just...

WIN!

today is our eldest daughter's 18th birthday and it's in the middle of her and all of her friends'exams.. so she just asked for a nice lunch. i made veggie burgers, a massive amount of special salsa (when i finally work out how to make another page on this blog i'll publish the recipe cause it's pretty much the best salsa i've ever had) and then i made cheese nachos with dairy cheese for the others and, feeling a bit left out, decided to be brave and grate some soy mozzarella over some corn chips and see how they'd taste. that stuff does not smell nice and raw.. my goodness.. not even slightly yum.. but lemme tell ya.. it was GREAT melted on nachos!! WOOHOO!!
i just needed to share with you my great and abundant joy.

heaven in a glass

this smoothie tho...man o man.. i saw this on Facebook and i am here to testify.. it's AMAZING. i just had 2 glasses and my kid had the same (she's home sick.. she says that she feels better now.. can she go on the trampoline? hmm), because it is THAT good. i'm going to post the recipe in the recipes.. but let me tell you, i have never felt this emotional over a beverage before... i think..i'm.. in... LOVE ...........

ekadasi!

twice a month gaudiya vaisnavas fast from grains, beans and pulses.. i used to rely heavily on milk and cheese on these days and  i was a bit scared of vegan ekadasis.. but it's working out ok so far especially because my husband makes buckwheat muffins every ekadasi eve, and he's modified his recipe to be vegan..bless 'im

i will post 2 ekadasi recipes in the recipe section to see if i can make easy vegans stress less on fast days

a winner of a dinner

the kids loved dinner tonight. it was a relief cause it was healthy and not a chip in sight. 

what do your kids love to eat? are they vegan too?

mine aren't fully vegan..my middle one wants to be cause she's always been very sensitive to animals.. but it's difficult at the moment for her..so i just tend to cook vegan and that's it,basically. 

so tonight i made what is known as 'hare krishna comfort food'.. dal and rice.. with an added chick pea curry (aka chole) and i've put the recipes up on the recipe page. i hope you like it

what do easy vegans do with leftover spaghetti?

....i can hear you cry.. well, wonder no longer.. cause i am going to tell you. i'll tell you what THIS easy vegan does....

today i needed a spot of chewy protein so i reached into my gorgeous freezer (in the house we rent we have a proper american fridge - it's my One True Love.. aside from my kids.. who,sadly, don't have a 'quick can cooler' feature - and pulled out the box of fry's meatless chicken strips.
i heated my frying pan and dry fried the strips with the lid on  (adds a little moisture), then i added the spaghetti.. the one with the sauce (it was sparingly covered cause my girls and i don't like loads of sauce) from last night. then i added 3 tsp of capers, a good palm full of kalamata olives and i stirred it all together and heated it for a couple of minutes.. took it off the heat, threw in some basil leaves,stirred that up, posed it all fancy in my best bowl with some chopped avo on top and... VOILA! 

i had planned on spraying some nice balsamic vinegar on it when i actually ate it.but after i tasted it it was so good with just a squeeze of fresh lemon.. i feel very happy and i will urge anyone to try the same. 

the happiest i can be

avocados... a vegan essential... if you don't like them.. FORCE YOURSELF TO LIKE THEM, DAMMIT

i can't eat sweet breakfasts.. and i actually never get to eat breakfast till after i've taken the kiddos to school..so usually i have brunch.. cause it sounds posh and i'm well posh,innit.
lately we've had a lot of avocados in our fridge.. and ripening on the window ledge.. and so, feeling sorry for the poor, left out darlings, i have been consuming an avo a day (keeps the doctor away) for the past week.

this is my best breakfast EVER. i find a beautiful bread of some kind (making my own bread? are you kidding me?!?!), toast it. sunflower spread it. add avocados and some kind of beautiful other veggie (red pepps, olives, artichoke hearts, fresh tomatoes.. you get the idea), sprinkle some toasted seeds (sesame/sunflower/pumpkin) in top and grind some gorgeousness onto it like lemon pepper..ohmy lord i feel faint... perhaps just mix some fresh coriander and chilli in with the avo and put it on toast.. i mean, the combos are seemingly endless and utterly gorgeous. 

this one is simply sliced avocado, little vittoria tomatoes,a glug of olive oil and lemon pepper. so good.