to cool.

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper and lightly grease with oil.

3. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, maple syrup and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. The sugar should melt and the mixture bubbling. This will take about 5 minutes. Continue to boil for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is a dark amber colour, thick and smells like caramel. Remove from heat and stir in walnuts and cinnamon. Coat nuts evenly with maple mixture.

4. Spread nuts out onto the lined baking sheet and make sure they are not in big lumps. Allow to cool.

5. Measure out 1/2 cup sugared walnuts and chop finely to use in recipe. Extra walnuts can be used as decoration after the cupcakes are frosted, eaten or stored in an airtight container and refrigerated.

Cupcakes

1/2 cup soy milk, at room temperature

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/3 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil or you can use rapeseed oil)

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup candied walnuts, chopped finely

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together soy milk and vinegar. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 10 mins to allow milk to curdle.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutemg into a large bowl. Whisk together oil, maple syrup, vanilla and brown sugar into the soy milk mixture.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and whisk in the wet ingredients in two batches. Whisk just until no large lumps remain, a few small lumps are okay. Do not overmix. Fold in chopped candied walnuts.

4. Pour mixture evenly into liners, filling up to 2/3rds of the liners, and bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting with the recipe below.

Maple Syrup Buttercream

¾ cup Vegan margarine (I use Pure)
3 cups Icing sugar
¼ cup Maple Syrup

1. Place margarine and sugar into a mixer and mix until combined.

2. Add Maple Syrup and mix

3. If the mix is to stiff add a little soya milk or if it is too runny add some more icing sugar

Earthlings

It's nearly the weekend! And I can't wait. After all these bank holidays I'm not used to working all week :-)

I'll start this post by mentioning that some people may not like it. The video I'll be posting is upsetting.

Now why would I put an upsetting video on my blog? Well I truly believe people need to see it. So many people shy away from these things. I'm not trying to preach to people to become vegetarian/vegan but It has affected me so much and totally made me look at how I live my life I felt the need to share.  So if this is not something for you I apologise but please come back as not all posts will be like this. It just one post  I wanted to do and if it maybe impacts just one person in a good way then I'll be happy. But some people may watch it and it might not change them but they will be a little more informed and that's ok too.

I urge you to try and watch it, it will be hard but I feel it is important.

Here is the synopsis on their website:



Earthlings is a powerful and informative documentary about society’s treatment of animals, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with soundtrack by Moby. This multi-award winning film by Nation Earth is a must-see for anyone who cares about animals or wishes to make the world a better place


And here is the link to the film

I'll be back with some yummy recipes soon :-)

Recipe post- Vegan Avocado Pasta

Not long until the Bank Holiday and the Royal Wedding! I personally cannot wait- I love a good wedding!!! Here is a great taster Video from T-Mobile!

There is also the never ending list of things I need to get done. I need to also spend some time on the business admin and ordering supplies.

Today's recipe is a Vegan recipe but if you want you could add any extras in that you like. It's super easy and really versatile.

Vegan Avocado Pasta- Serves 1


Ingredients


Bunch of Pasta like linguine (however much you would normally serve yourself)
1 avocado
25g pine nuts (toasted)
Bunch of basil leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions

2. Meanwhile place all other ingredients into a blend and blend until smooth

3. Drain pasta and place back in to saucepan, pour over sauce and stir through over a low eat.

4. Serve and enjoy

Pretty easy so a good stand by for those evenings when you just can't be bothered to cook! It also works well if you add some chopped chilli

Please join my Facebook page

Jess xx

Easter Fun & Peanut Butter 'Ice Cream'

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend.

I had the family round yesterday for a BBQ. And put on a little Easter Egg hunt for Connor. Cute.

Today me and Phil went on a walk along the canal. It was a lush day and we took some sandwiches with us for lunch.

Now who wants a super easy delicious dessert that is much healthier than normal ice cream and  is also suitable for vegans?

Peanut Butter 'Ice Cream'


Ingredients

1 banana frozen (I always freeze a few banana is 2 inch pieces each week)
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 teaspoon of agave nectar or honey (optional)

Method

Ok here it is- put it all in the blender for about 3 mins and serve!!!!! That is it.

You can do all sorts of combinations. Just try a few things. Just use banana if you want banana flavour. Or banana and strawberry. Add some nuts, or after blending add some raisins and a small amount of rum!