No-Bake Date and Almond Brownies

The last few weeks we have been going through some chaos here at the homestead. Bathroom renovations are still going on, the house is covered in a layer of dust, the hallway is off limits for the boys, we've been going out and about EVERYDAY to stay out of the way of the tradies, and to top it all off, our oven stopped working. Luckily the grill and fan still work, so we've had to cook a lot with a curve and my bread and baking have all been on hold until we can get it fixed.

Ugh.

I was able to make a variation of some date bars that I posted on FB this week though.

No-Bake Date and Almond Brownies!

Way too easy, super yummy, everyone loves them! Like eeeeeveryone. Grown ups and kiddos alike.

It's as easy as putting all of the ingredients into the food processor and letting it work it's magic for about 5 minutes.

 

Pour it out into a baking tin lined with parchment.

Let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes or so and cut it up.

Make sure you keep it in fridge to the freezer, it keeps it nicely set.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups pitted dates
• 3/4 cup natural almonds
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• A pinch of salt

Method :

1. Place all the ingredients into the food processor.
2. Blitz for at least five minutes. It will be a bumpy ride at first but once that's done, let the machine do it's thing.
3. Once it starts to look like nice wet potting soil, empty into a parchment lined smallish baking tray.
4. Spread it out and press it firmly down with the back of a spoon and smooth it out as you go.
5. Place in the fridge for a least 30 minutes.
6. Take it out of the fridge and slice.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy and love the peanut buttery goodness!

 

Vegan Corn Chowder - Meatless Monday

This weather! Rain, rain and more rain! If this is the start to winter, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it anymore. Everything is damp, laundry is taking forever to dry, everything smells musty. At least it's not cold... Yet!

Last week, I made this super hearty soup with a heap of leftover corn on the cob that I completely spaced serving at our latest family cook-off. Yeah. It happens. Nobody went home hungry. The corn was not missed. So score for us!

Vegan Corn Chowder

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients :

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 potato, peeled and diced
• 1 kumara, peeled and diced
• 5 corn cobs, already cooked, kernels removed
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• freshly ground pepper

Method :

1. Saute the onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes in a large saucepan.
2. Add the celery, carrots, potato and kumara and saute for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the corn kernels and stock to the veggies. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Puree with a soup wand or in a blender.
5. Serve up with some freshly ground pepper and done!

I served this with some roasted cabbage and it was amazingly filling! All three boys devoured it! And the leftovers were popped into the freezer.

Enjoy!

x

Leftover Makeover - Risotto Balls

Sheesh! Balls!

Right. Mind back in the right.... Leftovers.

We've been lucky the boys are ok with leftovers, but I feel bad making them eat things for lunch they may have had for dinner the night before. Not to mention, I get bored of eating the same things as well.

One of the MANY dishes that Jacob is amazing at, is his risotto. Amazing. Did I mention amazing? He's got the technique. And the free for all of the garden and the fridge. Maybe.... MAYBE... Someday, he'll write his own risotto post/recipe. Maybe.

Anywho, to get the boys to finish off this super tasty dish...

No Bake, Date & Coconut Balls... Dreamy...

After the big pantry clean out of 2014, I found a lot of ingredients that I noticed hadn't been used in ages or just about to go off. Soooo.. Hello coconut!

Since the boys love eating pitted dates, google uncovered this combo in this gem! Easy as and actually the only tedious part is making the actual balls. I wanted to make them small enough for the little mens' fingers to handle, so I used a teaspoon to form each one. Also, beware, when I first started the food processor, it was full on! I thought it was going to dance it's way off the bench!

It's really cool to see what happens when the coconut gets mixed and pulverised and turns into an oily mess... My hands loved making all those little bits and slithering in the oil..

Toss them in remaining coconut and ta-da!! After some chatting with a lovely old friend, I'm am really inspired to try some crushed nuts to coat them, especially walnuts! How yummy does that sound?!

So success! Boys love them. I love them. Done. I can't wait to try our next incarnation of them!

