Giant Pasta

My kids call it the "Giant "pasta. I guess for them its sort of Giant!!

I promised to post this recipe last night, but I have run out of time. My apologies to anyone who wanted it!!

Here is is:

Giant Pasta Shells

What you need:

1/2 pack of Giant Pasta Shells

5 frozen broccoli florets ( frozen works better in this recipe)

5 chestnut mushrooms

2 tbs of coconut cream

1 tbs of all purpose flour ( we use gluten free)

1 tbs of coconut oil

1 tsp of vegan bouillon 

200ml of water

Step 1:

Pre cook pasta according to instruction on the packet. Drain, set aside

Meantime when the pasta is cooking, cook broccoli in plain water,  drain, that should take no more than 10 min. 

Grate the mushrooms and shallow fry in the coconut oil. Add 100 ml of water and pinch of bouillon.  In a separate bowl mix approx. 100ml of water with coconut cream and flour. Add to the boiling mushrooms. It should turn into a thicker sauce. 

Drain the broccoli. With a potato masher mash the broccoli and add rest of the bouillon. Then fill the pasta shells with broccoli mix. Line them up in a heat prove dish. Pour the mushroom mix over. 

Bake in the oven for 10-15 min.

and then eat up!

Milking the almonds

Yes, one of the most common vegan "problems"

MILK

My son once asked me how I milk the almonds. It made me chuckle but also sad to know that at this young age he knew cows needed to be milked to obtain milk by humans.

I don't go preaching to people to give up cows milk, but I'm open to educating people about what goes behind the closed door of dairy farms.

The reason why I went vegan was me watching the film called "Earthlings" , I'm not going to go into any details here.But it has opened my eyes and over night I decided to go vegan.

We drink homemade almond milk. Mostly because all the other milks I found in the supermarkets contain lots of additives. I completely understand that manufacturers need to make sure milks last longer as they will sell better but what they put in them is plain scary.

I'm raising my kids vegan because I want them to be healthy, so giving them milk full of chemicals isn't an option. We take pride and joy in our milk, its simple and delicious. We make it plain, but later add agave, dates to sweet it up.

Here is the recipe:

Almond Milk

Makes 2 small bottles:

200g of organic raw almonds 

400ml of cooled boiled water

1 cheese cloth ( or baby's muslim will work too)

2 small bottles ( sterilised with boiling water and cooled)

1 pint of boiling water

You will need a blender

Step 1:

Pour water over the almonds and cover with cling film. Leave it for 1 h

Drain the almonds and peel the skin. They should "pop" out of the skin. Some people like it with the skins on, and thats ok. We prefer it smoother and that is without the skins.

Step 2:

Put the cheese cloth over a tall dish, make sure its clean as its where your milk will drip to. Leave a generous amount of cloth sticking out, the weight of the milk will make the dish sink.

Put the almonds in a blender, pour the cooled water with the almonds. Make sure to shut the lid!!!

Blend on low speed for 30 sec, then on fast for another 30 sec. 

Once its all blended pour over the cheese cloth. Grab the edges of the cheese cloth and squeeze it tight. Repeat until no milk is coming out. 

Step 3: 

Pour the milk into prepped bottles. Shut tight. Refrigerate. 

Step 4:

Do not throw away the pulp!!!

Spread it on grease prove paper, and dry in the oven. about 2h on 140C

Once its dry, put in food processor and blend slightly to ensure even and smooth texture. 

Voila! you have made your own almond flour!! use it in cakes, sprinkle over chia puddings. Possibilities are endless!!

Little Helper :)

My children love to cook with me. And I love cooking with them. 

I don't have many memories from my childhood. Not many happy ones anyway. Our minds usually remember the bad stuff, which hoover over happy memories like black clouds. 

I want my children to remember me and the fun stuff used to do together. 

Over the weekend we made gnocchi, something I DO remember making with my mother. 

We had fun, there was lots of mess but the result was fantastic, delicious lunch and time well spend .

My son is not veggie crazy, not like my daughter, so any chance I can get veggies into him is a great chance.  We used ordinary potatoes, sweet potatoes, beetroots and avocado. My kids call it rainbow dumplings. 

I was criticised recently for my pictures not being professional enough. I want to clarify something, this blog is not in any means a way to make money, recipes are mine, they come from the heart, and I have a job and two children who I raise pretty much alone. Snapping fancy photographs isn't a priority. I try to make them nice by slightly editing them adding borders etc. But I learn from any feedback, good or bad so I will try to get those photos nicer :)

recipe for gnocchi below:

Rainbow Dumplings (Gnocchi )

What you need:

1 large sweet potato

2 medium size potatoes

1 medium beetroot

1 medium avodado

approx 8 cups of flour ( we used gluten free)

4 spoons of coconut oil or any vegetable shortening 

pinch of salt 

The first step I do the night before 

Cook the potatoes and beetroot until soft. Leave the avocado until you are ready to make the dumplings.

I cook them in their skins and peel just before I'm about to make the gnocchi .

Once you have your veggies cooked, peel the skin and mash them up. In separate bowls. 

So they look like this. 

Make them one by one, by adding approx. 2 cup of flour to each mash. I found that sweet potato takes more flour than any other. 

Add 1 tbs of your shortening ( i use soft coconut oil)and salt. Kneed until its smooth. It take approx. 10 min.

You should end up with 4 bowls of soft dough ( resembles play dough!!)

Put water on boil. You will need a large pan.

All its left its making the shapes. Roll a small amount and then press with a fork to make the pattern .They should look like this:

Once the water is boiling ( remember it has to boil) throw about 20 every time. Once they surface then cook for further 1 min and drain.

They are perfect served plain with a pinch of salt or with a sauce of your choice. 

Enjoy 

One of those days...

yep. its been one of those days.

When I feel like the worst mother on the planet. It started quite well...we had our amazing pear pancakes for breakfast. Recipe below.

Then the children helped to clean up their room, then we made lunch. We had fun making gnocchi with my younger sprawling....and then it all went down hill.

Children are very complicated creatures. Being a parent its so hard. You try to be open minded, compassionate, and focused but its so hard it sometimes impossible to keep them happy.

So two grumpy children and me, full of positivity due to lovely weather. We went out to the park.

Fail no 1. No parking
Fail no 2 had to park at the mall and walk...two grumpy children complaining they have o walk
fail no 3. Park was so busy they had nowhere to play.
fail no 4. They decided they wanted to go to get some sorbets and we walked back to the car
fail no 5. Mummy was distracted and took the wrong turning , we ended up adding extra 10 min of driving. with two grumpy children its not fun
fail no 6. sorbet shop closed down
fail no 7 traffic on the way home.


plus many many many more cries and complaints.

I find it really hard to control my own emotions when we have a day like this.. ..So i ended up crying too.

When you are a parent you try to make your children to understand the world, you teach them respect and you teach them empathy for others, you teach them that to win you sometimes have to loose, and that being different is ok. But today I felt like a failure. After a quick bedtime I realised 3 things:

1. My kids don't need trips, sorbets, they need me.
2. Overstimulation is often as bad as no stimulation
3. Trying too hard is exhausting and upsetting, its ok to give yourself a break.

So from now on, I will listen more, and I will try to agree with them the best solutions to our problems. I will tell them about my feelings and will listen to them telling me how they feel. I will make sure they have all they need to be happy, smiley and just be children.

From now on I will try harder but not too hard

Have a good night all.

Pear Pancakes: 

What you need:  (serves two)

2 ripe pears ( apples work too , best bramley apples)

2 cups of almond milk (or any milk you use)

1cup of self rising gluten free flour ( i find that gluten free is better for pancakes)

1 tbs of coconut oil (or any oil)

1 tbs of egg substitute ( i used chia , 1 teaspoon of chia with 100 ml of water to make 5 servings- blended, i used one)

agave nectar to pour on top

In a bowl mix together flour, milk and chia until smooth. In a frying pan melt the coconut oil ( or any oil , heat up ), then using a heat proof spatula add the hot oil to the flour and milk mixture ( be careful its hot!!)  

mix well.  set aside.

peel the pear and cut into rings, using a small knife cut the seedy nests out. then dunk the pear rings in the batter mixture. 

Then using a soup ladle dollop the pear rings onto the frying pan. You shouldn't need any oil as you already put it in the mixture. Cook until golden brown and then flip gently to make sure its cooked evenly and the pear is soft in the middle. 

Serve warm with agave on top or maple syrup if you prefer. 

Enjoy

Snacking time!!

My kids love to snack!

I love to snack!

Don't we all???

Being vegan allows you to consume more food than a carnivore so yay for snacks!

I have been sleep deprived lately due to my younger one having a ear infection, but she is on the mend. And I admit, I have not been a model parent recently. I admit I yelled at my children over the weekend. Why? Because I was tired, because I needed some me time and having a screaming toddler made it absolutely impossible. Not having my other half with me is exhausting but I usually manage the best I can. Not this time, I felt cheated by life and really not been the super mum I strive to be. Being a good parent is hard.

Talking to you children is crucial. I have always thought that I had to treat my kids equally, but life has showed me that it not actually good for them, so now I treat them according to their individual needs. And I always tell them who special and unique every one of them is for me. My love for them is everlasting and I  want them to be able to have trust in me, and turn to me whenever they are lost.

There is no such a thing as perfect parent or a golden secret to resolve conflicts and other problems. But what is important is knowing your kids, knowing their needs, and their problems. Talk to your children, in age of technology is very easy to plug them in from of TV for a bit of quiet time. I know, I have done it a lot of times, just then to feel guilty that I had no guts to spend time with my kids.

Well enough of live lessons, food wise. It's snack time!!!

Here are some of our favourite snacks! Mainly fruit as we are fruit obsessed!!!!

Winter Warmers , so what we eat when its so cold outside we rather stay in!

We had a bad day. The younger sprawling woke up very early, like 5 am. I know right?? It's like a middle of the night....