Ingredients :

• 2 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 cups (200g) pitted dates

Method :

Place 2 cups of coconut and the dates into a blender or food processor. Process on high speed for 3-4 minutes, pausing to scrape down sides as needed. Remove from processor and roll teaspoon-sized balls. Roll in remaining 1/2 cup of coconut.

What variations have you tried?...

X

Protein, veggie style!

I saw this recently somewhere on Facebook, and thought it was pretty brilliant. I do try to use most of these as often as I can, but didn't realise that many of them were good sources of protein! I'd be keen to try out chia and hemp seeds.

If anyone has some yummy recipes for them they would like to share, please do!

X

 

Crispy Tofu Teriyaki - Meatless Monday and Naptime Cooking!

A couple years ago, I came across this recipe from the lovely Pip @ Meet Me at Mike's. The first time I made it, it was love. It's still in regular rotation on the menu planner, but has gone through so many incarnations.

This is our latest version! With crispy tofu and udon noodles! Super yummy! As per usual, making a stir fry in our house means whatever veggies are in the fridge and garden are fair game! And of course, a lot of the recipe can be done when the kiddos are napping. Chop the veggies, cook the tofu, whisk up the sauce.. This makes actually cooking dinner with two little men under your feet quite a bit easier.

First things first. Crispy tofu. I've been trying to get this right for years! When I was vegan, back in my early 20's, my best friend and I would have this amazing crispy tofu and broccoli take away from our favourite Chinese restaurant at least once a week. The tofu was the perfect amount of crispy and still soft in the middle... *droooool* anyway! this is the closest I've got to that! and it's only taken 15 years!

So anyway... To make this lovely (boy-loved) dish...

I've finally begun the battle!! Again.

My weight has always been a roller coaster type battle.. Eating out of boredom, a desk job for the last 2 years, too much drinking and evening snacking with the hubby.. It's all part of the problem. 

Now, I'm striving to get back a little closer to my normal weight - mainly due to the closet of vintage dresses and the threat of an upcoming summer.

I've pimped my iPhone with a couple weight management apps and hopefully I'll have a better idea of how to forge through it all. I'm determined to ride to work as much as possible, and since the weather has been a bit nicer, that's the easy part. 

On the food note - This Friday is World Vegetarian Day! It's a good chance to feel healthy and light all day! All of October is Vegetarian Awareness Month - so, all of you meat eaters - myself included - should give it a try! 

*vegan banana bread and a bit of a crazy weekend

*please note... 
  we are not vegan, I was once, but still love to have vegan and vegetarian things. Yummies!

Saturday afternoons are good for making bread of any kind. I found this recipe quickly online. I've tried so many different recipes for banana muffins and bread, but this one is a big score for me. No butter! There were a few things I changed from the actual recipe, but that's just me...

* 3-4 ripe bananas
* 1 cup raw sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 cup water
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 tablespoon lsa
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon allspice
* about 1/2 cup of crumbled walnuts

In a large bowl mash bananas with sugar and vanilla until combined and creamy. Then mix in the water.

In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, soda, powder lsa, allspice, and cinnamon.
Add the dry to wet and stir until just mixed. You don't want to over mix or the bread will be dry.

Pour batter into sprayed and floured loaf pan, top with walnuts and bake in preheated 180°C oven for one hour or so until done.

It's very yummy, for not having any added butter in the bread (even though we tend to add butter to it anyway...) That's the reason for bread - right? To eat butter?

Two sort of odd changes here at home.. I'm still getting used to J with no hair! He cut his hair when he was in NZ! He didn't tell me, just showed up at the airport with a big grin on his face.

Also we maybe adopting a little brother for Timmy! His name is Bruce and he's a bit OCD with Timmy, but we have a couple weeks with him, so we will see... He is basenji, like Timmy, but mixed with Jack Russell. Yes, he's a troublesome little nugget! Fingers crossed they sort themselves out over the next few days!

happy monday!

xo