Thats why she was moody and completely uncooperative. But that's the way it is when you have children. You have bad and good days. If you have kids you know. One day they love everything and everyone, just to throw a tantrum that there is too many peas on her plate...you name it.

Sometimes i feel like screaming in a pillow as seems like I bang my head against the wall. :-)

Then the bath drama started when the younger one decided to wash her hair with my shampoo...and then it got in her eyes...the screaming was probably heard in China. The older child decided " he had enough " and retrieved in my bedroom with his book, leaving me with a screaming toddler and soapy floor. Ehh...now its all forgotten, they are both asleep...will see how long it will last :)

I went to see a friend who I haven't seen in what seems like forever!  I brought us lunch, a homemade soup. She was over the moon as none in her family eats soup, and she loves it. We eat a lot of soup, specially in weather like that. When its cold and windy outside, rain is pouring down, we love to snuggle up with a bowl of steaming goodness. Here is some of my favourite recipes:

1. Butternut squash and peanut butter :

What do u need:
Medium size butternut squash
Small onion
5 tbs of crunchy good quality peanutbutter
1tbs of brown sugar
Salt and peper
Sunflower seeds and corriander for garnish
1l of veggie stock

How to make it:

Peel your squash and remove the seeds. Then cut into squares. Put on the baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar and salt. Roast (180 oven) until soft and golden . Dice the onion and fry with some oil  until golden brown. Once the squash is done add to onion and stock. Cook until bubbly. Then blend until smooth. Once nice and smooth add your peanut butter . Season with salt and peper. Serve with chopped corriander and roasted sunflower seeds.

2. Minted pea soup

1 l of veggie stock
1 bag of frozen peas
15 mint leaves
salt and pepper
2 slices of rye bread
dash of coconut cream/milk
olive oil


How to make it:

Cook 3/4 of the frozen peas in your veggie stock for about 15 min on low heat. Then add mint and cook for further 2 min. Take of heat, cool slightly then once cooler blend the soup. Once blended put back on the low heat and add the rest of the peas. Cook until simmers. Take of the heat and add splash of coconut cream ( or any non dairy alternative).  Cut your bread into squares . Heat up 1 tbs of pile oil in the frying pan and add your bread, fry until browned and crispy. Serve in your soup. Enjoy!

Smothie? or not to smoothie?

One of my favourite way of starting my days is making a smoothie. I get up early due to my daughter being up with the first signs of the sun ( or rain :P).

Its a great breakfast and such a easy way of getting both vitamins and proteins into your body. 

This morning I had a simple mixed fruit smoothie, a little pick me up to start the day. Usually I just throw 3 or 4 different ingredients and the blend. Here is a few of my favourite :


1. Frozen Pink Cloud

what's in it?

- 3 frozen bananas
- 16 bluberries
- half of can of coconut milk

Just blend and enjoy.

2.  Sunny Day blend

what's in it?

- half of fresh pineapple

- 3 ripe peeled peaches

- 1 tsp of wheetgrass powder ( use fresh if you have any)

just blend and enjoy!

3.  Rainbow Dash :)

what's in it?

- half of frozen pineapple

- 1 fresh mango

- 16 bluberries

- 12 raspberries

just blend and enjoy!

4. Frozen coconut latte

- 3 frozen bananas

- 1 tsp of good quality instant coffee

- half of can of coconut milk

just blend and enjoy!

Frozen bananas are a great base, that way you avoid using ice. Not all blenders/smoothie makers will blend ice , bananas are softer and still a great way to chill your smoothie.  The fruit smoothies are very popular with my children, of course I wouldn't give them any of the coffee one. They are active without the caffeine!!

We had a strange day, younger child was moody and very into defensive mode. Being a mother is the hardest job on the planet but also the most rewarding one. We went swimming today and walking back to the car took us over 20 min as she wouldn't follow but wanted to run up and down the disable ramp ... kids.

Then the migraine happened. I was suppose to write the conclusive chapter of the new book,but my head was pounding and i had spend the rest of the day walking around the house like a zombie. An active 2 year old didn't help. Tomorrow is a new day and I hope that it will be better. Actually its my first "me" day in like forever. My car is due its service so I have to leave it in the garage meaning I will be " stranded" in the coffee shop which serves a soy coffee!!! yay! then some retail therapy, light lunch and back to reality!

Hope people will enjoy reading this blog, and maybe just maybe you will think twice about updating you life style , to make you healthier and more "green".

Love and light x x x

Why blogging?

Good question. I keep moaning about not having time for anything, being busy with children, all the activities, driving them around, houseworks and other chores, not mention work. I say to people, poor me never have time, but in reality several occasions, I spend my time on stupid things, where I could be doing something productive, like blogging.

I started my instagram last year, now I have people asking me for recipes, advice. Its difficult to maintain it on my instagram account, therefore I made an executive decision to start a blog.

No more, moaning, no more excuses.

I think, dividing the posts into sections, like Vegan food, parenting dish and other stuff will help me to be more organised and consistent.

So here it goes. Happy reading ( if anyone actually is reading :P)